If you’re starting a new blog and you’re not sure what niche to speak on, this article is for you. We’ll take a step by step approach to deciding on a topic to blog about; this includes looking at different aspects of your strengths and interests, as well as assessing the landscape of your niche.
Niche research is important because without it, your blog will die a slow death. Just because you think your blog is cool doesn’t mean everyone else does too. Sure, you can have all the best ideas in the world – but if people don’t know about them then they won’t share them, leave comments or subscribe to your blog.
What you will learn in this article:
- Niche research checklist
- How to do niche research step by step
- Social media considerations
- Summary
It’s important to conduct niche research for your blog to ensure its longevity. You need to set your blog up in such a way that it can appeal to a large audience so you can establish some kind of ongoing dialogue with your readers. To do this, you must first identify the type of site you wish to build. It’s important that this translates into a niche-appropriate name for your blog because this will be the first thing people will see when they go to your site and it needs to be eye-catching enough for them to want to click on it.
Niche Research Checklist
Now that you’ve decided on a name for your blog, it’s time to start conducting some research about what topics to cover. Before you do this, make sure to put a copy of this article into an excel spreadsheet so you can keep track of all the different aspects of it.
Here is a checklist to help you with your niche research:
1. Cast The Net Wide
Very few blogs have hit the world by accident and those that have will often have been in their chosen niche for many years before they started to attract substantial traffic. In order to find a niche that can support an audience for your blog, you must cast the net wide. When you’re checking out different sites in your niche, try to look at as many other blogs within it as possible. What do people like about the niche and what is it missing? Are there any aspects of it that are already covered by other blogs and would you be able to bring something unique to the table?
2. Follow The Money
Google is one of the most popular search engines in the world and it’s used by millions on a daily basis. In order to stay ahead of the competition, you’ll need to make sure you can appeal to as many potential customers as possible. The first way to do this is by identifying any relevant business directories and adding yourself onto them. There are a number of these that cater for specific niches too, so even if your blog is only about one topic, it never hurts to try out any that are relevant!
3. Research The Competition
Once you’ve found your niche, it’s time to check out the competition. If there are other blogs in your niche then it’s important that you take a look at them and assess what they’re doing well. What do they have to offer that you don’t? How are they interacting with their audience and what parts of their site could you emulate?
How to do niche research step by step
Step 1: What is your expertise?
You may have a specific expertise in a particular topic that you feel you can write about. For example, if you’re a professional graphic designer or if you are an expert in terms of the stock market, then it could be that others will want to hear what you have to say about it. Consider what your experience is and whether other people would be interested in reading about it; if not, then this may not be the best niche for your blog.
Step 2: Is your expertise part of popular culture?
In order to get traffic on your site, people need to feel like they are on the inside and know what’s happening before everyone else does. If you can write about an aspect of popular culture or an issue that is hot in the news, then this could be a good way to get people interested in your blog. Try to think of any recent stories that you have followed closely or people would be interested in; do you have any opinions on them? If so, then this may be the ideal niche to write about.
Step 3: What are your hobbies?
If you don’t want to write about business and want to speak about more personal topics instead, then it might be worth taking a look at what you enjoy doing. This could range from sports and art, through to cooking and fashion. If you play a particular sport then it may be worth writing about, as you could appeal to a number of people who enjoy it too. If you like to cook, then this could mean writing about recipes or perhaps even home improvement tips.
Step 4: What are your passions?
If none of the above niches attract you, then maybe it’s time to think outside of the box. What are your passions? What are the interests that you value most? Are there any professional passions in your life? Perhaps you have a lot of hobbies or you love collecting something. Anything that you enjoy doing or think is important could be a good topic to write about and could attract an audience who have the same interests!
Social media considerations
Social media platforms are a great way to promote your blog and get more people to read it. It’s important that you don’t just concentrate on one area and instead try to cover as many bases as possible. The following are some of the most popular social media sites, although there is no reason why you can’t also add any other ones that are relevant to your niche:
There are lots of ways to use social media sites, including:
1. Send out regular updates
Once you’ve set up your blog, it’s important that you keep people updated with what you’re doing. There are a number of ways to use social media sites to do this and the most effective is probably to send out regular updates.
2. Participate in discussions
The great thing about social media sites is that there are always discussions going on and you can join in. If a discussion is taking place about something you’re interested in or something that you know about, then it might be worth leaving your comments. You could do this by linking to an article of your own or by responding to a comment from another user.
3. Ask for feedback
Social media sites are perfect for getting feedback on your blog, as people can leave their opinions and thoughts about it within a few seconds! If you want to know what people think of the content you’re creating or perhaps even if they have any questions that they want answering, then try setting up polls within these sites. You could even set up a Facebook page and invite people to ‘like’ it; this way you can keep them updated on what’s going on and you can also post any questions that you want answering.
4. Promote your blog
Social media sites are also an easy way to promote your blog and get more traffic to it. You could try sharing links to it on Twitter or Facebook, or even setting up an account specifically for promoting it, such as a Google+ page. If you’re not sure how to do this, then simply search for the relevant social media site within Google and follow the steps that come up!
Summary
There are lots of different ideas to consider when you’re thinking about which blog niche you may want to try. Obviously, it’s important that you’re passionate about what you’re writing about and that it’s something that interests other people, but there are also other factors to take into consideration when making your choice. Don’t write on topics that nobody cares about though; it’ll be difficult for people to find what you’ve written and it could mean that your blog becomes forgotten. The best thing is to try different things and see what each blog niche has to offer!