Most of the Internet is based on keywords, they are how web surfers find the information they are searching for and it’s how websites get found.
Some are more popular than others and are capable of bringing mass traffic, others not as much.
All of this depends on the amount of searches a keyword has, how often people use them when searching online and also the amount of competition that exists for them in the search engines.
Some marketers claim that picking extremely competitive keywords is key to earning a fortune online, while, others point out that the more competitive the market, the more challenging your competition, the more complicated the optimization process and so making any real money is impossible because it will be too difficult to rank for these terms.
So, who is correct?
The truth is both viewpoints are correct, and choosing highly competitive keywords has its pros and cons.
Pros And Cons Of Choosing Very Competitive Keywords And Niches
Pros:
For the most competitive terms the market is actually big enough to permit numerous businesses to flourish and, for those who have competitive products in addition to great ideas, the only real limit to the amount of money that can be made is the search volumes of the keywords in that market.
There will be a lot of examples of what sells and what doesn't, and also what search traffic finds appealing, as well as, the sites Google chooses to rank for those keywords.
If you don't have a product or service of your own, you can certainly locate a competitive top quality product to market as an affiliate. There will be an abundance of affiliate programs to choose from in popular markets.
You can cater to many thousands of web surfers, and depending on the keywords you choose for your site, this number can easily climb to millions of visitors per month.
In highly competitive markets you have many alternatives to make money online.
There are many marketing methods to promote high competition keywords, including, but not limited to, pay-per-click, email marketing, forum marketing, content marketing, social media, blogging, etc.
Word of mouth marketing and social media are such venues that can make anything popular and if you have a top notch product or really offer something of value, these can be the ideal venues to get the word out about your site and build a loyal following. Once you get mass traffic on your own, and become known online, Google will often rank you after the fact.
Cons: 
There will be a mass amount of competitors, in both organic and paid search results. You will have to invest a serious amount of time, cash and effort in order to rank for competitive terms, some terms that are dominated by big brands may be impossible to rank for.
Search engines, especially Google know which keywords are the most valuable, those “money keywords” will be the hardest to rank for and sometimes impossible as the top pages of the SERPS will be dominated by aged domains who have earned trust from Google and well known brands.
It will likely take serious time to let the world know of your products existence, and to engage a following. Nonetheless, as stated before, whenever you do get that following, and make headway in SERP rankings, the income opportunities are unlimited, your online business can easily grow and the possibilities will be infinite because the demand is so great.
Bottom Line
When you choose a competitive niche and you target competitive keywords, you make the first step towards becoming a brand in that niche and, when you offer high quality products or services your success is that much closer in sight.
Focus on getting noticed, networking with bloggers in your niche, and social media, build a following and Google will follow you. One thing is sure, in competitive niches with highly searched for keywords, there are no limits to earning potentials.
