How to choose what topics to blog about

One of the first biggest decisions when starting a blog is deciding what to write about.

You could

• focus on a niche topic
• dive into one specific interest area
• take a broader approach and explore a plethora of topics

All choices have pros and cons…what you blog about doesn’t matter as much as whether you can consistently cover it on a sustainable basic.

I’ll explain what I mean by that in this post and how to choose the right fit blog topics for you.

Niche vs. focus

The biggest debate between many bloggers is niche vs. broad focus. Both options have their pros and cons. The right choice depends on your goals, audience and content strategy.

Niche

A blog niche zeroes in one a particular topic, making it easier to build a targeted audience and establish yourself as an expert in that field.

Niche blogs are often easier to monetize because they tend to have more consistent traffic from an extremely specific audience.

On the downside, niche sites feel limiting when your interests evolve or the topic falls out of interest with the public.

For instance, cryptocurrency was a heavy topic years ago but has fallen out of popularity with non-tech bros.

Another downside to having a niche blog is that you are so easily replaceable because another niche blog only needs to pop up and dominate yours.

Focus

Going nicheless by choosing a focus allows you to explore a variety of topics that align with your interests. Your blog feels more dynamic and flexible, even if those interests change.

Whilst it may be harder to establish authority on a single topic, your nicheless blog can attract a more diverse audience and give you the freedom to pivot as your interests change.

The challenge with a focus is to find a way to connect those varied topics so it feels cohesive to your readers.

This is where the importance of internal linking comes in.

I think of Wikipedia: The online encyclopedia covers topics about everything. If it exists, they’ve covered it.

Some video creators play a “game” where they start on a random Wikipedia page and try to get to a completely unrelated topic, e.g. starting on Kakashi (album) and clicking links until you get to mango (fruit):

• From Kakashi (album) to Tokyo
• From Tokyo to MAFF
• From MAFF to agriculture
• From agriculture to fruit
• From fruit to mango

What a focus isn’t

Niche or focus, bloggers approach figuring out both in the worst way: prioritizing what their audience wants over what they want to blog about.

This is how blogger burnout happens — not to mention heavy dependence on a rotating audience that only cares about you because you’re giving them a certain type of content.

The moment you stop or pivot away from giving them that particular content, they’ll leave. If someone else pops up and gives them more of that kind of content, they’ll leave.

Only catering to your audience — only giving them exactly what they want — doesn’t build a loyal audience. It grows your blog traffic quickly, but then you become known for that thing specifically.

Niche bloggers who didn’t become the niche themselves picked up on this caveat earlier this year. 💁‍♀️

How to figure out your blog focus

While you can start with the intention to focus on specific topics, your blog’s focus that it becomes known for boils down to three things.

These three things include both you and your audience, while respecting the data.

Instead of having one common ground, you aim for balance. There are ways to make even the topics that seem completely unrelated to other content on a blog relate to each other. 👀

Creativity goes a long way. 💁‍♀️

Factors to consider when choosing what to blog about

Before you dive in to a new blog topic, consider the

• time & effort required to create the content and
• whether that content will help you get what you want out of your blog

Excitement and passion are only two pieces of this puzzle.

Time & effort required to create the content

Not all types of content or blog topics require the same amount of time, money, energy or effort to create.

It’s easy to get ahead of yourself when you’re not aware of this.

Writing about autism, family estrangement or blogging doesn’t require me to do much.

But if I wanted to start sharing crafts, I’ll need to acquire the materials, make the craft, take and edit photos, and then create the content.

So any watercolor painting tutorials I publish require me to paint a piece for a post, taking pics as I go.

Similar goes with recipes — acquire the ingredients, make the recipe, test the recipe, take and edit photos, create the content.

Even posts about The Sims 4 takes a bit of time, because it’s so easy to get caught up in playing the game longer than I need to — or underestimate how much I need to play the game to get the screenshots I need.

So much more time and effort — and maybe even money — is required of me.

My energy levels and daily capabilities do not allow me to create that kind of content on a regular basis right now.

Be realistic about what certain kinds of content demands of you and plan accordingly.

Choosing topics that lead to your desired results

What do you want from your blog?

• Are you hoping to grow traffic quickly?
• Monetize with ads?
• Build a community?
• Sell products?
• Land a book deal?

Different types of content can help you achieve different goals.

Evergreen content, like blogging tips or personal development advice, has long-term value. It might take time to gain traction, but it continues to bring in traffic for years with minimal updates once it does.

Trend-based content, like discussing the latest Sims 4 expansion or new autism research, can bring in a quick burst of traffic — but traffic will fade over time.

Some topics naturally lend themselves to monetization.

Craft tutorials, for example, can lead to affiliate income or digital product sales (e.g. clipart or printables), while blogging tips can transition into paid coaching or e-books.

Meanwhile, personal stories are more difficult to monetize directly, but could build a loyal audience who trusts you and your recommendations. Sharing personal stories could also lead to a book deal, even if you’re seemingly a “nobody”.

Figuring out what to blog about is all about finding a balance between

• what you enjoy writing about,
• what you can realistically create and
• what aligns with your long-term goals.

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So, you see, choosing what to blog about is NOT as black-and-white as people make it out to be. It’s more nuanced than that.

I know from experience that writing about topics I’m not interested in is worse than not blogging at all.

For your blog to have an impact on the people who visit it, consider the audience you want to attract the most.