This is obviously very important, but the better question might be…

"Is your niche actively searched for on the Internet via search engines?"

Search engine activity is the purest indicator that we have to gauge the quality of a particular niche. And while there are many tools at your disposal to evaluate these searches, the one that I recommend you use is called Ad Word Analyzer.

Ad Word Analyzer is an easy-to-use, yet very powerful keyword research tool that measures everything from keyword popularity, the number of competing ads on Google and MSN, the level of competition on Google for organic searches and more!

You can learn all about Ad Word Analyzer at AdWordAnalyzer.com.

After you install Ad Word Analyzer on your system, you simply run the program and type in the root word for your niche in the search box.

For example, if you plan to target the "job seeker" niche by publishing an ebook on "How To Write An Impressive Resume", then your root keyword would be "resume". If you wanted to write a low-carb recipe guide for people on the Atkins Diet, then your root keyword would be "Atkins Diet".

Make sense?

Let me give you an example using the keyword "resume". I simply enter "resume" into Ad Word Analyzer and click the "Start Search" button…

Once Ad Word Analyzer has finished gathering all of the data, it reports that there are over 164,000 searches for "resume". This is excellent!

At this point you're probably wondering…

"How many searches are needed for me to make a lot of money in a niche?"

Well while it will differ a bit from niche to niche, a good rule of thumb is to look for niches that receive at least 25,000 searches each month to their root keyword.

In fact, if you're more conservative you may not want to drop below 35,000 root keyword searches per month, but it's really up to you.

Please note that while you will use to the root word when researching your niche, you don't actually want to use it should you decide to employ Pay Per Click search engines like Google AdWords in your overall marketing strategy.

Generally the listing prices for these root keywords are bid up way to high for the average niche info publisher, so your strategy should be to target specific, multiple keyword phrases.

Ad Word Analyzer will list the cost per click data for all of the keywords, so you will not at-a-glance whether or not you should use a specific keyword or ignore it altogether.

Armed with this valuable data, you can target the right keywords and dominate your niche!

In my opinion, a good keyword tool is essential to a websites success.

You absolutely must know what keywords people search for and how popular each particular keyword is. If not, you will have very little chance of making any decent money from paid advertising or organic searches.

So, what makes a good keyword tool?

1. Ease of use. If it's not easy to use, then you probably won't use it. This goes without saying, but I figured I'd mention this first.

2. Must report related keywords. This is where the money is. You should be able to plug in a primary keyword like "golf" and end up with a big list of related keywords (e.g. longtail keywords).

3. Keyword supply and demand. If you have a list of keywords, but don't know how many competing websites there are or what the search volume is, then you really don't have anything useful.

4. Number of ads on Google. Even if you don't intend to run any AdWords campaigns, this is still a very important indicator to monitor. If people are spending money on advertising, then there is money to be made.

5. Cost per click data. This is invaluable. You can quickly learn what keywords you can afford and the ones to skip altogether. Use this information, so never have to pay outrageous bid prices on a keyword that is unlikely to ever turn a profit.

6. Spy on competitors ads. You always need to know what your competitors are up to, expecially what AdWords ads they are running and what keywords they are bidding on. You can "clone" their success if you are armed with this data.

7. Multiple export options. You should be able to export your results into text, HTML or CSV format. Plus, you should also be able to save your keywords with quotes, no quotes or square brackets. This makes it easy to paste keywords into your PPC campaigns.

All keyword tools are definitely not created alike.

If you want a good keyword tool, one that delivers profitable results, and is used around the world by countless companies and professional webmasters, then I highly suggest you visit AdWordAnalyzer.com.

You might be amazed at just how easy it is to find new niches and low competition markets to target, as well as discovering money-making keywords you never even thought of using before.

Once you get your hands on a good keyword tool, you will probably find yourself asking the question…

"How did I ever get by without this before?"

Using search engines has become a part of life for many. An estimated 350 million people, in fact, visit MSN, Google and Yahoo every day to look up directions, find information or even search for products and services. Some of those people might just be looking for what your website offers.

What if you had the ability to discover exactly what these people were looking for?

This would give you the power to make a ton of money by delivering precisely what they want. Well, you can. Ad Word Analyzer is a powerful tool that reports exactly what people search for, so you can obtain that information.

Now, keyword research can deliver two very important pieces of information for webmasters. These are:

1. What people actually search for. For example, Jayne Brown might be looking for an affordable mortgage refinance. She may have gone to Google and searched "cheap home refinancing". What Ms. Brown types in is called a keyword. This essentially means what the person types into the search engine in order to find related information on the subject.

2. How popular a particular keyword is. When doing keyword research, it's also possible to find out how many times a particular keyword has been searched for. For example, it might turn out that 20,000 people a month search for "cheap home refinancing." When planning a marketing strategy, it's important to know how popular different keywords are.

Successful marketers on the Internet rely on a keyword tool to help them find targeted keywords, so they can build their sites based on proven interest from searchers. Keep in mind, the more complete any keyword list is, the more visitors a site is likely to get.

Good keyword lists contain a variety of different, but related keywords and every conceivable variation of those keywords. This includes synonyms, plural and singular forms of the keywords.

You can never have too many keywords. Not to mention, you should strive to add more keywords to your keyword list over time, for maximum results and traffic.

The simple truth is that keyword research is important for anyone who uses a website to earn money or wishes to boost their business to the next level. Although there are numerous types of people who can benefit greatly from good keyword research, here are three examples:

1. People looking for free traffic from search engines. Every website needs more traffic. You can never have too much. All you really need to do is figure out exactly which keyword people use when looking for specific products and services that are sold. Once that's known, the website owner can add content and use the right keywords in this content to drive traffic its way.

2. Anyone that uses PPC search engines. Search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN, will let people buy advertising on their websites. To make this work, you have to know what keywords people search for. Once that's done, you can start getting targeted traffic in 15 minutes or less. The more fine tuned the keyword list, the better the results are likely to be.

3. Deciding on whether or not to develop a product or service. There's no point at all investing time and money into a project if nobody is interested in it or searching for keywords you can think of related to the project. On the flipside, keywords with heavy search volume and a ton of related keywords would indicate a big demand, which would warrant additional research and consideration.

Keyword research is really the cornerstone of any successful business online and is absolutely essential to a websites success. If you don't perform keyword research then you will be less likely to succeed. Sorry to spell it out like that, but it's the simple truth.

Keyword research is important for helping webmasters and Internet marketers make sure they pick the highest potential, most appropriate keywords to drive qualified traffic to their sites. When qualified traffic lands on a site, the chances for conversions increase greatly.

Picking keywords by hand, however, is virtually impossible. Even when hundreds of hours are put into the effort, there is no data to show whether the keywords will really pay off. This is where a keyword research tool can speed up the process and ensure better keyword selection.

So, what is a research tool?

This is typically software or a service you can find on the Internet that automates keyword research. All you need to do is type in a keyword that pertains to your site's focus.

This can serve as a starting point for the tool to work for you. What the keyword research tool does is examine the keyword that is entered in it and also seeks out other related keywords.

If, for example, you type in the keyword "mortgage," a keyword research tool might deliver keywords like cheap mortgage, second mortgage, fast mortgage, mortgage interest rates and so on.

A tool like Ad Word Analyzer pulls this information from a massive database that is based on keywords people have used for searches in the past.

This means you are given assurances that keywords these it suggest are actually those that are used and therefore, valuable. In addition, you can see just how popular any keyword is.

Industry Information Revealed

One of the things that a keyword research tool can do very well is show you just how much about your industry you might not know or may have overlooked. The keyword research tool can reveal keywords that you didn't think of or forgot to use.

This simple fact makes them very important. It is never a good idea to rely only on yourself solely for keyword selection or research.

Bells and Whistles

In addition to building a great keyword list, you're probably going to need to expand, edit, save and manage your keyword lists. Ad Word Analyzer was designed to do this and a whole lot more.

Would you like to know how many competitors are bidding on your keywords?

No problem. Ad Word Analyzer gives you this extremely valuable data.

Would you like to spy on your competitors ads?

Piece of cake. You get a detailed insight on your competition without opening your browser.

Would you like to control your PPC costs?

Ad Word Analyzer automatically identifies your least to most expensive keywords.

The list goes on, and on… I suggest you visit AdWordAnalyzer.com to get the full story.

In summary, a keyword research tool is vital for helping you make sure your keyword list is lean, mean and focused, so you can target the traffic you really want.

Taking the time to use a keyword research tool can actually save a great deal of hassle and maximize your results with PPC and SEO traffic.

SEO keyword research is actually a lot more fascinating than you might realize. When it's properly conducted, you can peer into the minds of your potential visitors and see exactly how it is they look for products, services and information online.

When you have unlocked how people actually search for things related to your particular niche, you gain the ability to create content that is highly relevant, useful to your readers and that even boosts your credibility.

The trick is in learning how to address your audience and speak the same language they do. If you master this, you're likely to find your rankings with the search engines rises, as well!

Here are 5 keyword research tips to help you get maximum results:

1. Use the right tool. There are many different options for keyword research tools, but they are not all created equally. Google's Keyword Tool is a good free one to use.

However, consider using a paid keyword tool too. They often prove more beneficial. Ad Word Analyzer provides much more data than Google does, and you can easily filter and save your results.

2. Be focused. While it is tempting to think "keyword" really means just using a single word, in many cases it's the multi-word (eg. long tail) keywords that really pay off. For example, a doctor with a practice in Los Angeles probably won't enjoy very much interest or ranking for the word "physician."

A focused phrase that includes geography and specialty, however, will really pay off with targeted traffic. Think "los angeles pediatrician." When creating the right keywords, don't overlook the power of similar words either. For example, "los angeles children's doctor."

3. The numbers matter. Although it's true the actual reported numbers of monthly searches in keyword tools don't reflect all the searches online, the data is still a very valuable indicator. It is vital to ensure that enough people actually type in the keywords you are considering to make using them pay off.

Do temper choices with realism though. Expecting to rank high with an extremely competitive keyword is a tall order to fill. It's not that it can't be done, but it will require more work than getting a top 10 for a less competitive keyword.

4. Relevancy is crucial. Be certain to consider each keyword in regard to its actual relevancy to your mission. If you sell dog leashes, getting a high ranking for purple cat collars doesn't make a lot of sense. While it might gain you traffic, it won't be the right kind to translate to sales.

Keep your eye on the prize while selecting keywords to use and rank for!

5. Gauge keywords based on value. For each keyword, ask yourself if it can result in content that readers will find useful or interesting. Good keywords are those that can help satisfy visitor needs, help sell, and also generate incoming links.

Selecting the right keywords is vital to a website's success. When focused, relevant keywords are used and the right content is developed to support them, traffic and rankings both follow.

It's possible to blow an entire marketing budget on the wrong keywords. After all, if the keyword phrase "cheap DVDs" fits your business, it makes sense to try to get a #1 Google ranking for that phrase, right?

Wrong! If your "cheap DVD" business happens to specialize in only rare horror movies, what's the point of driving tons of traffic looking for romances, comedies and even action flicks?

Is it really important to you to drive untargeted visitors to your DVD site? Will any of these people really care about your rare horror movies?

Since the answer to that is probably a very big no, before you event start building a website – stop!

The first thing you need to do is find out what keywords really fit your niche. Whether it's your own products or you're an affiliate marketer, it doesn't make sense to start building a website before doing keyword research.

When looking at different keywords, resist the urge to set unrealistic goals, like getting a #1 ranking for "cheap DVDs."

It simply makes more sense to invest extra time in building a website with numerous specialty pages. Each of these pages can focus on its own targeted keyword like "cheap Italian horror movies".

The key is to focus on the real business goals of a website. The idea is to develop as many pages as possible that each include one targeted keyword, so they can rank high on their own.

More pages = more traffic. Plain and simple!

To select the best keywords, I suggest using a keyword tool for researching keywords. A good keyword tool will help you find targeted keywords, with much less competition.

This 'hidden gold' (as I like to call it), can get you higher rankings in less time, and without the hassle of highly-competitive keywords.

Once the keywords are selected, be sure to use them to your advantage. This means having them in all the right spots in the HTML coding…

The primary keyword for each page needs to show up in the title, description, headlines, first line of text, and at least a few times in the body text. Just make sure the text reads well and the keyword isn't overused.

Most people agree the keyword density of a page should be between 4% - 12%…

But, never sacrifice content quality for higher keyword density. You want the text to sound natural and flow well, or else people will exit quickly.

You can easily beat out your competition by selecting the right keywords and using them wisely on your pages.

If you want to boost your website's search engine ranking, keyword research is a vital component in the process. If you happen to target the wrong keywords, customers and search engines might not even know your site exists.

This means you are losing potential revenue, wasting time and gaining rankings that are irrelevant. To get ahead and stay competitive, you have to choose much more wisely.

The actual keyword research process involves several different steps…

One of the most important things to remember along the way is that you might not know what keywords customers use to find your site. Even if you think you do, you probably don't.

To really understand what they are looking for and how they are looking, you have to research your niche market.

To maximize your keyword research, implement these 5 tips:

1. Create a keyword list. Start out by creating a list of every potential keyword or phrase a customer might use to find your site. Think in both broad and very focused terms.

Brainstorm keywords that cover all of your products or services. Try to avoid really generic terms. Instead, focus only on keywords that are very relevant, but not necessarily obvious. Take a look at competitors websites and see what keywords they use.

2. Get a keyword research tool. With a keyword list in hand, you need to dig deeper to uncover the hidden gold!

A keyword research tool will help you find more related keywords you most likely missed in your list creation. Among other things, it will also give you an idea how many people search for your specific keywords each month.

Ad Word Analyzer is a solid and effective keyword tool to use for this task. As you're researching keywords, you be sure to keep an eye on how competitive they are too (eg. the number of ads and competing websites on Google).

This can help you decide how much effort to put into trying to rank for each keyword. If there's too much competition, you might consider trying to rank high for a number of long tail keywords (4 - 6 word phrases) instead.

3. Refine your keyword list. Once you've done your research, it's time to fine-tune your keyword list choosing only the keywords you want to focus on. It's usually best to choose 5 - 10 keywords to start with.

You can always use more keywords from your keyword list later on to build additional pages. In fact, you should plan on doing this. Search engines love when you add content slowly, but consistently over time.

4. Execute your plan. With your keywords in place, it's time to make sure your website is optimized correctly. This means tweaking existing content and even adding more content. You should develop new pages to support the keywords based on what kind of content will work best (I prefer 500 - 600 word articles).

When writing, or having it done for you, make certain the keywords are used naturally and don't feel like they've been added for the sake of "stuffing" them into the content.

It also doesn't hurt to use your keywords in your Web page title tags, meta description tags, meta keyword tags, Alt text, anchor text and navigational links.

5. Keeping up with it all. Even after the initial round of keyword optimization is over, you'll find you need to frequently re-evaluate your strategy. If you find that some keywords aren't ranking well, make changes.

Tweaking is to be expected and normal. Not to mention, diligence can put you in the forefront and keep you there!

A good keyword tool can help you find targeted keywords with search volume, yet very little competition. These are niches that you can make money in with less effort than competitive niches.

Using the data from a keyword tool like Ad Word Analyzer, you can target and usually dominate these niches by running PPC ads and also by building search engine optimized websites.

You basically want to own as much real estate (listings) on Google and other search engines as you possibly can.

To save time and for ease of use, a keyword tool must be simple enough for anyone to use.

Well, that's certainly the case with Ad Word Analyzer…

Simply enter your primary keyword, hit Enter and you'll get the following:

1. A complete list related keyword phrases.
 
2. The number of recent searches for each keyword phrase.

3. The number of ads that exist right now on Google AdWords and MSN.

4. How much it will cost per click to be #1 on Google and the estimated daily clicks.

Within minutes you can determine whether or not you should use or ignore specific keywords!

Now this keyword data is great for PPC, but you still need more information when it comes to doing SEO for your website…

So, Ad Word Analyzer also tells you the number of websites listed on Google for each keyword. Then, it automatically calculates the exact search to results ratio by dividing the number of websites by the number of searches.

You can instantly gauge the actual supply and demand for all of your keywords by simply looking at the results/search ratio. The lower the ratio, the more likely you will be able to make money in that particular niche.

In my opinion, a keyword tool is one of the most important investments any webmaster can make…

Just don't try to cut corners and use an inferior or free keyword tool with minimal features. It's not worth the amount of lost revenue.

The Ad Word Analyzer keyword tool does much more than I've covered here. I suggest you pop over to AdWordAnalyzer.com and see why some users have called it the "Ultimate Keyword Research Tool".

Yes, you can do this.

First, and most importantly, you must understand how your ad gets to the top of the ad rankings on Google…

Instead of simply being based on how much you pay, it is based on a combination of your clickthrough rate (or how popular your ad is) and the amount you're willing to pay for each click.

Your competitor may pay more per click, but you can actually pay less and still outrank them by getting a higher clickthrough rate (CTR).

For example, let's assume your competitor has 1.0% CTR (their ad is clicked on once in 100 searches) and they're paying .49 cents a click for that keyword…

Now you may be only bidding .25 cents on the same keyword, but you have a 4.5% CTR. Well, you will likely rank higher and do so for a much more profitable price!

How cool is that?

This means if you want to succeed on more competitive terms, then you must tweak you ad until your CTR is above your competitors.

It's as simple as that.

Since your ads appear on Google almost instantly (you can also display ads on their search network and/or content network), you should monitor your campaigns throughout the day and fine tune as needed.

You also have the option of turning off search network and content network sites in Edit Campaign Settings to see if you are able to close more sales and increase your CTR. This is often the case, but you need to test this yourself to find out.

Remember, you must maintain a minimum CTR of .5% with Google’s entire network. If you fall below this for a keyword after 1,000 views by searchers, then the keyword will be disabled.

When this happens, and it probably will, don’t get discouraged. Be thankful.

These keywords often are not profitable in the first place, since they are not being searched by somebody interested in what you have to offer.

This is actually very easy to do…

In this example, I will use the keyword phrase "fishing gear" (you can use your primary keyword or just follow along for now).

Go to Google.com and do a search for "fishing gear". Then click More Sponsored Links ». Print all the pages, so you can review the ads.

Now do a Sponsored Links search for "free fishing gear" and print all the pages. Look for all the ads that are no longer displayed…

These advertisers are most likely using the negative keyword "free". Most beginners don't do this. These are the advertisers to watch.

I suggest you visit each of their websites and see what they are selling. If they offer an ecourse or newsletter, then sign up. You will also want to track their ads and ad positions on Google a minimum of once per week for a month or so.

Next do a Sponsored Links search for "free fishing abcdef" (you can use any random string of characters). Print all the pages. Ignore these advertisers. They are totally clueless and are simply wasting money.

All of the other advertisers are your real competition. Model your AdWords ads after theirs for maximum results. You will be very pleased with the results.

Lastly, rinse and repeat. Do this for all of your keywords.

I do suggest using a keyword tool to expand your keyword list and automate the process.

You might also want to check out Adwatchers.com. This tool finds profitable AdWords, Yahoo, and MSN PPC campaigns.