Selecting a Niche or Topic for your Website or Blog

If you are writing for websites like Squidoo or Hubpages you don't really need to worry about your niche since the focus is on writing pages and linking them as series. Although it would probably be best to write one series at a time so the topic will be fresh instead of skipping around different topics. However when starting a new website or blog there are a few questions that you should ask yourself before registering a new domain name or setting up the structure of your website.
If you have no idea where to start, make a quick list of things you are interested in reading about, your favorite activities, and things you enjoy talking about in conversations with friends, colleagues, and family. Then ask yourself the following questions.

• Can you consistently write about that topic every day for a month or every other day for a year without repeating an article or post topic?
• Is this a topic I enjoy?  Can I share my passion for the topic with my readers?
• Can this topic be monetized?  Are there products or services related to this topic that I can link to?
• Can I add to this topic something unique?
• Do I have experience in this area that I can share?

Can you consistently write about that topic (niche) every day for a month or every other day for a year without repeating an article or post topic?

If you can't come up with a list of things to write about for the topic, then perhaps the niche is too focused for you or it is something that you are not very interested in. Try brainstorming or mind mapping the topic. You could find that your list of writing ideas is huge. Perhaps you could focus your niche even more. Your traffic would be even more focused, but you also might find yourself needing another site because you want to write about related areas. Remember each domain costs money to register and renew and each site requires some setup and maintenance. 

Is this a topic (niche) I enjoy?  Can I share my passion for the topic with my readers?

Perhaps you just love making money online so you don't care if you are writing about topics that you haven't heard of. For most of us though we love being able to share our knowledge, experience and hopefully passion for the topic.

If you only have one pair of shoes then you are probably not very passionate about them and most likely don't have much to say about shoes. Can you fake passion? Pretend that you love the shoes you are writing about? I'd guess that most site visitors won't be very motivated. 

Can this topic be monetized?  Are there products or services related to this topic (niche) that I can link to?

Some topics will be harder to monetize than others. Certain keywords will work for higher paying ads like for financial and banking services whereas other topics might only earn a few cents at most. 

Perhaps a topic won't work well for contextual advertising but there are many products you could feature that are related for affiliate sales.

Can I add something unique to this topic (niche)?

This is probably the most difficult question to ask and answer. To be honest for every somewhat profitable topic you'll probably find dozens of great sites, hundreds of ok sites, and thousands of affiliate only websites. What can you add to the conversation? What will separate you from the crowd and bring you to the front page at Google or get people to sign up for your newsletter or subscribe to your RSS feed?  

What unique perspective or information can you contribute?

Do I have experience in this area that I can share?

If you have experience in the topic you'll save quite a lot of time researching for a new article. If you have enough experience, you might be able to write from memory or tell stories! We always love a good story. It will help the visitor get to know you and see your personality. Perhaps the visitor will be able to relate to your idea and will trust you even more.