People spend about seven hours a day on the internet and it is only increasing by the year! Browsing social media is the bulk of it, but many people also like to read blog posts for their value and entertainment.
Starting a blog can be very profitable for you since the internet shows no sign of going away. But before you start a blog, you’ll need to pick out a niche!
You have probably learned that you need to niche down. But shouldn’t you write about multiple things to gain an even bigger audience? Well, no, not exactly.
Below is a guide to show you how to choose a blog niche and the many ways it helps bloggers monetize their blogs.
What is a Blog Niche?
Your blog niche is the main topic or area of interest that you’ll be blogging about. People will wonder what your blog is about, and your chosen niche will be the answer.
There are tons of interests and niches out there, so being specific and knowing your target audience is crucial to growing an audience.
Most niches are general and broad, so narrowing them down further will help you identify your ideal audience so speaking to them and understanding what they want to know is much easier.
Why Choose a Blog Niche?
Writing about multiple topics may be tempting if you are passionate about many things. But, if you try to talk to everyone, you’ll be reaching no one.
So, it’s in your best interest to choose only one area of interest to blog about! There are several reasons a niche benefits your writing.
Become an Expert
Most people’s niche is something they are passionate about or interested in which often means they have experience or knowledge of it already. This can help position you as an expert to readers.
Once you choose a niche, you can boost your credibility by writing on subtopics you are already familiar with. It will be much easier for you to blog when you enjoy what you’re blogging about!
It’s all in the way you present your voice and expertise. When you love what you’re blogging about, your audience will pick up on that and you’ll be able to provide valuable content.
Come Up With Topics Faster
The more you write about a certain niche or area of interest, the more ideas will pop up in your mind.
Most people call this an “a-ha” moment, which will frequently happen once you’ve researched your niche, target audience, and popular topics.
Finding topics is one of the common problems bloggers face since it isn’t always easy coming up with things to write about.
But, if you’ve chosen a niche you have experience in or are passionate about, ideas will come naturally to you.
Less scouring the internet for content ideas equals more time writing and giving valuable content to your audience!
Easily Identify Your Audience
Knowing your audience is essential before you start writing. The niche you pick will most likely help you pinpoint who you want to write for because you are one of them!
Think about it. Say you picked the health and wellness niche for your blog and wanted to write specifically about fitness topics because you might be a gym junkie or cardio enthusiast.
You’ll be able to understand what your audience wants to know because you both have similar interests.
But, make sure you don’t just assume you know your audience. Your safest bet is to research your niche and find out what people are saying.
You can do this through Google’s “people also searched” bar or through niche forums and reviews.
Build a Stronger Audience
When you niche down, your effort and skill are directed solely at your blog, helping you create authoritative, credible, and valuable content for your audience.
Your audience isn’t worried about you posting nonsense or about topics that don’t relate to your niche. And they aren’t worried about reading something that doesn’t interest them!
Niching down means your audience can expect to read blogs that directly relate to your area of expertise. And if your content is valuable, they will keep viewing your blog as a source of information.
As your blog grows, so does your audience (and their loyalty to your writing)!
What Are the Most Profitable Blog Niches?
The future of marketing is digital and blogging is one type of strategy to earn money online and build a community of people interested in the same topics as you.
However, some niches are more popular than others and bring in traffic year-round. Here are five of them, in case you are interested in picking one of them!
Personal Finance
Finance isn’t the most glamorous thing to talk about, but it is super important for many people to know how to use their finances and invest in their future.
Most personal finance blogs contain many affiliate links and partnerships with insurance companies or mortgage lenders (which pay big bucks for conversions).
There are many sub-niches within personal finance such as investing, cryptocurrency, side hustles, debt, and more.
So, if you are knowledgeable in the finance space and enjoy talking about all things money, then this niche might be a perfect match for you.
Business and Marketing
The business and marketing niche is grand and broad, so many other sub-niches are more prevalent in the blogging industry.
A few of these sub-niches are search engine optimization (SEO), online marketing, social media marketing, affiliate marketing, and business ownership.
Affiliate links and display ads work wonders in this blog niche, mostly due to larger companies having the budget to pay bloggers.
Calculations and surveys reveal that the global marketing industry is now worth around $1.7 trillion. This niche clearly has high profitability and won’t be going anywhere anytime soon!
So, if the marketing and business world looks intriguing, then go after this niche.
Travel and Tourism
The COVID-19 pandemic put a screeching halt on travel and those with travel blogs. But, more people are itching to book a plane or train ticket and escape to another destination.
This is great news for the travel industry, travel bloggers, and you (if traveling is your thing)! Nearly nine in ten Americans are planning to travel in the summer.
Travelers will probably be looking up some things to do, sights to see, and places to eat (all great blog topics by the way).
Plus, travel blogging has many opportunities to bring in income:
- Affiliate programs
- Hotel and airline partnerships
- Sponsered vlogging
If traveling to a new place, exploring new cities, and trying new foods excites you, then travel may be the perfect niche for you.
Health and Wellness
If there’s a niche that will never go away, it is this one. The wellness economy represents 5.1% of the global economic output and is predicted to return to a large growth of trillions of dollars in the next couple years.
Health and wellness blogs usually provide people with tools such as workout ideas, healthy recipes, meditative practices, yoga workouts, and so much more.
This niche can be a good fit for you if you know your stuff and have credible experience in the health and wellness industry.
For example, fitness coaches, yoga instructors, dieticians, and nutrition experts can dominate this niche and rank well on Google.
Here are a few subtopics that health and wellness bloggers talk about:
- Workout plans/ideas
- Mental health
- Nutrition
- Dieting
- Meditation and yoga
- Outdoor activities
Diving into this niche may not be as profitable if you only eat well or exercise on occasion.
Food
How often have you looked up certain recipes, healthy foods, or food substitutes? Probably more than once, right? That is what makes the food blogging niche so popular and permanent.
It is one of the more saturated niches with establishing yourself as an expert and authority figure much harder to do. The competition is fierce since many people like to give food advice and bake a few sweets in their spare time.
But, if you are a food lover and are interested in this niche, then putting effort into your marketing strategy and content creation can help you make your blog successful.
There are affiliate programs, sponsorships, and partnerships with food brands to help monetize your blog and earn you some income.
Other Types of Blog Niches
The great thing about blogging is that there are thousands of niches ranging from general to ultra-specific topics.
You can think of the most random topic and there will most likely be a blog about it somewhere.
If the niches above didn’t appeal to you, then here’s another list of interesting blog niches (that can still earn you some money too)!
- Photography
- Fashion
- Food
- DIY
- Lifestyle
- Side hustles
- Entrepreneurship
- Parenting
- Sports
- Movies & T.V. shows
- Popular music
4 Steps to Choosing Your Blog Niche
You cannot start a blog until you have a goal, message, and target audience in mind. And you probably won’t find those until you have a blog niche.
Here is a step-by-step process to help you figure out yours!
Step 1: Write Out a List of Your Topics and Passions
Grab a pen and paper (or a laptop) and start jotting down every interest, hobby, or passion that you have.
You can even add topics that you are interested in learning about to that list because you will probably do tons of research on it when you start writing.
If you’re struggling to come up with some ideas, ask yourself these questions:
- What items, objects, or posters do you see around your house?
- What does your lifestyle look like?
- What do you dream about often?
- What things or ideas are typically on your mind?
Now that you’ve brainstormed some topics, you’re ready for the next step.
This can be as simple as what you do on the weekends already.
For example, love hiking? It would be well worth thinking about starting a hiking blog.
Step 2: Narrow Down to Topics You Are Most Knowledgeable In
Which of the topics you have listed are you most knowledgeable about? If you are evenly knowledgeable about those topics then which of the topics would love to know more about?
Blogging will require you to do loads of research into your topic, competitors, and audience. You will likely spend a lot of time writing about this topic and it makes it easier to write about something you know.
So, narrow down the list to a few topics you wouldn’t mind researching for hours or teaching others about.
Step 3: Narrow Down Even Further to the Profitable Topics
If your goal is to bring in money through your blog, then a profitable niche can help you get there.
Research those niches in the list you narrowed down. Find other bloggers who write about the same thing and look at their blogs. Are there a lot of affiliate links? Do they have any partnerships or sponsors?
You can also look up the profitability of each niche by typing it into the search bar. You may even find a few sub-niches that are more interesting and profitable to you.
Once you’ve scoured the internet, narrow that list even further to your top two or three topics (which should be the most profitable ones).
Next, you’ll need to complete the most crucial step!
Step 4: Test How Audiences Respond to These Topics
Once you have your top two or three blog niches, you will need to test them out. This one may be tricky since you probably don’t have a large following.
Here are a few things you can do to see how well an audience responds before you start going all-in:
- Write guest posts for other bloggers in the same niche
- Start a social media page about the niche
- Talk to people who read blogs or articles about the niche
You now have a few options to get you started and help you move forward with the niche that interests you and provides the best chance to monetize your blog.
Let’s Recap
Hopefully, you’ve gathered enough information to become an expert in your niche, grow an audience, and monetize your blog!
Choosing a niche helps you establish yourself as knowledgeable, which leads to more audience trust and growth.
When choosing a niche, you’ll need to find one that is both interesting and profitable to you. The most profitable ones are finance, education, health and wellness, travel, food, and business.
Now that you’re familiar with the more profitable niches, you’ll need to start choosing your niche!
To do this, make a list of topics you are interested in, narrow it down to topics you are most knowledgeable about, narrow it down even further to the most profitable topics, and then test the remaining topics with an audience.
