Blogging is an excellent way for one to make money online and share their knowledge and industry skills with others.
With blogging, you have the freedom to decide what to blog about, when to create new content, and how to position yourself within your niche.
You’re your own BOSS.
Unfortunately, there are many mistakes new bloggers make that oftentimes destroy the blog’s potential before it ever gets an opportunity to succeed.
This has little to do with your web hosting provider, blog name, blog layout, or even the quality of content you create.
I am talking about choosing the wrong niche for your blog. A niche, in simple terms, is the topic your blog will be about.
Most beginner bloggers oftentimes start general blogs about multiple topics – be it entertainment, health & fitness, weight loss, parenting, travel, etc.
Some choose a super broad niche like weight loss which makes it harder to establish oneself as an authority within the niche.
So, why is choosing a niche important?
Why choosing a niche is important
There are many benefits to choosing a niche for your blog including:
a). It keeps you laser-focused
Take a moment and think about this – According to InternetLiveStats, there are more than 1.93 billion websites, 570 million being blogs.
On top of that, more than 70 million new blog posts are published on WordPress each month, not to mention those on other blogging platforms such as Tumblr, Blogger, Wix, Squarespace, and Medium.
Your blog has to be very specific and crystal clear on its target audience. It helps you stay focused on the type of content you create.
b). It helps establish niche authority
It’s easier to build topical authority with a niche blog than with a general blog. Your readers will associate your blog with a specific type of content, which also makes it easy to brand your blog.
With that, you can quickly establish yourself as a niche expert because your readers already know what you blog about and can find solutions for their problems through your blog.
c). It helps build a niche community
Once you find readers with interest in what your blog is about, they eventually become loyal readers/followers especially if you create awesome and insightful content.
The same cannot be said about a general blog that focuses on ten different topics.
If you blog about gardening, your target audience is specific – anyone with an interest in gardening.
They eventually become your loyal readers and always waiting for your next blog post, guide, or gardening tutorial.
d). It’s easier to market a niche blog
Another benefit of choosing a niche for your blog is the ease of promoting it on platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, and others.
Over time you build social followers and connections who are passionate about what you blog about. They follow or connect with you to get updates on the topic.
For example, if you blog about making money as a freelancer, your followers will be those looking to start a freelancing career, get high-paying clients, or build a freelance portfolio.
They see you as an expert in the niche, which explains why promoting your blog will be easier because you already have a loyal following.
e). It’s easier to make money
Starting a blog on one topic makes it easier to make money compared to anyone running a multi-topic blog.
Look at it this way:
Blogger A: Has a single-niche blog with 100 highly-targeted blog posts on a single topic
Blogger B: Has a multi-niche blog with 100 blog posts on multiple topics
The first blogger can establish blog authority faster, which increases organic rankings & traffic, and as a result, can make more money.
It will take Blogger B more time to start making good money and may never establish themselves as a niche expert.
However, Blogger B will be able to earn more in the long term especially if each of the topics is profitable (they can create more monetizable content on different topics).
If you’re going to start a single-niche blog, make sure to not choose a very narrow niche because your revenue potential will be limited as a result.
And if you start a multi-niche blog, then know that it will take you more time to start making a decent income from the blog.
How to choose a niche for your blog
Now that you understand the benefits of choosing a niche for your blog, let’s have a look at how to go about it to find an ideal niche. Ask yourself these five questions to have a clear idea about what to blog about.
1: Are you passionate about this topic?
Passion is important when it comes to blogging. You need to be passionate about the topic because you’ll need the motivation somewhere down the line.
The reality is that most bloggers quit within 6 months because they chose a topic they have little interest in – maybe because someone they know is making good money with a blog in that niche.
There are many challenges you’ll have to deal with during the first year of your blogging. From low traffic and little income to other bloggers stealing your content.
Your passion will keep you going when you’re going through such challenges and your blog is not bringing in much in terms of revenue.
You need to understand that it’s a worthwhile investment and circumstances will be more bearable when you’re doing what you love.
So, take your time and write down topics you’re passionate about (write 15-20 topics). Then decide which ones you’re really good at and can create quality content on.
PS: Not every passion or hobby can make money. Be careful not to get misled by your favorite hobbies into thinking you’ve chosen a perfect niche for your blog.
2: Is there enough audience for the topic?
Identify if there’s enough audience interested in the content you wish to create.
Every niche blog is dictated by the target audience – who are you writing for and what does your target audience need?
If a target audience is too small then your revenue potential is limited and so is the amount of content you can produce.
If your target audience is too large then you will struggle to establish yourself as an authority – because hundreds of thousands of other bloggers target large audiences too.
So, how can you validate if your preferred topic has enough audience?
- Check if there are several successful blogs in the niche
- Check if your target audience asks questions on social platforms such as Facebook, Quora, Reddit, and LinkedIn
- Check the search volumes for major niche keywords
- Check Google Trends to see the popularity of the topic
- Check if there are premium resources, products, or services related to your target niche
- Check if you can build multiple topic clusters for the blog
If you get positive outcomes on these tests, you can be pretty sure your preferred niche has the potential you need to start a blog.
One mistake to avoid is choosing a very tiny niche. You don’t want to pigeonhole yourself because then you will be limited on the amount of content you can create.
3: Is the niche profitable?
We all want to make money blogging – so you need to make sure your niche can be monetized and has the potential to be a profitable investment.
You need to think like a business person because you will invest your time and money to start and grow a blog.
You need to buy a domain name, purchase a website hosting plan, buy a premium WordPress theme, and pay for other premium blogging tools if you wish to make money as a blogger.
These expenses justify the need to validate the profitability of the niche.
Do extensive research on how other blogs in the niche make money and the products and/or services pertaining to the niche.
You need to have a feel of whether you will be able to make money with your blog. As you do research on other blogs, jot down the monetization options they use such as:
- Display ads
- Affiliate marketing
- Selling resources
- Sponsored posts
- Offering services
Then identify if you can use at least 2-3 of these when you launch your blog. This will give you a clear picture of what to expect when you start your blog.
4: What customer problems can you solve?
The most successful blogs solve customer problems. They identify what problems their readers face and provide solutions through blog posts.
Do potential customer research to determine the reason they buy, what challenges they face, and to understand their buying habits.
This gives you a good idea of how you should position yourself within your niche, the type of content to create, and the most lucrative monetization options.
5: Can you consistently produce quality content?
Consistency is an important pillar for a successful blogging career – especially if you want to grow your blog’s traffic and revenue.
It is also one of the reasons readers do not read a blog. You need to update your blog with fresh posts and then interlink the new posts with related old posts.
Depending on the niche you choose, your content can either be seasonal or evergreen. Seasonal content performs well during specific seasons and after that the traffic will drop.
Evergreen content will always be in demand no matter the season or time of year. I recommend choosing an evergreen niche where your income does not have to depend on seasonal events or occasions.
Stay consistent with content creation. For example, you can decide to publish two quality blog posts every week or one post a day – then stick to it.
Frequently asked questions about blog niche
Let’s now have a look at some of the most common questions regarding choosing a niche for your blog.
a). What blog niches are most profitable
The most profitable blog niches include digital marketing, personal finance, health & fitness, blogging & making money online, personal development, and software reviews. New and emerging niches are also ideal for bloggers looking for low-competition niches.
b). How do I find a perfect niche for a blog?
To choose an ideal niche for your blog, identify topics you’re passionate about and good at, check if there is enough audience for the topic, validate the topic’s profitability, identify the customer problems you can solve, and determine if you can consistently produce quality content on the topic.
c). Are niche blogs still profitable in 2023?
Blogging continues to be profitable, with the top-earning bloggers making more than $1 million a month. New technological trends and inventions mean there is always a new untapped blogging niche you can get into and make money.
Final words…
Choosing a niche is an essential part of the blogging journey. You need to identify a topic you like and are good at and validate its profitability.
Identifying customer pain points will also make it easy for you to know the type of content to create.
So, what’s the main challenge you face when trying to identify a perfect niche to start a new blog?
