Top 10 Most Populated Blogging Niches
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John Chow often says : “Don’t put all your eggs in the same basket”, or something meaning the same thing. I am not sure. Anyways. This means that you need to have different sources of online revenue, in order to decrease the risk of failure and increase the paths from where money comes, and consequently increase the overall income you earn from your online activites.
This said, whether you are a new blogger looking to launch your first ever blog, or an existing blogger looking to diversify blogs and getting bigger, the first question you need to answer is : “What niche should I go for?” I myself asked myself (again?) this question, since I am considering launching a new blog soon. I am still at the stage of finding an answer to that question. What niche? Quelle niche? (Oh this is French, sorry) Certainly not in MMO, which is getting busier and busier, but I needed some raw figures and information to see clearer. I don’t mean to go through a tough Market Analysis, but at least have a hint. I somewhat needed to get a complete (or as close as it can get) list of possible blog niches, and one name bumped into my mind : EntreCard.
EntreCard gives a list of 52 niches and gives you the number of blogs subscribed to EC under each niche. EC is for sure still quite new, but is becoming a key service for blogger and gathers a significant number of blogs, so I thought it could be a great resource to establish a rank of the most populated niches. After 15 minutes of work (quick huh?), here’s the result (as of August 7th, 2008) :
Summary : 23150 Blogs split among 52 niches
Top 10 Most Populated Blogging Niches :
1. Personal Diary (1908 = 8.24%)
2. Computers and Internet (1348 = 5.82%)
3. Make Money Online (1304 = 5.63%)
4. Blogging resources (1139 = 4.92%)
5. Art (1093 = 4.72%)
6. Entertainment (1086 = 4.69%)
7. Mixed Bag (972 = 4.19%)
8. Technology (935 = 4.03%)
9. Business (788 = 3.40%)
10. Parenting and Family (771 = 3.33%)
11 To 52 : The Others
11. Internet Marketing (719)
12. Health and Medicine (704)
13. Lifestyle (638)
14. Finance and Investing (555)
15. Travel (552)
16. Humor (514)
17. Gaming (495)
18. Music (428)
19. Hobbies (395)
20. Web Development (393)
21. Fashion (390)
22. Sports (387)
23. Education (380)
24. Writing and Literature (379)
25. Self Improvement (378)
26. News and Media (340)
27. Cooking and Dining (332)
28. Photography (313)
29. Women’s interests (310)
30. Religion and Spirituality (292)
31. Celebrity (274)
32. Marketing (225)
33. Pets (216)
34. Politics (214)
35. Home and Garden (205)
36. Automotive (193)
37. Books (171)
38. Career Jobs (157)
39. Environment (153)
40. Graphic Design (139)
41. Romance (127)
42. Real Estate (124)
43. Movies (109)
44. Philosophy (89)
45. Men’s interests (85)
46. Trends (82)
47. EntreKids (81)
48. Web Comics (68)
49. Science (76)
50. History (53)
51. Law and Legal (41)
52. Expat (30)
What I can see from this ranking is that the Top 10 niches cover almost half the market with a cumulated percentage of 48.97%. It also confirms that MMO (3rd in this ranking) is a niche that is becoming more and more crowded and where it would probably take a lot more time to realize the same profit as in another niche. It is not a surprise that the Personal Diary niche has a frank lead and ranks absolute first, proving that whatever happens, (we)blogs maintain their primary role as online personal logs, where people just share personal thoughts about their life and other random stuff. Computers and Internet logically come 2nd with the increased need of technological information and the quick developments that happen in the IT sector.
Conclusion :
So what I will probably do is avoid the Top 10 guys, maybe even the Top 20 (30?). There are niches out there that are virtually virgin : History, Science, Trends, Careers, Books and what have you. It may be a good choice to go for one of the 31 to 52 niches based on your skills and preferences. After all, it’s a matter of what you are interested in and what your readers are interested in. There is no point of going for a niche just because it’s less populated. But I think it’s important to take that into consideration when making a decision.
I would love to hear your opinions about this. How do you analyze the ranking? What learnings can you get out of it?
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August 10th, 2008 at 8:53 am
Those top ten niches are the top because they are the ones who makes the money the most.
August 12th, 2008 at 6:57 am
Not necessarily. I think most of the blogs in the “Personal Diary” category for example, are just to share thoughts and life experiences.
August 15th, 2008 at 11:14 am
I agree those “Personal” blogs earns the most. Some of them (like me) maintain more than 3 personal blogs for ‘p@id blogging’ purposes
August 15th, 2008 at 11:23 am
I definetely agree, bm. Some of the “Personal” blogs are to make money. It’s all the debate about leaving the MMO niche or staying there to make more money.
August 16th, 2008 at 3:17 am
simply choose the niche you can be most passionate at..
August 19th, 2008 at 12:10 am
ChiQ Montes - I’ll have to agree. This is one of the most important criteria when choosing a niche. If you are not passionate, you will fail even if you are alone in the niche. However, assessing competition is also a must when you aim to make money. It can also be a key criterion when you hesitate between 2 or more niches you are passionate about.