Want to start a blog but worry that blogging is an oversaturated market? You may be wondering how your blog stands out from numerous blogs in the same industry.
You may even fear that your blog will not be successful because you are unsure how to come up with a blogging strategy that will make you stand out from the crowd. Perhaps you’ve even started your blog and are frustrated that you are not seeing the results you want.
Considerations for Starting a Blog in 2021
Starting a blog can feel like a daunting task. There are many questions about whether your blog will gain traffic and how you can get your content in front of your desired audience.
The benefits of blogging are a long-term game, however. Posting consistently on your blog is a fundamental first step. The second step is to center your blog on a specific topic or topic.
According to Website Setup, the number of blogs on the Internet has exceeded 600 million. If you are looking to start a blog and are concerned that this number suggests that the blogging market is oversaturated, don’t panic.
While blogging can be competitive, there is a lot of context to consider that can give you an edge. It all depends on what niche you are stepping into. While most blogs are in a specific industry, each blog has a specific one perspective in this industry.
For example, if you have a wellness blog that focuses on healthy eating and exercise, the perspective may come from someone who is struggling with a specific illness or has advanced training on nutrition.
That particular perspective is yours Clear moral concept.
An audience looking for specific niche information will gain attention and traffic as your specific perspective creates rare value.
In time, your audience will understand that they cannot find this information with this unique value anywhere else. Your blog’s perspective sets it apart from others. If you focus on this specific value, you will be successful in the long run.
This is how you can tell whether a topic is too competitive
Now that we understand that your blog needs to have a unique perspective that will add value to your industry, we’re going to explain how to tell if a blog topic is too competitive.
There are many ways to determine how competitive your niche is, but we’ll stick with the simplest:
- Keyword Volume (MSV)
- Keyword Difficulty (KD)
To determine both, you need to research the keyword landscape for your main intended topic.
For example, if you want to blog about baking cookies, you should look at the keyword landscape for queries like: Baking at home, ideas for baking cookies, baking desserts, begin.
Search engine optimization (SEO) tools like Google Trends, Ubersuggest, Moz or Semrush are great keyword research tools that can show you both the MSV and the KD for any search query you’re interested in.
Keyword volume
Also known as monthly search volume (MSV), keyword volume is the number of times a particular keyword is searched for each month. The keyword volume can indicate how large the target group is for a particular topic and how much potential traffic is available to you within this keyword landscape.
The higher the volume, the greater the chance of traffic from that keyword. Now you can no longer record Everyone of available traffic. Your chance depends a lot on another factor – keyword difficulty.
Keyword Difficulty (KD)
Keyword Difficulty gives you an idea of the likelihood of your content ranking in search engines for that keyword by telling you how difficult it is to rank for that keyword. Other blogs are also competing for this keyword, so KD will give you a feel for your competition.
Different SEO tools take into account various factors to calculate the difficulty of the ranking, such as the number of backlinks and search volume. Overall, keyword difficulty is a helpful way to determine if a market is highly competitive.
Tips for Blogging in a Competitive Market
If you find that your niche topic has a high keyword difficulty, don’t worry. There are a number of actionable steps you can take to ensure you continue to rank and get traffic.
There are ways to optimize your blog to make sure you are targeting the right audience, ranking on search engines, and getting viewers to come back. Let’s cover this now.
1. Know your audience.
A basic understanding of the goal and purpose of your blog is fundamental to standing out in a highly competitive marketplace. And about to know who your audience is and what they want to read.
You can start by building a persona that your content can target. This way you have a full understanding of who your target audience is and can serve them.
To get to know your audience, ask yourself the following questions:
- Why are you blogging this information?
- What effect do you hope your blog will have?
- What does your audience need to learn?
- How does your audience like to consume information?
- What demographics define your audience?
2. Incorporate SEO guidelines.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is key to bringing your blog to a wider audience. Essentially, you want your blog content to focus on a few primary keywords that match what your audience is trying to learn. We already discussed how to determine MSV and KD for your target keywords above, but SEO is much more than that. Your blog content should focus on your main keyword. These keywords should appear throughout your content.
For example, if your blog is about fishing, this will be considered your primary keyword topic. Relevant keywords that would appear all over your blog are how to fish, Fishing guidelines, and how to prepare for a fishing trip. The more relevant keywords appear on your blog, the better it helps the search engines to understand what your blog is about.
Don’t flood your content with your keywords just for the sake of ranking. This is known as keyword stuffing and is a black hat SEO practice. The focus should be on creating quality content that will help users. If you create content that has information that meets the needs of your audience, they’ll likely come back to your blog to learn more.
3. Build relationships.
Networking also applies to online marketing. Try to build relationships with online executives in your industry or those with parallel audiences.
By building a network, you can also create opportunities for backlinks to your content, which is helpful for building authority. Backlinks help drive more traffic to your blog by redirecting the audience from a blog to yours. This will help you optimize your visibility on the search engine results pages (SERPs) over time.
Backlinks can be in the form of a guest post. For example, if you have a cooking blog and you post a guest post on Food Network, that will create a backlink. They can also come from referral links from other websites that may have a bigger name in your industry. For example, if Entrepreneur.com links to your article about startups, that counts as a backlink as well.
4. Be helpful.
If your blog is solely promoting your product or service, it may be overly promotional. Find out what your target audience is really interested in and keep track of those topics – it’s always better to be helpful than advertise. Successful bloggers put the needs of their community before their financial gain.
“Providing accurate, useful information that informs in a non-self-marketing manner gains credibility,” writes Greg Sweval, a direct consumer advisor. “The excitement may take a little longer to build, but once the momentum starts rolling, it has exponential effects.”
5. Blog about your expertise.
Blog about the aspects of your business that are important to you. “Be yourself and blog about the things that excite and interest you (without sounding like an advertisement, of course) and you’ll be fine,” suggests Steve Early.
If you are passionate about writing and delivering real value, you will most likely be targeting a larger audience. With all of the information available to us, readers can feel authenticity. Your goal should be to create content for people who are curious and looking for helpful, unique information. Try to get your readers as passionate about your topic as you are.
6. Be authentic.
You will stand out from the noise and crowd of bloggers if you are truly authentic. Transparency can give you credibility in the blogosphere. In addition, it will add a more personal element to your writing style. Be authentic and let your readers see you clearly and identify with your message.
A successful blog takes time, strategy, and research.
There are no shortcuts to building a profitable and successful blog. By doing market and keyword research, you can get a feel for what your audience’s needs are and what they want to see. Once you know what your audience wants, understand the unique value of your blog, and incorporate SEO tactics, you will ensure the longevity and overall success of your blog.
Starting a successful blog in a saturated market doesn’t have to be a failure. However, it takes consistent effort, focus, and dedication to be successful. Start planning your blog strategy today and watch your audience grow.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in July 2009 and has been updated for completeness.