for your blog is what you would have to storm your brain for if you are serious about making money from your blog. In fact this is the next important thing you would have to do after you have decided to make a blog for your self. You would have to take care of the finer points while choosing the topic for your blog.
In this post I will try to draw your attention to the points I think you must go through or consider before choosing a topic or niche for your blog - as I have said "specially if you intend to earn money from your blog".
1. KNOWLEDGE, PASSION, INTEREST
Do I have enough knowledge about the topic? Am I passionate enough about the topic? Is the topic of enough interest to me? These are the few questions you must ask yourself when you are choosing a topic for your blog. And if the answers to all of these questions is a confident "YES" then I must say - you are at least heading towards the right direction.
In fact this is the most important aspect you would have to consider because blogs by nature are meant to be frequently updated with new content - at least the bloggers who are successful does - put the other way the visitors to your blog will expect this from you - frequently updating your blog is what will give life to your blog or else it will be considered a 'DEAD BLOG' (you will find millions of dead blogs online).
To update your blog frequently with fresh and interesting content you need enough understanding of the subject, enough passion and interest in the subject of your blog - because we are humans and by nature we love to do what we LIKE and are passionate about - remember blogging is a long term affair so likings and passion is very much required.
Many bloggers start their blogs with frequent updates or new posts but as time goes on they seem to lose steam and then updates become less and less frequent till it stops one day - thus creating one more dead blog. So choose a topic or niche that interests you and you feel passionate about. Choose a niche that you know quiet a lot about, have read about a lot and would love to write about.
2. SEARCH VOLUME OR MARKET DEMAND
The search volume (how many times people has searched for that topic with relevant keywords through major search engines per month) which can give you an idea about the demand of that particular topic - more the search volume more the demand - more the demand more the possibility of drawing traffic - more traffic = more money - remember we live in a world where every thing depends upon its demand.
A blog build around a less demanding niche will ultimately draw less traffic - less traffic = less money - because the income a blog can generate is directly proportional to the amount of traffic it pulls. As the income comes mainly from advertising and affiliate sales - both of these depends upon traffic. I hope this is pretty simple.
Now, how will you find the search volume for your niche? There are many tools available online to help you find the search volume of the niche you are targeting to make a profitable blog. One such tool is Google AdWords Keyword Tool - just type one or two words that is relevant to your niche or the niche itself and hit enter (also tick the 'use synonyms' check box) - you will be provided with the search volume of various combinations of your keywords and its synonyms on Google per month. One more good tool from Google is Google Traffic Estimator. Another good tool is Good Keywords.
3. AVAILABILITY OF CONTENT
As already said that blogs by nature 'are' or 'are expected' to be updated by new posts frequently so you do need enough stock of content to continue blogging. If you only rely on your own content stock then let me tell you that you will soon find yourself running out of stock. So you need many resources from where you can get new content or ideas to learn from and then be able to put it in your own words.
To get content you would have to deal on both offline and online resources like magazines, newspapers, forums, other blogs, rss subscriptions etc. So you would have to make sure you have lot of these in your niche. Specific magazines and newspapers are to be subscribed which writes about your niche. You would have to join forums and participate in discussions related to your topic - do not hesitate to ask questions or to present your views. Blogs are to be found out that talks about your niche and then subscribe to their RSS feeds to get the latest updates.
If you are thinking I am talking about duplicating content then you have totally mistaken me. What I meant above is to read and learn and then present your ideas in an innovative way in your own words. Never ever duplicate content if you want your blog not to be blacklisted by the search engines. I hope you have understood what I mean. Moreover this is what all bloggers do. And even in normal life everybody has to learn things for the first time somewhere from somebody because what we speak and practice is what we have learnt nothing is stored in our brains when we were born. 'We all learn from each other'.
To search for blogs do a Google Blogsearch or search through any search engine with your niche relevant keywords plus the word 'blogs' attached to it and then bookmark the blogs whose content you like.
To search for forums in your niche type in the search box your niche relevant keywords plus 'forums' and then bookmark the ones that you like.
4. CHOOSE A WIDE NICHE
Do not choose a very narrow niche which has a very little to be written about. Choose such a niche which has many sub-niches thus giving you more variety to write upon and more scope for innovation. For example :-
•You can choose ENVIRONMENT where you can blog about Global Warming, Green Peace, Climatic Changes, Effect of Industry, Ecosystems, Environmental Education and etc.
•You can choose HEALTH AND FITNESS where you can blog about Health Tips, Fat Loss, Body Building, Women's Health, Personal Hygiene, Smoking, Diet Supplements and etc.
•You can choose TECHNOLOGY where you can blog about Electronics Gadgets, Cameras, Mobiles, Computers, Televisions and etc.
•You can choose ONLINE MONEY MAKING where you can blog about Online Money Making Ways, Blogging, SEO, Paid Surveys, Freelance Jobs and etc.
•You can choose SPORTS where you can blog about Indoor Games, Outdoor Games, Sports Goods, Sporting Events, Martial Arts, Food Supplements, Sports Heroes and etc.
SOME TYPICAL SITUATIONS THAT MAY ARISE
•Say you have chosen a niche that you are interested in, have passion for, have enough knowledge about, has a wide scope and have moderate resources but not enough search volume - then what to do? My advice is - if your purpose is to monetize your blog then no doubt this is not the right niche for you so 'FORGET IT'. Because low search volume = low interest = low traffic = low or no income - simple maths! The solution - start all over again and choose another (be more planned in your approach this time as you already know some of the pitfalls now).
•Say you have chosen a topic which has enough search volume, wide scope of sub-topics and has available content but you are new to the topic so does not have enough interest, passion or knowledge about - then what to do? My advice is - this time you are not that much far from choosing the niche for your blog - just give yourself some time and learn as much as you can from the available resources and when you feel confident about your niche start your blog. Remember its never too late to learn anything - learning has no age - all the experts in your niche has also learned about the niche and in fact they are still learning because knowledge has no end. So start learning. But this would depend if you are willing to start and learn something new.
SOME LAST WORDS - All the above points that I have discussed is been done assuming that you want to create a blog for profit but if you are not interested in money, rather you want to blog about something not caring about who reads it or its monetizing factor, or just want to blog for fun, or just want to get a feel of blogging then too you can start a blog and in that case you can be least concerned about the above points. But for the ones who wants to take up blogging for profit those points are a must for them to consider.
OVER TO YOU - I hope the process is clear to you but if you have any comment or suggestion or question to ask please do so in the comment section below. Any response from your side is highly appreciated. You'll give LIFE to my blog.
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