A blog is a platform where you can express yourself wholeheartedly and share ideas with people around you. However, when you decide to make money out of it, it slowly shifts from an online journal to a business. Of the many steps, you need to undertake, there are very few as important as choosing the right niche. This step sets the tone for your blogging career. So, let me show you how to choose a blog niche that is enjoyable and profitable.
1. Choose something interesting to you and that you enjoy talking about
Picture this, for the next number of months you will spend hours seated, typing information revolving around one topic. Also, you will share content on social media, engage family, friends, and strangers in conversations pertaining to one topic. Would you want that topic to be interesting or depressing?
You might wonder, can’t I just write about anything and make money doing it? Well, you can, but for a blog to get traffic in its early stages, it usually has to have authority in a certain niche. This reminds me, it’s also tough to make money from a free blog without investing anything.
A niche basically, is a specific topic. For instance, money, travel, health, food, and fashion. Since there are so many topics to choose from, you need to sit down and decide what really resonates with you. List down topics that you find interesting and create a sample group. If your list is limited, you can expand it by including topics you think will be interesting to learn about.
2. Choose a topic you are knowledgeable or good at.
Choose a topic that requires the least energy to write about. One thing you’ll notice is that writing is tough and especially when you have to do it daily. But, if you enjoy what you write and are knowledgeable about, progress will be much easier.
From the sample group you created in step one, choose the items you know or do best. For instance, you were exposed to video games since you were young and you tend to know more about than the average person does. Alternatively, you can pick the topics that have earned you recognition in the past, like swimming or public speaking.
Don’t underestimate the significance of a head start. Choosing to teach people a topic you find interesting but have little idea of will force you to spend more time teaching yourself than teaching others. However, for a topic you are conversant with, you can teach while gaining mastery.
3. Choose a profitable niche
A blog meant to make money is not just an online journal, it’s a business. You can have an interesting niche that you are knowledgeable about yet make nothing from it. What defines whether a blog will be profitable is the market; people who need the information and services you provide.
Many established bloggers advise newbies to choose niches they are passionate about but fail to remind them that market availability is equally as important. So, how do you find a profitable niche?
First, check out these topmost profitable niches as shown below. They have produced the richest bloggers in the world. Yet these niches are very crowded and competitive, you need a heart of steel to join and compete.
- Fitness and Weight Loss
- Health
- Education
- Real Estate
- Finance; Banking, Loans, Mortgages, Insurance etc
- Self Improvement
- Making Money Online
- Beauty
- Gadgets and Technology
- Travel
- Lifestyle
- Blogging
With the niches above in mind, try to find a connection to any item in your sample group. This might lead you to discover a specific niche within a very lucrative niche.
Meanwhile, you need to conduct keyword research. The simplest keyword research method is checking Google Search suggestions. For instance, type “How to” on google search and check the list of keywords that appear. These suggestions generate the most traffic, which means they have a market. There are other more advanced ways to do so but that’s a topic for another day. Stay updated on my Blogging Advice Section for this.
Conclusion
To settle down on one niche, subject your list to the above three checks and find one within the three. You are most likely to have success in blogging by choosing an interesting, knowledgeable and profitable niche.
However, if you are not very sure, you should consider creating a free blog where you can write about all the interesting topics in mind. After a month or two, choose the topic that had the most interaction from your readers. It is what they need and want.
Elvis Onsomu is a content creator and marketer with a major focus on information targeting the youth and pertaining university education, career advice, campus life, and entrepreneurship. He believes entrepreneurship can solve Kenya’s problems. Find him at Kampusville.com
