How to Choose Your Blog’s Niche: Deep and Wide or Straight and Narrow?

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If you’ve read any of the blogging “how-to’s” and “do nots”, you’ve surely seen the phrase “choose your niche wisely” about seventeen thousand times.  That’s wonderful advice, but what does it really mean and how do you know if your niche is right for you?

The first decision to make is whether to go “deep and wide” or “straight and narrow” with your blog.

• Deep and Wide: This type of blog gives the author or authors the utmost freedom.  You can talk about literally anything and everything that suits your fancy.  While the central theme of The Conservative Journal is political commentary, we branch far out from that with entertainment, articles on blogging, etc.  The “blogging elite” will likely tell you to stray away from this type of blog, but to them I say screw it.  Here’s my logic: There are THOUSANDS of political blogs on the internet that all recycle and regurg the same material day in and day out.  We don’t want to be that mundane political blog, so we try to periodically spice things with a little bit from left field.  If you want to do this and thing you can strike a good balance, I say go for it!  If a more loose approach to your blog doesn’t fly with you, try having a….
• Straight and Narrow Blog: These types of blog have a central theme and stick to it wholeheartedly.  While blogs of this type offer less variety in terms of subject matter, they often have an easier time developing a devoted base of readers who always know what to expect.  If you prefer more order in your writing, go for this type.  There is certainly nothing wrong with this approach.  Another thing to consider: Are you going at it alone?  If so, this is definitely a better approach for you.  The Conservative Journal has several different writers churning out content, making it easier to cover a broad range of topics.  I certainly could never write all of the different categories by myself!

Once you’ve decided your blog’s structure, it’s time to nail down that intensely sought-after GOLDEN NICHE.  Of course, you’ll need to think about a few things first:

• Personal Intereset: For the love of Pete, make sure your blog falls into a niche that interests you.  FACT: You will NEVER be successful with a blog that deals with things you don’t have a deep interest in.  For example, I could never write a blog about NASCAR Racing.  I could probably find a good audience with NASCAR themed-blog, but you can’t fake passion.  And for me, the passion well is dry when it comes to racing cars.  Take a minute to think about your likes and build your blog’s niche from there.  Chances are, there are people who feel similarly and would love to read about someone who shares their interests.
• Traffic on the Highway of your Niche: Your blog can literally be about anything you like.  As long as you like the subject matter, material will come.  However, if you try to breakout in a niche that is already over-crowded, you’re going to have to be patient.  Blogs don’t skyrocket to success over night and thousands of bloggers close shop every day for this reason.  With this in mind, try to sub-specify your niche (that might be a new word right there!).  Pick something with-in something to give yourself that edge.  For example, a blogger wanting to blog about politics may choose politics in his specific state to set himself apart from the millions of general political blogs.  Think of it as taking a service road that runs alongside the interstate.
• Does anyone care: It may sound like I’m contradicting myself here, but hear me out.  While I just said that you should sub-specify your niche, watch out for OVER specifying.  The same blogger mentioned above that may blog about politics in his state probably should stick to only politics in his county.  More than likely, there aren’t enough people in his county to give him the type of traffic he’d want.  Having said that, if traffic is on your list of 5 billion concerns, then over specify away.  If you want your blog to only talk about restaurants on a specific street in your town and you don’t care that no one will read it, GO FOR IT.

Chew on this: Finding a niche is really easy if you are just realistic with your expectations and know what you want.  If you want traffic, choose a niche with-in a niche, but avoid being so specific that no one will care.  If you don’t care about traffic and just want to write, there is literally no subject matter you can’t choose.

Next Up: How to Choose the Title of Your Blog: What’s in a Name

Don’t forget to visit our Blogging 101 homepage and bookmark it so you can check back as we continue discussing how to make a successful blog!

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Thanks for reading!

Rick

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