If someone were to ask me what the first step to creating a blog was, I'd say decide on a niche.
A friend came to me the other day with a very clear topic for the blog she was wanting to start. She knew what she wanted to write about and had a very obvious passion and excitement for it. There's no doubt that a niche gives a blog purpose and direction. When you're starting a blog from scratch, it's definitely dictates a lot of what you do. Everything from the header to the imagery to the colour palette of your page somewhat correlates to your blog's niche. There's a lot of pressure when choosing, knowing how much influence this one overarching idea has.
For me, figuring out what I wanted to write about was the hardest step of all. For ages, I couldn't bring myself to consider the 'Lifestyle' niche. I feared it was way too broad. Yet even when I did manage to hone in on a slightly smaller topic, I was still left unsatisfied. I couldn't imagine myself writing about it for years and years to come.
Which is another thing I want to talk about.
Can you change your niche part way into your blogging journey? If you've spent so many years establishing yourself as a certain type of blogger and you suddenly decide you want to do something different, is that erasing all the hard work and effort you've spent getting your blog to where it is? That's a conundrum I'm sure many bloggers have found themselves in. Writing about something they love, gaining a good readership then suddenly falling out of love with it and only writing for their readers. In fact, I've seen this happen in YouTubers too. They post videos that they know their loyal viewers will love. Even if this means sacrificing their own happiness in the process.
So how important is a blogging niche? I still think having a niche is a fundamental part of creating a blog however I don't think there's anything wrong with drifting outside of that niche or after a while, deciding you don't actually want a niche at all. This turned out to be quite the essay, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.
Q: How did you decide on your blogging niche?
Thanks for reading!
YESSS! I agree with you about this - it is important to know WHAT you want to blog about. I've seen a lot of people saying "I am a nicheless blogger". Why can't they just say lifestyle? lol.. But still, you're on point with this! I mean you can always change what your niche is, it is never set in stone :).
ReplyDeleteNancy ♥ exquisitely.me
I started as a fashion, beauty and lifestyle blog with an emphasis on beauty. I think keeping things open in the beginning meant I had plenty of room to grow and an ability to change later on.
ReplyDeleteMy change was very gradual, starting documenting holidays now and again then following my adventures as I caught the travel bug. Now I'm a lifestyle & travel blog, and whilst I still do the odd beauty post, it's completely different to when I started.
xoxo
Jess
The Crown Wings | UK Travel & Lifestyle Blog
I have to start by saying - I'm so in love with the design of your blog, it's just gorgeous. As for a niche - I chose to go with the broad approach:) I write about what I love and I love a lot of things. I think it can make things easier when you have a narrower niche, however just like you said you can get bored with it. and I hate being bored:)
ReplyDeleteMadi
https://madidearson.com/
I personally don't think a niche is always needed - I think it's one of those things where if you want one then go for it but if you don't then it doesn't really matter! Especially if it's a hobby as it's really just for fun. I started out as solely a beauty blogger and actually still have 'beauty' in my blog name. A lot of my posts are still under the beauty header but I just write about whatever I want now and still get just as much if not more traffic to my posts! I think sometimes people like a bit of change :) But I just think you should go with whatever works for you and your blog!
ReplyDeleteAlice Xx
I wouldn't say you have to have a niche for your blog. I blog about everything and anything I enjoy! I suppose we also change over time, when I first started I was primarily lifestyle but now I'm a mixture of beauty, motorsports and entertainment. Thank-you for an interesting post! It's definitely got me thinking.
ReplyDeleteGemma | www.anoceanglimmer.wordpress.com
I completely agree with everything you say in this post. I think that a niche is definitely beneficial but I also don't think there's any harm in drifting- I say that mine is lifestyle because I just love talking about lots of different things!
ReplyDeleteSoph - https://sophhearts.com x
I've had this conversation with myself a million times. I think it's good to have a niche but not always essential. I think I'm kinda lifestyle but I try to tell myself it's food. I always think lifestyle is too broad! x
ReplyDeleteSophie
www.glowsteady.co.uk
TBH I'm still not sure about niches. I guess it's good to have one. I realized I don't follow anyone who is in soley a book or beauty or fashion niche. So being in a lifestyle/personal blogger niche, I see that I follow anyone in a similar niche to me...
ReplyDeleteMaybe they are important after all lol
sorry for saying niche so much <3
I wanted to leave a little comment to support you and wish you a good continuation. Wishing you the best of luck for all your blogging efforts. metaphysical store
ReplyDeleteGoing to graduate school was a positive decision for me. I enjoyed the coursework, the presentations, the fellow students, and the professors. And since my company reimbursed 100% of the tuition, the only cost that I had to pay on my own was for books and supplies. Otherwise, I received a free master’s degree. All that I had to invest was my time. Grass fed ghee
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