How to Dominate a Niche Online

Everybody is an expert in something, no matter how obscure it may be. Why not turn that expertise into something that could not only drive traffic to your Hubs but also establish you as an online authority in a certain area?

You can do this on HubPages by publishing a collection of Hubs around your niche.

Here is how to get started on your own:

1. Evaluate your areas of expertise: Are you an expert in developing film? Building backyard play structures? Vintage shoes? Consider the areas in which you excel or have particular interest - these are excellent potential topics to write about! Write out a list of your top interests and specialties. Add to that list some areas in which you wouldn't mind becoming an expert.
2. Choose a niche topic: Out of all these subjects, choose a topic that you think has the greatest potential to attract readers (and be fun to write about) while still being niche enough to not be extensively covered already.
3. Research that niche online: Use the Google AdWords Keyword Tool to research subjects you would like to cover. As you find popular queries that are not well-addressed by the existing search engine results, make a note of them. These may be excellent titles for future Hubs. If you choose black labs as your niche, the Hubs you plan to write might therefore be: Adopting Rescue Black Labs, How to Train a Black Lab, How to Housetrain a Black Lab Puppy, How to Choose a Black Lab Puppy, Common Health Problems for Black Labs, How to Choose the Best Dog Food for Black Labs, etc...
4. Start writing: Begin writing and publishing Hubs on the lists of keywords in your niche that you discovered have the potential to drive traffic. Each Hub must be unique, able to stand on its own, well-written, and populated with helpful images, video, links, or other capsules that help to make them into excellent resources.
5. Connect your Hubs: As you develop your niche, make sure that the Hubs link together. The linking tool is a great way to link to other Hubs about your topic and many times your own Hubs show up in the queue. You can also use the Groups tab to easily group your Hubs under a topic. When editing your Hub, click the "group" tab in the box on the right. You can easily add, update and move around your Hubs into groups under your my account page.
6. Update your Hubs and continue to add to the collection over time: As time goes on, be sure to maintain and update your Hubs as conditions change, you learn new things on the subject, and time progresses. Also, keep adding Hubs to any group you create whenever a new sub-topic within that niche comes to mind!

You Want to Attract Visitors

For one thing, creating a collection of interlinked Hubs on a certain topic help you attract visitors from search engines. Search engines will see that each Hub on this niche topic is supported by a network of other Hubs that also cover this topic. Creating a collection of similarly-themed Hubs also allows you to really delve into specific topics without seeming too obscure. By creating a connected body of Hubs on a subject, a Hub on a more general keyword might even have a chance on beating the competition.

Here is an example. You might be an expert on crème brûlée, but as it stands, competition for the term "crème brûlée" is too fierce. If, however, you developed a themed cluster of Hubs about all things crème brûlée (the best torches, the best dishes, different recipes, different cultural variations, the best restaurants serving it, different methods used, famous movies featuring the dessert, the history of the dessert), and connected them all, chances are that a "Crème Brûlée" Hub that you write will be better suited to hold its own against the competition.

You Want to Develop an Online Reputation

Dominating a certain niche online is also a great way to begin building a career. If you want to start a business of designing and selling jewelry made from World War II weaponry, a great way to get your name out is to become the expert on that jewelry niche by writing a bunch of Hubs about it. If, then, someone were to search "bullet necklace" or something of the sort, your Hubs would come up, and they might discover you. What's more, if someone wants to research your reputation as a jewelry designer, they might Google you and find that you have written prolifically on the subject, and they will be more likely to realize that you really are an expert worth heeding.

You Want to Develop Skills and Expertise

What's more, writing extensively on a niche topic can be really fun! You can use a niche-dominating project as an excuse to develop your skills or expertise in a certain area, or to learn and write about something you don't know much about, but have always wanted to research!

At any rate, finding a topic and writing a collection of Hubs on it is a great Hubbing strategy. We hope you give it a try!