In this article I’m going to reveal one skill that is crucial to your success in Internet marketing. Without it, you will find it difficult, if not impossible, to make money online. The ability to properly research both the niche you are considering and the products you are thinking about promoting is paramount. Most Internet marketers fail because they don’t do adequate research.

Research is the lifeblood of any successful online marketing venture. It is important to know what products are most likely to sell, which affiliate programs are best to promote and whether or not the market an individual wants to enter into is too competitive. Research provides this information. Fortunately, most of the best research tools are free, though it is sometimes necessary to invest in more powerful tools. In this piece, we will discuss how to research and choose a product to promote.

The importance of doing proper research cannot be overstated. Without proper research, Internet marketers are setting themselves up for Internet marketing failure. Many businesses that originally seemed like an easy home based business gradually turn into a money drain.

When looking to make money online, you need to find a profitable niche and keywords that aren’t too competitive to rank for. The Google keyword tool will be an important one for this purpose. This tool will help you create a list of keywords or keyword phrases that may be easy to rank for. Keyword phrases worth targeting should have at least 800 exact searches per month, that is, if you are targeting American consumers.

After using the Google keyword tool to find potential phrases to target, it is wise to use Google search engine to determine whether or not there is too much competition for a particular keyword. If there are over 35 000 exact search results for the keyword or keyword phrase, you will want to avoid it, and find another one to try and rank for.

SEO Quake works hand-in-hand with Google. After you have typed in a particular keyword phrase and Google returns the results, you will need to investigate the top ranking sites. This is done to determine whether or not it’s possible to either bypass them or take their spot in the rankings. Figuring out how many incoming links a high ranking, potential competitor has, is one way to accomplish this. SEO Quake is a piece of software appropriate for this purpose. The first five sites on the first page of Google should have an average PR less than 2, and preferably no more than 100 backlinks total.

Once you have decided what niche you want to promote and come up with a list of easy-to-rank-for keywords, you will need to find a product to promote in order to make money online. Some people will do this in reverse. They will find a product to promote first and then do the aforementioned research.

Clickbank is a great place to find digital products to promote. Look for those that have a gravity score of more than 100 but not higher than 300. Those with a gravity score of more than 300 are typically too difficult to take on. Amazon is another great place to find physical products. The ones you choose should have at least 10 customer reviews and on average, no fewer than 4 stars.

When researching products, it is important to vet them, to see if they are worth promoting. Using the Google search function to find reviews and opinions about the product or program they are thinking about promoting is a good idea. Checking forums such as Warrior forum as well as niche forums is a recommended as well. YouTube videos are also a good place to look before deciding to promote a product or program. Take a close look at the sales page (it should have testimonials) of the product, as well as the quality and quantity of promo materials. If they are of high quality, they might make good candidates.

When you are looking to make money online, it is important that you properly research whatever market or niche you are interested in. This is true whether you are attempting to create an easy home based business, earn extra money from home or offer a sophisticated high-end product or service. Proper research will help you determine the viability of a niche, its competitiveness and which products to promote. Now that we have sufficiently covered research, and the importance of it, we will discuss finding the IM opportunities. Be on the lookout for part 3!

Author's Bio: 

Tim Pond is an author, coach and Internet marketer. To find out more about effective online marketing opportunities, and claim your free special report on easy home based business, go to http://www.easy-home-based-business.org