The turn of the year is a time for celebrating old milestones and setting new ones. Bloggers are not alien to this trend. It is never a wrong time to put a plan in motion for a new blog. The start of the year is thus a great time to put a new WordPress blog in place.
The main challenge is overcoming the competitive nature of the blogging world. There are a seemingly endless number of blogs online competing for attention. It is difficult for any new blogger to come along and make a mark in a competitive space.
If it is so difficult to succeed, why do bloggers think about starting new blogs?
The importance of selecting a niche
In the larger scheme of things, the competition for traffic is real. However, there are enough small pockets of opportunity for bloggers to realistically succeed. Let’s take a simple example and assume you want to start a news website. You cannot hope to compete with mainstream news platforms because of their unlimited access to key resources.
However, you can succeed if you plan to cover news related to a small segment. Writing local news stories for example is a good idea because you don’t have to compete with other mainstream channels. You can thus target people looking specifically for local news stories online instead of competing with mainstream giants.
Local news is thus the niche of your website. It is a small space in the large world of online news.
Five niche ideas you should consider working on
To succeed in 2021, you would again need to find a niche for your blog. It is the only realistic way you can succeed in the competitive world of websites.
This following section covers five exciting niche ideas you can cover in 2021.
#1 – Work from home lifestyle
The COVID pandemic made work from home a common reality for the professional class. It is always wise to consider the massive changes a work from home lifestyle brings about. People have been stepping out of their homes to go to work for literally hundreds of years. Work from home thus breaks a historical habit and this naturally has interesting outcomes.
Starting a blog discussing the vagaries of the typical work from home lifestyle can work, especially because it is slated to become much more common now. The topics you can cover in this niche include productivity tips, remote job essentials, and more. You can even establish affiliate marketing channels by promoting work from home furniture such as desks, chairs, and more.
Many companies have already become used to the work from home style of working. It won’t thus be surprising for content related to work from home lifestyle become more popular online. 2021 is a great year to tap into this space and start early in a niche that shows great promise.
#2 – DIY-activities
Lockdowns were a common occurrence during the COVID pandemic. This naturally led to a rise in DIY-blogs. From fitness to cooking and even personal grooming, DIY-content became very popular in the last year.
It is safe to say this trend will continue into 2021. More activities for which people depended on professionals for will soon have DIY alternatives. Even app development, a fairly complicated process has been simplified with automated alternatives like AppMySite that enable users to create mobile app from website.
Thus, DIY activities are on the rise. It is however important to choose the right niche within the DIY space. Some niche segments are already packed with competition such as cooking and fitness.
You can either dive deep into bigger niche ideas and establish your own little space or choose a completely different segment. This will naturally require a lot of research. You must thus be prepared to study and find the right DIY niche idea.
#3 – Collection hobbies
One of the more unique blog niche ideas you can explore is writing about a collection hobby. From books to sports cards and postage stamps, there are a number of collection hobbies people have.
Each collection hobby is associated with a lot of literature. Only someone who collects a particular type of commodity can appreciate the nitty-gritty of the subject. Since this field involves less competition than usual, bloggers can start a website in this space.
It generally helps if you have a hobby of collecting something already. This can essentially help you understand the mindset of the readers you’re writing for.
The trick with this niche in terms of monetization lies in recognizing hobbies that can deliver with affiliate marketing revenue as well. Research new hobby tendencies as these also promise less competition.
#4 – Outdoor activities
Most signs point to the pandemic receding in the middle of 2021. This would naturally open up a lot of people to pursue outdoor activities. Travel is the most obvious option. Even playing sports and outdoor hobbies like fishing, trekking, and climbing would become more common.
One could argue people would indulge in more outdoor activities as a way to compensate for their long time staying indoors. This makes outdoor activities and hobbies a great niche.
Like collection hobbies, it is best if the blogger managing the blog knows about the outdoor activity being discussed on the blog. This can help the blogger bring the expertise necessary to write the content well and appear authentic to the readers.
#5 – Self improvement
A good way to use your knowledge of blogging is to help people with guidance. Self-improvement is a niche worth exploring for bloggers who feel they can help people online with their content.
Bloggers don’t really need to act as spiritual gurus to explore this niche. The best way to approach such a niche is to explore the writings of philosophers and gurus who’ve already this space. A key lesson to remember here is rehashing the old writings for a modern context. Bloggers should not pretend to be something they’re not.
Self-improvement is a very big space and it is best if you frame your content according to a specific demographic.
For instance, bringing traffic to a general motivational blog catering to everyone won’t fetch you a lot of traffic. However, applying old motivational writings to inspire online bloggers to keep improving can prove to be much more effective. In this case, you’re using old teachings to specifically address bloggers.
In conclusion
2020 was a difficult year on many different levels. This is why 2021 is such an important time for the world at large. Bloggers will also seek to make their mark.
Those planning to start a new blog will first however need to find a viable niche. This piece covers five exciting niche ideas you can start a blog on. While the ideas covered here are exciting, they will require complete commitment on your part.
Blogs are not just a simple collection of webpages anymore. Tools like AppMySite enable bloggers to create WordPress apps without coding. It is thus worth all the effort in the world to chase blog traffic as it can translate into app success as well.
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