General Blog Versus
Niche Blog

Trying to blog for everyone and their dog? Or just the Poodle owners? Are you the jack-of-all-topics, or the master of one? Is your blog a Swiss Army knife...or a laser-focused tool? Here’s the lowdown on general vs. niche blogs.

Covering a broader range of topics attracts a wider audience by appealing to diverse interests, increasing visibility, and drawing readers who are curious about various subjects.

But does casting a wide net always mean catching the most loyal audience, or does focusing on one area bring deeper connections?

A focused niche blog creates a dedicated audience by catering to specific interests, building trust, and establishing expertise that attracts passionate, repeat readers.

But which approach truly works best for your blog goals?

Let’s dive deeper to find out.

Generalise Or Specialise (Niche)?

Will your blog be a "general blog" or it will cover a specific issue, i.e a "niche blog"? Now that you have considered and hopefully decided to operate a blog by yourself or with the assistance of a few others, it is time to examine this key question: will your blog be a "niche blog" or will it cover a specific topic?

This is the age-old dilemma of deciding whether to be a generalist or a specialist, which a great number of bloggers will have to confront at some point in their careers.

The answer to this question is significant because the answer you choose will not only determine the kind of content that will normally feature on your blog, but it will also have an impact on other essential parts of running a blog, such as promotion and monetisation.

Interests And Personality

Your interests and personality will play a significant role in determining the decision that you make. In the event that cycling is your primary passion, you can choose to blog about a niche, which is a subject that is somewhat limited in its breadth, and focus on that particular issue.

You might discover that a broad blog provides you with more space to express your opinions if you have a thousand different interests related to staying active, just like I do.

Expectations Of Blog Readers

It is important to keep in mind that the expectations that your visitors have are what differentiates general blogs from specialist blogs. Are they there because of their specific interest, or are they looking for information that is more general in nature?

The expectations of your readers should not be betrayed.

If you are the type of person who feels the urge to express your opinions on a wide variety of topics, then posting a general blog is the more secure option for you to consider. It is still possible for you to post about your topic, but you will no longer be limited to discussing that niche.

It may be easy to assume that a wider range of topics inevitably equates to, or even indicates, a larger readership that is simpler to recruit. However, this is not necessarily the case.

Wide Interest vs Narrow Interest

If you want to be successful with your blog, it is far more difficult to do it with a wide blog than it is with a speciality blog. Let's take a look at where this seemingly paradoxical idea comes from.

Take for example the scenario in which Alice, a dedicated Rust programmer, comes across a link to an intriguing essay that is published on a blog known as Rusty Adventures. Given that she enjoys the content that she reads, it is possible that she will be quite tempted to subscribe to that blog.

Imagine for a moment that the same essay was written about John's outlook on programming. In addition to the fact that Alice is not familiar with John, she does not have any reason to believe that he is an authority on the topic of Rust. I don't understand why she would sign up for John's personal blog. Certainly, the paper was of high quality; but, John appears to bring up Python and Swift, both of which Alice is not very interested in.

When all is said and done, Alice is significantly more likely to subscribe to the specialised blog and to continue following it.

Weighing In - General Blog Vs Benefits Of Niche Blogs

As a general rule, niche blogs make it more evident to visitors why they should subscribe to the blog; nevertheless, there are other reasons why it is simpler to achieve success with a specialised site.

To begin, there is a lower level of competitiveness. When your blog's name, domain name, and the majority of its content already contain prominent keywords that you are targeting, it is much simpler to perform search engine optimisation (SEO) (we will discuss SEO in further detail throughout the book). T

here is a higher probability that blog aggregators and other bloggers will link to your site if you cover their particular niche. Additionally, the likelihood of creating relationships with these bloggers is also higher.

You become a member of a community when you blog about a specific topic, and if you play your cards well, you may become rather renowned within that community that you blog about. When you choose to take this path, it is not only simpler to promote your blog and really achieve success, but a niche blog can also make the process of reaping the advantages of your blogging efforts much simpler.

When it comes to establishing yourself as an authority on a specific subject, I can think of very few techniques that are more effective than starting and maintaining an excellent and informative niche blog on that subject.

If you choose to directly monetise your blog, it is beneficial to have such a targeted readership because it is like having wealth in your possession.

Conclusion

For all of these reasons, I strongly suggest that you begin a blog that is specific to a niche rather than one that is general and covers an entire industry.

This is unless you truly feel compelled to write about a wide range of topics that cannot be contained within a speciality that is clearly defined.

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