Grand thought for:

I'd like to start a list of tips and techniques on how to generate ideas for (hopefully profitable) web site ideas.

With grand fail to follow BECAUSE those who have success aren't about to share that info with competitors for all the reasons that don't need to be expressed. As to the opening query, here's my response. Some serious, some tongue-in-cheek:

1 - Modify a known success (first MySpace, then Facebook)

No thanks. Don't have the VC to get 'er done.

2 - Check Alexa Top 500 sites (alexa.com/topsites)

Alexa? What is that? (Facetious)

3 - Make a list of problems - many web sites solve some type of problem

And MOST are topic generated not problem solvers. Only Democr... er... lib... er... those kind want to solve "problems"

4 - Make a list of things you love to do - hobbies, passions, etc. and focus in those areas.

The majority of web sites. Pick a theme and jump on it like white on rice!

5 - Check Flippa to spot hot selling web sites to see what's in demand

Go to Walmart and see what sells, then mimic them.

6 - Record all of your web site ideas somewhere

Done. Just won't share them. Too many trolls out there! (Grins)

7- Ask people what kind of web site they would like to exist

Ordinary marketing. This should be done first if commerce it in the mix.

8 - Google Trends - check for latest trends

There's more than one pony in the race. Google does not always win.

9 - Check for popular Facebook groups

Social is highly OVER-RATED. Haven't seen any "bucks" from FB yet.

10 - Take note of really active forums to get ideas

Good thought. Where to rip the "next big thing". We're all working on that!

All i can say is that in the last 15 years or so that i work online, the best ideas have come from my community and not from myself. Either my community used my product/service in a way i never would have imagined, or they pointed me to a direction and explained the "real" need they have...

so on top of my list would be start with a community around your website,

LOL @tangor . . .

viggen has hit on the essence I think.

explained the "real" need they have...

New web site ideas come from one place, and one place only:

Make a list of problems - many web sites solve some type of problem

Not many . . . ALL. All that are successful anyway. It depends on the interpretation of "problem." I'm bored = watch video . . . etc.

Find problems that people need to solve that are not already solved on the web. Come up with those and execute it well, you're golden.

@tangor nice list... heheh -

of course I know nobody that has a clue would ever give away a specific niche, but what I'm really shooting for is something everyone can use to generate ideas.

One technique that has worked very well for me is to build a site that sells a product/service that I need. It worked easier in the 90's but one such service generated a lot of moola for me back then. Nobody else was providing the service so I filled the need and cashed in.

Network with the most intelligent people on Linked in. Don't waste time with the opposite.

Here's one secret I'm hesitant to give out, but since I love you guys, here it is:

Go to Flippa.com - check and see what types of sites are selling... and do the same thing, or make a better version. :)

tangor, can I recommend reading up on game theory? Maximising the groups agreggate utility is often more powerful than ones own. I got nothing to hide :) :)

Any other ideas out there?

Stay up late drinking with your web pals.

Some of the best ideas are 100 proof.

perhaps u can visit some script sites like hotscripts.com, justclone.com
etc and get some ideas

Attend a party, or other gathering, and ask people what's really bugging them lately. Find out what problems people are dealing with and try to create a solution, them build a website around that.

Apply a popular business model for a new niche. LinkedIn started out as the MySpace for professionals. There are several new startups that are modelled as the "Groupon for real estate", "Groupon for jewellery",etc. I am not saying this will be a successful model, because not too many startups that started this way have become as famous as the original ones. But if you are looking for ideas, this could be one way.

1 - Modify a known success (first MySpace, then Facebook)

Traffic does not equal profit. MySpace and Facebook didn't turn a profit for a long time. Is Facebook profitable? MySpace just sold for a fraction of what it originally was bought for.

2 - Check Alexa Top 500 sites (alexa.com/topsites)

Traffic does not equal profit or significant earnings.

3 - Make a list of problems - many web sites solve some type of problem

Now you are getting warm. But you have to think if the solution involves a product that you sell or an affiliate partner sells.

4 - Make a list of things you love to do - hobbies, passions, etc. and focus in those areas.

Whether you are passionate about a hobby is irrelevant to whether that hobby site will generate income.

5 - Check Flippa to spot hot selling web sites to see what's in demand

Maybe DNJournal may be a better resource?

6 - Record all of your web site ideas somewhere

Good idea.

7- Ask people what kind of web site they would like to exist

People don't know what they need. Did people sit around wishing for an iPod before that was invented? Not really. They had a walkman/discman and were happy with it.

8 - Google Trends - check for latest trends

Traffic...
Does not...
Equal...
Earnings.

Google Trends documents the wave hitting the beach. Hard to surf that. To surg a trend you have to be there before it shows up on GT. There are ways to do that. Here is the top ten on Google Trends:

1. threadworm
2. jorge posada
3. detroit tigers
4. yankees
5. matthew shepard
6. anywhere but here
7. the league
8. oregon ducks football
9. ashram
10. westboro baptist church

Good luck squeezing a buck out of that.

9 - Check for popular Facebook groups

Traffic does not equal earnings. Popularity PLUS a way to sell something is what you're looking for. I'm repeating this because it needs to be said. Traffic does not equal earnings.

10 - Take note of really active forums to get ideas

Traffic does not equal earnings. There are a ton of active forums that aren't making ANY money at all for their owners. The activity is not a signal of a shopping opportunity, it's a signal that people like to talk about a topic.

Traffic does not equal earnings

While I do agree this is true, isn't it also true that building traction is one of the most difficult things to do on the internet? Facebook did not make money early on, and so was the case with Hi5 and the likes. But the fact that FB had more traffic enabled them to build a business model out of it.

Cross-selling is a pretty popular way to make money. There are a few promising websites here in India that let people recharge their mobile phone prepaid accounts online. They don't make much money out of this service but then earn through selling gift vouchers to the users visiting the site.

I guess with respect to internet, 'if they come, you can build'.

But the fact that FB had more traffic enabled them to build a business model out of it.

It's not the traffic that enabled FB to monetize. The key was the reasons people went to FaceBook. FB is a community organized around topics and relationships, both business and personal. LinkedIn only has a single topic, business back-scratching. MySpace only had one money-related topic, music. And that's in a decade when teens have grown up consuming music off torrents rather than paying for it.

Take a closer look at MySpace. The traffic to that site was from school age kids that didn't have money to buy anything. Google made the mistake of following traffic by guaranteeing earnings to MySpace. Google lost money and at the first opportunity to bail they did. Then Murdoch sold MySpace for less than what he paid for it.

Traffic is great, but the reasons people visit are what determine if a site is profitable or not.

But even Facebook feels like an exception to me because it's a rare and extraordinary example. I believe Facebook has a shelf life. The direction it is moving toward feels like AOL 1998. In 1998 who would have guessed that in 2011 AOL and Netscape would be as diminished as they are today?

Golly gee, kiddies... a month later and this pops up again? (bumps)

Glad some saw the humor in my comments and I accept the raspberries from others... but back to the original query of "How to generate web site ideas?" I'll offer the K.I.S.S. reply (keep it simple, stup...er simon):

Generate implies creating multiple sites on anything to make bucks so the answer is multiply anything subject/service for a site with attend expense and time. Can't be any worse than the more normal route of identifying a product/service in hobby or business with a set goal of production of same and... there you are. Done!

If not obvious, the word generate in web site terms gives me the shivers. Too many "automated" wannabes out there. Scary!

viralvideowall, you rightly added passions to the list. I read somewhere, to be holistically successful "make what you naturally do, interesting". In other words I try not to let money be an overwhelming factor on the outset, remember that in order to make it work - you need ***long term*** commitment. And with business acumen chances are high you will uncover all kinds of valuable insights and revenue generating opportunities along the way.

Having said that, there are exceptions. one of my businesses was deliberately chosen in a boring niche but only because I spotted a genuine opportunity and predicted nobody else would have the willpower to do what I did.

Leverage the most powerful forces on the universe: time and love! :)