The question whether to build a niche blog or general blog daunts many. Answer can only be given by considering various factors like monetization, time invested, looking for ROI (Return on Investment) etc. Understanding these factors will provide clear answer regarding whether to choose a niche or general blog.
Investment of Time & Money:
The first factor to consider is whether you have sufficient time to invest. Generally, a single person handles the content. Therefore, it is obvious that sufficient time should be spared. However, you can also hire a writer. Hiring a writer, on the other hand, requires investment of money. Ask yourself whether you have sufficient time and money.
In case, you lack both, then a general blog/site is perfect. General blogs have numerous categories. These numerous categories give flexibility to write on vast areas. Furthermore, content can be funneled through guest bloggers. Depending completely on guest bloggers is not wise, though they provide constant stream of content. Moreover, there is always a need to customize design. Unless a developer, you might want to think about outsourcing web development.
Monetization:
Many wish to earn as affiliates while other through Ads (preferably AdSense). Monetization technique decides whether to choose a niche or general blog. Affiliate sale does better only in niche sites as obviously readers are looking for products related to the niche.
AdSense ad does better with general blog. The Click through Rate of AdSense ads is higher in general sites. Readers of niche site know what they are searching. Therefore, they hardly click on ads (unless it is related to the niche). If you are looking to earn through AdSense then general blog/site will prove beneficial.
Reader Ship and Engagement:
This one is obvious. General blogs have less or no engagement while niche sites engage highly. Readership and engagement may not be of concern to many. However, for those who are looking to advertise their service or product should take care of engagement.
In case you have decided a general blog then you have to understand, that most advertising network do not approve your application (eg: buysellads.com). With Adsense you are safe but if banned then finding another equivalent network is difficult. Therefore, balance your engagement of your readers to be safe.
Traffic:
Personally, I have noticed that general category blogs/sites get high rankings with ease. For instance, they gain 50k Alexa rank within a short time. Later they move a further to 30k (rarely do they touch 15k mark) then again move down to 70k and 90k. Later, again they start their climb until 30k and back to lower rankings. The reason for back and forth motion with ranking is that the site/blog is saturated. No new readers are gained after a period. Moreover, old readers move on the other sites. To conclude there is no loyalty of readers for continuous growth.
With niche sites, constant growth is evident though there may not be instant traffic gain. Readers are loyal and frequently visit the site. In short, readers keep on accruing and therefore there is no major rank retrace. Alexa rank of 1k or less is possible provided the niche is in high demand.
Return on Investment:
With respect to ROI, niche sites are more profitable. Interestingly general sites do not require for much investment. The investment on a single niche site can be compared to four or five general sites. Now, if we look at the ROI between a single niche site and five general blogs then ROI can be said as equal.
Finally, with these factors it is your decision whether to choose a niche or general site.
About John
Twitter: CW_JenniferB
says:
Great post, John! What do you think of all the blogs springing up that are solely devoted to infographics? Do you think that’s a sustainable niche blog?
Jennifer recently posted..Create Infographics Online
Twitter: bleepingtech
says:
Hi Jennifer,
Yes you can devote a blog focusing just on inforgraphics but to make it work, just posting the infograph won’t work but you will have to write an article about the same topic.
If you start publish every other infograph then your blog will be categorized under general. so choose your niche and then target infographs which are related to your blog niche.
Anish Sangamam recently posted..How to Setup Gmail with Step 2 Verification on Nokia Lumia
I don’t follow your reasoning behind choosing a general blog when you are in lack of time. In such case i would definitely choose a niche blog.
bert recently posted..Eigen bedrijf starten? MKB Marketing geheimen voor de startende ondernemer
Hi Bert. I was trying to say that generic sites provide freedom on topic with huge categories. Moreover, topics within generic sites does not call for detailed discussion.
John recently posted..JVAI Aesthetically Appealing Website Finally in Business!
Thank you John, great article. In my experience we decided to dedicate our blog to our niche considering the lack of manpower. We also felt a general blog could generate alot of spam comments
Luis recently posted..WordPress 3.5 Beta 2
Very informative post. To start a niche or a general blog is sure a question that haunts many, but these factors that you have mentioned are no doubt crucial in deciding what type of blog you want to start. All these points are important but personally I think that the readership and engagement factor is very important as if you want to advertise then you would definitely want engagement in your blog.
Lucy recently posted..Being a Leader in MLM Business Takes More Than Leading!
Hi Lucy,
John recently posted..JVAI Aesthetically Appealing Website Finally in Business!
You just summarized the whole article within 4 lines
Twitter: WebDesignRoma1
says:
Therefore in agreement with your article is worth starting a niche blog only if you can choose a really good niche.
If the chosen niche is too crowded or without enough audience then the ROI would be 0, without the possibility of recovery.
So am I correct in saying that a generic blog would be safer?
Ivandesign recently posted..√ Siti Web Dinamici a 280€
if the niche is saturated heavily and competing is hard then generic is the way to go.
John recently posted..JVAI Aesthetically Appealing Website Finally in Business!
Twitter: HealthTipWealth
says:
I believe a niche blog is the way to go. However, when starting a niche blog, look at it from an angle or perspective that you believe would be fresh or new to your readers. This would increase their lifetime value the would obtain from your blog.
Steven Jude recently posted..The Golden Rules Of Motivation + Tips and Strategies for Encouraging Healthy Eating Habits in Your Family
This is actually a good question to ask yourself before starting a blog. A general blog that covers a wide variety/types/kinds of topics and posts generally tend to do well. Plus in my experience, in order for niche blogs to do well, they need to attract a large amount of extremely targeted traffic, something that they struggle with.
Javi recently posted..Importance of Keywords and Optimizing any Webpage for Search Engines and Conversions
This is all starting to really interest me. I have had a website for my plumbing business for some time. Recently, I started looking into how to get this site higher in the search results. It’s opened up a whole new world to me. I had no idea just how many people are into blogging and making money online.
I’m still working on my business website at the moment but I am going to apply some of the stuff I’m learning from the many sites like yours that I have visited. I think I will probably end up trying to build a blog for myself
Thank’s for an interesting read.
Incorporating a blog with your business site is the sure way to success. Best of Luck!
John recently posted..The Builders Centre
If your objective is making money I think the best strategy is choosing a niche that is related to products that peopla actually look for and buy from the internet, with good profit margins and that can be sold through affiliate e-commerce programs (like Amazon). It probably will give you also a good click through rate on google ads, since there are people paying for ads on those products that everyone know there are consumers out there looking for it.
But I don’t know exactly what you mean by general blog, if you are talking about blogs that covers big niches or blogs that talk about everything.
Cheers
Twitter: TheTechnoMAG
says:
and what about buysellads? What I have noticed that you have to choose a specific niche e.g. graphic design, technology or any other to get ads from buysellads. And they pays you well if you have good monthly impressions.
So choosing a niche is important in my point of you.
Joe Clark recently posted..Artistic Black & White Photography for your inspiration
Twitter: BrianHumek
says:
Love your thoughts John. I have a number of niche websites and one general blog which started out in the internet marketing/social media niche. I have taken it in a few other directions since then, expanding the categories. It may not be successful with traffic, but it sure is a lot easier to write for it when I cover many categories instead of one. It helps with burnout on certain topics. I’m never stuck for something to write. As for niche blogs, none of mine has ever taken off, but my pizza website is doing the best.
Brian recently posted..Breville JE98XL Juice Fountain Plus 850-Watt Juicing Machine
Definitely a combination of niche and generic sites will always allow more creative ideas. Most important of all you will never run out of ideas and will always have something to write
John recently posted..JVAI Aesthetically Appealing Website Finally in Business!
And moreover, you need to be careful when choosing the writer. I hired a guy from Freelancer some time back for one of my niche site and the result turned to be unfortunate. Finally the dispute was filed and the damn site simply distributed the money between we two. Its pretty ridiculous. I never visit that site anymore for freelancers.
If you are going to hire anybody for content of your blog, you must provide the most detailed and clear specification of your requirement. Simply giving the title and keywords may turn into unacceptable outcome and would be harder to resolve disputes if any ensues.
So, Danie, first learn a bit about outsourcing the content writing, learn how to get the right guy on your board and there is no harm to find some helping hands to improve your blog.
David Hendiyo recently posted..How to Create the Next Facebook
Hi David,
Freelancer should be the last place to outsource. It is literally filled with amateurs.
John recently posted..JVAI Aesthetically Appealing Website Finally in Business!
Twitter: jobstock
says:
I really think a niche website is the way to go, provided that there is enough traffic surrounding that topic. I would recommend taking a look at the Google Keyword Tool and researching the monthly searches your topic area gets. If you’re topic area has a solid amount of searches each month and a number of topics which can be easily tied into that, then that would be something worth considering as your base.
I would also consider looking at the competition and page rank of some of those competitors. How long have they been blogging, what’s their readership like, and is their room for me in this space?
Sarah Stephenson recently posted..Freelance Game Development – 7 Tips to Success
Twitter: TheTechnoMAG
says:
I agree with you Sarah that if you choose a niche that offers good traffic then you should definitely go for it. But on the other hand the competition may be very tough and you have to be expert on what you are writing for.
Joe Clark recently posted..Google plus: heaven of SEO for webmasters in 2013
Hi,
Its a great topic you have put forth. Obviously one needs to decide the way one has to blog before starting. You gave a good insight into the subject. I liked the way you have build up on every point and given it a new vision. The post will guide novices well. In my opinion one should go for a general blog in the beginning for it gives vivid feilds to talk about.:)
RajKumar recently posted..Apple iPhone 5 vs. Motorola Droid Razr HD Maxx
Twitter: technobrunch
says:
Hello John,
Praveen Soni recently posted..Google’s Gift For SMS Freaks (Send Free SMS from GMail)
i am agree with all your above points that if we don’t have time and money so i general blog is perfect for us, but if we can invest time and money so we should go for a appropriate niche blog. because a niche blog is more successful than a normal or general blog. in general blog we put almost everything about gadgets,social media,news, how to etc so visitors get confused. so niche blog is best if we can invest time as well as money. yeah john, general blog can get good ranking because the general blog owners can put 2-4 article daily and this is little bit difficult to put 2-4 post daily for a niche blog. so agree with you mate
and nice sharing
Thank you for taking time to post such an elaborate comment
John recently posted..JVAI Aesthetically Appealing Website Finally in Business!
Twitter: No1CopyWriting
says:
Hi,
Great post, it certainly opened up the nice VS general debate once again.
My thoughts are that with a niche blog you are able to become the authority much quicker. After all there is ‘less’ to focus on, you can be more direct with your approach; instead of spreading it across lots of different areas.
Thanks for sharing.
Glenn recently posted..Is Your SEO Copywriting Damaging Your Image?
Twitter: gameutopia
says:
A lot of marketing sites I have visited seem to recommend a niche of some kind. I have one that is sort of technology, webmaster resources, seo, and that type of thing. Another one I have that I don’t spend hardly anytime with has lower traffic and it usually does much better with adsense. I think it depends on the topics that you write about. Technology sites, people looking for traffic tips, or website help seem to know how to tune advertisements out.
Ray recently posted..How to Change the number of WordPress Post Revisions
You are absolutely right. Even I have noticed that AdSense earnings from the above niches are very low
John recently posted..JVAI Aesthetically Appealing Website Finally in Business!
Twitter: 3mwindowfilmsTO
says:
I think going with a niche blog can yield better results in most cases. When you create a niche blog it would most likely be a niche that you are familiar with and are able to share your knowledge of this niche with your readers. If you are knowledgeable and have good writing skills you will ultimately attract people within this niche who appreciate your content, which would make it easier for you to convert them into sale/conversions.
I agree with Pedro, a niche which relates to products you can buy from amazon or the like is the easiest way to make money. The problem with small niche is, that there is not much to write about. Maybe a good idea is to start a general blog, but focus on some niche at the beginning and continually broaden your focus…
Frank recently posted..Handtuchheizung im Bad
Twitter: castigionline
says:
Nice question as I know the niche blog is more stable from my own expertise. And alexa rank is an amazing way to really find out your development stage for a long run.
Become hard to pass 30k in alexa I know very well you need way more things to do but finally worth.
Create good content branding yourself then promoting using high rank social networking sites – this is my way.
Thanks for your nice article.
Christian.
Christian recently posted..WorldMicroJobs Top October 2012 And A Simple Graphical Way To Boost Your Logo Design
Twitter: prabhatrayal
says:
reading this post feels like you are telling my story. my alexa went up to 140k and then it increased upto 170k.i really don’t trust on alexa. but may be i have made a mistake while choosing my niche. may be i should focus more on my hobbies and interests. nice post
prabhat recently posted..3 Useful Apps For Enhancing Photos
I am glad that you can relate this post to your story. Wish you luck!
John recently posted..JVAI Aesthetically Appealing Website Finally in Business!
Twitter: MauroDand
says:
Hi Jhon, I didn’t know about the diffences in the ROI between niche sites and general sites.
Thanks for sharing that information.
Anyway I think that a good approach could be to start a niche site and when it grows it’s possible to treat more general subjects.
Mauro D’Andrea recently posted..Do You Want to Make Money Online? Stop Wasting Time Blogging
Sure, that would be an awesome idea!
John recently posted..JVAI Aesthetically Appealing Website Finally in Business!
Twitter: epicshirtscom
says:
I would definitely recommend a niche site as you can be much more concrete in terms of what you are writing. In my opinion the only ones that can do random blogs with no focus are news sites and personal blogs about whatever happens in their life. Anyone who disagrees?
Joen Rude Falsner recently posted..Full Moon Party – Shirts To Wear
Twitter: philipalex08
says:
I think a niche specific blog has a better chance to attract a loyal readership than a general blog has.
And of course if you have information on a specific topic it makes sense to start a blog on that niche.
Thanks for sharing this, looking forward to your next posts, cheers.
Philip A. recently posted..Guest Posting – Why Should You Write On Other Blogs?
Nice post john, Though i personally think that first point is most important, you should think how much time and money you can put into writing a blog, money and all will follow if you are regular in what you do.
Avinash Singhal recently posted..Divide a triangle into n triangles
Interesting share John. I think when you’re a starting internetmarketeer and are planning to write the content yourself its best to focus on a niche website regarding something you have a strong interest in. If you’re writing about something you don’t particularly write it gets boring fast. However its never a bad idea to start a general blog besides it, as it gives you more oppurtunities to write about. I dont agree on your comment about outsourcing for webdevelopment though, as most people should be able to come pretty far with wordpress these days.
Colin A. recently posted..Gitaar leren spelen – wat komt daarbij kijken?
I have four websites all of them are niche related.
I’ll explain why:
I don’t have the time to write a personal blog. I’m working 11 hours a day
so my kids will have a good life. So Writing my own blog will take me a lot
of time. On my niche websites, I outsource the work to contractors. I instruct them
how and what to write. much better foe me.
Denis recently posted..Frontal Hair Loss Treatment
I guess niche blog would be more lucrative than a general blog. Since my primary objective of blogging is to make money and support my family, i chose niche blogging
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