To find a profitable sub-niche for a new blog, begin by identifying at least three topics you enjoy talking about, assess their suitability for you personally, research the search volume for the topic, check out the competition and ascertain the potential for optimum monetization and profitability.
Let’s assume that you have already decided on the broader blog niche and are only looking for ways to find a profitable sub-niche within that broader topic.
Now if that is your situation, then you can simply jump to the section of this article where I write specifically about how to find a profitable sub-niche.
However, in the likely event that you have no idea as to what niche to start with, then I will urge you to learn about how to find a profitable sub-niche by starting from the beginning of this post.
This way, you will learn how to find a profitable niche by first looking for a suitable niche that fits you most.
So without further ado, let’s jump in to learn how to find a profitable sub-niche one way or the other.
Start by selecting a broad niche
To finally settle on a sub-niche that you will enjoy blogging about, it is best to start by selecting a very broad niche.
Take the below steps to decide on the bigger niche you want. It is only after this that you must go further and narrow down your focus on a sub-topic under the broader niche.
So let’s begin by choosing the niche from which we must eventually find a profitable sub-niche that you will never regret choosing.
Educate yourself about all the available niches in blogging.
First, you need to know the choices available to you. Without much knowledge about what you are dealing with, it is going to be almost impossible to find the profitable sub-niche that will take your blog very far.
Examples of very broad blogging niches to consider are sports, fashion and style, relationships,health and wellness, education, religion and spirituality, e-commerce, finance, technology and entertainment.
Identify 3 topics you enjoy talking about
To narrow down your niche, begin by identifying at least three topics about which you would gladly engage in a discussion on any day.
You need to find a profitable sub-niche from an area you love to talk about. That is something that interests you so much that even in your lowest moments, you are likely to come alive as soon as somebody raises a topic in that area.
Feel free to select at least three topics from the above examples of broad blogging niches. This should be a good starting point in finally choosing your profitable sub-niche.
Assess their suitability based on these 2 factors
Now is the time to prune this list down to just one. To help you do this successfully, you need to decide which one will be the best choice for your long-term blogging goals.
Here are some tips that should guide you
Your Expertise
Do you have some level of expertise in the topic? Remember your expertise can help you quickly establish authority in your blogging space.
So if you can boast of some knowledge or skills, in education or health, for example, then that niche is a likely great candidate under which to find a lucrative sub-niche.
Your Experience
Experience is another key factor that can influence your choice of a blogging niche. In fact, there are situations where all that a beginner blogger has is a reasonable level of experience in performing a certain specialized task.
And they make their experience take care of any lack of formal academic qualification in the area.
Select a Sub Niche
You can now choose a sub-niche out of the broader niche topic you have nailed down by doing the following.
Find possible sub-niches
The possibilities are many when it comes to finding sub-niches under any of the broader blog niche ideas we identified early on. So look around for the numerous sub-topics under your chosen niche.
To make this process easier for you, I have assembled some of the best sub-niches you can find today in the below articles. Simply go and take a look at any time.
Profitable Sub-Niches in Finance
Profitable Sub-Niches in Entertainment
Profitable DIY Niche Blog Topics
So which one of the sub-niches will help you achieve the dreams you have for your professional blogging career? To tell you the truth, it is not that easy to settle on the right niche.
But it is still possible. To make sure that you avoid the mistake of selecting the wrong sub-niche, use the below points as a guide.
Potential for Content Generation – Long Term
Please, note this. The blogging business is a long-term proposition. You are going to be writing hundreds, if not thousands, of blog articles.
So your sub-niche needs to have the capacity to keep giving you tons of blog topic ideas over the long haul.
Which one best fits your interests and goals?
For example, let’s say you want to blog about technology. Would you prefer to write about artificial intelligence, mobile phones or computers?
If you have a passion for mobile phones and hope to build a business around smartphones in the future but, at the same time, you know almost nothing, and have no interest in learning about artificial intelligence technology, then your choice should be obvious.
Simply get down to blogging about Mobile phones.
Research the Search Volume for the Topic
The basic economic principle of demand and supply should guide you to find a profitable sub-niche. You need to find out the volume of searches online relating to the topic you have developed an interest. Because you ought to have a good amount of traffic to enable you to stay in the game.
A simple and free tool you can use to know the search volume for topics under your desired sub-niche is Google Trends.
Google Keyword Planner is another free tool for finding the search volume of the most trending keywords.
WordTracker, Searchvolume.io and WordStream can also help you identify the search volume of most keywords.
Now if you want more options for free and freemium keyword research tools to choose from, check out the list below. Some are Chrome Extensions that you can install on your laptop or PC for easy accessibility.
Keyword Surfer
LiveKeyword by BIQ
Ahrefs
SEMrush
Check out the Competition
It is equally critical that you have a fair idea about the level of competition in your preferred sub-niche.
Here is the thing. While some competition is a good sign that there is money to be made in a particular sub-niche, too much competition may be a red flag.
That sub-niche might just be too saturated to allow a newbie niche blogger to make any meaningful headway.
Some topics in the finance niche, for example, are considered to be saturated. So know what kind of competition you are willing to cope with.
At the end of the day, it is you who must decide whether you still want to go for a certain sub-niche in spite of the stiff competition.
The keyword research tools we have identified a moment ago would be an eye-opener in this area too.
Research CPC levels in that area.
As a beginner blogger, you are most likely going to start monetizing your blog with display ads from ad networks like Google AdSense, Media.net, Adseterra, PropellerAds and Ezoic.
The keywords in your blog posts must therefore have high CPC potential. This is why you also need to research the CPC of a good number of keywords you intend to use in your blog content.
Once again, most of the keyword research tools we mentioned earlier should help you find a profitable sub-niche as far as display ad revenue is concerned.
Which one can you monetize easily?
Monetization of a blog’s traffic and content is not all about display ads.
What you will quickly realize after making some initial ad revenue on your new niche blog is that it is not easy to rely on that revenue alone and become a full-time blogger.
To make a living from blogging, therefore, you need to implement other monetization methods. Examples of profitable blog monetization methods are affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, sale of information products like online courses, ebooks and downloadable PDFs.
Apart from digital products, you would also want to find out if there are opportunities to land speaking gigs, start an e-commerce business or launch a membership site.
In what sub-niche can you persist despite challenges?
Last but not least, I would urge you to choose the sub-niche that not only promises good returns but also has the ability to make you keep going even if, at the early stages, you are not seeing the results you want quickly enough.
The truth is, over time, a blog in almost any sub-niche can be transformed into a profitable sub-niche. And it takes commitment, dedication, hard work and persistence to get there.
Final words
Let me leave you with this note of caution. Your profitable sub-niche is not the same as the other person’s. The reason is we each have our unique passions, abilities and even goals.
This is why you must avoid choosing a particular sub-niche just because others are saying it is profitable.
I firmly believe that for any beginner blogger looking to find their profitable sub-niche the possibilities are endless.
Ralph Nyadzi is a self-published author and educational blogger at Cegast Academy. He took his first baby steps as an online publishing entrepreneur in 2016 and hasn't looked back since. He lives in the Central Region of Ghana with River, his adorable pet cat.
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