# Finding niches, Method 1: reverse-engineering marketplaces (/docs/niche-research/finding-niches-marketplaces)

---
type: Document
title: "Finding niches, Method 1: reverse-engineering marketplaces"
description: Finding a profitable niche by browsing site-selling marketplaces, reverse-engineering a successful site's keywords, and watching for brand hijacking.
status: stable
order: 4
generated: { by: human:ahmedraza, at: 2026-09-15T18:33:56Z }
ksor:
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  owner: human:ahmedraza
  approval: { by: human:ahmedraza, at: 2026-09-15T18:33:56Z }
sources:
  - id: iskills-course-notes
    title: iSkills — course notes
    resource: "iSkills SEO course notes, compiled 2025"
trust_tier: unverified
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---

## The goal

1. Find a low-competition (untapped) niche.
2. Find a good competitor in it and replicate what works.

## Step-by-step

1. **Browse marketplaces** where people buy and sell websites: Flippa
   (flippa.com), Empire Flippers (empireflippers.com), Motion Invest
   (motioninvest.com), FE International (feinternational.com).
2. **Filter for high performers** — sort by revenue, profit, traffic, or
   growth rate; look at content sites, SaaS, e-commerce, or dropshipping;
   choose categories like health, tech, finance, pets, fitness, or hobbies.
3. **Analyze a promising site** with Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Similar Web — check
   its SEO, traffic sources, and backlinks, and identify what actually drives
   its traffic (organic search, paid ads, or social).
4. **Check keyword opportunities** — in Ahrefs Site Explorer, enter the site's
   URL, look at its top-ranking keywords, and find ones with high search
   volume but low competition.
5. **Analyze monetization** — see how the site earns (ads, affiliate,
   digital products, dropshipping) and which model fits the niche best.
6. **Validate demand and trends** — check Google Trends for growth or
   decline, and check forums, Reddit, and Facebook groups for active
   discussion of the topic.
7. **Choose and validate** — confirm consistent demand and more than one
   monetization option, and avoid saturated or declining markets.

## Reverse-engineering directly

`ahrefs.com → Site Explorer → paste the site URL → Keywords`, then filter for
the best keyword. Example subject studied this way: `capitalexotic.com`
(Capital Exotics).

The fuller version of the same method, worth running on any established
("macro") site: open it in Site Explorer, review its top pages, pull the top
keywords from whichever pages look strongest, then search those keywords on
Google's own SERP. This is the path from a macro site down to a nano
niche — one page on a big site can point you straight at a small niche worth
owning outright.[^iskills-course-notes]

> [!NOTE]
> If reverse-engineering a tool like Ahrefs or SEMrush turns up no dedicated
> website for a specific micro-niche, that is not disqualifying. If the
> intent is clear, search volume is high, and Google Trends shows consistent
> searches over the past 12 months, a dedicated site for it can still be
> created — the gap itself is the opportunity.

## Brand hijacking

Brand hijacking means targeting an established brand's name, keywords, or
audience within a niche to capture its traffic and visibility. It can be
intentional or unintentional, and shows up in SEO and affiliate marketing in
several forms:[^iskills-course-notes]

1. **Using brand keywords** — content built around a well-known brand's name
   (e.g. "Nike Shoes Review") to capture its search traffic.
2. **Affiliate hijacking** — ranking for brand-related keywords and
   redirecting users to affiliate products.
3. **Mimicking brand identity** — a site, logo, or content designed to
   closely resemble a well-known brand, to borrow its credibility.
4. **Paid ads on brand names** — running PPC ads on a competitor's brand name
   to intercept its clicks.

[^iskills-course-notes]: iSkills SEO course notes, compiled 2025.