How to Find a Profitable Blogging Niche

Bloggers make the same mistake all the time, even in 2018. Even I’ve struggled with this before, and I’m a professional blog writer.

The issue? Selecting the wrong blog niche.

There are TONS of issues why a specific blog will fail, and many of the problems come back to this source… You picked a bad niche.

If you’re not passionate about the topic, it’s wrong.

If you’re not familiar enough with the industry, it’s wrong.

If you just can’t make money in the niche, it’s wrong.

Yet writers spend countless hours and dollars trying to build these dead blogs. They’re convinced if they just change the website theme, the audience will flock. Then after a year or so of banging your head against the wall, you give up. Feel like a failure. Never build a blog again.

That’s silly, my friends.

In today’s post, I’ll show you how to choose the right blogging niche for you. If you’re struggling for ideas, this is the blog post for you.

If you answer these questions honestly, you’ll find exactly where you need to be.

1. What’s my passion?

If you don’t passionately believe in your niche, it’s a bright red flag. Chances are, you won’t have the strength to hustle long enough to see results from the endeavor.

People express passion in different ways, but you must feel it in some way.

It’s a key to your success.

Passion motivates us on difficult days; prevents us from giving up in the face of rejection; drives us to learn and hone our skills. It’s the fuel for a happy blogger life.

And even more important for a profitable blog?

If you don’t feel passionate about the topic, readers will know. And they’ll get bored, leave and never come back. It’s impossible to build a profitable blog without passion.

Brainstorm Activity:

Imagine you could become the foremost authority on a quirky item you love. And feel free to get as specific as possible. Is it a certain 1990s Lego theme? Or a weird piece of fruit you tasted while abroad last year? Write down every idiosyncrasy in your personality.

2. Can I make money?

Despite the importance of passion, let’s be honest -- very few people blog because they absolutely have to talk about the subject.

We want to make money.

In fact, many see it as a path to provide for families, buy groceries, fund their family vacation. And with ambitious revenue goals like that, you need to know you can make money. Otherwise, why are you investing so much time into the project?

Luckily, you don’t need to get 1 year and 700 hours of work into the blog to find out it’s dead.

You can identify profitable niches before you ever buy a domain name. All it takes is a bit of research. Before starting your blog strategy, consider these factors while evaluating your potential niche:

1 - How much time can you invest in this blog per week?

2 - Do you have a marketing budget of any kind?

3 - How easy would it be to attract advertisers?

4 - Are there any affiliate programs or CPA offers?

5 - Do other (regular) people make money?

6 - Who are your top competitors?

Once you know the answers to these questions, you should have a good idea of whether or not you can reasonably make money in this niche.

3. What are your weaknesses?

Growing a blog requires a LOT more than just posting some updates every day (or even a few times a day). You need to develop, design and manage the website; you’ll need a strong sense of marketing, PR, and outreach.

And that’s not even diving into what you’ll need to launch a full-scale product.

Because there are so many moving parts, many bloggers quickly outsource their weaknesses. Businesses and entrepreneurs, for example, find the actual writing part difficult. While writers may find it tough to manage the technical side of things.

Understanding your weaknesses in the beginning will help you know what to study, who to hire, and how to expand your team with partnerships.

BONUS: Research Tools for Finding Your Niche

By now you’re probably thinking,

“This is great -- and I have a ton of ideas -- but how do I actually KNOW if it’s a good niche?!”

Good question.

It’s that same question which leads me to build this small bonus list for you. Here you’ll find a variety of popular tools for locating a niche.

Long Tail Pro -- $$$ -- This is my go-to for keyword and niche research. It also has a few advanced features to test once you’ve gotten the hang of things.

SEMrush -- $$$ -- Learn more about your competitors, follow your own rankings, discover niche keywords and more. Definitely worth trying out, if you haven’t already.

Google Keyword Planner -- FREE -- This is a portion of Google Adwords. Here, you’ll have the chance to see keyword volume. It’s adequate, but I’d turn to trials of the previous tools first.

Google Trends -- FREE -- I like using this to see certain spikes or interesting popularity shifts over the course of time for my specific niche. Helps understand the audience and profitability.

Conclusion

You’ve got to figure out the right niche for your blog. No ifs, ands or buts about it. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself flailing about and grasping at straws.

Don’t waste your time in a dead niche.

“The only reason people read your blog is because they want YOUR answers to THEIR questions.” -- James Johnson

Now, it’s time. Grab a notebook and pencil, head back to the top of this article and start writing answers to the questions in the subheadings. Then, take all the ideas you generate from what you create and start doing research with one of the tools above.

You’ve got this.

Once you settle on a profitable niche, stop overthinking it and get to work. You can spend your whole life strategizing and never take action. Start with the smallest step and take it, today.

Write these answers. Narrow down your ideas. Find a niche.