Blog Topics
Blog Topics – What is a Niche?
Understanding what a Niche is:
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Definition of NICHE a place, employment, status, or activity for which a person or thing is best fitted <finally found her niche>
‘a specialized market’
Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary [/Normal_Box]
Now that I have given you the dictionary description of what a niche is; the plain and simple description in our case is that a niche is ‘the topic’ and/or the ‘subject matter’ of your website/blog. In South Africa this word (niche) isn’t used frequently and thus my wanting to explain its meaning especially for those of you who are new to Internet Marketing (the ‘newbies). The term ‘niche‘ is, however, gaining popularity.
Eg. This Blogs Niche (topic) is all about ‘How to earn money online’.
How to choose a Blog Topic or Niche:
Some say (I hope Jeremy Clarkson hasn’t copyrighted this phrase) the best place to start is to choose a niche (topic) that you are passionate about. Whilst this is ‘good advice‘, it is also imperative to know whether this is a niche that has an online following. In other words: Are other users looking for information online about your choosen topic / niche? To do this you need to jump in and do some basic keyword research and/or check Google’s New Trend monitoring Tool: Google ThinkInsights.
Note: I’ll cover Google Insights elsewhere & post a link when it’s done! [Icon List]
- Before you begin with the keyword research, also consider the fact that a good topic or niche may in fact NOT be something you are passionate about, but rather something you are plain and simply good at or an expert in. Your blog topic could also be something which you have a wealth of information about, like diabetes (eg. Maybe your son/daughter has diabetes and you have gained knowledge to share about this disease).
- Another option would be to research Online Services like Web-Hosting and/or Directory Services and create a website offering these services. For example, I started a website recently, offering accommodation and tourist information. Although new, the website; South Coast Accommodation & Tourism does very well in Google Search Rankings and earns me a few bucks every month in Google Adsense Revenue. Once it gains more popularity I will start charging accommodation owners to add their listings to the site, thus bringing in further revenue. My primary business website offers affordable web hosting solutions (as well as other Internet Services).
- Lastly, you may want to sell a specific product or range of products on your website/blog. Immaterial as to whether they are Digital Products or Physical Products, the idea here is to choose a Blog Topic (Niche) that is related to what you intend doing or in this case selling. If you are selling someone elses products just make sure you don’t inadvertently infringe on ©Copyright, ®Trademarks and or the Vendors Terms & Conditions.
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Competition in relation to your Blog Topic:
When I started my online ventures 3-years ago, I rushed out and started website on various topics I was passionate about (food, worm farming, flying etc). They all failed miserably partly because I didn’t know what I was doing and partly because my blog topics were bad choices. Not only is it important to decide on a good blog topic (i.e. one that people are searching for), you also have to consider the competition in the Niche you choose.
Again, using keyword research you must gather information about; how many other websites/blogs are targeting the same Niche as you. My first website was about food and included several great recipes and information about food products. The Niche was and still is a very popular blog topic. However, the website failed purely because there were too many other websites competing for the same niche and keywords. At the time my Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) skills weren’t what they are today, so in the end I de-registered the domain and had to start all over again.
[Alert] TIP: Don’t de-register a good domain name, as I did in the earlier days online…
even if it’s not working for you, you may be able to sell it for a profit! [/Alert]
Note: with my current level of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) skills, I could probably have turned this website into a success and as per the tip above, I may have been able to sell this domain at a profit. However, The point being: be forewarned that as a ‘newbie’ you will not have these SEO skills and thus choosing a Blog Topic with less competition is advised.
In closing; the dynamics of Niche Marketing may change with the times, but a good Blog Topic is still critical to your success. I could and may still write a heap more on the topic “What is a Niche?”, so please sign-up for the Blog RSS Feeds above (Page Top) to keep informed about new blog posts.
