What is a Successful Blog Topic?

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  1. MercCipher profile image61
    MercCipherposted 9 years ago

    Hello,

    I have a question regarding blog topics. First off, my personal interests include video games and business since I am a business major in college. I know when it comes to blogging and writing articles here on Hubpages, you have to write about things you are passionate about. Well, I am experiencing a common blogging problem, "What do I want to blog about that is needed?"

    Well, I've only written 2 hubs on here regarding video games. I want to keep writing here because I enjoy it but I can't seem to maintain my interest in writing about video games. The reason is because I don't think video game articles on here are very successful due to video games being an over saturated theme. Plus, I write about video games that I play. I play the PS4, XBox 360 my iPad, and sometimes my Nintendo 3DS. When people search video games, they look for tips and there are already many sites such as IGN, GameSpot and GameFront. As for business, I am a business major In college and I enjoy business especially the marketing side of business. However, I don't think that I could stick to writing about business for 2 reasons: 1) I don't know exactly what to write about relating to business 2) there are more experienced business articles out there that people would rather read. That being said, I can't figure out what to write about.

    In my time of writing, I've only written one blog that lasted for at least a month. It was a personal blog about my trip to Vietnam with my girlfriend's family as I learned about their culture. I enjoyed writing it but the blog itself got little to no views. I like to be unique when I write. I don't want to write about something that has been overdone. I know that you have to write for a long time to get readership but, as I said before, I like to be unique.

    I know that there are experienced writing veterans here on Hubpages and i am asking for your opinions. What do I need to do. I've already read every article on writing blogs. My issue is picking a theme and sticking to it. Hubpages is my outlet for beginning my blog and gaining readership. I enjoy Hubpages and the community here. I want to blog for the fun of it, not the money. I enjoy writing and that's why I want to blog. So, what are your suggestions. I would like to thank those of you for taking the time to answer this for me.

    1. csmiravite-blogs profile image73
      csmiravite-blogsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      There are many articles  written about this topic --- on what to write about. I must have read tons of materials about this subject matter in the last several months. But what I think, is that, you should write about the topics that interests you.It would be better if you are an expert in the field that you write about. Like me, I am a CPA, so I write more about the finance and accountancy niche. The peripheral subject areas would cover world and/or asian economies and political essays in my home country, the Philippines. Most of these articles are not appreciated by my friends or even by this site....heheh! But believe me, I get the click rates for it. Not that high, but good enough!

      Be confident, have passion with what you do, and then just do it. Damn the torpedoes!  big_smile

      Good luck!

    2. tsmog profile image85
      tsmogposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Like marketing, writing on the internet is a tiered structure. Think like an entrepreneur and not a business man I would suggest. However, one must consider my advice will be based upon the success of my portfolio here at HP and not my experience and success with business and marketing. Those are quite definitively different. Yet, structure is structure.

      When a person reads an article they are interacting with the article. A negotiated order occurs. They are the purchaser of information. The tendered currency, the value being exchanged, is time. The worth sought for that exchange is knowledge. The knowledge offered must have features and those features must have benefits. If those do not exist for the consumer of knowledge the reader(ship) is lost.

      Being a gamer you understand gaming as a system of task and reward. Accomplish the task and there is a reward that is noticeable and that is called recognition - coins, stars, or whatever. Experience combined with knowledge accords how easily the task is achieved as an accomplishment. Then come alliances. Toss in good ethics and a path begins to be seen. But, that is just sweeping the floor, stocking the shelves, and greeting the consumer. 

      There is always a beginning and there is a market for beginners. The question becomes where is that market for beginners and where that marketplace is. With gaming most beginner level marketing occurs with word of mouth exchanges. What friend or happenstance meeting offers knowledge at a no cost exchange other than interest - commenting, forums, and etc and the currency - time.

      If not at the beginning and somewhere between, then what is that market and where is the marketplace. Like with gaming if beginner articles are being written it is where the beginners 'are' that the marketplace is. Ditto for the intermediary player and the expert level player. Those are different marketplaces. And, the competition differs too. Plus things like language come into play along with argots and those of the consumer. For instance a gamer does not market gaming with poetry to gamers. A Poet does market gaming to gamers who enjoy poetry and gaming. Ponder how big each marketplace is and market structure.

      Remember no matter the choice of expertise, the author and the articles are the product and not the marketer or the entrepreneur. Yet, it is the entrepreneur who takes the product to the marketplace and employs the marketeer and those marketing skills. Those skills of marketing as expertise and experience are either employed, partnered, or hired. Remember every article you read for knowledge, well, you hired the author of the article with 'your time' spent to read the article and ditto with the article that you authored.

      There are bonuses too! Those are from affiliate marketing . . . remember the key word is 'affiliate' not marketing. And, too, impulse purchases, or the potato chips at the check out stand with Amazon, Ebay, and etc. in regard to affiliate partnerships.

      An entrepreneur does things differently than a marketer. Firstly an entrepreneur is not necessarily loyal other than their own agenda and those of their alliances. (Consider the entrepreneur with position in organizational structure and not of person with character and personality traits and etc,) They also look at 'how much' are they willing to lose to get from A → B. They are not as concerned of what will be gained as much as the cost and that relationship to what is afforded. No matter the gain, if it is too costly to get from A → B, well an entrepreneur simply does  not do it.

      However, entrepreneur's keep many irons on the fire and wait while always, always looking = researching new innovations with or without novelty. The question is at what point is 'how many'  . . . too many. Then inventory management comes along offering the role of the manager.

      An order to consider is . . . What is the product with features and benefits →
      Who is the consumer (the readership) → Where is the consumer → Does the product meet the NEEDS of that consumer → Are there enough consumers → Now Stop . . . What are those costs? Remember time is a cost . . . 

      Question? Was it worth the time to read this? If yes, then the next step must occur toward a chosen path. If, no, ooopps! I guess I will have to rethink those above for 'my' entrepreneur effort smile

      1. profile image0
        Revanth E Rposted 9 years agoin reply to this

        Thanks for taking the time to explain all this. It cleared a lot of doubts I had

    3. Marisa Wright profile image87
      Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      OK let's make a distinction here.   

      A blog is a your own stand-alone website where you post regular articles (it may be on a shared platform like Blogger, but your blog is your blog and doesn't display articles by anyone else, or link to blogs by anyone else, unless you choose to).     These days, if you want to have a successful blog, it's vital to choose one subject area and stick to it.  Otherwise, you're wasting your time.

      HubPages is not a blogging platform, it's one big site where hundreds of writers post articles.  Yes, we all have our own account, but take a look at the navigation on our Hubs - it's designed to encourage people to browse by topic, not by author.  Most visitors won't even notice your name or look at your profile.  So on HubPages, sticking to one topic isn't important.

      In fact that's the beauty of HubPages, really - it's a place to write all those articles that won't fit on my single-subject blog, and still get readers.

      1. MercCipher profile image61
        MercCipherposted 9 years agoin reply to this

        Exactly. I understand that but thanks for clearing that up. I understand that with Hubpages you don't have to stick to one topic. However, my question isabout a blog on such a platform like Blogger as you previously mentioned. How would you manage something like that? Personal? Informative? entertainment?

        1. Marisa Wright profile image87
          Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          The first thing, which I'm sure you know, is that no one is interested in you.  So personal as in telling your own story  won't work, unless you have an incredibly interesting life!   However, I think a personal approach is essential if you want a successful blog.  Whatever topic you pick, there are already several blogs about it - so you have to be different, and what makes the difference is your personality. 

          For instance, when I'm looking for information on (say) holidays in Vietnam, I can find plenty of sites about it, but what I really want are actual user experiences, not the advertising copy written by travel agents.  Establish yourself as an authority on your subject, write entertainingly about it and you can build a readership. 

          However, bear in mind that writing online is 10% writing and 90% other stuff.  You'll need to create a profile on Google+, have a fan page for your blog on Facebook (and write posts there as regularly as you write on your blog), join forums on your topic and be visible and helpful (so people get to know you as an authority on your topic, and will follow you to your blog), etc.

  2. psycheskinner profile image83
    psycheskinnerposted 9 years ago

    It is that tricky business of finding something you are interested in enough to write 100s of posts, that has an audience, and that has limited competition or where you have a new angle or approach.

    Often that means breaking down to a smaller topic or the intersection between two topics.

    1. MercCipher profile image61
      MercCipherposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      That's just it. I don't know how to do that. Video games have been broken down completely, from consoles to a single game. Business is tricky to write about and had also been broken down. Plus, considering that I am talking about a blog and not Hubpages, it would be hard to write enough posts throughout the year to keep people entertained. On top of that, there are people out there with masters in business and I'm a year away from having my bachelor's degree. I wrote a blog about my trip to Vietnam (specific and I don't see 100 others like it). I enjoyed it but it got very little attention. I can't figure out how to break them down or finding something unique that people need.

      1. Suzanne Day profile image94
        Suzanne Dayposted 9 years agoin reply to this

        Just do what I do, write about all different things you find interesting and that you think others might find interesting. Eventually some of them will pay off and you will be able to see the topics that do better. I cannot write on one subject either!

        1. MercCipher profile image61
          MercCipherposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          Thanks Suzanne for the advice. I want to write a blog and keep it organized. People won't read a blog that doesn't have a theme but instead is just a random jumble of topics.

  3. paradigmsearch profile image60
    paradigmsearchposted 9 years ago

    It just so happens I addressed this very question and more a couple weeks ago on my blog. It is the third entry down at the moment.

    Can't post the URL, but there is a breadcrumb trail from here to there for those worthy enough to find it. big_smile

    1. MercCipher profile image61
      MercCipherposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I checked out your bog and found it very informative. My problem is deciding what I should write about that isn't too saturated or too useless. Video games? Business? All over done and more qualified people publishing such blogs. Personal? Not something people would take the time to read.

  4. Marie Flint profile image73
    Marie Flintposted 9 years ago

    Welcome, MercCipher, to Hub Pages. I have been here two years. Yes, you have to write what you are passionate about. I, for one, am not a successful writer here,  if you measure success by how much money is being earned. (I'm only half-way to the payout mark.)

    The truth of the matter is no one can predict how well your hubs will do, but they do take a little time to draw traffic because you have to establish yourself at this location. Some of the topics about which I have heard hubbers boasting have included articles for making money, troubled teens, beauty and self-care tips, travel logs, food, and trendy topics gathered from Google search. Some have said that long articles up to 3,000 words have worked well for them.

    Social networking and announcing your hubs on site such as Facebook, Linkedin, Pinterest, Google+, and Twitter do aid in drawing traffic, but, apparenty, most of HP readers come from HP itself or through a Google search with key words.

    I can relate to your "not sticking to one subject," as I am notorious for writing about all kinds of things, and many hubbers here do work that way. Some are successful, other variety writers not so much so.

    The key is to write, proof your hub (preferably before publishing!), and try to maximize on the capsules that HP has provided.

    You probably won't see results overnight, but, in time, your effort will begin to reward you. If you love to write informative pieces, then HP is a good place to be. Don't underestimate yourself. Just because there are a lot of other articles on your subject, it doesn't mean yours won't attract readers with a good title, research (if necessary), images, a video (doesn't have to be your own), and other capsule goodies.

    So, dig in and keep writing--above all, have fun!

    Wishing you every success,
    Marie

  5. LeanMan profile image80
    LeanManposted 9 years ago

    Both of the areas that you mention are fairly competitive although both receive lots of searches each month.

    The important thing when selecting a subject to write about is to find something that people will search about. If no one searches for it then you will get no visitors and thus no money (Assuming that you want to make money and I am assuming that you do.)

    The trouble is with finding a topic that has plenty of visitors is that most of the time you will have to compete against many other "bloggers" and even big businesses that are targeting those topics for the available traffic. So typically you will have to find a specific niche to target rather than the main subject.

    Learn about selecting keywords - these need to be in your title and your article and tell google what you are writing about. If people search for those keywords you get traffic - if you can get to the first page on a google search. So do the search on google and see what is currently on the first page; if it is full of dedicated and established sites, .edu and .gov sites you will not be getting past them using hubpages as the competition will be just too great.

    Finding a subject with lots of visitors and low competition from others is very hard work....

  6. MercCipher profile image61
    MercCipherposted 9 years ago

    Well let me ask this: "What would you consider a blog?" Informative, personal or entertainment? What would more people be likely to read?

  7. profile image0
    China Abarquezposted 9 years ago

    If I'm the reader, I want to read articles that are trending worldwide e.g. news about Thailand declaring martial law. smile

    1. Marie Flint profile image73
      Marie Flintposted 9 years ago

      In re-reading your comments and better understanding your question, I first want you to know that I have never blogged. From the choices you have listed, I vote for 1) informative 2) entertainment, and 3) personal, in that order. The choice between 1 and 2 will depend on your own personality. Do you enjoy telling a good story or good joke? Then go for the entertainment slant. Do you enjoy doing research and re-checking facts? Then go for the informative slant. If you can't think of anything to write about in 1 or 2, then go for the personal slant. Stick to your choice and may you have every success!

    2. Charely profile image61
      Charelyposted 9 years ago

      Just do what I do .Be youself !!

     
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