If you want to start a blog and make money, it helps to pick a profitable blog niche from the start. But with so many blog niches to choose from, how do you know which one to choose?
In this blog post, I’m going to go over the 4 simple steps to pick a niche, and I’ll end it by sharing the most profitable blogging niches.
Blog niche FAQ’s
What is a blog niche?
A blog niche is the topic you plan to blog about.
Every blog post you write in your blog should be about this one specific topic. While this sounds limiting, it’s actually a good thing.
When you blog about just one topic (niche), you’re more likely to find people with an intense interest in this topic. This can help you build a loyal following.
Examples of blog niches are healthy eating, personal finance, parenting, or travel.
Why do you need to pick a blog niche?
It is difficult, if not impossible, to build a successful blog that blogs about everything. The reason comes down to audience size.
While it seems like a general blog would have a wider reach, the opposite is true. Imagine a blog about weddings, football, politics, and pet care. Unfortunately, the number of people who have an intense interest in all of those topics isn’t very big.
But when you decide to pick one niche to blog about, you’re going to attract an audience passionate about the one subject you blog about.
Picking a niche helps you connect on a deeper level with your audience. This connection is key to building a relationship with your readers and ultimately converting them into paying customers.
Who is my target audience?
When you choose a blog niche, you’re also choosing your target audience. For example, if you choose to blog about early retirement, your target audience would be people in their 40’s who are interested in saving and investing.
Have ideas for what you want to blog about? Think about who your target audience is and ask yourself these important questions:
- What are their goals and desires?
- What are their fears as it relates to this topic?
- What is their biggest problem they face?
- Do you care about Can you help them? How?
- How can you able to help?
- Do you care about their problems?
You need to not only care about the problem you can help with (the niche), but you also need to care about the person (your target audience).
With so many blogging niches to choose from, how do you go about finding the niche that’s best for you? Let’s find out.
4 steps to choose a profitable blog niche
Your niche will determine whether you will make money blogging or whether monetizing your blog will always be an uphill journey.
Picking the wrong niche is the number one reason people quit their blogs. So it’s important to choose a profitable niche so you can start making money from the jump.
You can pick the best blog niche in 4 simple steps:
- Find a blog topic that interests you
- Pick a topic you’re knowledgeable about
- Find a blog niche that’s popular
- Choose a blog niche that’s profitable
Step 1. Find a blog topic that interests you
First, when you choose a topic you’re already interested in; it ensures you won’t quit when time gets tough. And trust me, times are going to get tough during your first few months of blogging.
I’m not saying you need to love this niche, but you do have to like it. Because over the next few months and years, you’re going to spend a lot of time writing about this topic.
You don’t need to blog about your passion
Don’t mistake this with needing to find your passion, though.
When you blog about your number one passion, you end up allowing your emotions to make business decisions. Pretty soon, you end up ruining your passion as it becomes your day-to-day work.
How to identify your interests
To find what blog topics interest you, look at what communities (like Facebook groups) you belong to, what YouTube channels you subscribe to, and what Instagram accounts you follow.
You also want to look at what blogs you follow. If you find several successful bloggers in this niche, it’s a good sign there’s money to be made. After all, if they can make money in this niche, so can you.
Step 2. Pick a topic you’re knowledgeable about
Let me state this upfront. You don’t have to be an expert. But you do need to know what you’re talking about.
How to find what you’re good at
While you may not consider yourself an expert, are you the go-to source for your friends & family on a particular subject?
– Look at your hobbies. Love flying drones? Taking pictures? Graphic design? Hitting the gym? Eating healthy?
– Look at your career. Are you in the business world, marketing, sales, a CPA, attorney,
– Finally, look at your life experiences. What do you have experience in? Motherhood, losing weight, overcoming self-doubt?
Your personal experience is more useful than anything you could learn in a textbook.
You don’t have to be an expert
In your blog, you are going to be taking readers from point A to point B. You don’t have to be an expert to do this! You just have to be further along the path than where your readers are currently at.
Not being an expert makes you relatable. It means you and the reader speak the same language. It means there won’t be a need to “dumb yourself down” to speak to your audience.
Remember, you don’t need to be an expert – you just need to be one step ahead of your ideal reader.
Find a topic you want to learn more about
The advantage of not being an expert is that you have more to learn on this topic. That thirst for knowledge is going to be what keeps you going through those rough early days of blogging.
That’s why it’s important to find a niche you’re not only knowledgeable about but one you want to continue to learn about.
To better help me write my content, I use Grammarly. And boy, do I need it. My content straight up looks like a murder scene when I drop it in for final editing.
Grammarly works as a Chrome/Firefox extension, but they also have a standalone desktop app. It also works in Google Docs, Word, and within WordPress too. It’s a must-have tool in your arsenal if you’re starting a blog.
Step 3. Find a blog niche that’s popular
Many new bloggers think they have to choose a niche that nobody else is doing. But I advocate for taking the exact opposite approach.
If you find a popular and competitive niche, that’s actually a sign this niche is very profitable.
Another benefit of choosing a popular niche is that there are plenty of experienced bloggers to learn from.
How to find a popular blog topic
The most popular blog topics either help you improve your health, finances, or love life. But don’t think this means you should blog about something broad and generic.
Successful blogs tend to laser focus on one specific topic (the riches are in the niches).
To become a successful blogger, you’re going to want to become an authority in your space. And when you blog about everything, you’re an authority on nothing.
How to niche down
To start niching down, pick a broad niche and then find an angle to make this topic more focused toward your ideal reader.
Here are some examples of how to dive deeper into each subject to find your perfect niche.
- Health blog > Nope, try Weight Loss > Go deeper, do Nutrition instead.
- Cooking blog > Nope, try Recipes > Go deeper, do Vegetarian Recipes instead.
- Finance blog > Nope, try Saving Money > Go deeper, do Frugality/Couponing instead.
- Fitness blog > Nope, try High-Intensity Interval Training > Go deeper, do HIIT For Women instead.
- Relationship blog > Nope, try Dating Advice > Go deeper, do Millennial Dating Guide instead.
One good way to know if you picked a good niche is to see how many categories your blog can have.
If you can branch off into 5 sub-topics, that’s great. However, if you can find 10+ sub-topics, it’s too broad.- If you can’t find any sub-topic, it’s just too narrow of a niche.
A new way to look at niches
Rather than going nuts on finding the perfect blog niche, focus on catering to your ideal reader instead.
Think about this. If your niche is nutrition, wouldn’t it stand to reason that your readers may also be interested in fitness?
There’s nothing wrong with trying different topics for a while. But, if you do, what you’ll find is that oftentimes your niche will find you, not the other way around.
When you put your energy into solving the problems of your ideal reader, you can’t go wrong.
You don’t need to choose a sub-niche when you first get started. You can niche down later. The benefit of starting broad is that you can see what type of content gets higher audience engagement. Once you have this data, you can niche down.
You can take this approach only if you choose a domain name that’s not too specific.
Step 4. Choose a blog niche that’s profitable
If you don’t choose a profitable niche, you will quit.
The problem is that many people wing it and start a blog before they have a monetization strategy in place.
As I answered in this Quora question, you don’t need to have all the answers, but you need to know there’s a path to making money.
How do you know if a niche is profitable?
Do a Google search for blogs in your niche. The first page of results will be the authority bloggers in your niche. Next, see how the top bloggers in your niche monetize their blogs.
You will want to look at the following:
- Do they sell physical products?
- Do they sell digital products?
- Do they make money selling affiliate products?
- Do they work with brands? (sponsored posts)
- Do they make money via display ads?
If you notice that the top blogs in your niche have multiple monetization methods, it’s a good sign it’s a profitable niche you should pursue.
List of the most profitable niches to start a blog
Here are 17 profitable blog niche ideas that make money.
Food (recipes)
There is an insane demand for recipes and plenty of traffic to go around in the food niche.
How to monetize a food blog: With display ads
Best food blog example: Two Peas & Their Pod
Fashion
Do you have an eye for fashion and spotting the latest trends? Start a fashion blog!
How to monetize a fashion blog: With display ads and brand partnerships
Best fashion blog example: Who What Wear
Beauty
Beauty influencers are all the rage on YouTube and Instagram. On your beauty blog, you can either review products or do tutorials.
How to monetize a beauty blog: Working with brands on sponsored content
Best beauty blog example: The Beauty Minimalist
Lifestyle
In the category of lifestyle blogs are DIY, home decor, crafts, etc.
How to monetize a lifestyle blog: With display ads
Best lifestyle blog example: A Beautiful Mess
Healthy eating
You can start a healthy eating blog and share your favorite healthy recipes.
How to monetize a healthy eating blog: With affiliate marketing
Best healthy eating blog example: Erin Alderson
Bodybuilding
If you’re into building muscle mass, start a bodybuilding blog – there’s a “huge” demand for this type of content.
How to monetize a bodybuilding blog: With affiliate marketing
Best bodybuilding blog example: Breaking Muscle
Diets (keto, paleo, etc.)
Rather than starting a generic health blog, choose a specific topic, such as a vegetarian blog or a blog about a popular diet plan.
How to monetize a diet blog: By recommending products and earning a commission
Best diet blog example: Meat Free Keto
Fitness
There are plenty of products to promote in the fitness space, making fitness a popular niche to blog about.
How to monetize a fitness blog: With affiliate marketing
Best fitness blog example: Nerd Fitness
Travel
Love to travel and take pictures? Then, share your journey with your very own travel blog.
How to monetize a travel blog: Working with companies to review their hotels or restaurants
Best travel blog example: Nomadic Matt
Finance
Like talking about money? Share your best tips and tricks to manage your finances by starting a personal finance blog.
How to monetize a finance blog: With display ads or product recommendations
Best personal finance blog example: Penny Pinchin’ Mom
Parenting
Want to dish out parenting tips to new moms and dads? Consider launching a parenting blog!
How to monetize a parenting blog: Working on marketing campaigns directly with major brands like Pampers
Best parenting blog example: Your Modern Family
Marketing
Another term for marketing would be blogs in the “make money online” niche.
How to monetize a marketing blog: Selling online courses
Best marketing blog example: Do Six Figures, of course!
Investing
Know a thing or two about investing in stocks or early retirement? Share your knowledge and start a blog about investing.
How to monetize an investing blog: With affiliate marketing
Best investing blog example: Retire by 40
Relationships
If you have a background as a dating and relationships expert, you can start your very own dating advice blog.
How to monetize a relationships blog: Promoting a dating site and earning commissions
Best relationships blog example: Love in 90 Days
Photography
You can share your work and your expert tips on taking better pictures if you’re a professional photographer.
How to monetize a photography blog: Selling online courses
Best photography blog example: Expert Photography
Business
Blog about entrepreneurship, starting a business, and more with your own business blog.
How to monetize a business blog: Selling your own digital products like an ebook
Best business blog example: Noobpreneur
Freelance writing
Are you a freelance writer, and do you want to share your experiences with other aspiring writers? Then, consider launching a blog in this niche.
How to monetize a freelance writing blog: Selling online courses
Best freelance writing blog example: The Write Life
Wrapping it up
Have some ideas for starting a profitable blog? Right now is the time for action!
Research this niche and find other bloggers in this space. See what products they promote and what type of content they create. The blueprint to starting a successful blog is right in front of you. If they can do it, so can you!
Ready to get started?
Pick a blog niche, choose your domain name below, and launch your blog!
If you’ve found this post helpful in finding a profitable niche for your new blog, please save this post on Pinterest!
Until next time,
Edwin, DoSixFigures.com
