How to Find Your Blog’s Niche + Printable Worksheets
Whether you’re just thinking about starting a blog or you’ve already started publishing blog posts, it’s important to determine your blog niche and stay focused. If you want to have a successful blog with more than just your mom reading your posts, you have to know what you are writing about and who you are writing for. Today, I’m sharing tips on how to find your blog’s niche!
Finding your blog’s niche can seem like an overwhelming task if you are unsure of what direction you want to go. However, by asking yourself a few questions, you can find out what your passion is and determine what topic you’d like to write about every day/ week for the rest of your life.
I’ve been writing at A Virtuous Woman for over 15 years and I still haven’t run out of ideas. That’s your goal. What can you write about – that people want to read – for the rest of your life and not get tired of it?
Examples of some niches would be:
- organizing your home
- family activities
- Bible studies for women
- homeschooling tips
- home decor
- DIY projects
- blogging
- marketing for bloggers
- preschool crafts and activities
- herbs and natural healing
- pregnancy, labor, and homebirth
- printables for kids
Once you determine your niche you will have a goal to reach with each blog post! Determining your niche helps you focus your efforts and stay on topic in your writing.
7 Questions to Ask Yourself to Find Your Blog’s Niche
1. What do I want to write about?
When deciding what you’re blog’s niche should be, you definitely want to take into account your interests, experience, and those things you enjoy writing about. You may also find that you have an area of expertise – maybe you are a preschool teacher. It would make sense to write about topics that other preschool teachers would be interested in. A blog can literally be about anything.
When I first began to blog over 15 years ago, the field was wide open. It was a lot easier to find a unique domain name and blogging was simpler in the sense that you could pretty much write about anything and readers would read what you wrote. Many blogs were more like journals of daily life and the term “mom blogger” or “mommy blog” became a thing.
I write on a lot of different topics. Because I’ve been around a long, long time and my blog is already established and Google considers me an authority in my niche, it was easier than if you start out today.
You can totally do that and your blog may take off and be super popular. However, according to the experts, you will see better results from narrowing your focus and niching down. Try to choose a more narrow topic instead of broad topic. People search the internet – including Pinterest – to solve a problem. That’s why blogs with narrow niches often do better than those with broad niches and many topics.
My niche is Proverbs 31 on A Virtuous Woman. It’s a topic that:
- I’m very passionate about.
- I enjoy writing about.
- I never get tired of.
2. What are my umbrella topics?
So for instance, I have 10 topics in my Proverbs 31 niche that I write about. That’s a lot of topics. However, I have organized my topics into three main categories:
- Abundant Living {faith, health, wellbeing}
- Family Life {marriage, mothering, homeschooling, family activities}
- At Home {organizing, homemaking, schedules and routines}
You might find that writing about just one of those topics {or another topic} will work best for you. So instead of writing about all things related to homemaking, you might just write about organizing your house.
3. Who is my “one” reader?
Or in other words, who is your one ideal reader. You want to be specific as possible. For instance, you could write down: My one reader is a mom, 27 years old with three kids ages 6, 3, and 2. She loves cooking but doesn’t have much time. She enjoys reading mysteries and wishes she had more time for fun with her husband. She wants to be a great mom and is looking for tips to help her with parenting and marriage.
Sometimes women find that they want to write about topics that are seemingly unrelated. However, if you think about your one ideal reader, how can you make those topics mesh together? What problem are you solving for your reader? What value are you offering?
4. What is my value proposition statement?
A value proposition statement explains how your blog offers value to your ideal customer or reader. For instance, my blog value proposition statement is:
I am a blogger and author. I help women understand that being a Proverbs 31 woman is not about being perfect, but about living life with purpose by offering tips and encouragement for practical application in their own lives.
Fill in the blanks:
I am a __________. I help ___________ do/understand/know __________________ by/with ______________.
Your value proposition statement will help you keep a clear focus on who you are writing for and what you offer.
5. What is your slogan or tag line?
This could also be called an elevator pitch. You want to be able to share with others what your blog is about in one clear and concise sentence.
My tag line is: Being a Proverbs 31 Woman isn’t about being perfect, it’s about living life with purpose.
I want the women who come to A Virtuous Woman to put aside feelings of perfectionism and embrace grace and live life with purpose. What do you want your readers to feel and understand when they come to your blog? What is the one thing you want them to take away when they read your blog?
6. What is my mission statement?
You mission statement will help you determine what topics you will write about and help you stay focused. For instance, my mission statement is: The 10 Virtues of the Proverbs 31 Woman.
I know that when I write, I primarily need to focus on one of these topics because that’s my mission. The 10 Virtues of the Proverbs 31 Woman keeps me focused.
7. Is there a hole in my niche I can fill?
I can guarantee you that no matter what niche, there’s probably already thousands of blogs on the same topic. That’s okay!
What can you bring to the topic that is unique? Probably a lot! You have a different voice, a different perspective, and a unique take on your topic that no one else has. Readers fall in love with a bloggers voice, style and attitude even more than their topic.
When you choose your topic, think about what you can bring to the table that is different from all of the current blogs on the same topic. Don’t compare yourself to others and don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you’re not as awesome as the blogger before you. God made you special. You don’t need to be just like everyone else. Just be you.
Free Worksheets
[callout]How long have you been blogging? How did you determine your niche? Or, what niche is on your heart to blog about?[/callout]