Although it’s not difficult to set up a blog (especially with blogger.com), it is important for your blog to focus on a particular theme, or ‘niche’.Let’s begin by clarifying precisely what a ‘niche’ is.
In general, we could say that a niche is a focused, specialized area of expertise or experience. You will have a greater chance of succeeding online if you select a more narrow, as opposed to a broad, theme. The idea is to find a niche where the competition isn’t too stiff, yet the demand is still sufficiently high.
It might be helpful to think of a niche as a subtopic area of a larger theme. If your site focused on ‘golf’ for example, you’d encounter a lot of competition for that term, and so your site would have difficulty ranking highly amid such competition. You’d have a much higher chance of success if you focused on ‘how to improve your golf swing’, a much more narrow niche.
There are a couple of aspects involved in selecting your niche. Ask yourself these questions:
1. What do I enjoy doing? What do I feel passionate about?
2. What am I good at? What kinds of skills and aptitudes do I have?
Make a list with answers to these questions. For example:
:: Things you enjoy doing (Sudoku puzzles? Working out?)
:: Things you’re good at (Cooking? Planning a party?)
:: Areas in which you have a specialized skill in (Playing the piano? Fixing computers?)
:: Topics that you would like to know more about (Learning a language? Repairing your car?)
Once you have a list of possible topics, prioritize the list in order of preference. With a prioritized list in hand, it’s time for you to do some research. This research involves analyzing the supply vs. demand of the niche topic you’ve chosen. What you’re looking for is low supply and high demand. What leads visitors to many websites is based upon the results of a keyword or phrase that visitor has searched for using a search engine such as Google. Effective website design involves designing each page around a particular keyword or phrase - one that is frequently searched for by potential visitors.
So researching your niche involves researching the supply and demand of the chosen keyword or niche topic. There are several tools available to you to perform this research:
>> Overture Inventory Suggestion Tool: http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
>> SearchItTool: http://searchit.sitesell.com/upandrunning.html
>> GoodKeywords: http://www.goodkeywords.com
I’ve also discovered a powerful software tool that’s designed to sniff out low competition, high demand keywords. It’s an excellent tool, and worth the investment to get your website on the right track. Check out the informational page here:
http://pinurl.com/findmyniche
Remember, it takes just as long to build a website that works as it takes to build one that doesn’t. The time you invest in researching a profitable niche topic is well worth the effort.
REBATE OFFER: If you decide to purchase the Micro Niche Finder software, mail a copy of your receipt to blogforfunandprofit[at]gmail.com and I’ll send you a $10 rebate! Offer good only when you purchase through my link (clear your cookies first). Here’s the link again:
http://pinurl.com/findmyniche