Finding the Right Niche for Your Blog

Even so, there are a few common factors that should go into finding the right niche for your blog. These not apply to every scenario and every given circumstance, but these are factors that you should think about when you start looking for the right topic for your blog.

Blog About What You Know

It doesn’t matter if you’re blogging for the sake of blogging or you’re trying to make a profit, you should be writing about a topic that you know fairly well. After all, you can’t really claim to be an expert in a field when you really know nothing about it.

This doesn’t mean that you have to know everything about the subject, but you should know more than the average website visitor. This way, you can speak with a certain level of authority. Also, it means that you don’t have to spend a lot of time looking up background material and fact-checking; you’ll already know it.

Even when you do need to look up an importance piece of information, when you are familiar with the subject matter, there are two key advantages. First, you’ll know about the right places to look up that information. Second, you’ll have an easier time understanding the source material, because you’ll already be familiar with the terminology and lingo.

Blog About What You Like

Second, it’s important to have an interest in the topic that you choose. Otherwise, you will be a couple weeks into the course of your blog and then you’ll start losing interest. You won’t feel motivated to keep the site updated, you’ll have nothing to write about, and you might even start to hate the very thought of working on your blog.

When you are passionate about your chosen niche, on the other hand, you’ll find the drive to keep on trucking. This is true whether you’re blogging for fun or you’re blogging for money, because it is a topic that you enjoy. There is an inherent reward to very act of blogging about that niche.

If you like it, you’ll stick to it.

Blog About What Makes Money

If you’re blogging for fun, then this section doesn’t really apply. If you want to make some decent money from your blog, however, this becomes almost an important a consideration as finding a topic that you know and love.

It can be challenging to know exactly which niche is the most profitable, because people’s (and advertisers’) preferences can change over time. Even so, there are some useful tools on the Internet that can help you determine whether one topic has greater money-making potential than another.

For example, if you have a Google AdWords account, you can check on the bid prices for certain keywords. If you’re debating between blogging about Android smartphones and catnip toys (vastly different topics, to be sure), you can see which set of ads from Google would likely earn you more money. Try a few different keyword combinations.

Basing the subject of your blog solely on its money-making potential is not really the best practice, but it is an area that you will need to consider if you want to consider its viability both in terms of traffic and revenue.

An Eye on the Competition

There are highly successful and profitable blogs in just about every niche imaginable. The key is finding the niche that best suits your knowledge base and your current interests. To get a better idea of how to make the most money from these niches, though, it helps to “spy” on other sites that blog on related topics.

This way, you can get a better idea of what kinds of ads are going to be served through ad networks, what affiliate deals may be applicable, the kinds of readers that frequent the site, and other useful tidbits of information. This isn’t to say you should be a copycat, but you can be sure that Burger King keeps an eye on McDonald’s activities!