If you’re here, you already know that you can start a blog and make money passively (not so passive at first!).

To make money blogging, you need to select a profitable blog niche to start with.  

If you think you have to pick a profitable blog niche at the cost of writing about something you actually care about, you’re wrong.  

But you’re probably right about this: One of the things that decides how much money you can make from a blog is your niche. 

There are several factors that determine the profitability of a blog niche. Different niches make money in different ways.

Below, I have listed the most important factors that determines a profitable blog niche as well as how to check if the niche you’re thinking about writing can be profitable.

Or, you can skip right to the 10 steps to find a profitable blog niche.  

Factors that Determine a Profitable Blog Niche

There are really just 4 of them. These 4 factors summarize what it takes to rank and earn from your blog.

Low keyword difficulty

How difficult it is to rank for niche-specific keywords i.e. how much competition do you face in your niche. 

Low keyword difficulty lets you rank better and faster on Google’s SERP. 

High traffic potential

This includes market demand for the blog niche, the size of its target audience and a high search volume of niche-specific keywords (i.e. high number of searches per month).  

Higher traffic increases the monetization potential of your blog.  

Good monetization potential

This refers to the availability of revenue sources for that niche type e.g., affiliate marketing potential and sponsorship potential.  

Not every blog monetization method is ideal for a particular niche (though you should still monetize your blog in every way possible to increase revenue sources).  

The monetization potential of your niche will determine its profitability.  

High quality content

This is where passion and expertise figures in. 

You must have heard of the Google E-E-A-T guideline.  

Experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness of your blog and its content will be rewarded regardless of your niche.  

According to more recent guidelines, your content should be helpful if not anything else. Google also checks for engagement cues to determine if your content is actually helping readers. 

Maximize your profitability by maximizing the quality of your content. In my view, quality also includes the ability to solve problems, offer fresh insights, the touch of human experience (amidst a soar of generic AI content) and interlinking useful, high-quality supporting content.  

How to Pick a Profitable Blog Niche? Understanding Monetization Potential

To check if the niche you’re thinking about writing will be profitable or not, analyse its monetization potential.

First, let’s look at how blogs make money. These are the 7 main monetization methods in blogging.

Of course, once you scale your blogging business, you’ll come up with tons of other monetization opportunities that you may then prefer.

• Ad revenue – This includes display ads on your website through popular ad networks like Google AdSense, Ezoic, Mediavine, etc or direct ad sales from selling ad space to businesses & advertisers (more profitable for niche blogs with a specific audience). 
• Affiliate marketing – This involves promoting products or services on your blog through an affiliate program like Amazon Associates or ShareASale. You earn a commission for a sale or action taken through affiliate links. These products must be relevant to what you blog about.  
• Sponsorships – Various brands may pay you to create content featuring their products or services such as product reviews, sponsored posts or mentions. You may already see how this is a great idea for fashion and lifestyle bloggers. Social media influencers do this.  
• Product sales – Create your own physical or digital products like courses, merchandise, eBooks, Canva templates, etc and sell them through your blog. This is how you build your small business brand.  
• Exclusive content – Offer premium content and exclusive access to resources or a community for which readers must subscribe (paid). You’ve probably heard YouTubers talk about Patreon which is a platform that lets you create premium membership models like this.  
• Consultations – You can charge for expert consultation or services in your area of expertise. Think tarot readings, career coaching and resume consultations. 
• Freelance – You can offer services like writing and design for e.g. resume writing or web design. 

So, a huge factor in deciding a profitable blog niche is your monetization strategy. It goes the other way too.

Your monetization strategy will depend on what you blog about. You can adjust either factor to make any niche profitable.  

For example, if you want to write about writing, target affiliate programs or sponsorships from writing and productivity tools and software. If you’re writing about starting a business, offer consultations and courses. You get the gist.  

How to Pick a Profitable Blog Niche FOR YOU

By now, you’ll know: You can make any niche profitable with the right strategy.  

In fact, most niches are profitable with research and strategy. A quick google search will show you that the most random blogs on celebrity gossip, entertainment, TV shows, and specific food items can become profitable.  

So then, to figure out a profitable blog niche for you, follow these steps and arrive at a sustainable strategy for yourself (because I do not recommend picking a niche solely based on popularity and profitability).  

1 – Select a niche that’s relevant to your profession

Even if you aren’t crazy about your job, you’ll know more about it than any beginner searching on Google for help.  

A profitable blog niche is typically one that you can create expert content on. Use your experience and expertise.  

2 – Select a niche that’s very interesting to you

So that even if you’re not a professional expert in it, you’ll be interested enough to learn about it, which will sustain your blog for a long time.  

It’s mostly beginners that tend to go on search engines to learn things. Experts don’t look for information on google with basic keywords. They’ll go straight to authoritative sources with strong, targeted keywords.  

You don’t need to worry about them.  

Even if you know a little more than a beginner, you know enough to write about it in your blog. And with enough interest, you can learn as you go.  

3 – Brainstorm topics you know (or can learn) a lot about

You are multi-dimensional. There are at least 1-2 subjects that you’ll know a lot about that aren’t your profession, that isn’t even something you think a lot about in terms of interest. 

For example, I used to tutor students in Science or Math. It isn’t my career, nor is it something I spend 24×7 being interested in (for me that’s creative writing and literature) but I could totally create a blog around tutoring people in high school biology and chemistry. 

For a lot of people, it’s travelling or just tips and guides on getting around the country they live in, tech gadgets, fashion, books, sports, personal finance, etc.  

If you still can’t think of anything, THAT’S OKAY. Writing content requires research and by the time you’re done with your research, you’ll have learnt a lot of new things you didn’t know before. 

Even if you don’t know anything or struggle to organize your thoughts around a topic, you should at least find something you’d be interested in learning about as you write.  

4 – Focus on solving problems & answering questions

With so many social media platforms available, people no longer go to Google to search for most things. 

They’ll mainly go to Google to: 

• Search for a solution to a problem (health information, technical problems or troubleshooting, product research like reviews and comparisons) 
• Look for links to other sites and platforms (navigational searches) 
• Learn more about a subject (search for information, online courses, free study materials, etc) 
• Plan things (hotels, flights, destinations, event venues, etc) 
• Make local searches (restaurants, movies, bars, gyms near me) 

It’s really important that you understand their search intent. There are four types of search intent: Informational, transactional, commercial and navigational. Know which you’re targeting.  

Provide as much informational content as you can when you start blogging. There is really no value greater to Google than satisfactorily answering someone’s questions.  

5 – Select a niche with high traffic potential

Read: either trending or evergreen topics. These topics revolve around keywords with really high search volumes. 

Some niches or topics have high market demand or are trending at a particular time, like: 

• Fad diets  
• Fitness challenges 
• Fashion and beauty trends 
• Social media trends 
• Political news 
• Movies and TV shows 
• Trends in Finance (cryptocurrency, blockchain trends) 
• New tech gadgets 
• Event-specific blogs 
• Trends in AI 
• Trends in marketing 
• Trending software and SaaS 

Other niches are evergreen: 

• Health and wellness 
• Diet and fitness 
• Personal finance 
• Productivity 
• Home improvement  
• Parenting 
• Petcare 
• Relationships 
• Travel 
• Blogging 
• Specific subjects (e.g. digital marketing, web design, science and technology, IT, etc.) 
• Education and training 
• Studying abroad 
• Pharmaceutical industry 
• Healthcare  
• Legal services 
• Financial services 
• Real estate 
• Food and hospitality industry 

Research what’s trending now that you’re also interested in. You can cover these trending topics within bigger, more evergreen parent topics. 

Use Google Trends to see how different niches and sub-niches are doing now and what’s their relevancy going to be in the future.  

6 – Pick topics with low keyword difficulty

Done the first 5 steps? 

Now filter everything you’ve brainstormed by keyword difficulty.  

Keyword difficulty tells you how difficult it will be to rank for a keyword on the first page of Google’s SERP.  

If you’re just starting out or not an expert or authoritative voice in your subject matter yet, target low difficulty keywords. 

These are the only keyword research tools you’ll need to find keyword difficulty scores; pick any one: 

• Google keyword planner (free)  
• Ahrefs keyword explorer 
• Semrush keyword magic tool 
• Moz keyword explorer 

All these tools have essential metrics like Traffic Potential and Keyword Difficulty to compare your topic and keyword ideas and determine the most profitable ones. 

7 – Analyze their monetization potential

You can’t exactly find out the revenue different blog niches make unless you go check out reports from established sites in a niche.  

But you can estimate a niche’s monetization potential by looking at Ahref’s organic traffic value metric of blog pages or entire websites for different keywords.  

Here’s a list of tools and metrics that tell you the revenue potential of a particular website, page, or keyword: 

• Ahref – Organic Traffic Value  
• Semrush – Organic Traffic Cost 
• Moz – Organic CTR  
• SERPstat – SEO Value  

That’s only organic traffic. You can also brainstorm and search different products, services and affiliate programs associated with these topics to figure out their affiliate monetization and sponsorship potential.  

8 – Find and analyze competitors in your niche

Check out this post on how to find competitors in your niche and analyze the best ones to figure out the following: 

• What are they writing about? — Check out the pages and topics they have covered by adding /sitemap.xml to their website URL 
• What is the length of their blog posts? How are they structured? 
• If you know how to use keyword research tools, find out their domain authority score. You have a better chance competing with lower authority sites as a beginner. 
• Use keyword research tools to find keyword or content gaps. This refers to keywords or content covered by your competitors that you have yet to cover in your blog.  

9 – Identify and list profitable keywords

Use keyword research tools (the ones I listed in step 6) to find: 

• Organic keywords  
• Their search volumes (target high) 
• Their keyword difficulties (target low) 
• Domain authorities or ranks of competitors’ sites that are covering these keywords (target low DA sites) 

Create a spreadsheet with all the profitable keywords that you discover. Just following these few steps will give you enough content ideas to get your blog up and running! 

Further down the line, you can also look at the cost of keywords if you want to want paid traffic (this will push your blog up to the top of the search results page where you can typically see the paid ad links of other sites).  

10 – Create topical maps within your niche

Profitability also depends on how expertly and how extensively you have covered topics in your niche. 

Don’t write articles around profitable blog niches in isolation. 

Almost always when people find what they’re looking for on Google and are reading through an article, they will be drawn towards other interlinked articles which will provide them supporting information around their primary question. 

You should have at least 5 links in your article that are redirecting to other useful supporting articles. You should also have 5 links from other articles linking to the first article.  

Create content cluster maps aka topical maps with 1 main topic and several supporting topics around a main topical keyword to strengthen your authority on any topic. 

Topical authority gets you noticed by Google and gain it’s favor. Covering a few topics in your niche extensively gives Google clear signals on exactly what your blog is about.  

Don’t be Too Niche, Don’t be Too Broad

Is it better to write in a very narrow, specific niche or write in several niches with different topics? 

Neither.  

Only if you’re writing about a super lucrative niche with high monetization potential should you consider writing in a narrow, micro niche. 

You should also not write about vastly different topics in several niches within a single blog. This reduces your authority in any one niche and your blog struggles to be established as a reliable expert in any one subject.  

If you’d like to write about several things, you can choose a broader niche with diverse but relevant topics that are loosely related (for optimal interlinking).  

What if you’re still not sure? 

If you still aren’t too sure about a niche, select a subject with some pivot potential.  

This lets you research and start your blog at the same time while allowing you the flexibility to accommodate topics with high monetization potential down the line.  

Don’ts of Finding Your Niche + A Few Things to Keep in Mind

Here’s what not to do when figuring out a profitable blog niche: 

• Being too broad i.e. you can’t write about surfing and food in the same blog. You risk jeopardizing your topical authority and confusing Google.  
• Being too narrow.  

Don’t squeeze your niche into a corner. Think about future monetization potential and streams to strike a good balance.  

Being too niche is only okay for a sales-focused, lucrative niche (where you sell high-end products through affiliates, sponsors or your own shop) for which small but targeted traffic is a great thing. 

• No planning or research.  

This is a brief overview of the planning and research you’ll need to do to make your blog profitable: 

• Think about topics using topical maps and not in isolation. 
• Do basic keyword research.  
• Structure your blog and structure your content in appropriate categories. 
• Have a schedule: Think about how many articles you’ll write in a month and when. 
• Plan your promotional schedule after posting your articles.  
• Keep future monetization in mind when planning any work in the present. 

• Don’t write just for yourself. 

Blogging is a fun way to express yourself so I wouldn’t recommend not putting yourself aside when doing it. But in my view, blogging is ultimately a form of communication. You blog to be seen.  

It’s really about sharing values, experiences and information. Write what you care about but write for them.  

Faster You Start, More Profitable Your Blog

A few things to keep in mind so you don’t go crazy trying to have it all figured out right away: 

• It’s more important to start. Setting up a blog involves many little actions which are connected. If you take one action, it will naturally lead to the next. 
• Don’t worry about competition. Google values unique, human-content. Every person and their experiences and opinions are unique, so really anything you have to say will sound different from another person.  

If you start today, you’re more likely to have a successful blog next year than if you start even a month later. Go in with a loose plan and flesh it out as you establish your blog.  

That’s the only right way. 

What’s Next? 

Once you’ve found a profitable blog niche for you, prepare to launch your blog. I have compiled a full 15-step checklist of everything you need to do before creating a WordPress blog to reduce the time taken to set up your blog to just 5 minutes.

By the time you get the to the end of the checklist, you’ll be ready to set up your blog with WordPress and start posting articles right away.

I’m available to answer your questions and support you in your profitable blogging journey! Drop your comments below and I will answer ASAP. 

Follow me on Pinterest @newexpressionist, I make SEO easy for beginners with bite-sized tips on your favorite pins.

FAQs

What are the most profitable blog niches for 2024? 

Some of the most profitable blog niches for 2024 include Personal Finance, Food and Cooking, Digital Marketing and Business, Technology and AI.  

How do I choose a profitable blog niche? 

To choose a profitable niche for your blog, consider your areas of expertise and personal interests. Look for niches that have a large audience, high demand, and good monetization potential.  

Check the niche size, explore competitors, and analyze monetization potential. Look at the search queries, competition levels, and whether searchers are willing to spend money on related products and services. 

Is personal finance a profitable blog niche? 

Yes, Personal Finance is a highly profitable blog niche. It offers numerous opportunities for monetization, including affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, and ad revenue. However, it’s also a highly competitive niche. 

What subniches can I explore within personal finance blogging? 

There are several subniches within personal finance blogging that you can explore. These include Budgeting, Investing, Retirement Planning, Tax Planning, Real Estate, Credit and Debt, Insurance, and Frugality. 

How competitive is the personal finance niche for new bloggers? 

The personal finance niche is highly competitive. However, with the right strategies such as focusing on a specific subniche, providing unique and valuable content, and effectively using SEO, new bloggers can still succeed. 

Where can I find lucrative affiliate programs related to personal finance? 

You can find lucrative affiliate programs related to personal finance on affiliate networks like ShareASale, CJ Affiliate, and ClickBank.

Additionally, many financial institutions and fintech companies have their own affiliate programs. Always remember to choose programs that align with your blog’s content and audience. 

What are some oversaturated blog niches? 

Health and fitness, parenting, beauty and lifestyle, finance and money, and technology and gadgets are some of the oversaturated blog niches.