How to identify niches using Topic Filtering

The more relevant your content is to a specific niche, the more likely you will get backlinks from that niche.

So, wouldn’t it be great if you could:

• Identify specific niches where you already have a presence – even if you don’t know it
• Identify niches where your competitors are strong… or weak
• Create content targeted at specific niches within your overall market – so your chances of success is higher.

Well, you can do all of these tasks easily with the topics filter in Site Explorer and I’ll show you how in this video.

Identify specific niches where you already have a presence

Every business serves multiple niches and this is likely to be reflected in your backlinks profile but most people have an imperfect view of the niches they serve.

However, you can use topic filtering to find them. Let’s look at WarbyParker.com, a great example of a site that serves multiple niches.

I go to the backlinks tab then choose topic and a dropdown menu appears.

This shows the major niches in which WarbyParker has a presence.

So, you can see society/ people 211, recreation/travel 155, business/marketing and advertising 148 and so on.

Now the purists among you might ask if these links are irrelevant and that might be true if the backlinks are random and unconnected. However, if the backlinks are meaningful – so there’s a clear reason for the backlink – then they’re natural and you can use them to discover niches and backlink prospects that you otherwise would not have thought of!

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Let’s investigate by digging deeper into the topics from which WarbyParker get links – and we’ll infer why the links were given.

So, on the dropdown menu, click on any of these topics and the filter with show only the top links within that topic.

Here’s the result for society/people. As you can see all the results are from that niche.

Let’s pick out this link from the art of manliness.com, we can see that WarbyParker gets the link because they sponsor a podcast on the site. You can also download all the backlinks in this specific niche.

Let’s quickly explore examples from the next 7 topics and look the reasons the link was given. Next, recreation/travel and I find this link from Downtown Madison. As you see, WarbyParker gets the link because they’re supporting a local event. Understanding the reason WHY the link was given gives you great insight into WarbyParker’s approach to PR and link building.

So that’s the first task from my introduction –  Identify specific niches where you already have a presence – even if you don’t know it. Just put your domain into site explorer and then use the topics filtering to dig deep into niches.

Let’s continue with the topic, business/marketing and advertising, we find a backlink to WarbyParker from the Marketing Insider Group, This link is given because of the quality of content WarbyParker create.

In Reference/Education, WarbyParker get a link from the Carnegie Mellon University, because one of their staff is interviewed in this article on an Unconventional Career Path.

Next, in Arts/Design, they get a link from a design blog because the writer was inspired by a quote from one of WarbyParker’s founders, “why are glasses so expensive?”

Identify niches where your competitors are strong… or weak

Exploring why the link was given covers the second of my tasks. Add your competitors to Site Explorer and dig into the topics they get links from. The reason the link was given is usually obvious. Can this inspire you to do something similar or even better?

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Create content targeted at specific niches within your overall market

Let’s look again at Warby Parker. In computers/Internet, they get a link because they applied a technical innovation to a mundane task – of publishing an annual report.

They developed a tool that allowed customers to create their own Warby Parker annual report.

Look at Society/Religion and Spirituality and Warby Parker get a link from the Global Citizen blog, Apolis because they opened a gallery in the comminity.

Finally, let’s look at Recreation and food… this link here from the Hitchcock restaurant press page, where they reference a post on the Warby Parker blog…

Look at the post and we see a creative approach to content – a story about the chef, Brendan McGill on how he sources the best food for his restaurant – 

Warbyparker publish customer stories – and not because they’re about glasses, but because they’re interesting stories.

 Warby Parker’s blog has simple sections:

• To see
• To read
• To buy
• To meet
• To do

And that approach covers the last of my 3 tasks – but the one with the most scope – create content that is targeted at specific niches within your overall market.

For me, this quick look at WarbyParker has implications for what we see as relevant – it’s not about a simple definition – yes or no.

It’s much more subtle than that – if there’s a meaningful connection between the source and the target, then, that’s a good backlink to have.

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