How to Find a Blogging Niche
Before you start your new blog, you need to find a niche. Going too broad is one of the most common mistakes that beginners make—going for a broad niche. Many times, people fear to go too narrow when starting out. They believe that if their focus is broad, they will attract more visitors. However, that is not true. If your niche is too broad, you will have a hard time pulling search engine traffic. Here is what may make a beginner give up: They choose a broad topic. It fails to gain traction with search engines.
The beginner is discouraged and gives up. If you choose a narrow topic, you will soon become an expert. Google uses the Hummingbird algorithm which gives an advantage to websites that cover a topic well. A smaller field has less topics to cover and less competition. Humans, just like search engines, love narrow niches. If they find specifically what they are looking for, they will establish a strong bond with your site. What Exactly Is a Blogging Niche? It is a niche that attracts a subset of a larger market.
Check out these examples: Travel > Frugal Travel, Gardening > Cold Climate Gardening, Fitness > Fitness for Nerds. An online research tool is useful when it comes to getting niche ideas. An example is the Keyword Niche Finder by Wordstream. You get the first 30 searches free. Key in your head or main keyword and explore the longtail variations. See if there is a niche you like. Finding a Blogging Niche – Passion. Experts recommend getting a niche that is at the intersection of revenue potential and your passion.
Others say that if you want to earn a living with blogging, you should focus more on profits. Nonetheless, finding a topic you love is important because it will show in your writing and you will stay motivated. Finding a Niche – Profitability. Keyword research will help you determine the profitability of your niche. Find a paid keyword research tool that has cost per clicks (CPC) among its metrics. Enter about 10 keywords in your niche. If the keywords’ CPC is a few dollars, it is a profitable niche.
In case you cannot get a keyword research tool: Browse a newsagent’s magazine stand. If you see a magazine for your niche, then it is profitable. Publishing is expensive. Enter your keyword in the Google search box. If you see paid ads, the niche has money. Type a few keywords on Amazon. For each review, there are 1000 customers. Find best blogs and affiliate programs in your niche using Google. For keyword research, you need to assess: Overall trends – use Google Trends (it is free), Keyword competition, Search volume. For the last two, you will need a paid tool such as KWFinder, Keyword Tool Pro, Spyfu, SEMrush, Ahrefs etc.
For competition and volume, you can also use: Rand Fishkin’s Method and Brian Clark’s Method. The word “copywriting” gets thrown around so much that it is slowly losing its meaning. Many people have no idea what it is anymore. So, here is a deeper look at the term. There are tons of jobs that fall under the category of copywriting. It is no wonder that even copywriters find it hard to explain their own job. Ask one and note how they dance around the definition. This is the same case with Dictionary.com. They barely define the word. “A writer of a copy” is not much of a definition. Towards the end, the explanation tries to be a little more specific with “especially for advertisements or publicity releases”. The best explanation you will find is a comparison between content writing and copywriting.
The latter is said to inform readers while the former calls them to action. This is a good place to start. Creation of valuable and relevant content is required for both content writing and copywriting. The difference, therefore, must be in the engagement potential. Going by this, copywriting can be defined as a way of writing that is engaging, strategic and actionable. What is the relationship between copywriting and advertisement? How does it fit into marketing? Traditional advertising is barely surviving.
It is not dead, yet, but it is not doing well either. Audiences do not care about paid commercials anymore. They respond better to organic marketing (both outbound and inbound). Every marketing campaign starts with copywriting. Internet users get information for what they want to buy from search engines. Copywriters encourage these shopping instincts using engaging wording and alluring themes. It is a win-win situation. Brands rank better in search engines and readers benefit from relevant, entertaining information. Copywriters must know how to play with words, obviously. But there is more. Beyond writing: other than basic writing skills, a copywriter should have immaculate grammar, a broad vocabulary and unique writing style. Resourcefulness: most copywriters, especially beginners, must write about a lot of topics.
This means being able to find trustworthy and relevant resources. Creativity: even with technical topics, a copywriter should find a way to make the content engaging. Reader-centricity: SEO is not really a copywriter’s job, but they must be knowledgeable about it. Regardless of what a copywriter is writing about, they first must think about how to entice a reader in every step. Niche and Market Research involves familiarizing yourself with the needs and expectations of the reader. Knowing what motivates their purchase decision helps you create content that resonates with them. A reader should clearly see the benefits they will get in your content.
There are three equally valid principles that contribute to valuable content. AIDA: A – attention I – interest D – desire – action. You vs. We: focus on the reader’s needs. When you have done your research properly, content creation will be a walk in the park. Pen down all the information you have gathered to make a raw copy. Read and re-read the copy. Polish the grammar, tone, and any other issue to come up with the perfect copy, ready for publishing. Having a full-time professional blog costs more than just your time. Here is how much you may have to pay (these are the minimum costs). Laptop: a desktop computer is good, but a laptop is better because you can work from anywhere. Other than a HD screen and a long battery life, the minimum requirements are an i5 processor and 8GB RAM. Cost: $2399 for Apple and $679 for PC. Microphone and webcam: at some point, people will want to see the face behind the content.
A good webcam and microphone will help you make quality vlogs. Cost: $170. DSLR and lenses: amazing photos will capture the attention of your audience. Cost: $450. When it comes to hosting companies, you have a lot of options to choose from. Make sure you choose a reliable company. Otherwise, you will have to deal with poor customer support, unending downtimes, and a lot of other inconveniences. Cost: $2 to $20/month. Both your blog name and domain name are part of your brand identity. Your blog will appear more professional and boost credibility. You can buy the domain name either from a hosting company or a registrar. Cost: $14/year. Depending on how much money you have, you can choose to: Have professionals create a custom design for you, tailored to meet the unique needs of your blog.
Buy a common WordPress theme. Use the services of a freelancer or company. The WordPress theme is the cheapest option ($30 – $60). Highly customized professional blogs can cost up to $2500 or even more. Growing your blog organically will take time. You can start by posting high-quality articles every week. If you do not have the time, find a freelance copywriter to do the work for you. They charge from $15 to about $50 an hour. This is a good idea for pure blog sites. However, for business sites with a blog section, it is better to pay for content instead of having a full-time copywriter.
As your website grows, you will start getting offers from writers wanting to contribute. Before you accept the offers, check the links and content to ensure that everything is in line with your brand. Beginner bloggers can opt for free advertising methods which will only cost their time. Professionals, on the other hand, should consider paying for promotion and advertising. Google has a service, Google AdWords, that you can use to promote on Google Search. They do not charge to display your link. You only pay when someone clicks on the link ($1 to $50). They allow you to pause, stop and start the campaign whenever you like.
Other forms of advertising include LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook ads. Facebook advertising is great because you get to reach your target audience. Most of the software tools you will need are free such as Google Docs. You may need the services of a speech recognition tool sometime in the future. There are also writing and management tools. To fine-tune content, you may need software to check grammar mistakes and/or plagiarism.
