How does successful niche blogging happen?
Well, it starts with a niche, of course.
Possibly, a niche you really love and have something (plenty of things!) to tell about.
But it also takes planning, committment and relationships with other bloggers.
In this guide, we will show you how to get into successful niche blogging in 12 simple steps.
(Yes, 12! Not one more!)
1. Successful niche blogging starts with… a niche (that you love!)
regret. nothing.
Ed Yourdon via Compfight
That might sounds obvious, but it’s tough to keep a blog running for years if you pick a niche you don’t really love.
And you read that image above right— once you pick a niche you are really passionate about, feelings of regret or to be mistaken or to have chosen the wrong path just don’t happen— you will be driven by your emotions and regret nothing about your choice.
That’s the number one rule for successful blogging made simple: pick a niche you feel really comfortable with, are passionate about and have tons of ideas to share about.
2. You have to understand how niche blogging works
Blogger Jane Sheeba of ProBloggingSuccess.com created an entire blog around this mission— to help new bloggers understand how niche blogging works and how to get started in the process.
The “adventure” you’re about to begin (or you have already begun) is less scary than it sounds— all you need to get started is Step #1 and then keep in mind that
niche blogging is NOT personal blogging (even though you may use anecdotes from your personal life to draw the reader in) and it has to help the reader solve the problems they encounter in their daily life within that specific niche (or industry).
That means you need to be committed to providing:
Quality, trusted and well-researched content
Hands-on, actionable advice
Motivational boosters
Expert citations or interviews your readers need
Once you agree to the above statements and points, you can move on to Step #3.
3. Pick a meaningful domain name and a reliable host
Your domain name should be short and clever, but at the same time meaningful, easy to remember and permanent, because that will become your brand.
We already wrote about the 6 best practices to pick the right domain name and the right hosting provider for your needs (for less than $100/year, too!). Make sure to read these two posts and take note before you proceed to Step #4.
4. Brainstorm your blog essentials: About Me page, Mission statement and Topics
Yes, you read it right: those two pages and blog topics are your essentials— you’re going nowhere without them.
Here’s why:
About Me page – Your users want you know who you are, what you do, and especially why they should trust you. In other words, give them one or more reasons to stick with you!
Mission statement – What is your blog about? Why did you create it? You can go easy style with your mission statement by creating a Manifesto like Carol Tice did.
Topics – Successful blogging topics may include top and low ranked keyword in your niche (see #11 for SEO!) or hot topics in niche forums and social media trends.
Get to work on these three essentials before you proceed to Step #6 — because Step #5 is actually here to tell you a bit more about the About Me page.
5. About… the About Me page
Often overlooked or sloppy written, the About Me page is actually your stronger blog asset, even more than any best Media Kits you may produce.
As we mentioned earlier, your About Me page speaks of three important things about you:
The human being behind the blog name
Why readers should trust what you say
What you do and how it relates to your core message and content
But it doesn’t end there, because your About Me page is also a good place to:
Share photos that add to your credibility as a niche blogger
Share any awards and accomplishments you achieved in your chosen niche
Share links to other blog posts (or guest posts) you’ve written on important topics related to your niche, and why
Add a short Q&A about what you do and your approach to your niche blogging mission
See Henneke Duistermaat’s post on how to write a “sparkling” about page for a fun-to-read, thorough guide.
6. Get a good design for your blog template
A good design is your blog’s first approach with the reader— it has to trigger interest and inspire trust and positive thoughts.
If WordPress is your blogging platform of choice, we have reviewed several free and paid themes over the last year— with interesting designs that appeal to the user.
A good rule of thumb is that your blog template design and color scheme should match your niche.
Keeping the psychology of colors in mind should also be a must to help your readers stay focused on content without distractions or headaches.
7. Write a GREAT first blog post!
Look at Linkarati’s first post as an example. That was something of a great first post!
When you launch your blog, you should do it with a punch— your first post should already speak of the quality you’re going to deliver from now on. We did it ourselves here at BloggingLogin with our first post about the WordPress login system and some security and design tips and tricks.
Show passion, research, interview people (you can do it easily with HARO or MyBlogU), cite other blog posts, websites, research papers and books related to your niche or its broader industry.
Make an impression on your new readers!
8. Write evergreen content
Evergreen content is content that stays helpful and current even with the passing of time.
For example, a blog post about how to grow roses in a small yard is an evergreen post: no matter how much time passes since it first went live, the way to grow roses in a small yard doesn’t change over time.
There’s a thorough guide to writing evergreen content at Web Hosting Secret Revealed and our advice is that you write at least one evergreen piece every two months, so you will have published 6 evergreen blog posts per year.
9. Create Social Media profiles for your blog
You can’t build a community around your blog if you don’t create Social Media profiles for it.
Social Media is where your audience hangs out, shares what they love, get in touch with people who think and feel alike.
Reginald Chan’s post lists the 7 most influential Social Media platforms for bloggers and we recommend you take a look and decide on what platforms to use.
We at BloggingLogin also wrote two guides to setup a business (and isn’t niche blogging a business?) on Facebook and Twitter.
10. Offer an email list, a poll or a freebie
We’re also doing a poll here! See our sidebar ->
Freebies and email lists help connect with loyal readers and turn them into subscribers (be careful how you handle conversions!).
Polls ask for user feedback and every visitor’s feedback counts in order to improve the quality of your blog content.
11. Keep your SEO in check
You should edit your blog posts for SEO after writing. Why? Simply because some search engine traffic doesn’t hurt, whether you love Google (or other search engines) or not.
This guide by Neil Patel explains the basics of keyword research in detail. Check out our organic SEO checklist, too!
12 Keep your passion flame bright!
Do your research and be passionate
If you are starting a blog you have to be passionate about what you are writing about. You cannot start a blog in a niche becuase you think it will make money or it is a niche that is poorly represented by bloggers. Along with a passion for what you are writing about, you have to have the ideas for content. 3 ideas today will not get you far! You need to have 100s of ideas.
— Cassie at All Out Blog
Successful niche blogging for money doesn’t exclude heart
A successful niche blogging business doesn’t exclude the human touch— the risk when it comes to blogging for money is that your goal changes from helping your readers and enjoying the craft of writing to make money blogging no matter the cost.
Keep your goals and your passion in sight, even when you start to earn an income from your blog. Your personal touch and unique should always shine through your content, no matter how many bucks are involved in the process.
Looking for more blogging success ideas? We think blogger Jeff Bullas has plenty to share in his post titled “10 Key Steps to Blogging Success“.
Well, it starts with a niche, of course.
Possibly, a niche you really love and have something (plenty of things!) to tell about.
But it also takes planning, committment and relationships with other bloggers.
In this guide, we will show you how to get into successful niche blogging in 12 simple steps.
(Yes, 12! Not one more!)
1. Successful niche blogging starts with… a niche (that you love!)
regret. nothing.
Ed Yourdon via Compfight
That might sounds obvious, but it’s tough to keep a blog running for years if you pick a niche you don’t really love.
And you read that image above right— once you pick a niche you are really passionate about, feelings of regret or to be mistaken or to have chosen the wrong path just don’t happen— you will be driven by your emotions and regret nothing about your choice.
That’s the number one rule for successful blogging made simple: pick a niche you feel really comfortable with, are passionate about and have tons of ideas to share about.
2. You have to understand how niche blogging works
Blogger Jane Sheeba of ProBloggingSuccess.com created an entire blog around this mission— to help new bloggers understand how niche blogging works and how to get started in the process.
The “adventure” you’re about to begin (or you have already begun) is less scary than it sounds— all you need to get started is Step #1 and then keep in mind that
niche blogging is NOT personal blogging (even though you may use anecdotes from your personal life to draw the reader in) and it has to help the reader solve the problems they encounter in their daily life within that specific niche (or industry).
That means you need to be committed to providing:
Quality, trusted and well-researched content
Hands-on, actionable advice
Motivational boosters
Expert citations or interviews your readers need
Once you agree to the above statements and points, you can move on to Step #3.
3. Pick a meaningful domain name and a reliable host
Your domain name should be short and clever, but at the same time meaningful, easy to remember and permanent, because that will become your brand.
We already wrote about the 6 best practices to pick the right domain name and the right hosting provider for your needs (for less than $100/year, too!). Make sure to read these two posts and take note before you proceed to Step #4.
4. Brainstorm your blog essentials: About Me page, Mission statement and Topics
Yes, you read it right: those two pages and blog topics are your essentials— you’re going nowhere without them.
Here’s why:
About Me page – Your users want you know who you are, what you do, and especially why they should trust you. In other words, give them one or more reasons to stick with you!
Mission statement – What is your blog about? Why did you create it? You can go easy style with your mission statement by creating a Manifesto like Carol Tice did.
Topics – Successful blogging topics may include top and low ranked keyword in your niche (see #11 for SEO!) or hot topics in niche forums and social media trends.
Get to work on these three essentials before you proceed to Step #6 — because Step #5 is actually here to tell you a bit more about the About Me page.
5. About… the About Me page
Often overlooked or sloppy written, the About Me page is actually your stronger blog asset, even more than any best Media Kits you may produce.
As we mentioned earlier, your About Me page speaks of three important things about you:
The human being behind the blog name
Why readers should trust what you say
What you do and how it relates to your core message and content
But it doesn’t end there, because your About Me page is also a good place to:
Share photos that add to your credibility as a niche blogger
Share any awards and accomplishments you achieved in your chosen niche
Share links to other blog posts (or guest posts) you’ve written on important topics related to your niche, and why
Add a short Q&A about what you do and your approach to your niche blogging mission
See Henneke Duistermaat’s post on how to write a “sparkling” about page for a fun-to-read, thorough guide.
6. Get a good design for your blog template
A good design is your blog’s first approach with the reader— it has to trigger interest and inspire trust and positive thoughts.
If WordPress is your blogging platform of choice, we have reviewed several free and paid themes over the last year— with interesting designs that appeal to the user.
A good rule of thumb is that your blog template design and color scheme should match your niche.
Keeping the psychology of colors in mind should also be a must to help your readers stay focused on content without distractions or headaches.
7. Write a GREAT first blog post!
Look at Linkarati’s first post as an example. That was something of a great first post!
When you launch your blog, you should do it with a punch— your first post should already speak of the quality you’re going to deliver from now on. We did it ourselves here at BloggingLogin with our first post about the WordPress login system and some security and design tips and tricks.
Show passion, research, interview people (you can do it easily with HARO or MyBlogU), cite other blog posts, websites, research papers and books related to your niche or its broader industry.
Make an impression on your new readers!
8. Write evergreen content
Evergreen content is content that stays helpful and current even with the passing of time.
For example, a blog post about how to grow roses in a small yard is an evergreen post: no matter how much time passes since it first went live, the way to grow roses in a small yard doesn’t change over time.
There’s a thorough guide to writing evergreen content at Web Hosting Secret Revealed and our advice is that you write at least one evergreen piece every two months, so you will have published 6 evergreen blog posts per year.
9. Create Social Media profiles for your blog
You can’t build a community around your blog if you don’t create Social Media profiles for it.
Social Media is where your audience hangs out, shares what they love, get in touch with people who think and feel alike.
Reginald Chan’s post lists the 7 most influential Social Media platforms for bloggers and we recommend you take a look and decide on what platforms to use.
We at BloggingLogin also wrote two guides to setup a business (and isn’t niche blogging a business?) on Facebook and Twitter.
10. Offer an email list, a poll or a freebie
We’re also doing a poll here! See our sidebar ->
Freebies and email lists help connect with loyal readers and turn them into subscribers (be careful how you handle conversions!).
Polls ask for user feedback and every visitor’s feedback counts in order to improve the quality of your blog content.
11. Keep your SEO in check
You should edit your blog posts for SEO after writing. Why? Simply because some search engine traffic doesn’t hurt, whether you love Google (or other search engines) or not.
This guide by Neil Patel explains the basics of keyword research in detail. Check out our organic SEO checklist, too!
12 Keep your passion flame bright!
Do your research and be passionate
If you are starting a blog you have to be passionate about what you are writing about. You cannot start a blog in a niche becuase you think it will make money or it is a niche that is poorly represented by bloggers. Along with a passion for what you are writing about, you have to have the ideas for content. 3 ideas today will not get you far! You need to have 100s of ideas.
— Cassie at All Out Blog
Successful niche blogging for money doesn’t exclude heart
A successful niche blogging business doesn’t exclude the human touch— the risk when it comes to blogging for money is that your goal changes from helping your readers and enjoying the craft of writing to make money blogging no matter the cost.
Keep your goals and your passion in sight, even when you start to earn an income from your blog. Your personal touch and unique should always shine through your content, no matter how many bucks are involved in the process.
Looking for more blogging success ideas? We think blogger Jeff Bullas has plenty to share in his post titled “10 Key Steps to Blogging Success“.
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