My other website, JavaScript Workshop  could be considered a niche blog, but I expanded it to cover other topics other than “JavaScript”, but that is the general idea.  This blog you are reading now is a niche blog.

Look at the top 100 blogs as tracked by Technorati.com and you’ll find that the majority of them have a defined niche. Some niches are wider than others—but in nearly all cases they’ve carved out a niche for themselves.

There are many reasons why choosing a niche is important to building a successful blog, but here are a few (10 to be exact).

1. Loyal readers—Niche blogs tend to develop a loyal readership because readers know that when they log in to a blog they’ll get relevant information on topics that they have an interest in, rather than random posts on topics that they have no desire to read.
2. Community—People like to gather with others like them. Many times when you develop a blog focusing on a single topic, you find that a group of like-minded people will gather around it not just to read what you have to say, but to interact with others who share their passions and interests.
3. Specialist authors—Authors of niche blogs have the freedom to really focus upon a topic and don’t feel guilty about doing so. This can lead to an increase in the quantity, quality, and depth of articles.
4. Brand, credibility, and profile—Blogging consistently on one single topic increases the chances of that blog (and its blogger) being seen as a credible, trusted source of information in that area. Work this correctly and you can become the “go-to” person in your niche and become known as a specialist or expert in your field. The flow on benefits of this is huge if you have a product or service of your own to sell.
5. Contextual advertising—Contextual ad networks like AdSense tend to work best on sites that are tightly focused. They serve more targeted and relevant ads when a whole site is on a defined topic—which in turn increases the likelihood of those ads being clicked by readers.
6. Direct advertising sales—Niche blogs are more attractive to private advertisers or sponsors who are looking for content to place their ads on that is relevant and closely aligned to their product or service.
7. Search engine optimization—Google and other search engines tend to favor sites with a well-defined topic with pages that relate to one another.
8. More posts—You can post more if you only have 1 topic to worry about as opposed to many topics. There is only so much you can write on a blog each day without overwhelming your readership.
9. Leverage to expand into neighboring niches—One benefit of becoming well-known in a highly focused niche is that you can position yourself to springboard into a neighboring or overarching one.
10. Higher conversion—If your blog’s business model is to sell something to your readers, it is to your advantage to have a blog that has a readership with interests that are highly aligned with your own focus.

Choosing a niche for your blog enables you, your bloggers, and your readers to become more focused and will enable you to grow a readership and monetize it more effectively.

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