What is the best niche for affiliate marketing? Choosing the right topic and scope can make all the difference for affiliate and other online marketers.
Too broad a niche and it is very difficult to compete for SEO traffic. Too narrow a niche and their is not enough traffic. A niche you have no interest in — hard to stay motivated. There are many approaches to finding the best niche and we have an in-depth article about the process of niche selection.
There are lots of factors to niche selection. Do you have expertise? Does it interest you? Is it too competitive? Enough reader interest?
But what about profitability?
Most Profitable Niches
It only makes sense to focus on niches that have a history and track record of being profitable on-line niches.
Most marketers also need SEO traffic. Paid advertising and similar traffic strategies are expensive. Almost all of your potential revenue sources will benefit from quality search ranking articles — Google traffic is critical to most marketers success. This means lots of strategically planned content.
Choosing a profitable niche can involve a few strategies …
- Targeting the right sub-niche
- Finding generous affiliate programs or products
- Your Money Your Life (YMYL) & EAT issues
- Competitive research
- Understanding Adult, Gambling etc. issues
Many SEO tools can be helpful in measuring the competitiveness of niches. We have an-depth article on tools for Affiliates and other online marketers …
Go to our affiliate marketing guide for more tips.
Your Money Your Life (YMYL) Niches
YMYL niches dominate when it comes to profitability. It makes sense, everyone wants to improve their health, body, relationship, skills and more. Anytime a niche is a life-changing or life-managing niche it will have an advantage over objects like kitchen appliances, furniture, sporting equipment, and other generic items. These niches are also not only evergreen but many are recurring items. Nutrition, makeup, skin care, supplements — these are not one-time purchases. This means the lifetime customer value is high to the merchant so they can afford to pay more to affiliates. Niches Included in this category are:
- Personal finances
- Investing
- Make Money Online (MMO)
- Insurance
- Health
- Fitness
- Weight Loss
- Male health issues
- Female Health issues
- Self Improvement
- Language acquisition
- Instrument and Voice
- Survival
There are some caveats though …
Google recognizes that these niches are are life-critical and allegedly tries to do a more thorough job of vetting and validating the authority of sites serving many of these niches. There have been updates focused on portions of the YMYL markets like the Medic update in 2018 that focused on sites in the medical, health and related niches. Google is trying to be very careful in these niches since poor information can have a large negative impact on you. It’s not like buying the wrong toaster. You need to project authority and expertise in these niches.
Google and SEOs often refer to EAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness). Though this is not really a ranking signal it is part of Googles Quality Raters Guidelines. So it is best to keep abreast of these guidelines and try to build as much trust and expertise in Google’s eyes.
1) Weight Loss
Weight-loss is always a winning niche. Many struggle with staying at a healthy weight. There are a number of diets and other programs you can consider to include or focus your niche on …
- Diet Ebooks
- Diet meal delivery programs
- Intermittent Fasting
- Keto
- Atkins
- Paleo
- Weight Watchers
- South Beach Diet
2) Health & Supplements
Alternative health and supplements are a huge market. Be careful with making claims or promises about the effectiveness of these products.
- Vitamins
- Muscle building and protein powders
- Sports enhancers
- Testosterone improvement
- Fat burning
- Shake mixes
3) Men’s Issues
Male Enhancement
Many men are sensitive to their size and performance in bed. As men get older they may find they have more problems with performing or that other medications are interfering with their sex life. Products in this area include …
- Pumps and other enhancement tools
- Viagra
- Cialis
- E-books
- Natural enhancement supplements
Hair Loss
No one wants to loose their hair. Recent improvements in male pattern baldness medications and techniques create a good affiliate market.
- Hair pieces and wigs
- Hair growth creams and supplements
- Hair transplants
4) Women’s Health
Women have unique needs and health issues. Products for menopause and natural estrogen replacements do particularly well.
- Natural lubricants
- Estrogen replacement supplements
- Hot flash relief
- Ebooks
5) Fitness
Fitness is huge market. From fitness equipment to coaches and training programs. There is of course Amazon and sporting goods stores but fitness niches often do best when you focus on specific machines or other products.
- eBooks
- Online membership programs
- Specialty fitness equipment
- Nike Reebok
6) Insurance
Insurance is an interesting niche. Most of the affiliate opportunities are based on a paid for action type of program. You are paid when your lead completes a form. Typically a request for quotation. This is a different model than an affiliate program where you get a percentage of the profit from the sale of an item. These sites often work best when the keyword focus is on info posts.
- Auto Insurance
- Life Insurance
- Travel Insurance
- Health Insurance
- Supplemental Insurance
- Pet Insurance
7) Credit
Credit niches are part of a broader personal finance niche. It is an evergreen niche that is in high demand. People are always concerned about their finances.
- Credit Cards
- Loans
- Credit Repair
- Credit Tracking
8) Investing
Investing is a powerful niche. From people to saving to buy a house to those putting their kids through college it is one of the most important items in most peoples lives.
- Investment advice
- Investment funds
- eBooks
- Gold and Commodities
9) Make Money Online MMO
The make money online niche is huge. Many people are looking for a side gig or a way to replace a cubical job with working online. It can be competitive with many sites focusing on this. It is best to narrow down a bit.
- Survey and other Get Paid To (GPT)sites.
- Membership Sites
- Software and SaaS products
- Training programs
10) Beauty
Go into any high-end department store, what department gets the most floor space and the prominent position … beauty and makeup. Follow the money. These products can be very profitable and the companies can afford larger commissions. Makeup customers tend to be loyal so there is a high customer lifetime value. A good strategy is to find specific trending specialty products and build high value funnels for them.
- Anti-aging
- Makeup
- Hair and nails
- eBooks
11) Dating
Well of course dating is an evergreen niche and a front of mind item — everyone needs love. But there are now so many different dating sites to choose from.
- Mainstream Dating Sites
- Dating and relationship advice
- Dating eBooks
- Mail order Brides
12) Self-Improvement
Humans have a built-in desire to improve. There are always things to learn, ways to make yourself better. These niches often have high payouts with many digital and non-physical products.
- Language Lessons
- Guitar & Music Lessons
- SAT, LSAT and other testing prep
- Public Speaking
- Membership programs
- Motivational books and seminars
13) Survival
The state of the world has many people nervous. Wars, riots, storms, global warming so many things to worry and plan for.
- Survival Go Bags
- Outdoor Survival gear
- Panic Room Equipment
- Home Security
YMYL Affiliate Programs
Platforms like ClickBank are dominated by products in the YMYL category. There are also many related programs at ShareaSale.
- Maude — women’s sexual health products. 10% commissions with a 30 day cookie and a 6% conversion rate.
- Truth about Abs — A best seller at ClickBank. Pays 75% on $39 eBook.
- Paleohacks — Digital and physical products in the Paleo diet area. The affiliate program is managed by ClickBank. Pays 75% on front-end
- Titan Fitness — Fitness equipment paying 5% with a 30-day cookie.
- NetQuote — An insurance quote aggregator. Like the Kayak of insurance. This is a leadgen program paying $3-$20 per completed quote request form.
Technology Niches
Tech niches make up in commissions what they make lack in total niche size. Finance and Weight-loss may have mass appeal but hosting, SaaS and other products in the tech space are often the gifts that keep on giving. Since many of these services have a monthly charge to the buyer, the companies can pay you a monthly commission — or big fat signing bonus. Niches Included in this category are:
- Hosting
- VPNs
- SaaS Services
- Training programs and memberships
- Software
These programs pay so well they can be very competitive. They can be tricky to rank if you are not considered an authority by Google. Best to focus on a narrow sub-niche to start with.
For instance, rather than focusing on hosting you might target WordPress Hosting. As your site grows you can add other hosting categories.
14) Hosting
Hosting is such a profitable niche. That makes it very competitive. But the rewards are there. Hosting companies are an essential item, that is a monthly service and has high margins and life-time customer value. The perfect recipe for a great affiliate program. New sites will need to niche-down a bit to start. Something like Managed WordPress Hosting.
- Business hosting
- WordPress Hosting
- WooCommerce Hosting
- WIX and other commerce platforms
- Shared Hosting
15) SaaS
I love SaaS affiliate products. They are almost all recurring commission products and new ones come on the market regularly.
- eMail Service Providers
- Funnel Builders
- Accounting products
- Cloud Storage
16) Training and Courseware
Many affiliate programs end the final lesson as … “the best affiliate program is for the training you just took”. Wealthy Affiliates comes to mind. A bit self serving but they training programs are good moneymakers.
- MMO Training
- eLearning sites
- Udemy
- eBooks
Technology Affiliate Programs
Every hosting company has an affiliate program. Most pay very well. Since people don’t easily change their hosting platform most stay with it for a long time. This creates a very high lifetime value and can support big commissions for customer acquisition. SaaS products are generally charged on a monthly basis like hosting. Most SaaS products offer recurring commissions some hosting companies also pay a monthly commission though most pay a single large up-front bounty.
- wpEngine
- LiquidWeb
- Aweber
- ClickFunnels
- SEMrush
We have some related posts on this topic:
Pet & Children Niches
Pets and kids may seem like an odd pair for a category to many. But ask many a pet owner and they will tell you there pets are their kids. This is both an evergreen niche with new pets and kids being brought home every day, it is a recurring expense for the families. People will go hungry to provide for their families … these are not discretionary purchases. Included in this category are:
- Pregnancy items
- New borns
- New moms
- Children
- Dogs
- Cats
- Birds
- Reptiles and exotics
- Fish and aquariums
- Horses
These are both competitive areas. Like technology niches it is better to seek out a less-competitive sub-niche and focus on that to build an audience and Google’s trust.
17) Pregnancy Niches
Pregnancy niches are great. Everyone loves a mom-to-be. Grandparents to husbands want to spoil her and the money flows.
- Pregnancy Supplements
- eBooks
- Alcohol-free drinks
- Pregnancy pillows and comfort
18) Newborns
Everyone loves a new baby. And new babies require new things. It is a competitive niche with many Mommy bloggers out there. Some sub-niches you may want to consider are ..
- Baby clothing
- Supplements and Vitamins
- Strollers and bouncers
- Baby learning aids
- Baby intercoms
19) Dog Niches
Dogs are the most popular pet. They are so popular that it is a very competitive niche. Best to focus on a breed or two to get started. Dog Training is also a possible niche. The five most popular dog breeds are…
- Labrador Retriever.
- German Shepherd Dog.
- Golden Retriever.
- French Bulldog.
- Bulldog.
20) Cat Niches
Cats are a close second to dogs as domestic pets. Cat lovers are fanatical about their furry friends. Like dogs there are specific breeds that you can focus on. The most popular breeds to consider …
- Siamese
- Maine Coon
- American Shorthair
- Persian
- Ragdoll
21) Reptile & Exotics
Many people want something less pedestrian than a dog or cat. These are people who own snakes, lizards, ferets, pot belly pigs etc.
- Snakes & Reptiles
- Pot belly pigs
- Birds
- Spiders and more
22) Horse Niches
I have had two horses, a Morgan and a Thoroughbred. I can say without reservation, horse people are crazy! In a good way. They would however spend the rent money on their horse if needed.
- Supplements
- Saddles
- Training and Lessons
- Ferrier Services
- Insurance
23) Fish and Aquarium
You just need to watch one episode on Tanked to see that people spend lots on their fish and aquariums. They are also common in commercial settings where budget is less of an issue.
- Exotic Fish
- Tanks & Aquariums
- Aquarium supplies
- Fish Food
Adult, CBD & Gambling Niches
These niches are grouped together because they have additional complications due to their topics. They are certainly among some of the most profitable niches going but many ad platforms like Adsense will not allow you to use them. You may have trouble finding payment processors if you sell your on products on websites in these niches. What you will find is that there is a dedicated set of ad and financial companies that cater to these topics. Niches Included in this category are:
- Adult
- Gambling
- CBD and Cannabis
- Crypto
I would be careful to segregate sites involved in these areas from any of your other sites. It is a good idea to get legal advice to be sure that you are compliant with regulations around these topics.
24) Gambling Niches
Gambling is one of the largest and most profitable niches. The gambling sites make loads of money and can pay big bounties for bring them new customers.
- Gambling Sites
- Poker Sites
- Poker and Gambling Training
- Gambling chips, tables and supplies
25) Adult Industries
It is no secret that porn and other adult sites are some of the most trafficked sites on the internet. There are now many other types of sites beyond just movies.
- Movie Sites
- Private Clubs
- Chat services
- Escort Services
- Sex toys
26) CBD and Canibus
CBD is hot, add in the legal places for marijuana and it is a huge market.
- CBD
- Canibus growing supplies
- Head shop products
- Corrective devices
- Growing Guides
27) Crypto
Crypto is growing quickly. The trend is up. Crypto fans are very loyal and active market participants.
- Crypto Wallets
- Exchanges
- Training and Membership
Adult, CBD, Crypto and Gambling Affiliate Programs
Generally you don’t find programs in these categories in the big marketplaces like ShareASale or CJ. They are usually direct programs. Again be careful with these as your ad companies, PayPal and other partners may not want to be associated with them
- PrimeXBT Bitcoin trading platform
- bitbond Blockchain based bond marketplace
- LocalBitcoins Person to person bitcoin trading
- CrakRevenue CrakRevenue is a leading adult affiliate network.
- AdxXx is an adult advertising network
- Joy Organics A popular affiliate program with many CBD brands
Wrapping Up
Niche selection is of course a critical element in the success of your site. Whether monetized with affiliate programs, drop-shipped products or advertising you want to choose a profitable niche. Niches that have a great impact on peoples lives will always be among the best performers. It is best to find a niche where you can compete fro SEO traffic, so don’t be afraid to niche-down from a general category.
FAQ
What are the best niches?
Niches that impact your life will outperform general product niches.
Are Adult & Gambling niches safe?
You need to be careful with legal issues and partner issues. Companies like PayPal and your Ad network will likely not want to be associated with these topics.
How to make money with these niches?
These sites are monetized with affiliate programs, drop-shipped products, advertising and your own products.