As of the end of 2020, there were 170 billion active websites. About 500 million of them are blogs. If you are thinking of starting a blog, you can see right at the outset that your new site will face a vast ocean of competition.
One strategy to succeed is to select a niche topic. A niche is a narrow focus on a particular subject. That might be gaming, classic automobiles, mushroom hunting, paranormal phenomenon — you name it. But no matter how much you narrow it down, you can bet that uncounted others are already blogging about it.
A way to stand out is to select not just a niche — but narrow it down to a niche within a niche. For example, consider the paranormal phenomenon topic. That can encompass everything from ghosts and UFOs to Bigfoot sightings and practical magic.
Many people reason that if they make their blog about “all things paranormal,” they will attract a larger array of people because a broader range of information is offered. However, vast experience has shown that moving away from this kind of shotgun approach results in much better traffic.
Instead of a blog about the paranormal phenomenon, select a blog just about Bigfoot. Then narrow it down even further — such as Bigfoot sightings in Minnesota. That way, you’ll gain traction faster and capture a core audience.
Once you have established a small but consistent following of your blog with a laser-focused niche, you have the luxury to start expanding the range of topics and information as you strive to build a larger audience.
If you are eager to start a new blog but can’t decide on a topic, consider these three factors:
- How passionate are you about a topic?
- How passionate is an audience likely to be about the topic?
- Does a topic have excellent potential to generate money?
Seasoned bloggers will tell you that you will never succeed if you are not incredibly passionate about your blogging topic. You’ll soon discover this to be true when you realize how much work and dedication it takes to produce engaging information consistently and for the long haul.
On the other hand, if a topic is an excellent cash generator, that may be all the motivation you need. The ideal formula is to blog about what you love and let the money follow naturally.