How To Pick A Niche When Creating A Blog

Creating a niche or theme is one of the first things that you should do when creating a blog or website. You have to answer the question, “What are you going to write about?”

You want to provide realistic expectations for your readers, pick either a specific or broad topic, and build ‘levels’ into your niche.

First, let’s cover why you need a niche.

Why You Need A Niche.

Having a niche is important for setting expectations, SEO, and building a brand.

Readers Know What To Expect.

Creating a focus for your blog helps readers understand what to expect from you. They know that if they subscribe, they’ll only get specific content from you that they want.

For example, let’s say you have a beauty blog and someone subscribes. You consistently post beauty articles, but then randomly post about your dad’s car. Chances are your subscribers don’t want to read about your dad’s car and they’ll be unimpressed.

A Niche for SEO.

Picking a niche can benefit your SEO in many ways. It allows search engines to understand what the general topic of your website is about. Which, in turn, allows your website to be indexed more easily and ultimately show higher in search results.

When you show up higher in search results, your website will get more traffic and readers.

Related Article: Search Engine Optimization Tips for Beginners

Your Brand is your Niche.

Having a solid foundation as a brand is important. To build this foundation you’re going to need a niche.

Building your brand and growing your social media following can be super beneficial for the growth of your blog. In this regard, it’s important to understand that what you post on social media should correlate with what you publish on your blog.

Therefore, your brand is based on your niche. If you pick a niche that you wouldn’t be proud of sharing with the world then you’ll have a hard time promoting your own content.

Now that you know why you need one, how do you pick a niche?

How To Pick A Niche.

Picking a niche is actually a lot easier than you might think. You can go about picking your niche in two different ways… You can focus on your own interests or you can focus on other’s interests. When these two options intersect, you’ve hit the jackpot!

Then, after you’ve picked a niche you’re going to want to either narrow it down and be specific or keep it broad and open to other ‘variations’.

What Interests You?

We all have our own list of passions, they’re what excite us in life. Pull out your list of passions and pick something from there. Writing a blog about what you’re passionate about will be an easy win. You’ll find it easier to come up with topics, remain consistent over time, and feel passionate about what you’re writing about.

What Are People Searching For?

Do a little bit of research and find out what people are searching for. If you can answer their questions, then they’ll be interested in your blog. You need to find a reason why people would want to read your blog over someone else’s. Appeal to their interests and what they’re struggling with.

Specific vs. Broad Niche.

There are two sides to the niche coin… you either want to be very VERY specific or have more of a broad theme. Each has their own pros and cons, but finding yourself in-between the two can be dangerous for your site’s SEO.

There are hundreds of niches to pick from, you can create a blog about anything! Here are a few examples of different niches…

So why choose one over the other?

Having a broad niche will allow you to write about many different topics within your theme. For example, if your niche is travel you could write about your latest adventures, travel tips, city guides, restaurants, excursions, etc.

Then, if you have a more specific niche like Traveling as a Student you limit yourself a bit. But you still have room for flexibility to write all of these posts – you just need to add the ‘student’ spin to all of them. This also helps to attract a very specific audience that you can address within your posts.

No matter which type of niche you choose it’s important to understand that having a niche is key to building a successful blog. Now, it’s not a requirement, but I believe it’s a very helpful add-on.

Help I Can’t Pick One Niche!

If you’re having trouble deciding on one specific niche then consider trying to mesh them.

Maybe you’re a passionate college-aged vegetarian that often travels. Your blog could discuss all three of those things – College, Vegetarianism, and Traveling. You’ll want to consistently mesh these themes throughout your posts. An example might be, ‘Studying Abroad In Spain: Best Vegetarian Resturants‘ or ‘6 Vegetarian Friendly Cities for Students‘.

Related Article: How To Make Money Blogging