Home » Blog » Blogging Basics » Start a Blog » How to choose the right niche for your blog

23 Comments

  1. Hello Eb,
    I was thinking of starting a blog of my own and came across your page and have since made up my mind to not to read any other how to guide or instructions as I love the way you have explained how to go about starting our own blog. I guess I’ve found my instructor.
    I’m an Architect from Sri Lanka and currently living in Malaysia and for obvious reasons I’m choosing the niche of Design in Architecture.

    1. Currently stuck between a financial independence blog for women or a musician blog covering my love of singing, songwriting and music production. Tricky to decide

      1. Wow – two very different niches! My best advice is to look at which of those two niches you have the most expertise in and which of those two niches you think you could most easily monetize. And most importantly, remember a successful blog is a blog that helps other people with their problems. I say that because you say ‘a musician blog covering my love of singing, songwriting and music production’. In the nicest possible way, people don’t want to read about your love of music, they read blogs for what they can get from it. You need to answer the questions that your ideal readers are typing into Google. So a blog that teaches singing / songwriting / music production, I don’t doubt that could be successful… and of course it will be even more successful if you’re passionate about the subject. But a blog that simply shares your love of something is very unlikely to be successful. Hope that helps! Eb 🙂

  2. I have been blogging for almost two years and I STRUGGLE with choosing a niche. I blog about how to homestead/live self-sufficiently. How-tos on a variety of topics: sewing, cooking, growing food, preserving food, building, financial independence, making own products, herbal remedies, living non-toxic/simply, etc.

    I could talk all day about pretty much any of those things. It’s my life and the journey I’ve been on for 10+ years. Right now my focus in my own life is to grow enough food to feed our family for a year. I also plan on starting a project this summer to learn how to go off-grid.

    Homesteading is my broad niche, but do I pick the narrower niche I’m currently focused on this summer which is the growing/putting up the food, or do I keep with the broad niche?

    I guess I struggle because I feel like if I choose the narrow niche, I *can’t* (is this just in my head?) talk about setting up solar or knitting slippers.

    Any advice?

    Thanks! I absolutely love your articles and have learned so much from you!

    1. Hi Steph, Thanks for your kind words about my blog! OK, I normally say that ‘lifestyle’ blogs aren’t the best way to go… as they are usually just a collection of random topics based on the individual bloggers favourite things. However, with something like ‘homesteading’ a lifestyle blog makes a lot more sense. In this instance, ‘homesteading’ really is the niche and actually having multiple topics makes a lot of sense, since homesteaders (and wannabe homesteaders) need to know about most of those topics. So I don’t necessarily think you need to niche down a whole lot more. What I would say is perhaps just narrow down your topics a little… so it’s not TOO broad, really focus on what your readers want/need to read about and make it clear what kind of homesteader you are (I don’t know a whole lot about homesteading, but I imagine there are different kinds… like for example with travel blogging you could be a luxury travel blogger / a vegan travel blogger / a budget travel blogger / a family travel blogger / an environmentally friendly travel blogger and so on… so what kind of homesteader are you? Make that the way you niche down, rather that narrowing down your topics a whole lot)

      Hope that helps!
      Eb 🙂

  3. Hi Eb, I so much liked your blog and a subsequent PDF presentation that you’ve sent that I couldn’t stop reading your blog. I have come up with this idea for my niche: share my journey of learning a skill that will make good money. I am currently in the early stages of this journey: I am learning computer programming, as well as blockchain and crypto. As I learn, I come across things that I would like to share with others in a blog. This might be an explanation of a programming subject that I’ve just learned or my experience with different coding courses or my experience with learning blockchain or crypto. As many other people are learning these things, I hope this data might help them get answers to their questions. I thought I could call my blog “journeytoskills” or “journey2skills”. I googled for the phrase as you said and found a company “skillsjourney.com”. Do you think that’d be a problem? Or is there enough difference between skillsjourney and journeytoskills? And which version is better, with “to” or “2”? Thank you very much for your awesome blog!

    1. Hi Irina, so good to hear you are enjoying my blog and finding it helpful! A journey blog where you share the skills you are learning can be a good way to start a blog – but I would definitely pick one specific niche / skill rather than going too broad. You want to get to the point where you can be the ‘expert’ as quickly as possible, as long term a niched down blog written by an expert in that topic is likely to do better. I would also be mindful of the competition. For example, I think a blog on blockchain / crypto could potentially be a very popular subject with lots of Google searches, but I imagine that the competition within that niche is also quite strong. Do plenty of research (google topics you might want to write about) to see what the competition is like. Personally, I feel “journeytoskills” or “journey2skills” is too broad for a name. I would go for something a little more specific. “journeytoskills” could mean absolutely anything. (But on the specific question of whether it’s to close to “skillsjourney.com”, no I think that’s fine.) Hope that helps! Eb 🙂

      1. Thanks a lot, Eb!!!! Somehow I’ve written a new post (an update to the earlier one) before I saw your answer.
        You made a very good point of getting to be the ‘expert’ as quickly as possible. I now think I could say (which is true) that I have mastered over a dozen skills in my life through self-learning, I spent many thousand hours self-learning, and in this blog I want to share with the audience the steps that I have taken, as well as the steps I am taking now to learn new skills. As part of learning new skills, I would share with the audience simplified descriptions of things I really had to search for as part of my own learning journey: things that weren’t readily available in a Google search or were poorly explained. I do run into such things, and I think if I had trouble finding answers, other people might too. (I still need to learn the SEO tool that gives the frequency of search requests, but that’d be at a later stage.) I could set up a survey form about the skills the users have self-learned, and maybe even ask if they want to share their skill-learning stories on this website. I could share feedback on online courses I have taken to learn new skills and maybe invite users to leave their feedback on their learning experiences, after moderation of course.
        Regarding the name being too general as you said, do you think that “stepstoskills” is too general as well? I could also try “selflearnskills” or “beselflearned.” The idea of “steps” is very appealing to me, but I don’t have online experience to predict how people would react to it. Or how about “selflearnrocket” or “selflearningrocket”, with the idea of riding a “rocket” to self-learn toward one’s goal? How does that seem to you?
        If all goes well, maybe at a later stage I could offer guided challenges on learning new things step by step: a user sets a challenge to learn something and then gets daily guidance/encouragement/reminder, or some such to keep them on track of their learning journey.
        I very much appreciate your advice and will definitely use your referral link to get the hosting, once I finalize the name.

  4. …(continuing the previous post), maybe “stepstoskills”? I see that “steps2skills” domain is taken, but the “to” version is not. I like the name, got a ton of ideas for it. This site would be about self-learning and would have 3 sections: (1) philosophy/how to challenge oneself to keep learning, the mindset to master skills; (2) concepts related to learning programming skills explained in simple words; (3) concepts related to learning web3/crypto investments and products explained in simple words. Does that seem like a workable idea?

    1. Aaah, I see now I misunderstood your original idea – you want your blog to be about teaching people how to acquire new skills – is that right? In which case that makes sense and I can see how a blog that teaches people how to learn new skills well / fast / efficiently could work. The only thing that concerns me is that your 3 sections sound to me like 3 separate blogs / niches… all of which are good ideas, but I am not sure how they would work on one blog. It might be a good idea to pick one of those options to start with and expand later once you have established authority / expertise in the first one. Or perhaps combine the first 2 – where section one would be focused specifically on philosophy/mindset needed to learn programming skills. If indeed your blog is about teaching people how to acquire new skills, I love the word ‘rocket’ – it implies boosting / improving / getting somewhere fast. I feel ‘stepstoskills’ is still too vague and not exciting enough. Hope that helps! Eb 🙂

  5. Hi,
    My name is Marcy. I want to blog about being 50+ years old. The Generation X. But I have no clue how to niche that down.
    Ideas?

    1. Hello from a fellow Generation Xer! The important thing to consider when choosing a niche is WHO will you help and WHAT will you help them with? The key to success with blogging is to focus on understanding who your target audience is, understanding what their problems are and providing solutions to their problems. You have identified that you want to help people who are 50+ But that’s a lot of people. Can you narrow that down a bit? And people in their 50s have a whole range of problems… pick one and write a brilliant blog that solves that problem really well… THAT is your niche! For example you might help overweight women in their 50s get fit (Be fitter now than you were in your 20s!) You might help people in their 50s who are struggling with money to learn to manage their finances better. You might help people in their 50s who have taken early retirement to travel the world. Whatever you do, don’t try and solve all the problems… pick one and do it really well!

  6. I’m currently at the stage where I think I need to tighten my niche. I currently blog about motherhood, organisation, days out and some personal stories. I really want to start thinking better about how my posts can go more into a motherhood niche. So perhaps days out will only be family friendly ones, life updates will be minimal etc. Reading this has really helped me decide that’s what I need to do.

    Thank you!

    Lisa
    http://www.lovefromlisa.com

    1. Good to hear that this has helped you! Tightening your niche is definitely the right move. Both from a business perspective and from a Google / SEO perspective. Personally I would say Motherhood is still too broad. What kind of mothers do you help? (For example, do you target rich mothers? Mothers on a budget? Arts and crafts loving mothers? Outdoorsy mothers? Travel loving mothers?) And what specific problems do you help with? Those two questions should help you narrow down your niche and become more targeted. Good luck!

  7. This has been helpful for me. We currently have over 250 cooking videos on YouTube, with a new one every week, and for the past 6 months have been turning those into a recipe blog. I was diagnosed with Celiac a little over a year ago so all our recent recipes are gluten free. I’ve been afraid to put that front and center because I don’t want to alienate people who eat gluten – we make very delicious food that anyone can enjoy. After reading this page I’m starting to think that we should be going all in on the gluten free cooking. Thank you.

    1. Absolutely! I would 100% go all in on the gluten free / celiac niche. Be that place where celiacs and other gluten-free people arrive on your site and say ‘Finally, I’ve found my go-to website!’ Of course, other people will stull stumble across your website (maybe searching for things they can make for their GF friends, for example) but if you try to appeal to everyone, you’ll appeal to no one!

  8. Hi EB
    Your blog has been so helpful to me, that I’m planning to start a block. My proposed niche is (Healthful Fertility or Wellness & Womb). I intend to be posting health products on the blog as well. Advice, please.

    1. Great to hear you plan to start a blog! Your proposed niche sounds good so long as you have a good level of knowledge and expertise in this area. It’s important to know that any health-related niche is what Google considers a YMYL niche (Your Money Your Life) and as such requires a higher level of E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness) than a regular blog. You can read more about E-E-A-T here >> https://www.productiveblogging.com/eat/

      1. Thank you EB, indeed you are an authority in this field your answers to questions are top-notch. I understand Google Page Quality in terms of YMYL pages and E.E.A.T, and I have taken that into consideration. The blog will contain interviews and presentations from experts. Thanks so much for your helpful response.

  9. Hi Eb,

    I initially wanted my blog to cover lifestyle topics such as DIY, home decor, travel, and food because I am passionate about them. I want to keep it as simple as possible; for example, the DIY will focus on simple and low-cost projects. Home decor will also focus on simple style and realistic decor. Travel will focus on unique destinations toward sustainability. As for food, I want to share my favorite kitchen gadgets, tested recipes, and some of my own simple recipes.

    I am aware that it’s crucial to niche down the topics, but I just somehow can’t get myself to do it as I am interested in all of them and want to share my personal tips and ideas. Sometimes, I get confused and ask myself if I really want to blog about each of them or just choose one of them.

    I would appreciate your advice.

    Thanks!

    Nouan

    1. In all honesty, it’s going to be very hard, if not impossible to rank well with new a blog that covers so many different topics. There was a time when this kind of blog could do very well, and so you will see very successful blogs that cover multiple topics… However, those blogs do well because they were started a long time ago when competition was much less fierce and because they are now very well established. I would always advise a new blogger to niche right down and cover one small/tight niche really well – this will help you develop expertise and ‘topical authority’ in that tight niche. Once established in a small niche, you can then expand out from that niche gradually so that, over time you have expertise and ‘topical authority’ in several small / closely related niches. I recommend you read this post for more on topical authority >> https://www.productiveblogging.com/topical-authority/, and this post for quotes directly from Google about not writing on lots of different topics >> https://www.productiveblogging.com/helpful-content-update/

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