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Make Sure You’re Passionate About Your Topic
One of the keys to a successful blog is in frequent posts and updates. The frequency of these posts can range from once a week to several times a day. That’s a lot of writing about a single topic, especially if you want your blog to last for more than a few months. Think about all the topics you might blog about, and narrow it down to those topics you can truly see yourself writing about for months on end. If you know that you’ll get bored three months in, you might want to select another topic.
Choose a Topic You Enjoy Discussing
Think about the topics you discuss often with your friends and family. Do you find yourself often turning the conversation to politics? Then maybe a political blog might be for you. Can you discuss pets for hours on end? Consider starting a pet blog. Whatever you pick, make sure it’s something you actually enjoy talking about.
At the same time, you’ll want to ensure that you don’t mind if people disagree with you about your chosen topic. A blog is out there for everyone to read, and it’s impossible to please everyone all of the time. As your blog grows and expands, more and more people will read what you write. And some of them will disagree with you. If you can appreciate a healthy debate on your chosen topic, it might be the blog topic for you.
Is There Enough Content on the Topic to Sustain a Blog?
If you’re going to start a successful blog, you’re going to have to continue to produce fresh and unique content for a sustained period of time. If you run out of things to say, your blog will end up floating in the furthest corner of cyberspace where no one will ever see it.
When considering whether there is enough content to support your blog, evaluate your resources. Think about yourself as an author and decide if you can put up fresh content on a consistent basis for more than just a few weeks. Are there enough books, websites, and other resources to provide you with inspiration when you run out of ideas? If you’re passionate about your topic, you probably already have websites bookmarked or books on your shelf that relate to your blog. But it wouldn’t hurt to do a quick Google or Bing search to discover exactly what kind of resources there are in cyberspace.
This serves two purposes. First, it allows you to locate additional references. Second, you’ll get the opportunity to see what other people are writing about. And while you should not copy another writer’s ideas, searching for inspiration is something every writer does.
Don’t Have Too Narrow a Focus
While all blogs should have a clear focus, if your focus is too narrow you’ll find you quickly run out of things to say. For example, a blog on the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show will be fairly limited. It only happens once a year, and there’s only so much to talk about. If, on the other hand, you blog about dog shows in general, or about breed conformation, you will be able to blog all year long and still cover the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show every year. In this way, you’ll have a focused blog that will rarely, if ever, run out of fresh topics.
Is the Topic Popular?
Despite how much you may love your topic, the success of a blog is determined by the people willing to read your blog. If you’re the only person in the world who is interested in your topic (unlikely, but remotely possible), you might have a difficult time attracting followers. If you want to create a blog that is frequently read, you’ll need to select your topic carefully.
That being said, you don’t need to appeal to everyone. Your blog only has to be about a topic that some people are interested it. Search out a topic that has active readers, people who will want to revisit your blog frequently to read your latest posts. You may have to tweak your chosen topic a little before you come up with something that your readers will enjoy.
Blogs are a fun and creative way to spend your time. However, choosing a topic that suits both your own needs and the desires of your audience can take some time and consideration. Choose your topic carefully and you’ll find you can blog for many years without losing focus.
