Even the biggest sites in the world are niche websites at heart – most pages on those sites cover a single idea or have a single main focus.

Plus Google and the other search engines don’t really rank entire websites – they rank the pages on those websites and do their best to put them in order of relevance.

But how can you come up with profitable niche website ideas and what should you do with those ideas once you’ve got them?

Although we’re talking about website ideas, I’m going to concentrate on making money from the individual pages on the website. Depending on the domain name you’ve chosen, this could be related to the domain name (if you’re using a domain related to your topic) or just anything (if you’re using a generic domain name or a site like Squidoo).

I’ve discussed the easiest way I know of to come up with ideas on this page about keyword research.

Once you’ve found a number of potential phrases (or, as you get better at this, whilst you’re doing your research) then you need to decide whether or not the phrase is likely to be profitable.

Because this kind of low volume keyword often doesn’t show up in Google’s keyword tool, you won’t necessarily get many clues from the number of advertisers. Some of the most profitable niche website ideas I’ve found don’t have anyone advertising there.

But there has to be what’s usually called “commercial intent” in the phrase.

I normally rule out any search that includes words like “free” as people who include that are typically searching for something they don’t have to pay for.

That said, if there’s an affiliate program I’m a member of that offers a free course that then leads on to bigger and better things, I have been known to change my mind.

For instance, a big subject like Google Adwords can’t be summed up in a short course so I’m happy to promote a course that is essentially a free beginners course that leads on to more comprehensive courses for those who need them.

So you need to use your judgement.

But, as a general rule, “free” is worth avoiding.

Once you’ve decided on a web page topic that you think will be profitable, you need to create some content for that page.

Use the search phrase that you found as the basis for the title – most of the time, Google will use that in the search results (unless it thinks it knows better).

Then write about the phrase.

Don’t sweat about keyword density or even the length of the page.

Keyword density is one of those phrases that got used a few years ago and has stuck. Even though an analysis of the pages in Google’s results doesn’t really show any “preferred” keyword density.

Instead, write naturally.

That’s what searchers want – not something that’s been stuffed so full of keywords that it doesn’t make sense and reads like gobbledegook.

Sometimes that approach catches me out – sites like EzineArticles have a maximum keyword density of 4% currently and sometimes an article makes more sense before the keyword density has been cut down than it does afterwards.

But that’s the fun of computers making up the rules and another plus point in favour of using your own website.

The length of the page is another hotly contested subject.

Article sites want at least 400 words, as if that’s a magic number that Google won’t index pages that have less words.

Which is absolute rubbish.

If you’re just looking for whether or not it’s likely to rain in the next couple of hours, you don’t want to have to wade through a whole essay. The same goes if you’re looking for the result of a match or competition – a few words (team names and score) is more than enough.

Other times, if the subject is complicated, a few hundred words won’t be enough and you may need over a thousand words before you’ve even scratched the surface of what you need to cover.

The important thing is not to bore your reader.

You should consider using headings to break up the content (I’m not very good at those as you can tell).

And maybe images (again, not one of my strong points).

Then you need to weave affiliate links into your page.

Some people like bold calls to action. These can work but often we’re “blind” to them or ignore them – Google knows that, which is why the background colour of their sponsored links is as close to white as they can make it without upsetting the advertising regulators too much. It’s also why they only allow image adverts on the “content network”, not the main search engine.

So take a hint from people like Google who spend a lot of money researching that kind of thing.

Then notice your own behaviour when you’re using a site like Wikipedia – you’ll click the links inside the article almost without thinking.

Replicate that on your site with affiliate links and you’ll soon start earning commission.

This is often called pre-selling and most people find it a lot easier than writing a pushy sales letter.

It’s a lot closer to recommending a product to a friend – you wouldn’t launch into a 30 minute infomercial pitch, you’d say that you use the product or that people you know have had good results from it.

That works just as well on the web as it does in real life.

In fact, the closer you are to being a trusted friend than a pushy salesman, the better.

Leave the hype to the sales page,

And if it’s too hypey, say that it is but that – despite that – it’s still the best product for the job.

Once you’ve published the page, move on.

Sure, check it for grammar and spelling errors.

But don’t try to hatch it!

Move on – it will take time for Google to index it and put it in the search results.

Check your stats by all means but don’t expect miracles in a few days (we’re back to hype again).

It’s far better to spend the time you would previously have spent fretting about whether or not you’ve found the most profitable niche website idea in the history of mankind (you probably haven’t) on writing more content.

Because ultimately it’s more content that wins out.

A 10 page website has double the chance of getting visitors than a 5 page website.

A 100 page website has ten times more again.

I like to aim for an average of 1 or 2 visitors per page per day once a site has started to mature.

Multiply that by quite a few pages and with a high click through rate to the programs I promote (the pages are hyper-focussed, remember) means I get high conversions when people reach the sales pages I’m promoting.

Do the same and you’ll be happy with your results.

And feel free to add your comments about this article below – I’d love to hear them!