How to pick a Profitable Blog Niche

How to pick a Profitable Blog Niche

Last week, we briefly discussed different types of blogs you can do remotely. Today I\’ll talk about how you can decide what to blog about. In order to pick what blog niche to specialize in, let me explain what it is.

A blog niche is basically picking a specific topic to blog about. It’s another way of asking yourself what to blog about. But before narrowing down on your niche, you need to ask yourself the following questions;

• What kind of information will my blog offer?
• What are the goals of your blog?
• Will the content vary from post to post?
• How will I share my content?
• Will people care about what I have to say?
• How can I monetize it?

Finding a Niche that Interests you.
It\’s your expertise that gets you reliable content to increase your social media traffic when you write about a topic you\’re passionate about. However, remember to cater to the needs and interests of your target audience. Your ideal readership will help guide your blog content creation process and help you decide what topics should be covered on your blog.

Finding a Topic.
You have identified a topic that interests you and your audience, what do you do next? Narrow it down to be much more focused. Let’s say you want to do a food blog. In order to build a more focused target audience, you can choose to focus on plant-based nutrition, for a clear niche to set you apart from other food blogs out there.

Instead of marketing as a broad topic, you can focus specifically on digital marketing and SEO like Native Wave Media. Your content gets to have more clearly defined guardrails that keep you on message for what your audience will come to expect.

P.S: Choose a less competitive trending topic but with a high potential to grow. Google Trends can give you insights into whether your chosen topic can thrive.

Tips on finding a Topic.

1. Jot down your ideas
2. Consider the blogs, magazines, or books you enjoy. Write down the topics from those, to identify a pattern of what interests you that could help you focus on a particular blog niche.
3. List down your past jobs, experiences, or hobbies. You might find that there are elements of your employment or hobbies that you do want to blog about or a core thread that ties several elements of your life together.
4. Run through a list of popular topics. If you’re still stuck searching for blog niche ideas, here’s a list that isn’t likely to go out of style anytime soon:
   • Personal Finance. Investing and navigating the stock market, as well as debt, increasing income, reducing expenses, and increasing income. For Example; Nash Thuo where you can get access to curated Kenyan finance guides to fit your needs.
   • Health and Wellness. A wide range of topics is covered, such as weight loss, mental health, and alternative therapies. For instance, Sonima or HealthyU.
   • Self-Improvement. Different age groups, different philosophies, or styles may be targeted (e.g. college students, midlife professionals, retirees). Check out Vusi Thembekwayo podcast for inspiration
   • Building websites. Write about topics such as how to make a website, what are the best website builders, etc., integrating your technical skills. Native Wave Media has good content on web design, digital marketing, and SEOs.
   • Parenting. Write about parenting at different stages: babies, toddlers, school kids, teens, and adult kids, plus different parenting methods. “What to Expect” gives you a realistic view of pregnancies and giving birth.
   • Lifestyle. It includes the person’s interests and hobbies too. It can also be routine. In other words, it is a nutshell of your lifestyle. Goop by Gwyneth Paltrow covers beauty, fashion, wellness, food, and style. Another would be “A girl in Progress”. A blog for women working on themselves for themselves.

How to monetize your Blog.
There are many ways by which you can monetize your blog. But before monetizing, you need to establish whether you have a paying audience. To do that ask yourself these questions;

• Are there any books or magazines relating to this niche? The point is to evaluate whether or not others are already earning revenue in this space.
• Are there products (or services) aimed at this audience? The existence of lots of products is (a) a sign that there’s a paying audience out there and (b) a source of potential advertising or affiliate programs to generate income for you.
• Are companies advertising products related to your keywords? If you can’t find ads for any (or many) of your keywords, then you might find this is a tricky topic to monetize.

Pro tip: Create Google Alerts for relative terms you want to monitor in your niche. And a keyword planner like Twinword Ideas to evaluate your content.

Where to host your blog?
When considering what platform will be best for your blog, think about the audience that it\’ll be attracting and how much time you have for writing posts. You can choose free or paid platforms like WordPress, Weebly, or Wix.

Another factor to consider is whether you want to run the blog on your own or hire someone else to host it for you. If you want to find a solo-hosted platform, here are a few options that might suit your needs:

• WordPress
• Tumblr
• Wix
• Blogger
• Medium

Validate your blog.
Come up with ideas, write guest posts, start a Facebook page and finally publish a few articles on your blog to see how early readers react before you go all in on investing in this particular blog niche.

The Takeaway.
Throughout this piece, have you noted which topics interest you? Is it a topic that has a long, profitable future? By leveraging your expertise, expanding your knowledge, researching, following market trends, and using data to validate your niche selection, you are on the path to long-term success.

By Grace Mwarania.