
In this post, we’ll walk you through what is marketing research in terms of building online businesses to increase your online traffic and sales.
Most gurus will tell you to start building a website as fast as possible so you can work on getting traffic and making cash.
You feel so under pressure to set up a website that you forget about other important tasks, such as marketing research.
Marketing research is a very important process and one that you should never rush. It takes time.
In this article, I’ll explain what is marketing research, and we’ll walk through a few simple steps that will make it easier for us to determine the success of our website and online business.
What is Marketing Research? The Basics
Marketing online is not as complicated as the experts make it out to be. It’s actually rather straightforward.
If you’re planning to build a website or already have one, here are some tips on how to find topics that you can use to bring in more customers to your website.
Marketing Research 101: Look for keywords.
Previously, we talked about how to find keywords to use to promote various products as an affiliate in any niche.
Keyword research is important for a number of reasons. Keyword research will allow you to target and market to your niche audience successfully.
You can target phrases that people search online, rank quickly, and bring in traffic to your website. So it’s easy to see how important this process is.
Keyword research will also allow you to determine the competition in your niche.
Got a Website Idea? Let’s See If It’s Profitable:
Most of the time people will make a website, work on it for a few months, and then scrap it.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing as it does provide you with a lot of experience that you can use for future projects.
It’s always good to work on something even if it doesn’t work out in the end, at least you tried.
So if you don’t get it right on the first try, there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s normal, and it’s a learning experience.
People rarely get it right on the first shot.
But here are some tips that will improve the chances of you getting it right.
Research Your Market: Ask the Right Questions
The internet is full of tiny communities of people and these people all have different problems.
They’re asking questions and looking for solutions to their problems every single day.
I always tell people to look for the questions first because the questions come from people with problems.
If you can solve those problems, you can make a ton of money online.
Can your website solve that problem? What is the purpose of your website?
Using a keyword tool to find these questions is simple, and Jaaxy makes it really easy because there’s a list of suggestions on the side.
It’s actually a brainstorming function based on the original keywords you were thinking about.
You can type in something rather vague, such as, “What is marketing research?” and you’ll see a whole list of keywords related to that phrase.

Point is.. Look for questions in your niche.
You can use the Google Search function along with the Alphabet Soup Technique to find tons of ideas to bring traffic to your website.
This is the essence of market research for any online business or website.
Here’s another keyword research tool worth checking out.
Start Your Online Marketing Research Like This..
I like to start my keyword research with the words “What is…” or “How to…” followed by the subject at hand.
This usually delivers some decent results and the suggestions that will make it easier for you to narrow down the keywords you want to target.
Then all you have to do is research your keywords for search volume and competition.
With Jaaxy it’s easy to see the competition of a keyword but I also recommend Googling the phrase.
Why?
Well besides getting other content ideas using my above linked “Alphabet Soup Technique” post, I can also see what sites I will be competing with.
Sometimes there are only a few websites competing for a keyword but those websites are authority websites.
Authority websites are much harder to beat for keyword competition! BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE.
Take a look at the Google results, if there are no authority websites that contain your keyword, that means there’s not a lot of competition.
It also won’t hurt to take a look at all the online communities and forums dedicated to your website idea.
Take a look at the popular threads, there’s always a pattern of people asking the same questions.
Research your market thoroughly and don’t rush the process because it’s the foundation of your business.
If you build your business on a flimsy foundation, it’ll crumble in no time.
Take your time. It’s okay to take it slow. There’s no rush.
Check out our recent post about the Top 10 Internet Marketing strategies and find what works for you.
Market Research Must Have’s..
Create a whole list of keywords in your niche that have really low competition and then sort them by from highest to lowest traffic.
Use the highest traffic keyword in your domain name. It’ll help with search engine optimization.
Then, the next step is to start building a website. If you already have one, maybe it’s time to build it out.
With this product you can build a website from scratch with their drag-and-drop website builder.
Plus you can get structured classes on SEO and daily training’s that will help your start or build out your website/online business.
It’s super simple and I highly recommend it.
There are more steps that you need to take to really research the idea of your website.
But the tips mentioned in this article will point you in the right direction.

Solve Problems to Connect with Your Niche
If you visit online forums in the internet marketing niche for example, there’s a good chance that you ran across people saying that you need to solve problems to be successful.
That’s a vague way of saying that you need to help someone.
A lot of people get into online business for selfish reasons, they only want to make money for themselves.
They’re chasing the cash instead of trying to help people.
That’s one of the reasons why there are so many scams out there because people are more interested in making money for themselves than helping other people.
But I have found that if you take the time to help someone by solving a legitimate problem that they have; it’s much more rewarding than chasing cash.
So ask yourself this question, “How can my website help someone?” or “How can this article help someone?”.
If you have no clear answer to those questions, don’t make the website and don’t write the article.
Focus on solving the problems.
Conclusion:
You can learn a lot about your market from keyword research.
Look at the competition and see if there’s a lot of competing websites for your keywords.
Take a look at the Google results, are the results from authority websites?
What questions are people asking in your niche?
Find the answer to those questions and you’ll have a key in your hands, a key that can unlock a bright future for you.
The tips that you discover can also be that basis for an eBook or digital product that you can sell on your website.
There are a lot of opportunities online, the key is having insight, daily knowledge, and support.
Here’s the absolute best resource for anyone who wants to create a meaningful and successful online business. I’ve been a member for over 5 years and don’t ever plan to leave.
It’s been the source to all my online success! You can do it too. 🙂
What is marketing research to you? There’s a lot of great ideas out there and we’d love to hear from you. Leave us a comment below and share this post. You just might help someone and that’s a cool thing.
Todd – Great information. I subscribed to your e-book and newsletter and I am looking forward to reading and implementing your laser target marketing suggestions.
I have been using Jaaxy for my keyword search and have located several low competition keywords for my niche. How do you measure or recognize when you are achieving success with the keywords you are targeting?
Thanks,
Patrick
Hi Patrick. Thanks for the sign up and your feedback on what is marketing research. You will know that you are completing proper keyword research and writing relevant content when you start to see rankings.
This is tough at first for most people because we want to see our awesome content rank right away. Be patient, focus on the keyword research and the quality content for the next couple months.
Then go to Jaaxy and start checking your rankings, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I spent times obsessed on this and it’s a waste of time. Focus on the work, use my Free Targeted Traffic eBook as a model and repeat the process.
Cheers,
Todd
I like the way you summarize affiliate marketing as helping people to solve problems. When you think about it, people look for something online to solve a particular problem.
Be it looking for product reviews or information on a certain topic, people are constantly asking questions and these are all business opportunities.
You got it down Edward. Now that you know this, the next step is providing reliable and valuable content based on what your niche audience is Googling. Keep it simple and you will connect with your niche audience – that’s exactly what marketing research is in the online world.
Thanks,
Todd
Hi Todd, Your article about marketing research is awesome. I especially like that part about doing keyword research. Without good keywords, traffic is nonexistent nor is SEO.
I signed up for your eBook, can’t wait till I get home so I can confirm my email and start reading.
Have a wonderful day, Keith
That’s great to hear Keith, happy to help. You’re going to love our Free eBook, it’s a short read and packed with helpful info that I use on each and every post I write. And yes, all my posts are based on targeting my niche market and connecting with what they are looking for on a daily basis.
That’s really market research in a nutshell. Enjoy the book.
Todd
Lots of helpful information here, I totally agree with your opinion on keywords and researching and finding the right kind of keywords related to marketing your website to gain traffic.
I also agree that too many people are online chasing money instead of spending more time learning how to do things the right way.
Also, do you have any thoughts on Long Tail Pro’s keyword research tool?
Keep up the good work. Cheers!
Thanks for your feedback Mark, much appreciated. Hopefully, the one’s that are googling “what is marketing research” will connect with this post and learn that’s it’s not that hard.
It really comes down with connecting with a niche audience. That’s it…CONNECT WITH YOUR NICHE!
Research what they’re googling and what the want and help them find their answers.
As for LTP, we just did our review of Long Tail Pro and we love this keyword research tool. It offers a few metrics that simplify keyword research, but I think the better value is in Jaaxy.
Best,
Todd
Thanks Todd, I’ll check out your LTP review. Jaaxy seems to do the trick for most internet marketers and bloggers.
One quick question, do you have some other quality affiliates that you like that build funnels and landing pages?
I’ve been hearing about this approach and would like to get your thoughts?
Thanks
No problem Mark, happy to help.
Funnels take a bit more money than ranking content organically, but can have a quicker effect on sales conversions.
One program I recently reviewed but the cost difference is considerable.
Thrive Architect (click to see our review) is a great starter option and the price is right as well as it’s a great affiliate program.
You always want to get the best deal on a product or education, but it’s somewhat relative based on the incoming potential. So I recommend you check out both and see which one works for you.
Cheers,
Todd
Really interesting information you have here on marketing research Todd. Keyword research is a really important aspect that can make or break your potential rankings. But you also have to gauge the competition, not only the number of competing pages but also the quality of them. The key though isn’t keywords but quality content and the ability to genuinely help your readers with their problems.
Great points Antonis and so true. Time and time again it’s about providing quality content and helping people. But it all initially starts with good old fashioned market research.
I find Jaaxy is the tool for me, but feel free to read our review of Long Tail Pro if you like.
Thanks,
Todd
Hey Todd,
This has really given me a new perspective to marketing research. It’s basically pretty simple if I’m hearing you right.
Study what your niche market is looking for, what they want, and what they need to help them with something. Then simply provide answers. Right?
BTW: I love your website. Clean, easy to read and navigate the layout. Your content is written perfectly…in my opinion… If I wasn’t a member of Wealthy Affiliate, I would join while reading your info, I finally understand taking time to cultivate content and not just going for the sale.
Thanks!
Hey Connie,
You’ve got it down perfectly. Just do marketing research or keyword research along with a little snooping in forums and you’ll do great.
The key is helping people.
Thanks as well for your feedback on my site, I try to provide the most relevant resources and info for those that want to make money online.
It’s a confusing topic and for good reason, people can make money online in a number of ways. What we teach here is to make long term/passive income online. That’s why it’s called Learn To Grow Wealth Online.
Keep us bookmarked because we’re always perfecting the topic with new info. Here’s another great resource like Wealthy Affiliate. They promote landing pages and lead gen, plus they’ve got a great affiliate program to create another online income source.
Click here to see our Thrive Architect review.
Cheers,
Todd