4 factors to consider investing in any altcoin, in my opinion:
1-Purpose of the Coin
Check the purpose if it makes sense to you. Do you think its purpose will be reached? Do you think whatever it's offering will be used by masses? No need to be an expert. Just use a little common sense. Would you or other people use this tool or currency to do your/their daily transactions in the near future? If yes, just go for it
2-Road Map
Every coin must have a road map on their official website. A roadmap clearly shows where this coin has been coming and where it's going. On the roadmap you can see all the development has been done on this project. Also what's next and when these are happening. More targets and projects make the coin more valuable.
3-Developer Team
Who are the dudes behind this coin? Check their Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin Profile etc... See if there is any decent project they involved before. Check their education, where they worked before etc... This is extremely important. There are coins out there almost disappear because of the bunch of crackheads behind it. Non of the deadlines on the roadmap hit, no update, no any movement... At the other hand, there are very basic, simple coins with a great team behind it. Just make sure your coin is in right hands. And it's not hard to investigate. Just start with googling their name.
4-Community
That's another important point. When you get on the boat, you will need support. You will need some information source. You need to be under the same roof with other people who support the same coin as you do. Their reddit communities, forums, telegram groups etc... Check if the members are supportive, answering the questions, helping each other and uploading every important news constantly into related channel. If the community is strong, that means coin has a high potential to succeed. And also, a public Slack is an important criteria for you to take deep research into.
i came here to write same thing
for me this four title has the most important. after this four , i look for technical analysis.