How I picked my niche
Simple steps I took to get started.
*In a way to help support my writing, I do occasionally share affiliate links below. I earn a commission if you try and buy - at no extra cost!
This week I got my first click for the new niche site after only a few weeks of publishing part-time on it.
How I picked my niche
Since I announced a few weeks ago I was embarking on a new niche site journey, I’ve been asked a few times how I chose this niche.
Before I go any further…Sorry but no, I won’t be sharing WHAT my niche is. But rather how I did the research to choose it. 🤷🏻♀️
🤿 let’s dive in 👇
How long did it take you to choose your niche?
I started thinking about starting a new niche site back in September 2022. I had several niche topics I was interested in. Each topic is something I have experience in.
But…the topic I thought about wasn’t brought up until about two months ago.
I like to credit a total of 7 months of thinking to arrive at my final niche topic, but those seven months included a lot of research.
Here’s what I did in 7 months to pick a niche topic.
My Requirements:
Before I started researching, I knew a few facts about my niche site before it was built. I wanted…
…to have minimal maintenance after the initial launch.
…it built on a fast site and platform.
…it to be part of a lucrative industry.
…it to be something that produced mostly evergreen content.
…it to be a topic from within a popular topic.
Constant Questions of Each Topic:
After I made those requirements for myself, I would run every topic through a series of questions:
Do I know enough about the topic to write 100 articles?
Does it require other experts on the topic?
Can I make money from affiliate links?
Can I make money from display ads?
Should I integrate AI into the website?
Who else is sharing similar content?
What do consumers want to know about the topic?
Is there enough search volume on a month-to-month basis (>10k)?
Once I started rolling through those questions, it was easy to weed out the topics that wouldn’t fit my goals. It was time to start filling in the details.
Use AHREFs for keywords
I started with AHREFs for research on keywords and phrases for my topic. It was easy to see search volume and any patterns or trends with the topic. Also, using this tool allowed me to see the keyword difficulty and how hard it would be to rank.
Disclaimer: I have the paid version, so I could dive deeper into SERPs (search engine result pages) to see what other sites were ranking for the topic (more on that later). But with the free version, you can still do some great keyword research.
Checked Google Trends
Using Google Trends gave me another tool (which is free) to use to discover trends and search volume over time for my topic.
I was able to see that there was consistency not only in the United States but Internationally as well.
Found Competitors
As I was focusing on the user intent and volume for my topic, I also made it an important point to see who was already covering it too.
So I began a worksheet to track competitors in the space and checked their content, location, and threat level.
*Something To Note* While you may come across competitors in a niche space, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pursue it. If you can still provide quality content, you can compete with them too, and win the space.
Ready to pick your niche topic?
Here are some things to keep in mind:
This is a long-term commitment - results will not happen overnight. Be ready for that.
You must know the topic - making the mistake of jumping into something you know nothing about will keep you ten steps behind.
Have fun with it - I started writing for this new topic and was having fun sharing my story.
Ready to start? → Use these tools to get started.
Have questions about how to pick a topic? Not sure if it’s the right time to start? Comment below with your questions👇
New Niche Site Update
😫 A Problem, 👍 Solution, & 🎉 Win
Every week I share a problem, solution, and win I’ve had with my new niche site to help you learn a bit and hopefully help you with your projects.
😫 Problem: I didn’t have the right time to write - so instead of writing, I created some notes and topic ideas while traveling.
👍 Solution: I switched my topic list to Notion (where all my other notes are for the site), and I’ve been able to track things better.
🎉 Win: First CLICK organically on the site this week! It was for one of the first topics I wrote about.
Have a question about my niche building?
👩🏻🏫 What I consumed this week…
Want your publication featured? Comment below 👇
Thanks for the shoutout! 🤝🤝