Choosing a blogging niche is quite possibly the biggest challenge for a beginning blogger.
Because we are all so unique and complex, each with our own skill set, it can feel impossible to choose only one niche.
You may think to yourself:
- I can blend two niches together perfectly and really engage my audience.
- Two niches means twice the profit, right?
- If I don’t represent my whole self I would be lying to my audience.
Understood. We’ve all been there. But if you only take one piece of blogging advice let it be this: you need to choose ONE niche… at least to start out with, regardless of how many interests or passions you have.
Take the quiz below to find out what your niche should be!
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There are several reasons why choosing ONE niche is a good rule for beginning bloggers.
By the end of this post, I think you’ll agree with me.
There’s no doubt that you could write beautiful posts intertwining two subjects, but here’s why you shouldn’t.
1. It Dilutes Your Blog Narrative
Every blog needs a story. Your blog narrative is your story:
- The story of who you are
- Why you love the subject you’re writing about
- Why you’re a reliable source for your readers
Your narrative also should have a focus. If you are talking about one subject and then introduce a new subject, readers will be distracted and your narrative won’t be as compelling.
If you stay on track with your story, your blog will be more persuasive and you will gain more credibility.
Additional reading: How To Build A Credible Blog And Stand Out From The Rest.
2. You Can Overly Narrow Your Potential Audience
Your followers are drawn to you because they can relate in some way to your story.
The issue when you blog about multiple subjects between various niches is that the people who relate to your story become fewer and fewer.
For example, there is a large following for those who practice a vegan lifestyle, but there are fewer vegan dog owners, and even fewer vegan dog owners who enjoy yoga.
What has happened in the latter of the two examples is that you started with a lifestyle blog (about being vegan) and you added a portion from the pet niche (dogs) as well as the fitness niche (yoga).
The audience you are trying to market to then becomes people who are vegans, enjoy yoga, and like/or own dogs.
You’ve now drastically reduced your potential following, which will cripple your business.
The next two points are very much related to this main issue.
Additional reading: How To Discover And Engage Your Target Audience.
3. You Will Confuse Potential Followers + Google
When someone happens upon your blog on the internet, it will be because they were looking into one specific area of your blog, be it veganism, pet tips, or yoga poses.
When they get to your site they will find that the information that drew them in is mixed with a bunch of other subjects.
This will cause you to look more like a person will multiple random interests and less like an authority on one specific source.
Remember, in order to get people to want to buy what you’re selling you have to be a reliable source.
This confusion then is very detrimental to your growth.
Additionally, your SEO (searchability online) will be affected as well. When Google searches your site, it’s also looking for the most credible pieces of information.
If you have 3 different topics, your site won’t be seen as an authority because it’s impossible to be an expert in all of them, simply a generalist.
Additional reading: 11 Reasons SEO Is Crucial For Business Growth.
4. You May Cause Current Followers To Unfollow
This is especially a big deal if you start in one niche.
Say you are a vegan cat lover and you followed a vegan blog where a woman shares lots of helpful tips on eating vegan while going out on the town.
Then, suddenly, a bunch of dog pictures start coming up on your social media feed, and the information is about the best places to walk dogs in the area or the best dog groomers around.
This information doesn’t apply to you, and if it is bothersome enough, let’s assume it is, then you will quickly go to the source and unfollow them. You do not want this to happen to your blog either when people unsubscribe to your content.
For continued growth, you need to keep your followers + subscribers engaged, and you cannot do that if you switch your narrative.
You have to give them what you originally promised, and find unique ways to give that information so that they keep coming back to your blog to read more.
Otherwise, your following will fluctuate and be unstable.
Additional reading: How To Turn Your Social Media Followers Into Subscribers.
5. You May Harm Your Chances Of Affiliate Marketing
There are 2 ways having multiple niches can harm your chances at getting amazing affiliate marketing deals.
- Similar to how your potential followers may be confused and doubt you, your potential business partners may be uncertain of you as well.
- Brands want to work with influencers who have a strong following because brands pay to access your AUDIENCE because they trust your EXPERTISE.
The best brand deals are the ones that are “no-brainers” because they are such a great fit. Additionally, If you cannot establish yourself as an authority with readers on a specific topic, you will not be a good prospective partner for brands.
The other way you will harm your chances is in your instability. Brands want to work with influencers that are growing.
- If your numbers don’t show growth, you will likely not be considered for campaigns.
- If you want to gain something from a brand, you have to be able to also give them something in return.
- If there is no benefit for them in partnering with you, they won’t.
This is the simple truth of business.
Additional reading: What Is Affiliate Marketing And How Does It Work?
Why You Don’t Need To Bear All To Be An Honest Blogger
You are representing yourself to your audience, and you may want them to know all of your interests, but that is not what a niche blog is about.
A niche blog is about adding value by giving your audience information that you have a good knowledge of or perspective on.
You can still be personal with your following without sharing every single aspect of your life. If you really want, consider setting up a separate blog where you post about your daily life and other interests.
That way you will be able to interact with the portion of your audience who is more interested in you as a person without causing mass unfollowing from your audience that just enjoys your niche posts.
Chole Southern is a senior at Wheaton College (IL) studying Philosophy with a minor in English Literature. After graduating her goal is to move to South Korea to teach English as well as start her own full-time blog.