How to Validate Your Digital Product Idea Before You Build It (2028 Method)

I've killed more product ideas in the validation phase than I've actually built. That's a good thing. Every idea I killed at the research stage saved me 15–30 hours of building something the market didn't want.

Here's the process I actually use before building any digital product.

Step 1: Keyword Research (20 minutes)

My first question is always: are people searching for this?

I want to see search volume — even modest search volume — for the specific problem my product solves. I use a keyword tool (Ahrefs, or even Google's Keyword Planner) to look at phrases like:

• "how to [do the thing my product helps with]"
• "best [type of product I'm building]"
• "template for [use case]"
• "[problem] solution"

I'm not looking for massive volume. I'm looking for any consistent volume, which tells me people have this problem regularly and are actively looking for answers online.

If there's zero search volume for anything related to the problem, that's a yellow flag. It could mean the niche is too narrow, the problem isn't named the way I'm naming it, or there genuinely isn't a searching audience.

If there's strong search volume, that tells me there are people out there right now looking for what I'm about to build. That's a green light to keep going.

Step 2: Reddit and Quora Listening (30 minutes)

Search engine results tell me volume. Reddit and Quora tell me texture.

I spend time in relevant subreddits and Quora spaces looking for:

• Questions people ask repeatedly
• Complaints about existing solutions ("I tried X but it doesn't do Y")
• "I wish someone would just tell me how to..." comments
• Threads where answers are vague, unhelpful, or "it depends"

This is where I really learn whether my product idea solves an actual problem or just a problem I imagine people have.

I've killed product ideas here. I built an ebook once that I thought covered a common problem, then spent 20 minutes on Reddit before launch and realized people weren't asking about this problem — they were asking about a related but different problem. I pivoted before publishing and sold the revised version to the audience that was actually looking.

I've also found product ideas entirely through Reddit. A recurring question with no good answers is a product waiting to be built.

Step 3: Check What's Already Selling

I look at what exists and whether it's selling:

• Gumroad search: are there products on this topic? Do they have reviews and sales indicators?
• Amazon: for book versions of the topic — are there titles with meaningful review counts?
• Etsy: for template-type products, what has best-seller status in this category?
• Udemy or similar: if I'm considering a course, is there already demand for courses on this topic?

Seeing competitors isn't a bad sign. It's a good sign — it means people are already paying for solutions in this space. My job is to figure out if I can offer something more specific, higher quality, or better positioned.

Step 4: The Pre-Sell Test (Optional but Powerful)

This is where I'll occasionally go further before building: set up a basic product page with a description, some mockup images, and a price — before the product actually exists.

On MadeThis, you can set up a product page quickly and point some traffic at it. If people click "buy" on a product that doesn't exist yet (I'd then either refund or notify them of the timeline), that's real signal. If nobody clicks, I haven't wasted time building.

I've pre-sold two products this way. Both had pre-orders. Both shipped. Both did well. The validation phase effectively funded the confidence I needed to build properly.

Step 5: The Landing Page Test

A version of the pre-sell test that doesn't involve any commerce: create a simple landing page describing the product and an email signup form ("Join the waitlist — launching in 2 weeks"). Share it in relevant communities.

If 10–20 people sign up, that's real interest. If 0–2 sign up after decent distribution, reconsider the idea.

What I Do With "Failed" Validations

I've had plenty of ideas that didn't pass validation. What I do:

• Keep notes on why it failed (no search volume? No community conversation? Product already exists and is well-reviewed?)
• Look for the pivot — sometimes the idea is right but the audience is wrong, or the format is wrong
• Move on without overthinking it

The goal of validation isn't to find a reason to kill ideas. It's to find enough evidence to build confidently.

If validation confirms demand, the next step is building the minimum viable version and launching it. I always advocate for launching fast and iterating, which is why I recommend MadeThis — you can get a product live in an afternoon. Use /madethis-pricing to see what it costs to get started.

A validated product idea, built and launched in two weeks, is worth more than a perfectly-built product that took six months. The market will tell you what to improve.