One of the questions I see most often in the various Facebook groups I’m in is, “How do I choose a niche for my blog?” It’s a good question.
It’s super easy to start a blog, (you can see my step-by-step guide here.) And the great thing about blogging is that you can write about whatever you want.
If your blog is intended to be more of a personal diary, then choosing a niche isn’t important.
However, if your goal is to build a large, engaged readership, and possibly monetize your blog, then I would recommend choosing a niche.
When I first started The Million Dollar Mama, I chose my niche of “personal finance.”
However, while I do love writing about personal finance, I realized that that there was so much more I wanted to write about that extends beyond the personal finance sphere.
My passion is encouraging women (particularly moms) to cultivate a life of abundance in all areas, not just finance.
That’s the great thing about having a blog – you can change things as you go (and as you continue writing, you’ll start to realize where your passion lies.)
I’m not a believer that your niche has to be ultra-specific if you don’t want it to be. There are tons of examples of successful bloggers who write about a broad range of topics. But the key is, all of the topics fit into a broad, overarching niche.
The good thing is, there are millions of topics you can choose to blog about. The bad thing is, there are millions of topics you can choose to blog about.
There are two sides to every coin, right? So how do you choose a niche? And what niche should you choose?
How to Choose a Niche for Your Blog
When choosing a niche for your blog, there are a few questions that you need to ask yourself.
What do I love?
I’ve listed this question first, for a very good reason. If you don’t love the topic that you’re going to be blogging about, then you won’t last very long.
Blogging is hard work, but you know what they say – “Choose a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
The opposite is also true. If you don’t choose a topic you love, then you’ll quickly run out of ideas to blog about, it will get boring, and you’ll probably end up burnt out.
What am I interested in?
Generally speaking, a topic that you love is also something you’re interested in – but not always.
For example, I love pizza.
But am I really interested in the “topic” of pizza? Do I care about researching the best dough recipes to make my own pizza? Do I read reviews on the best brick ovens? No. I just like eating pizza!
Try to choose a topic that you love, but also a topic that you’re actually interested in.
What do I know a lot about?
When choosing a niche topic to blog about, the topic should be something you know a lot about, or something you’re interested in learning about.
I love sloths. I know a bit about sloths, but do I know enough about sloths to start a blog? Probably not.
And although I am interested in learning more about sloths, I don’t intend to gain the knowledge required to write compelling, educational blog posts about sloths.
Are other people interested in this topic?
If one of your blogging goals is to gain a large, engaged readership, then it’s important to determine whether the topic you’re blogging about is something that other people are interested in.
Sure, there are billions of people in the world, so it’s likely that there is at least one other person that is also interested in making ceramic ashtrays shaped like US states (if that’s your jam.)
But if you want more than a handful of readers, it’s a good idea to do some research to figure out whether your niche is something that a larger number of people are interested in.
Is my niche too narrow?
When choosing your niche, it’s important that you don’t make it too narrow.
Back to the ceramic ashtray example.
While this niche would probably be considered too narrow to gain a good readership, it’s likely that there are a large number of people who are interested in ceramics, so “making your own ceramics” might be a good niche topic to blog about.
If you’re planning to make money from your blog, can your niche be easily monetized?
A lot of bloggers are making good money from their blogs. It’s definitely not easy, but it can be done.
If you’re aiming to join the ranks of money-making bloggers, it’s a good idea to choose a niche that can be easily monetized.
Most niches can be monetized, but some niches are a lot easier to monetize than others.
Most Importantly
Don’t spend too much time stressing over your niche – the most important thing is to just get started.
Your blog will evolve over time.
Topics that seemed like a good idea at the beginning might not be as interesting as you thought.
Your life circumstances may change, so your “young single travel blog” might evolve into a “young family travel blog.”
It’s so much better to just get started and learn as you go, rather than waiting for everything to be “perfect” (because it never will be!)
Head on over to my step-by-step guide on “How To Start A Blog” and get started on your blogging journey today!
This is encouraging for me! I am thinking about starting a blog, and have researched, and researched, and researched. I guess I am procrastinating about taking the jump. My niche idea has already changed, so maybe I am on the right track.
I’m so glad you found it encouraging! My honest advice would be to just jump in and start. You’ll most likely find that you change things up as you go anyway, all bloggers do 🙂