Have millions of ideas swimming in your head but not sure where to start?
Or maybe you want your blog to be profitable or sustainable in future and hence are looking to write something that is interesting enough?
This is where having a blog niche will help.
Don’t get confused between blog niche and a category of blogging. These are two different things and both need enough attention before you lock your ideas. A category is like Food, Parenting, Technology, Health and similar. However a niche can be a specific area in this broad category. It could be veg recipes, reviews of restaurants and food, new moms, positive parenting, home schooling etc. A blog niche will usually be hyper-focused on these specific segments. It does not mean bloggers cannot digress from the segment every once in a while but it just means that you are trying to establish a name for yourself in that particular segment.
The most important thing that every new blogger should remember is to identify a blog niche. Not identifying a niche is a common mistake that most new bloggers do and that is the biggest reason, why many blogs do not sustain. A blog niche is like an identity of your blog, hence I would recommend you to spend some time on it and come up with a solid plan.
Another myth that most people have is that you need to be an expert in a topic to start a blog. While being an expert definitely helps, it is not a prerequisite. Not everyone is seeking an expert opinion when online. If you understand the topic at hand and are genuinely interested in researching about it, that should be a good start.
How to choose a blog niche
You might say, I don’t really know what I can write about! I started with that, so I completely get it. I just didn’t know where to start and who would want to read anything that I write! Over the years as I read more and understood better I realized that there is a simpler way to identify your blog niche. I have created a few questions below. Simply, note down the answers to these questions and that should help you narrow down your list of blog niche.
Questions that every new blogger should answer?
- What are your hobbies?
- What is it that you can talk about with no preparation?
- How do you spend your free time?
- On what topics do your friends and family seek your advice?
- What do you have fun doing?
At this point your answers might be different or they might not look like they are connected and that is absolutely fine. If you are thinking of starting a blog so as to pour your thoughts and nothing else, you might be fairly sure of what you want to write after this step, however if you plan to attract audience or wish to earn as a blogger in the future then you need to follow through for the next few steps.
What are your goals as a blogger?
By goals I mean, where do you see yourself after say 2 years? I know this sounds clichéd and like a job interview, but as I said earlier we need to understand the goal to identify the audience and make the blog a success.
Let us say –
If you are a writer, your goal might be to publish a book in the next two years and make it a bestseller.
If you are a small business your goal might be to establish your brand as a go to expert in your field.
Or you might wish to be a successful blogger and earn through blogging.
Based on your goals you will identify your blog niche.
If your goal is linked to monetary benefits then your should be focusing on these three things.
- Have a genuine interest in the niche that you have selected.
- You should have some level of expertise in the topic
- You should love researching about it
Know your blog audience
This is the third segment that you should focus on when thinking about a blog niche. Again, this is essential if you are planning to monetize your blog in the future. We are trying to identify the kind of audience that you want to attract and what would they like to read on your blog.
Based on the above sets of questions there would be some common topics that must be emerging. Use them to see the kind of interest they generate in the blogospehere. There are a few evergreen blogging categories that you can focus on, if you are interested in them.
Evergreen blogging niche to earn money online
Finance – This could be personal finances, investment ideas, helping women be self-reliant, easy tips to manage monthly finance and similar.
Technology – You could write about latest technologies or on a specific area like gadgets, gaming, cryptocurrency, blockchain and the like.
Auto – Vehicles, reviews, comparisons etc. never go out of style. As more people move online for researching about vehicles before they buy or look for aspirational vehicle models, this sector will continue to gain popularity.
Parenting – You could talk about stay at home moms, working moms, homeschooling kids, positive parenting, tips for new moms, breastfeeding and similar.
Travel – Travel is a niche that continues to stay in the top 10 blogging niches over the years. People love to read genuine travel stories and that is what you should consider if you love traveling.
Beauty – Beauty industry is an early adopter of technology and there are a lot of topics to explore in this segment. Focus on this if you are genuinely interested in beauty products, tips, DIY and similar.
Entertainment – Which show should I binge watch now? If your friends ask you such recommendations then you should definitely consider this niche. It could be reviews, gossip, latest shows and their screenings, interviews and commentary.
Education – Education can be where you are teaching something or helping people make the right choice.
Food – You could post recipes or share your opinions about the latest trends in the food industry. You could focus on a specific topic like Keto diet or local produce and share expert tips.
Health – Health tips and topics are in focus for nearly a decade now. Apart from tips to stay healthy, healthy eating and nutrition knowledge, DIY home remedies or even expert opinions are most sought after.
An important thing to remember in any niche is that you should genuinely enjoy the topic. Readers are smart enough to identify a fake. Also faking interest for long term is not possible.
Tips to stay focused in your blog niche
Create Categories
Now that you have identified your blog niche, the next step is to make it hype focused. Till now you have identified the blog category, the specific niche in that category that you will focus on and now you need to go granular and go specific in that niche to create blog categories. For eg: If you decide on Parenting and your niche is raising two kids then your categories could be something like – Sibling rivalry, time management with two kids, raising compassionate kids, hacks and tips for moms, tiffin hacks to manage nutritional needs of both.
So we are staying true to our blog niche but exploring options to look at it from different perspectives. This helps give a variety to your readers while staying true to your niche.
Be Yourself
The reason why blogs are popular and read is that each offers a unique voice or perspective. As a blogger be genuine and true to yourself. As a parenting blogger, there is no shame in accepting some shortcomings. It just makes you genuine. Your reader can identify with your struggle and will look forward to knowing how you overcame a particular stumbling block. So remember to have fun.
Now that we are done with identifying blog niche, we will discuss blog niche and categories some more when we come to content planning stage. The task for today is to answer the questions above and zero in on your niche.
This post is part of BlogchatterA2Z challenge
Very informative and to the point write-up, I need to think about my blog on these lines. Thank you.
Having a blog niche really helps! I can vouch for that.
So nice and comprehensive. All information at one place, this will certainly be helpful to many
Deepika Sharma
Such an informative post
Those questions that every new blogger should answer is the highlight of this post. I too had so many doubts and confusion about selecting a niche which is so important in blogging.