How to Become a Known Niche Authority

When the topic of a particular product type, service, or area of knowledge arises, what name comes to people's minds? Who do they go to and recommend? Who do journalists talk to for quotes or interviews on the topic?

Web hosting provider explains becoming a niche authority

If a niche doesn't already have a recognized expert and you're knowledgeable enough about the topic, it could be you. Web hosting provider explains becoming a niche authority - Choose a niche, keep learning about it, develop credibility and recognition as an authority, and continue building that reputation.

Niche markets

Almost everyone is an expert at something. Or can become one. To target a niche market, you need to become the person or company that people in your target market seek for specialized products, services, or knowledge.

Large companies are less likely to serve niche markets, so there's less competition for them, especially when they don't already have a known authority. Being known as an expert in a particular niche market can help your business grow. People in your target market will want to link to your content and read what you write, and they'll talk about you and recommend you offline and online. And because of your authority status, other business opportunities may come your way.

Choose your niche and increase your expertise

To find a niche market that can be profitable for your business, look for a target audience with these characteristics:

• People who are looking for the products or services in that niche market but can't find them easily
• People who really want those products or services and will pay for them
• A group that's large enough to be profitable
• A group that's reachable and likely to grow

In other words, find a need that you can meet and that isn't being met fully, and then meet that need.

Look at what you're already doing and knowledgeable about. What requests do you get that your business can't meet? Are they requests that you could meet if you focused on them? Analyze what your existing customers have in common. What needs and wants do they have that you could fulfill? What knowledge do you have that people already seek you out for? Consider also the benefits your products or services provide and who else could benefit from them. There may be a target market out there that you haven't discovered yet.

Once you choose a niche, learn everything you can about the products, services, industry, and target market. Learn and track what other people say and write about it, including your target audience. Develop the products and skills that this market wants.

Provide value for your target market

One way to learn is by doing. Offer some of your services at no cost to get started, in particular to individuals or organizations that may want to link to your site to return the favor. Trade services with other businesses or individuals. Paid or not, provide outstanding service and products so that people will want to talk about you.

Give away more if you can: free estimates, free samples, free newsletter signups, free information at your site. Giving away something of value can lead to increased trust and help create buzz.

Write about your niche

Quality written content can greatly increase your exposure in your niche, especially online. If you have information and perspectives to share but can't write well, consider hiring a writer or editor to give your words a professional appearance.

Start a business blog about your niche, and add to it regularly. When people comment on your posts, respond. Comment in other blogs about related topics.

When you've established your blog, look for other opportunities to have your work published, such as article directories and trade publications. Write letters to the editor when your area of expertise is covered in newspapers or magazines. Take part in relevant forum discussions with quality contributions. Write an e-book to give away or sell at your site. Start an online newsletter.

What to write about:

• Information about the products and services in your niche
• New developments and other news
• What other people have written or said — but avoid bashing the competition
• What you're doing
• Your experiences with and perspectives on any of the above

Optimize your website for your niche

Have a professional-looking website and lots of content, and continue adding to that content. Aim for your website to be a rich resource of information. Link to related content at your site using anchor text in context as well as your site navigation.

To optimize your site for search engines, see the articles in the SEO and Search Engine Optimization category at the right. Links to articles on SMO, or social media optimization, are at the end of this article.

Reach out to your niche market

Speak about your niche. Be a voice and a face in addition to words, and you'll be remembered more:

• Look for opportunities to speak at relevant conferences and trade shows.
• Offer seminars and webinars.
• Create podcasts and webcasts. Get them added to podcast and webcast directories.
• Offer to be a guest on radio talk shows.

Have an online presence where your target audience may be, through advertising, online profiles, and participation. Find businesses with related products or services and look for ways to work with them, such as link exchanges and advertising on each other's sites.

Build your authority

Your website can be a growing showcase of your recognition within your niche. Continue adding links between older and newer related content at your site; doing so will help with search engines as well as with human credibility. Link to other sites where you've been mentioned or interviewed, and list your publications and speaking engagements. A news section or media room may be useful for this.

After you've become recognized as an authority, don't be afraid to describe yourself as one in bios and profiles. Don't go overboard with it, but if other people are calling you one, you can describe yourself as an authority too.

Related blog articles

• Branding your Website
• Build Your Subscriber Lists
• Do You Have Charisma? Then Sell It!
• Got Something To Say? How About a Webinar?

Related articles about using social media

• How to Market Your Brand via Social Media Websites
• How to Generate and Use Social Media Buzz
• Your Site May Appear on Digg — But So What If No One Diggs You Except Your Mom?

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