For those who have always wanted to have their own platform, starting a blog has never been easier. With the vast amount of options of platforms and hosting sites to choose from, setting a blog up for yourself can take as little as ten minutes.
But there is more to a blog than just writing whatever comes to mind. To run a successful blog, there are important factors to take into consideration. The most important thing to consider is what your niche will be.
What is a Niche?
Niche, in blogging terms, is the focus of your blog. It’s a specialized interest that informs the rest of your blog. It’s what you write about, review, and discuss with your readers.
Niches also help identify problems and solutions within a specific subject. For example, a good niche blog would be a blog about a new mother who is also new to long-distance running. This blog would discuss things relating to new moms who are new to running, and could span running with a baby, to how to make time for running whilst taking care of a newborn, and so on.
Why Choosing a Niche is Important
A niche helps you narrow down your blog to a specialized interest, which keeps your blogging brand consistent and focused. Keeping your sights on one niche will keep your blog from falling into the trap of being too generic and getting lost in the white noise of the greater blogging community.
Choosing a nice is also important for attracting active and engaged readers. These are readers who come to your blog for information relating to your niche, and who will then most likely recommend your blog to others who may be in need of the specific information you provide.
A niche is also a way to separate yourself from other bloggers. Because you are writing about something you are well read on and are passionate about, that will come across in your writing. Your blog will be confident because it has one focus, leading businesses and potential job opportunities to your blog for partnerships that could be beneficial to you.
Ways to Choose Your Niche
When you begin your blogging journey, you are going to realize that you have a lot of things you want to write about it. You’ll uncover hidden passions and interests, and you’re going to believe you can make them all fit on the same blog.
It doesn’t work that way, unfortunately. You’re going to have choose just one passion to start with. It’s going to be difficult for you to choose just one, but it is the best thing you can do in order to have a successful blog.
Hobbies and Passions
Hobbies and passions are a great place to start when you’re looking for your niche. Because blogging won’t make you money straight away — if that’s a goal for you — you’re going to have to start with something that you are genuinely interested in.
Think about what you do in your spare time, what you are interested in reading about, and what you could talk about for hours on end. These are your hobbies and passions, because you spend time learning about them, and you enjoy speaking about them with other people.
Chances are, one of these hobbies or passions will be one you feel confident about writing a blog about. And because you’re already interested, it will be easier to find more things to write about within that niche.
What are You an Expert On
Everyone has one subject that they could consider themselves an expert on. From fashion to cars, politics to celebrities, you too have one specific topic within a general subject that you are well versed on. This can be a great place to start when thinking about your blog.
Why choose a niche that you’re an expert on? Focusing on what you know a lot about will mean that you are already comfortable writing for that audience because you are the audience. You know what articles the community is looking for, you know what the problems and potential solutions are, and you already know where to look for information when you need.
Choosing a subject you’re an expert in will help your blog grow fast. It will also give you a way to become an influencer in your market, becoming a source blog for those who want accurate information that they can use.
Learn About Your Niche
Every niche has a community. There are no exceptions to this rule. From mainstream blogs to Reddit forums, you will find that the niche you have decided to write in has readers who are waiting for a blog to read.
Each niche community has a variety of voices and debates going on. Get familiar with the blogging community around your niche — subscribe to some email newsletters, comment on some posts, and soak up as much as you can about the current environment.
Learning about your niche will teach you two things — who your demographic is and what is missing from the niche community. Your demographic will help you create a tone of voice that your specific readership can relate to. It will help you learn what grammar to use, whether those readers prefer positive and upbeat or formal writing, and how personal to make your stories.
Learning about the gaps in your niche, like what debates aren’t being had or a fresh take on an old perspective, will help you brainstorm blog ideas and bring new readers into your unique content. It will set your blog up as a new spin on the subject, giving you a bigger audience than if you started from scratch.
When you start a blog and create your site around it, you are discussing an idea or a subject that is very close to your heart, so it’s important to go into the process with a focused mind. Remember, choosing a niche is the first step to a successful blog, so choose carefully!