To find low competition niches in local lead generation:
- Brainstorm obscure niche ideas
- Look for near me services in local directories
- Consider emerging industries
- Identify less popular services from common niches
- Niche down three times
- Target cities with smaller populations
- Verify niche competitiveness using Google and SEO tools
I’ve been finding low competition niches in local lead generation for over a decade now. In this article, I walk you through some of my favorite strategies for finding low hanging fruit and how to validate whether a niche idea is actually low competition.
1. Brainstorm obscure niche ideas
Leverage your own mind and artificial intelligence to come up with niche ideas beyond what is typically promoted for the local lead generation model.
Reflect on your own unique experiences. Perhaps you noticed someone promoting an interesting service using signage marketing on your drive home earlier. Maybe you had a previous job you could build a local lead generation business around.
Prompt a generative AI tool to give you a list of obscure niche ideas that aren’t typically discussed for the local lead gen model.
The best niche ideas often come from your own life. Things you’ve seen, done, or thought about that others overlook. When you tap into your unique experiences, you’re able to think outside the box in a way AI can’t. AI is great for speeding up research and expanding on ideas, but it works best when it’s supporting your unique inputs. That’s why I recommend starting with your own mind and expanding from there with AI and other research methods.
2. Look for near me services in local directories
Browse “near me” local services on local directories like Angi, Thumbtack, and Yelp.
Angi’s “Top categories” section of the near me service page lists hundreds of niche ideas, many of which are low competition. Besides listing tons of uncommon niches like “swamp cooler repair”, they also niche down many services based on materials used or specific brand.
Thumbtack Services Near Me page has an extensive list of home improvement niches where you can find low competition ideas.
Click on a listing and enter the city zip codes you’re interested in targeting. Look for the number of businesses performing the service in the cities you want to target.
Yelp’s Businesses Near Me page features hundreds of local lead generation niche ideas under the Home Services and Local Services sections.
Click on a service you’re interested in targeting and start plugging in different zip codes of cities you’re considering creating lead gens for. You can start getting an idea how much competition there is in the city for the service based on the number of businesses that appear.
The “near me” service sections on local business directory websites aggregate all the services that businesses, contractors, and handymen have listed for offer. Not only can you find low competition local lead generation niche ideas you’ve never thought of, but you can also get a sense for the demand for the service based on the amount of listings there are.
3. Consider emerging industries
Think about new industries that are growing in popularity and the services that support them. Read business publications like MarketWatch and the Economist, browse business-related subreddits like r/Futurology and r/startups, and pay attention to what other people in the world around you are talking about or doing to spot emerging niches.
For example, it’s no secret that electric vehicles (EVs) are gaining traction fast. Besides the abundance of Teslas you see on the road in the United States and the success of its stock price, data from MarketWatch highlights a 21% increase in EV sales between 2023 and 2024.
Use a generative AI tool like ChatGPT to find out what services support these new industries you’re considering targeting. EV Charger Installation is one service idea to capitalize on the emerging trend of EVs.
Search Google for your emerging niche service idea in different markets to see how many businesses are already providing the service for this emerging niche. If there are a few websites and no Google Map Listings for the service, it’s a good sign that the service is growing in demand but is still low competition.
Emerging industries can be a good place to find low competition niches for local lead generation because there is likely new demand that businesses have yet to fully capitalize on. You can rank quickly and dominate local SERPs while the market is still underserved.
4. Identify less popular services from common niches
Check the websites of leading brands in popular niches to see what other services they offer beyond their primary services.
For example, this Chicago company primarily targets HVAC, plumbing, and electrical jobs. However, they also offer this interesting service called “UV Germicidal Lights” which is a service that goes beyond the standard HVAC business offering.
Search Google to see if other businesses are promoting the service in different markets. If you see other businesses promoting the service across the country, it’s a sign there might be demand for the service.
Less popular services in common niches often have clear search intent because they’re listed by established companies, which suggests people are already looking for or requesting them. Instead of chasing saturated keywords, you can reverse-engineer demand by spotting these hidden services on big brand websites. Then, build standalone lead gen sites that target them directly.
5. Niche down three times
Start with a broad niche idea, such as landscaping. Consider all the sub niches of the primary broad niche. Sub niches that fall under landscaping include:
- Lawn care
- Tree and shrub care
- Seasonal cleanup
- Mulching and soil work
- Planting services
Take a sub niche from this second niche layer and break it down into a third niche layer. Sub niches that stem from the lawn care sub niche include:
- Mowing
- Fertilization
- Weed control
- Aeration
- Sprinkler systems
Going three layers deep from a broad niche allows you to find low competition niches for local lead generation because most major competitors with strong websites target the broad niche rather than one specific aspect within the niche. That means you can create a website that is hyper specific to one service area and outrank the competition on Google for that specific service. Hyper focused content and more relevant backlinks to one specific service indicate to Google that you are an authority for that specific service.
6. Target cities with smaller populations
Look for local lead generation opportunities in cities with lower population figures between 15K-100K. Find these lower population cities by zooming out around bigger cities on Google Maps and then using Google to research the population sizes of different cities.
We normally tell students to target cities in the 100K-300K population ranges for optimal lead generation opportunities. Although cities in these ranges offer higher demand for more lucrative lead gen deals typically, there is moderate competition so it’s more difficult to rank a local lead gen site. You can find low competition opportunities for more mainstream niches by targeting small cities with less businesses operating. You can keep these deals lucrative by targeting high-ticket niches and coordinating a commission deal with a local business.
Consider ranking a roofing website in a city with a population of just 30K and coordinating a 10% commission with a local roofer with an average project size of $10K. Even if you just generate 1 job per month, you can still get paid $1,000/month from the site.
7. Verify niche competitiveness using Google and SEO tools
Check whether a niche is low competition in a specific city by performing a Google search for the niche + city combination. Look at the number of reviews on the Google Business Profiles (GMBs) that appear in the Google Local Pack. Review counts below 50 generally signal lower competition.
Leverage an SEO tool like Ahrefs to assess the quality of the websites that appear and determine the difficulty in outranking those websites. The Ahrefs toolbar provides an overall score for a website between 0-99 called Domain Rating (DR). Ahrefs DR in the single digits is generally very low competition.
You should always verify the competition level of a local lead generation niche idea because it enables you to invest in local lead generation assets you can actually rank for. Without doing proper due diligence, you might skip over a niche you thought was too competitive or try to target a niche with more competition than you thought. Evidence in Google SERPs and SEO tools like Ahrefs provide a clear picture of niche competitiveness to help you make smart decisions about which projects to pursue.
What are the top low competition local lead generation niche ideas?
The top low competition local lead generation niche ideas include:
- Sliding glass door repair
- Window screen repair
- Cabinet refinishing
- Stump grinding
- Grout cleaning
Is the local lead generation business profitable when targeting low competition niches?
Yes, the local lead generation business is profitable when targeting low competition niches. Low competition local lead generation websites can generate profit margins up to 95%. Low competition niches require lower investment in backlinks and content to rank on the first page of Google. As such, you spend less money to generate leads. Even if there is less demand and less opportunities to generate leads, low competition local lead generation websites are still highly profitable because the cost to rank is low.
For example, instead of spending $2,000 to rank a website that generates $2,000/month in recurring income, you might spend $300 to rank a website in a low competition niche that generates $300/month in recurring income.
Conclusion: Should you target low competition niches in local lead generation?
You should target low competition niches in local lead generation if you have less capital to invest into ranking digital assets. By targeting low competition niches, you can rank websites cheaper and faster to start generating online income from local lead generation. After you get a few of these digital assets generating recurring income each month, you can take some of your profits and start investing into local lead generation websites that target more lucrative niches.