September 5, 2010

IHB #002: Define a Niche for the Blog

Article and video about how to define a niche for a blog because narrowing your focus is key to a successful blog.

Defining a nicheW is critical to attracting potential readers.  The niche or focus of the blog should be exciting and fresh. Hopefully, it offers something to the readers that is not found anywhere else on the internet or at least, not with your style.

a href=”http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash”>Get the Flash Player to see this video.

The Narrower The Focus, The Better

The niche should be as narrow as possible.  A blog about photography sounds very generic and broad but a blog about how to take better black and white photos might be more creative. Perhaps a site dedicated to teaching digital photography to first-time camera owners?  Is your imagination running wild? Suppose the focus is more general then attempt do convey your posts and/or sites different than anyone else.  As an example, your blog could be viewable in a comic strip style.  Perhaps the site will offer live demonstrations or shows using Ustream that get posted on the blog?

Research the niche

Don’t forget to do some research on the niche.  Try to determine how many other blogs and sites are on the subject matter?  Is there something missing on the blogs that appears to be missing?  Can you fill that void on a blog?  Gather feedback from friends and family members about the proposed blog and if all indicators are thumbs up, then proceed.  Next, comes types of content.

The possibilities are endless so focus the subject matter on a topic that you are well versed but also one that speaks to your heart.  Passion for the topic will be needed as love for the topic will be needed to blog every few days or every week or so.  Blogging is not work for those that love it.

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Related posts:

  1. IHB #003: Define the Primary Content Type for a Blog
  • http://ihelpbloggers.com/2009/01/28/ihb-005-creating-your-first-blog-overview/ Creating Your First Blog: Overview | I Help Bloggers

    [...] first blog. We have defined who we want to be known as on the Internet which is QueenGeek for me. We have defined our niche, which for demo purposes, will be very [...]

  • http://ihelpbloggers.com/2009/06/30/blogger-vs-wordpresscom-vs-hosted-wordpress/ Blogger vs. Wordpress.com vs. Hosted Wordpress | I Help Bloggers

    [...] When I am asked which platform a user should choose, I first ask what is the focus of the blog and what type of content do they think they will use? If you have not given much thought to it, I suggest working backwards.  Start with the content type then work backwards to which platform will support it.  For example, are you comfortable taking photos or recording videos?  Perhaps you have a great speaking voice and prefer audio podcasts? Do you prefer writing quick posts?  There are so many forms including art, music, cartoons, jokes and more than I can possibly name. If you’re having a difficult time deciding, revisit Define Your Content Type and Define a Niche for Your Blog. [...]

  • http://ihelpbloggers.com/2009/01/14/define-the-primary-content-type-for-a-blog/ I Help Bloggers – Define the Primary Content Type for a Blog

    [...] updates on this topic.Powered by WP Greet Box WordPress PluginNow that we have defined a blog and determined a niche for the blog, it’s time to figure out what will be the primary type of content.  Notice I wrote primary [...]

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