Starting a blog may have always been something on your to-do list. However, based on the vast amount of blogs out there, you might ask, “what do I write about?” And if you try searching on the internet, you will end up with even more choices than you began.
This blog post hopes to help you make that choice; by comparing some of the predominant blog niches available. And the subsequent steps to choosing the right one.
What Is A Niche?
In the blogging world, a niche is generally perceived as a certain topic that a blogger specializes in. The contents are relative to specific themes and are considered well-thought-out, researched and trustworthy.
There might be mixed opinions regarding whether or not a blog should have a niche.
In general, though, niches act as a guideline to content creation and the accumulation of followers. Visitors who visit a blog that has no focus may tend to lose interest and will not be ideal, especially if you plan to convert them into paying customers.
Examples of blog niches
Here are some great examples of blog niches done right that you may refer to:
Fashion
Food
Sports
Travel
Lifestyle
Parenting
Gaming
Marketing
- HubSpot’s Marketing Blog
- Neil Patel
- The Unbounce Conversion Intelligence Blog
- copyblogger
- Marie Forleo’s Blog
Health and Fitness
Finance
DIY
Business
Self-Development
Technology
Temporary Infatuation Or A Committed Relationship?
As you might have noticed from the examples above, those blogs might have overlapping niches. Like Lifestyle-bloggers might also be talking about Health, Food or Finance. But having a niche, or multiple niches sets the theme of your blog and why people habitually visit.
The first question, therefore, is to ask yourself “what topics are you passionate enough to write about consistently?”
Skills?
The initial realization is that you should self-evaluate. Do you need the skills, or experience to talk about a certain topic? The answer to that is: not necessarily.
Skills and experiences are gained along the way as you mature in your writing.
Some of the best blogs to read do not approach the readers as an expert, but more of a concerned friend who genuinely wants to help. Unless of course, you’re talking about very technical terms that require expert opinions, legal advice or official researches.
Focus focus focus
The second would be to narrow down the scope of your topic. For example, ‘programming’ can be a colossal area of discussion. Therefore, focus on certain areas of programming to cater for your specific target audience.
The best way to find out your preferred focus is by browsing discussion threads online such as in forums or various social media platforms.
You can also do a Google search and scroll down to the bottom to see related searches that might be helpful.
Love, really?
So, blog about the things that you love. But what is love? It is the commitment to produce new, complete, helpful articles consistently. Daily, a few times or even once weekly. Posting at a regular schedule helps to give a certain air of assuredness to your followers.
That is the frequency needed to reach an audience size substantial enough to turn it into a full-time venture. The commitment and effort of putting that much quality content is the proof of love and the hill to climb.
This informed pessimism is the stage to ride through and persevere. If you have a full-time job, you would need to sacrifice your time until your blog is getting enough traction to replace your income.
Can It Become A Business?
A blog can have the potential to earn a 6-digit income. Just look at Neil Patel’s stats.
Monetization Strategy
When you already have a fair amount of blog posts, a minimum of around 6 to 10 posts, you can start applying for a Google Adsense account. That is if you’re not keen to offer products or services that may reward with a higher income but at certain preparation costs. You can also monetize with affiliate marketing programs at companies that offer such services.
Check out a post I wrote about monetizing your blog.
Benchmark Industry Standard
Once you have decided on a niche, these may be some concerns that arise:
- How do I create a blog post?
- What would the title be?
- How do I design my website?
- Is my writing good or meaningful?
To solve them, you will need to revisit the established blogs above or other blogs of similar niches and compare. Improve your writing skills, presentation, and website design to attract new audiences.
You can do a Google keyword search and find a keyword that is of similar meaning but less competitive to include in your blog.
Other than the related search method as above, when searching the post title that you wish to write, see if it is already written and create a blog to fill in the missing points or write a different topic altogether.
To gauge how your blog performs, install Google Analytics or other tracking mechanisms to understand which blog post received the most views and try to replicate it.
Start Writing
You may have had your chosen niche for some time now but is unable to proceed for some reason. I am here to tell you that the second-best time to start writing your blog is now. The best time to start was when you had that niche chosen in the first place.Ideas are cheap, execution is everything.
Yes, it’s going to be hard at first. But you have to do the hard things every day. Then it will get easier.
To help you start, here are a few affiliate links which you can choose from and is best if you want to use WordPress or other Content Management Systems (CMSs). The lowest cost would be any shared hosting plan that is inclusive of a custom domain.
If you know how to program and would like to code your blog, I would recommend using a Git provider such as Github and hosting it on Netlify, which also offers a custom domain at a reasonable price.
Yes, there are free alternatives such as:
- CMS
- code yourself
- Free Tier at Netlify
- Github Pages
You can use the free alternatives as a start, however, the difficult part is when you want to start monetizing your blog as ad networks would require a custom Top Level Domain (TLD). Other than that, your website visitors would trust a domain such as YourDomain.com or YourDomain.net rather than YourDomain.blogspot.com.
Conclusion
Choosing a niche may take some time. So sleep on it. Read more blogs. Find your inspiration to write, and most importantly, focus on providing helpful content for your website visitors. Do you have a niche that you’re thinking about? Or have you created your website? Comment here and share your journey with us.