Selecting Your Blogging Niche
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Selecting Your Blogging Niche
You can blog about anything. However, when you choose a niche your chances of reaching your blogging goals increase. A niche helps you find a loyal audience. It helps you compete against other comparable blogs. And it helps you profit. Here's how to choose your niche:
#1 What Do You Enjoy?
Because a blog is a long term investment of your time, money and energy you're going to want to blog on an enjoyable topic. Make a list of the things you enjoy discussing. Consider ranking them from the topic you most love on down. You might have five items on this list, you might have fifty. You can start with generalities like "Dogs", "Beer", "Gardening", or "parenting."
However also consider narrowing the topics into more specific categories. For example, organic gardening, home brewed beer or parenting toddlers.
#2 What Are You Interested In?
Add to this list a list of the topics you're interested in. For example, maybe you're interested in learning more about politics or investing. Great. Again, list general ideas and also specific ideas. For example, a beginner's guide to investing in the stock market.
#3 Explore Trends.
Trends are a good way to tap into a growing market. Make sure when analyzing trends that you're capturing something on the upswing rather than the downswing. You want your blog's topic to have longevity.
Use social networking sites, mainstream media and online trend websites to get started. You may also search industries you're interested in to research trends. For example, if you're interested in gardening a bourgeoning trend may be small indoor hydroponics systems.
#4 Keyword tools. Use keyword research tools like Google AdWords External tool to help you expand on your growing list of potential niche ideas. Keyword tools help you brainstorm ideas. They can also help you take a broad topic and narrow it down into niche ideas. Look for keywords and keyword phrases that have high demand numbers and low competition numbers.
#5 Research the competition. Again, using the keyword tools or simply searching online, you can find blogs that cover topics you're interested in. You might use these blogs to generate niche ideas for your own blog. For example, you might visit a blog on lifestyle habits. You could then take that same general idea and choose to create a blog on parenting lifestyle habits or single mom lifestyle habits. Other blogs can be a great source of inspiration.
Once you have a healthy list of ideas, start narrowing them down. Consider who your audience will be for that topic. Research demand. Brainstorm ways you might differentiate your blog from your competition. Finally, consider the type of content you would offer. As you begin to think through your various ideas a few will stand out. That's when the serious research or soul searching can begin. Finding a niche is the surest way to blogging success.
Dania
www.makingmoneyhowto.biz
www.homebusinesstalk.biz
www.momsebizblog.blogspot.com
You can blog about anything. However, when you choose a niche your chances of reaching your blogging goals increase. A niche helps you find a loyal audience. It helps you compete against other comparable blogs. And it helps you profit. Here's how to choose your niche:
#1 What Do You Enjoy?
Because a blog is a long term investment of your time, money and energy you're going to want to blog on an enjoyable topic. Make a list of the things you enjoy discussing. Consider ranking them from the topic you most love on down. You might have five items on this list, you might have fifty. You can start with generalities like "Dogs", "Beer", "Gardening", or "parenting."
However also consider narrowing the topics into more specific categories. For example, organic gardening, home brewed beer or parenting toddlers.
#2 What Are You Interested In?
Add to this list a list of the topics you're interested in. For example, maybe you're interested in learning more about politics or investing. Great. Again, list general ideas and also specific ideas. For example, a beginner's guide to investing in the stock market.
#3 Explore Trends.
Trends are a good way to tap into a growing market. Make sure when analyzing trends that you're capturing something on the upswing rather than the downswing. You want your blog's topic to have longevity.
Use social networking sites, mainstream media and online trend websites to get started. You may also search industries you're interested in to research trends. For example, if you're interested in gardening a bourgeoning trend may be small indoor hydroponics systems.
#4 Keyword tools. Use keyword research tools like Google AdWords External tool to help you expand on your growing list of potential niche ideas. Keyword tools help you brainstorm ideas. They can also help you take a broad topic and narrow it down into niche ideas. Look for keywords and keyword phrases that have high demand numbers and low competition numbers.
#5 Research the competition. Again, using the keyword tools or simply searching online, you can find blogs that cover topics you're interested in. You might use these blogs to generate niche ideas for your own blog. For example, you might visit a blog on lifestyle habits. You could then take that same general idea and choose to create a blog on parenting lifestyle habits or single mom lifestyle habits. Other blogs can be a great source of inspiration.
Once you have a healthy list of ideas, start narrowing them down. Consider who your audience will be for that topic. Research demand. Brainstorm ways you might differentiate your blog from your competition. Finally, consider the type of content you would offer. As you begin to think through your various ideas a few will stand out. That's when the serious research or soul searching can begin. Finding a niche is the surest way to blogging success.
Dania
www.makingmoneyhowto.biz
www.homebusinesstalk.biz
www.momsebizblog.blogspot.com