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Hey guys!
Today, I’m going to explain how to choose a profitable blog niche and some of the most common mistakes to avoid when deciding what to blog about.
Over the last several years of doing this and earning a full-time income as a six-figure blogger, I’ve been asked the same questions over and over again about the right steps to take when starting a blog and choosing a niche that is worthwhile.
This is the advice I wish I knew sooner before I started my blog. Had I not learned from my past mistakes and changed gears, my blog wouldn’t have reached my first $5,000 blogging income in a month (when I was still spinning my wheels) all the way to $20,000+ a month.
I am convinced that following the tips I lay out below is what helped me reach my goal of earning over six figures per year in blogging today, and I still continue to learn and apply any new knowledge to my blogs.
Despite choosing what most people consider a profitable niche, which is in personal finance, I still didn’t earn any real money at the beginning.
The problem wasn’t because I didn’t choose a profitable niche. Honestly, almost any niche can be profitable (even if you don’t think it could be profitable). Some things may just surprise you and I guess that comes with experience. So, the real problem is I wasn’t following or implementing the right strategies on my blog, which is what I address in this post.
If you are new to my blog, I highly recommend searching for my past blog income reports that I used to publish on FinSavvy Panda. This will give you a better idea of how I earned a living and the type of income that is possible in some profitable niches.
I want to warn you that no matter how much information you gather or learn from other successful bloggers, you may still end up regretting the niche you’ve chosen – and that’s okay because the only way you learn is through your personal experience and mistakes, which will always be different for everyone.
However, I still want to share with you my hard-learned lessons and help you choose the perfect niche so you can enjoy blogging while avoiding as many mistakes as possible.
I’ll also speak from my personal experience of making an endless amount of mistakes and what I would’ve done differently to avoid choosing an unprofitable or bad niche. You cannot isolate these points because they all play a big role in your overall decision-making process.
Hi, friend!
Are you new to FinSavvy Panda and Blog Savvy Panda?
I recommend reading my personal story of how I started blogging and making money on Pinterest. You can also find my previous blog income reports like this one when you search for them on my website, FinSavvy Panda.
If you haven’t started your blog, you can read my updated step-by-step guide on how to start a profitable blog – I will be updating my blogging guide every year!
Also, don’t forget to check out my best-selling guides, The Treasure Map To Blogging Success in 30 Days and The Golden Compass To Pinterest Traffic: How I Increased My Monthly Traffic From 0 To 100,000!
PIN THIS: I’ll be updating this post, so don’t forget to save this pin to your Pinterest board – that way you can easily come back to this page for all the information you need.
How To Choose a Profitable Blog Niche
Here are my tips on how to choose a profitable niche for your blog. These tips are all based on my personal experience and they are the advice I wish I knew sooner before starting my blog.
1. Choose a topic you’re passionate about (as long as it benefits your readers)
This point may sound stupid, cheesy, and often regurgitated like it has no meaning, but I promise you will literally “get it” and even “feel it” once you start doing it.
In fact, I got brainwashed by other bloggers who told me that I should NOT be following my inner passions (because they tell you that it simply doesn’t exist and that you’ll end up begging for food on the streets if you try to pursue your interests).
Listening to their words and advice, “go for a profitable niche; NOT your passions”, during my blogging journey affected my mental health and actually did WAY MORE harm than good.
I will leave this to another blog post and elaborate on this point because I have SO much to say about it.
But for now, I wholeheartedly recommend choosing a niche that you are strongly passionate about, or at least something that really motivates you, while following all the other advice and tips I list in this article.
From my own personal experience, it’s MUCH easier to stay motivated when you are writing about something you are passionate about. That also includes a topic that you are passionate about learning and becoming an expert in.
Choosing a topic that aligns with your passions, interest, and values will also allow you to speak from your knowledge and personal experience. It helps keep your blog content fresh and interesting.
If you’re not interested in the topic, chances are your readers won’t be either. Don’t underestimate your readers. They can tell when you are writing from the heart and when it’s just a generic topic that’s regurgitated from the Internet.
And no, I’m not telling you to start freely writing about your passions (e.g. walking your puppy to the park or what video games you play every day) because these topics will most likely not generate passive income if you’re writing about yourself and your life without providing helpful information to your ideal readers.
Instead, look for a niche where the audience is interested in learning a particular topic. Using the same examples I mentioned, you could start a blog about “puppies” or “video games”. The key is to communicate that information in a way that benefits your readers.
So, if your blog is about dogs or puppies, you may want to target dog owners and provide them with tips on how to properly care for their pets or advice on finding the right dog breed. You can absolutely write about yourself and let readers know that you have a passion for dogs, but along the way, you need to provide a solution for your reader.
Similarly, if you’re writing about video games, you could write reviews or offer tips on how to play certain games better. Again, you can write in a first-person tone and let readers know that you’re a hardcore gamer, but it’s more important to focus on what your readers will gain from your blog.
They want to know your strategies and the steps they need to take to become just as good as you.
Key Takeaway #1: You can write about your passions, but the information you present needs to be something readers will find useful and interesting. At the end of the day, readers only care about themselves and how they will benefit from the knowledge and information you share with them. So, don’t get too caught up writing about yourself if it doesn’t help the reader in any way.
2. Make sure there’s enough demand for it
It’s one thing to be passionate about a certain topic, but it’s another to make sure there are enough people interested in that same subject.
Before choosing your niche, do some research and see if there’s enough demand for it.
You can start by looking at forums (e.g. Reddit or Quora) and online communities related to your chosen niche to see what questions people like to ask.
As a real user and consumer, I often hop onto Reddit or Quora to see what people are talking about in topics like skin care, blogging, finance, and product reviews.
In skin care forums, people are asking questions like “what foods are best for your skin?”
Some questions may even be more specific like “is eating a tbsp of tomato paste every day good for your skin?”
And not surprisingly, a lot of people who are into skin care would often ask “should I moisturize or put on retinol first?” along with, “Can I use retinol in the morning?”
Similarly, in a personal finance forum, people may ask questions like “what are some hacks to save money on groceries without using coupons?” and many others may ask for specific saving hacks on how to get better quotes on their car insurance.
They may even ask what wealth building methods helped you save your first $100K or even first $1 million.
Those questions can be answered and summarized in many different blog posts to help your readers. It’s also very common to see people look for product reviews on forums and that’s where a review post comes in handy.
In addition to gathering information from forums, you can also do a quick search on Google to see how many other blogs are discussing those topics. This also ties into what I discuss in point #6 below about finding the right keywords to attract the right target audience.
It’s important to note that despite the competition or the thousands of blogs already discussing that topic, you can still make your blog unique and stand out from the crowd as long as you speak from first-hand experience.
Everyone has different ways to do different things, and trust me when I say there are many people who want to know what you do to solve your daily life problems. As long as you are making progress and have results to show.
Key Takeaway #2: Do your research and make sure there’s enough demand for the specific topic you want to write about.
3. Be knowledgeable (enough) in your area of expertise
When it comes to blogging, you need to be knowledgeable enough about your chosen topic so that readers can trust and rely on your content.
Notice I said, “knowledgable enough” because you don’t need to be an expert or have a Ph.D in the subject matter. Unless you are writing a blog post about medical treatments for a disease or anything that is health-related, then you’ll need to be certified. That is a different story.
But other than that, you just need to be able to provide your readers with useful or interesting information that they can use.
By the way, I don’t want to discourage you from starting a blog if you’re not an expert or professional in a certain field.
Instead, be honest and upfront with your readers so that they will understand where you’re coming from. It’s okay to have a burning desire to learn about a particular topic and teach it along the way but make sure you know enough about the subject before diving in head first.
The fact that you have a burning passion and desire to learn about something can be a great indication that you’ll make an excellent blog writer. Trust me, I’ve met many professionals who have certifications with fancy titles but lack the knowledge and insight that passionate people have. They may not have the same motivation to continue learning, researching, or keeping up to date with the subject as you do.
Also, remember this.
You may not know everything about parenting when starting a mom or parenting blog, but you know more than enough to teach beginners who know absolutely nothing.
Want to start a type of finance blog, but you don’t have over a million dollars in net worth?
Don’t sweat it.
It could be that you were in a mountain of consumer debt, but you managed to pay it off plus saved your first $10,000, $20,000, or $50,000, and now working your way towards your million-dollar net worth. Go, ahead and blog about your debt journey and start sharing your advice with your readers – you are qualified!
Yes, you are!
It doesn’t matter if you don’t know everything. No one does. You can always improve by doing research to learn more and keeping your readers up-to-date on the latest trends and developments.
I’ve seen a lot, and I mean A LOT, of bloggers who started their blogs without any real knowledge of the subject they were writing about. But they knew more than the average layperson, so they decided to take a chance and roll with it. By doing that, they gained additional knowledge, built their reputation as an expert in the industry, and eventually became successful.
And to be honest with you, I didn’t know anything when I first started my blog. I only knew the basics of personal finance (based on my own practices) and shared with my readers what I personally did to save and invest over the years to build wealth. It was purely anecdotal, but I wrote from the heart and my readers appreciated it.
Key Takeaway #3: Don’t be discouraged if you’re not an expert yet. Learn more about your chosen topic and use the knowledge to teach your readers something new and relevant. Don’t forget to include your own experience. Personal anecdotes is what makes you the expert and sets you apart from your competition.
4. Don’t be afraid of “too much competition” or “oversaturation”
I often have readers telling me that they can easily find the same information from other sites, and yes, that’s definitely true. But you can differentiate yourself by providing them with your own insights and experience with the topic.
Plus, if there seems to be a lot of competition, it’s most likely because the topic is in demand. That high demand means there are profits to be made.
Of course, you still need to put in a lot of hard work and dedication if you want to make money from it.
For example, you may want to start a food blog but you have so many doubts because of how successful and popular food blogs already are.
However, the fact that you have your own experiences with different recipes (perhaps with a unique spin by tweaking the ingredients) and cooking techniques can help make your blog unique.
You could think about becoming that blogger who is laser-focused on a sub-niche of cooking that interests you, like South Asian vegetarian dishes or healthy Chinese cuisines. Niching down a notch may be one way to stand out from the competition of food blogs that include a variety of cuisines.
Another example is that you have a dream of becoming a beauty blogger but you see millions of beauty bloggers out there. You can still make your mark by being honest about your own experiences with different products and the challenges you faced in making them work for you.
A lot of blogs are lacking authenticity due to capitalization and sponsored posts, so being honest with your readers can easily make you stand out.
No matter what you blog about, sticking to being truthful and authentic will help you stand out from the crowd and make your blog successful.
Key Takeaway #4: Don’t be afraid of overly competitive niches or topics. If there are many people talking about it, chances are the topic has potential and can be profitable if you put in the time and effort.
5. Niche down
Before I dive into this point, I want to mention this, so you don’t stress so much about “niching down” because you don’t necessarily have to.
IMPORTANT NOTE: I’m not saying that broader nichces don’t work. They actually work and many are very profitable. I have a lifestyle blog that is very broad and my personal finance blog isn’t very niched down, but after several years of blogging, I now get why it’s a good idea to niche down if you can. Either way, you can’t go wrong. The important part is sticking to whatever works for you and focusing on your ideal readers. Don’t let this stop you from starting your blog even if you find it hard to niche down. Just go with the flow and things will work out. Trust me.
As I already mentioned briefly, you should look for a specific niche within your chosen topic that you can focus on. This will help make you stand out from the other bloggers in your niche and will also make it easier for readers to find your blog when they’re searching.
Let’s use the beauty niche as an example.
You may want to choose a sub-category in the beauty space you’re passionate about (e.g. makeup, skincare, hair, or nails). By being laser-focused, you’ll attract readers who are looking for someone who specializes in that area, and your readers will come to you for advice because of your experience with the sub-category.
I personally follow and listen to a select few beauty bloggers who specialize in one area and write specifically about the skin or hair. I’m not going to go stick around for too long on a beauty blog that contains broader categories like makeup, skin, hair, nails, or even fashion – that is usually for the general public who just wants high-level information.
If I’m looking for real (NOT superficial) information about skincare, I want someone who’s an expert in that field, not a blogger who covers different beauty topics across multiple fields.
You may think niching down means narrowing your audience. But the truth is, it can actually help you attract more readers and create better engagement because people will come to your blog knowing what to expect.
Since I’m giving an example of topics in the beauty niche, I thought I’d mention a beauty blogger I stumbled upon who literally writes everything about eyelashes.
From the different types of eyelash serums including their pros and cons to teaching you how to do your own eyelash extensions, she covers every single topic she possibly could about eyelashes!
You won’t find a single post about makeup (unless it’s eyelash-related like mascara), skin, hair, or nails on her blog.
Another surprising result is she has over 200 blog posts about eyelashes – just when you thought there was nothing to write about such a narrow topic… hairs that grow at the edge of your eyelids?
Yep, that’s right!
via GIPHY
I’ve analyzed her website and I can see that she’s monetizing it quite well with a great amount of traffic! And no, I won’t release her name because that wouldn’t be nice of me to give out her information just like that.
More examples of how to niche down:
Knowing how to choose a profitable niche and taking the next steps to niche down are important things to consider when you start your blog.
Here are other examples in other niches to help you narrow down your focus.
There are SO many more niches and sub-niches out there, so what I list here are just examples for illustration purposes. Another important point to keep in mind is to know who your target audience is such as their age, interest, gender, ethnicity, and culture:
- Personal finance (investing, saving money, making money, getting out of debt, etc.)
- Investing (single stocks, cryptocurrency, funds, real estate, etc.)
- Business (e-commerce, dropshipping, Etsy, Amazon FBA, blogging, online shop, social media, etc.)
- Crafts (crocheting, DIY, recycling, restoring furniture, kids crafts, adult crafts, etc.)
- Home Decor (Refurbishing furniture, IKEA, woodworking, furniture hacks, etc.)
- Food (vegetarian, vegan, chicken, beef, healthy, keto, gluten-free, baking, desserts, Mexican, Jamaican, Asian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, etc.)
- Beauty (makeup, skin, nails, hair, eyelashes, clean beauty, anti-aging, celebrity diets and their lifestyle, etc.)
- Travel (specific city or country, locally, food, activities, etc.)
- Self-development (time management and productivity, positivity, mindset, meditation, etc.)
- Fitness (resistance training, yoga, pilates, cardio, running, sports, etc.)
Key Takeway #5: Niche down your chosen topic for better engagement and readership. This will help differentiate you from the competition, and you may even have a chance to monetize your blog more successfully than a broader blog.
However, even if you decide to stick with a broad category like general beauty, finance, or travel, that is fine too. My advice is to write about 10 blog posts that are super-niched before moving onto the next sub-category. Example for personal finance: write 10 blog posts about saving money before you write another 10 about debt or making money. Being broad works very well too.
6. Identify profitable keywords
Once you’ve chosen a topic that is both interesting and has enough potential for monetization, it’s time to research keywords. Of course, don’t forget to choose a topic that you’re truly passionate about, or at least very interested in, so you’ll have the motivation and drive to stick through.
After all, this is the honest truth of how long it really takes to make money blogging – so you really need to have the mindset of long-term gains if you want to make your blog turn into a full-time revenue stream.
When writing your blog post, always remember that your readers come first, but you should also look for keywords that will help increase traffic to your website. This is important since more visitors mean a higher potential for conversions.
You don’t want to just select any topic without looking into the potential traffic that comes with it. By identifying profitable keywords, you can see what topics have the highest search volume and are being searched by people who are interested in consuming the information or buying the product.
I recommend using tools like Google Trends, Ubersuggest, Ahrefs, and Keyword Tool to identify keywords that get the most searches. For example, if you’re in the beauty niche, look for keywords related to topics like skincare, makeup tutorials, and product reviews. A few examples specifically for the skin care niche include:
- Cindy Crawford skin care (yes, people love to search for celebrity skincare routine)
- Jennifer Aniston skin care (readers want to know the secrets to her skincare that has absolutely nothing to do with Aveeno products)
- night time skin care routine (readers want to know the perfect day and/or nighttime skin care routines)
- mad hippie vitamin c serum review (certain product reviews are highly searched because readers want to learn more about a particular product before buying it)
- innisfree sunscreen review (sunscreen is one of the most crucial anti-aging products, so people search for reviews about different types of sunscreen)
Another niche I’d like to give you an example of is a mom blog. Here are some keyword ideas for you mommy bloggers out there:
- DIY baby shower gifts (expecting moms want to know what they can make for their baby showers)
- best baby girl names (would-be parents research for names even before the baby is born)
- best baby boy names
- how to get your child to sleep through the night
- can pregnant women eat sushi (yes, many new expecting moms search for this type of stuff!)
- best bottles for breastfed babies
I’m having fun searching for keywords, so I’ll give you another example in the travel niche:
- best places to visit in Europe (these “best places to visit in X” are evergreen content that will never die unless another unforeseen health crisis hits us again… geez, thanks, Covid!)
- how to plan a trip in NYC on a budget (who doesn’t search for NYC?)
- the best travel snacks for kids (not only is this great for travel blogs, but it can work in a parenting or mommy blog too!)
- “what to pack for Disney World” or “Disney World packing list”
- what is France famous for (yes, this type of content is highly searched by people who want to know more about a particular place)
- fun facts about Canada (If you’re a Canadian traveler, you may want to write a post about this)
Key Takeaway #6: Identify profitable keywords that are related to your topic to create content that is more likely to be seen by potential buyers. This will help you get organic traffic and increase your chances of monetizing your blog.
7. Write the right content or articles based on your keyword research
Once you have your list of profitable keywords, you can then use it to create content.
You may have chosen a profitable niche to blog about, but what good is it if you can’t get your articles in front of as many eyeballs as possible?
In other words, you’ll be able to optimize your blog posts for your selected keywords (mentioned in my previous point) and get more organic traffic to your blog.
Not only can you do keyword research and search for what to write about for Google searches, but you can do this simultaneously with Pinterest too!
Like Google, Pinterest is a search engine, so you can look for keywords on Pinterest related to your niche that people are searching for. This is especially helpful if you have a Pinterest business account setup (it’s absolutely free), as you can use keywords to reach potential customers and grow your blog.
In my best-selling Pinterest guide, The Golden Compass To Pinterest Traffic, I literally cover everything you need to know about getting traffic with the platform including one of the most crucial steps to becoming successful – keyword research as well as searching for high-volume keywords to help you create content and explode your traffic.
I personally use Pinterest to drive traffic to my blog, so I highly suggest investing in some Pinterest optimization strategies. This includes optimizing your pins with keywords, creating content with the right topics and images, and breaking down the best times to pin your content.
READ MORE: You can check out how I use Pinterest to drive over 100,000 monthly pageviews to my blog here.
By understanding what keywords are being used to search for topics related to your blog niche, you can create valuable content that will rank highly in search engine algorithms and bring more organic traffic to your blog.
Key Takeaway #7: Use keyword research to create content that will get ranked in search engine algorithms, driving organic traffic and potential buyers to your blog. I also highly recommend using Pinterest as a traffic source as a way to diversify your traffic sources.
Once you have gone through all the steps above, you’ll have a good understanding of how to choose a profitable blog niche. Just make sure to do your research and keep up-to-date with trends in the online world to ensure you stay ahead of the competition.
FAQs About Choosing a Blog Niche:
Here, I answer these most commonly asked questions about choosing a profitable blog niche and selecting a topic to blog about.
1. What is a blog niche?
A blog niche is a specific topic that you choose to focus on in your blog. It’s the main area of expertise or interest that will be the focal point of your blog.
Your niche should be something that you are interested in and have knowledge about so that you can create content that is informative, interesting, and valuable to your readers.
For example, if you’re interested in food, you might want to start a food blog and choose a niche like vegan baking or healthy cooking.
Notice that “food” is the general niche, whereas “vegan baking” or “healthy cooking” is a more focused specific niche that you can narrow down and focus on.
Another example is if you’re obsessed with skin care, you may want to start a beauty blog about skincare. Again, “beauty” is a broader niche whereas “skin care” is more laser-focused.
2. What blog niches are most profitable?
Almost any niche can be profitable if you are willing to put in the necessary work. I’ve seen the most random blog niches like anime, celebrity net worth, celebrity gossip, and even craft beer become very profitable.
However, some of the most successful and profitable niches include health and wellness, travel and lifestyle, business, finance and investing, fashion and beauty, parent blogs, crafting, DIY projects, and food. Oh yes, food is a big one, and for good reason!
Other niches you may want to consider include self-improvement, video games, career advice, and personal development.
How you monetize it is also an important factor. You can make money from your blog through affiliate marketing, advertising, sponsored posts, and other services.
If you’re a brand new blogger, you can also learn how you can make your first $100 or even $1,000 blogging here.
3. What niche should I choose for blogging?
Choosing a niche for blogging is ultimately up to you.
But before you make your decision, I suggest that you pick something you are passionate about and have a genuine interest in (I elaborated more about this point in the article above in point #1). This will help you stay motivated and inspired to create content that readers will find interesting, educational, and valuable.
In addition, you will want to make sure the niche is targeted towards a specific group or audience (though it does help to niche down, which I talked more about above in point #5) and that there is enough demand for it. This can be done by researching the market, understanding who your target audience is (e.g. female, male, age, interests, etc.), and analyzing how much competition there is in that particular niche.
Finally, you should also consider the potential value of your content. Will readers find it useful? Is it helpful in any way? You want to ensure that you are providing readers with content that has substance, value, and relevance.
4. How do I know if my niche is profitable?
As mentioned, almost any blog niche could be profitable – it all depends on your monetization strategy and whether you know how to make money blogging in your niche.
So, the best way to tell if your niche is profitable or not is by researching the market and seeing what other successful bloggers are doing in that specific niche. You can also analyze the competition to see what type of content is being created and what keywords are being used. I talk more about keywords in one of the sections above in point #6.
Once you have a better understanding of what type of content readers are already looking for, you can then focus on creating content that stands out from the rest. You want your content to be unique and provide readers with something they can’t find anywhere else. By unique, I don’t mean reinventing the wheel, but instead putting your own spin on existing topics.
You should also be aware of the potential for monetizing your blog in that particular niche. Take a look at what other bloggers in your niche are doing to monetize their blogs and see if you can do something similar. If not, then consider switching niches.
These are just a few tips to help you choose the right niche for blogging. Remember, there is no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to picking the perfect blog niche. Ultimately, you want to make sure that you are passionate about your subject and that readers will find value in your content.
