How Do I Know Which Kind of Blog to Create?

Today I’d like to take a minute and talk about different types of blogs. I feel like I’ve done it before, but it keeps coming up so I’m gonna do it again

When people think of a blog they usually think of a site like this one. It is posted to regularly, on the same topic/niche and goes on and on and on. This definitely IS one type of blog, but there are others. Let’s see if we can get clear on what they are and how they may fit into your internet marketing strategy.

Micro Niche Sites

These are the smallest of the “blogs” and I wouldnt’ really consider this a blog per se other than the fact that it can be done on wordpress.org software.

A micro niche site can be as small as one page. When I say page I mean 1 post on the site (I’m not speaking literally of the “page” term in your dashboard. For this instance a page is considered a unique url, and each post has a unique url). These sites are generally very small with at most 5 pages.

A micro niche site generally targets one specific product and one specific keyword.

Here’s an example:

Fairy costumes (this is not my site but an excellent example of a micro niche site)

Because these sites are so small and target only one keyword/product the key to making money with them is doing lots and LOTS of them ~ like hundreds (not tens).

Niche Sites:

These are a little bigger than micro niche sites generally ranging from 5 to 15 pages. I would  not really consider this type of site a blog either. It does not get updated and really the only thing that makes it a “blog” is that it’s built on wordpress.org software. These sites can target a one or a couple keywords, and products and are particularly good for adsense.

Here’s an example

Memory foam beds You can see each post targets information about 1 keyword. This site needs more links built and is not currently ranking very well ~ but still brings in some adsense money once in a while.

Again, because these are small sites targeting one keyword or product you need to do a bunch of these. It doesn’t matter how much time you spend on your keyword research there will always be some sites that just don’t get traction. You will probably end up making 80% of your money from 20% of your sites. If you only have 10 sites that’s not going to amount to much. This is a “rinse and repeat” strategy.

Niche Blogs:

These are kind of what we’re working on now. These are more like blogs because they have more posts, cover different topics and for a while have updated content. These blogs can have anywhere from 30 to 100 posts on them. How do you know how many it should have? Well it depends on how many keywords you can find, and how long you want to work on any given site.

Here’s an example of a niche site. It is about easy chicken recipes (I have YET to be able to really make much money off recipe sites ~ although there are people who say they do quite well with them ~ I’m not one of them) so all the posts relate somehow to easy chicken recipes.

Easy Chicken Recipes This site brings in about 50 to 100 pageviews a day. I make some amazon sales from it. It doesn’t have adsense because the clicks are only worth about a penny eash so it’s not really worth it. I had it on there for a while but people weren’t clicking and the clicks were worth so little it didn’t make sense to keep it.

While you have more pages, and more chances to get people to your site these niche blogs do have an endpoint, and are not meant to go on forever. This is another strategy where you will create multiple blogs and your success will depend on your ability to keep buildng and promoting these niche sites.

What if I don’t want to build a bunch of sites? Then what, is there something for me?

Authority Blogs

These are the big daddy one project per person type blogs.  An authority blog takes time, love and commitment. I am more and more moving toward the authority blog strategy. This blog is an example of an authority blog. What do you need to excel with an authority blog?

1. Commitment
2. Passion for your topic
3. Commitment
4. Patience
5. Commitment

Are you getting my groove here? While I love authority blogging it is by NO means a quick and easy way to make money. I have been writing this blog since 2007. It has only been in the last 5 months that this site has gotten more than 50 page views a day. Did I give up this blog ~ many times. Did I neglect this blog? Many times. Did I always keep coming back because it’s what I love to do? yep.

Authority blogs give you the most leeway when it comes to monetization as well. You can monetize with just about anything and it will depend on your topic what you want to use. You can use affiliate products, adsense, your own products/services, sell ads, paid sponsors. The sky is the limit.

The key though with an authority blog is to create a community. You become a resource a place people can count on for information or whatever it is they are looking for. There are amazing authority blogs in any and every niche, so PLEASE don’t think as a beginner it’s a good idea to jump into an internet marketing blog. It’s difficult to earn the trust of your readers and I would go as far as to say it’s nearly impossible if you aren’t having some success yourself. So think about what it is you love in life and start a blog about that!!

Here’s some examples of fantastic authority blogs, directly from my feed reader.

No time for flash cards a resource of activities for young children that promote play, discovery and learning

Digital Photography School ~ you may be more familiar with Dan Rowse from ProBlogger but he also runs an amazing digital photography blog. Keep in mind Darren has a lot of people to help run his stuff now ~ I would not recommend trying to do two authority blogs at once.

Primal living (health and food) This blog is a great resource for those who are eating a paleo/primal diet. Tons of great information on this topic. (notice how he doesn’t take on ALL of health and nutrition ~ but one topic within this niche)

Zen Habits ~ Simple Productivity This is a great inspirational blog to read. I really enjoy it.

Nourishing Gourmet ~ another fantastic food blog that I regularly read.

As you can see you can create an authority blog about just about any topic! So please, if you’re thinking about doing this, stop thinking about doing it about internet marketing.

How do I choose? How do I know?

Here’s where it gets a bit tricky and confusing. Any blog/topic/niche could probably work in any one of these type of sites. This is especially true when you get to the last 3. How do you know if what you’re going to do should be a niche site, a niche blog or an authority blog?

I run into this question all the time in my own work. I start a micro niche site but then there’s so many keywords I’d like to target that it turns into a niche site. Then I start thinking well, hell if I’ve gone this far already I oughta just make it a niche blog, then I’m like, well I could just keep working on this over time and it could become an authority site.

It can completely work in the opposite direction as well. You create this kick ass list of keywords you plan to target for the next project. You’ve got plans for a niche blog and a list of 60 keywords to prove it. You get 5 posts in and are just not feeling it anymore. That’s ok.

While you may go into a project with one idea in mind it’s best to be flexible and keep your options open. You may find while you love a topic right this moment (or think you do) when it comes to writing about it and being involved in it every day you really don’t.

This happened to me with one of my sites a few years back. I was way into healthy natural pregnancy and started The Natural Pregnancy Project. I had huge plans to make it a global community for women to connect, learn and provide support for one another when it came to issues of pregnancy and childbirth. Well, a few months into the project I realized I just couldn’t sustain the focus it was going to take. So it is still there, and it still gets traffic and I still get questions from women, but I’m not actively working on it. (and I feel bad because it’s a much needed site and I just can’t do it)

There is going to be a natural evolution, not only within yourself, but within your business as you build sites, and get a feel for how it all works. You will learn what you do like and what you don’t like. You’ll find yourself actually taking action on the things you like to do. Feel free to rethink your strategy to incorporate more and more of the things you do like.

Please do not think the things you start doing today are the only things you can do. This is a beginning, and it is going to change as you learn and grow. If you want proof of this all you have to do is go deep into the archives (which aren’t very easy to find because they’re so bad) of this site! You will see I knew nothing back then and it shows. But I kept taking action, I got off track, I reevaluated and realigned my path and just kept taking action.

Don’t get stuck in the idea I’m doing this niche blog ~ it can’t be anything else, because it sure can turn into a niche site or even a micro niche site ~ hell it could turn into a kick ass authority site if that’s what you want it to be. This is your business, your life and your choices. It can be anything you want it to be.

Ok ~ I’m 1766 words into this post and I think it’s time to quit. I am really passionate about this subject (can you tell?) so if you have questions or something isn’t clear just ask in the comments and we’ll flush it out together

Keep taking action!