On my site, I share lots of tips and advice about blogging. That’s why I was surprised to realise I have never actually written a post on one VERY important aspect of blogging: How to find your niche!
Today, I am correcting that mistake. Finding your niche is one of the most CRUCIAL things to decide on before starting your blog. Actually, it is probably THE most crucial thing. But don’t worry! I am going to walk you through the process of finding your niche step by step, so that by the end of this post, you’ll have a super clear idea of the direction your blog is going to go in.
What is a “niche”?
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If you’re not yet familiar with the term “niche”, that’s absolutely okay! Your niche is going to be you blog’s overarching topic. In other words, if someone were to ask you what your blog is all about, you should be able to answer them in 1 to 3 words. That short description of your blog’s topic, is your niche.
For ReneeHalfway.com, I decided on female entrepreneurship as my niche. (I’ve compiled a list of niche ideas a little further down for inspiration!)
Why you need a niche.
I’m just going to be totally honest here. When I first started out, I was stubborn and really believed I didn’t need a niche. I ignored the advice of successful bloggers that had gone before me, and started a blog about travel, recipes and creative writing pieces. It probably goes without saying that the only people reading that blog were my own family. (Thanks mom…)
Related: Common Blogging Mistakes to Fix Right Now.
So why is having a niche so important? There are actually two reason for this!
1. When your blog has a clearly defined topic, search engines like Google will know how to categorise it.
This has a very positive effect on your site’s SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). A site that has a strong SEO score will be easier to find on the first page of Google. (Because let’s be honest, who even goes to the 4th page?)
2. Your readers will be more likely to stick around.
That’s because internet users don’t really have a long attention span. If it takes them too much effort to find what they’re looking for, they’re gone! Let’s say a brand new reader stumbles across your blog because they found an article about travel that they loved. They want to read more about that topic, because that’s what they’re interested in. But when they start seeing recipes, workouts and style advice, they’re most likely going to bounce!
How to find your niche.
To find your niche, all you have to do is answer these two questions:
- What am I passionate about?
- What am I knowledgeable about?
Yep, finding your niche is that simple! It is very important that you are both passionate and knowledgable about your niche, because your readers will quickly realise when you don’t enjoy writing your articles, or when you’re just sort of winging them.
People want your content to entertain and inform them!
Popular niche ideas
These are some of the most popular niches for bloggers to help you decide on your own blog’s topic!
- (Luxury) travel
- Health & Fitness
- Crafts
- Lifestyle*
- Mom blogging
- Beauty
- Home & Interior
- (Online) Business/Entrepreneurship
- Fashion
- Education
- (Personal) Finance
- Vegan lifestyle & sustainability
- Food/wine blogging
- Mindfulness
- Planning & Organisation
*Lifestyle is a difficult niche to get started in. The reason for that, is that it is still not very defined and therefore I don’t really recommend it. However, it is completely up to you!
Defining your categories.
Now that you have found your niche, it is time to come up with your categories and subcategories! I would recommend to find 3 to 4 categories to add to your blog. It is usually okay to choose 1 category that isn’t completely within your nice, as long as it still somehow ties in with the other ones.
Your categories should complement your niche to make your blog a well-rounded site. Here’s an example of 3 strong categories for a health & fitness blog that really add value to the blog:
- Nutrition or recipes
- Workouts
- Healthy habits
This site would contain all the information a reader needs about health and fitness! An extra category could be sustainable living or mindfulness, for example, as those topics are still related to a healthy lifestyle. However, a category about finance or education would be less fitting for this blog.
Finally, you could choose to add subcategories to your menu. This is a smart way to make sure your readers can easily navigate your site. Because remember, the more effort they have to put in, the less appealing your site will be to them.
Ready to start your blog?
Get your site hosted today! My blog is hosted with Siteground. They’re absolutely AMAZING, the whole process of hosting my site went very smoothly. Another important thing to note, is that they’re super affordable at $6.99 a month!
Want an even cheaper alternative? Check out Bluehost! Their 3-year plan comes down to only $2.95 a month.
Those are my tips to find your niche!
It really can be that simple once you know how to go about it! Now that you have decided on your niche, I recommend you read How Much it ACTUALLY Costs to Start a Blog., so that you feel prepared during your journey towards becoming a blogger!
Which niche have you decided to go for? Let me know in the comments, or by sending me a message on IG! You can find me @ReneeHalfway.
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