do I have a niche and is that good?

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   megs78posted 15 years ago

   Hello again to all,
   
   I was wondering if someone could give me some advice on my hubs.  I know that having a niche is supposed to be a good thing, but does it really help?  Is the fact that I write mostly about parenting and my experiences with children a niche, and are they articles that people would want to read?  I see that a lot of hubbers with How-To hubs seem to get a lot more hits, but thats not what I write about. 
   
     People have been following my writing on Facebook for 3 years now, but thats mostly friends so I'm not sure if its loyalty to my writing, or just to me as a friend.  Anyhow, I could use some critique from an objective point of view.  However, I know my hubs are missing visuals, but I can't do much about that right now because of the strength of my computer.  Please give me some tips on my writing instead.  Thanks everyone.

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      Lgaliposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      niche always help keep writing you are doing good job

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   Dame Scribeposted 15 years ago

   Hi Megs, I read your Unjust hub and thought it was great. you do have a niche its *Parenting, family, discipline, children" and very popular. I think you are off to a great start and when you can, add photos.

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   megs78posted 15 years ago

   Thank you Lgali and Dame Scribe for responding to my post.  I really appreciate any information I can get.  Thanks for taking the time:)

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   Ivorwenposted 15 years ago

   Megs78, who is your destined audience?  Are you writing to get search engine traffic, hoping to gain an audience here on hubpages, or simply to express yourself?  What is needed will very, depending on your answer.
   
   I have read a couple of your articles.  They are well written and flow nicely from one thought to the next.  Breaking them up a little, where appropriate, and using some headings, might make them a bit more readable, as well as promoting the advertising a bit better.  To break them up, use an extra text capsule or two.

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   megs78posted 15 years ago

   Hi Ivorwen
   
   Thanks for the info.  When I started writing on Facebook 3 years ago, I didn't intend to get a following.  It was more me expressing myself the way I always have.  But more and more people were asking me to write a book (as if its so simple, and as if I haven't been trying forever) so I decided that I needed to extend my reach a little.  Now I'm hoping to get a larger readership and possibly gain a little recognition.  I have had a couple articles picked up by newspapers, and thats good for me, but ultimately I want to make a living writing, so I'm going to have to go a little farther than that.
   
   How would I increase my traffic?  Will google eventually pick up my hubs?  I can't do all that social bookmarking, I've tried and find it useless.  It does get people to my site, but I'm sure no one is reading it and thats what I need.  Any other info would be really helpful. 
   
   Megs

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   Ivorwenposted 15 years ago

   EverydayMiricles wrote a hub recently, on increasing your traffic. http://hubpages.com/hub/hubtraffic
   
   I tried a few of the things she mentioned today, and was at least able to target the adds better.  I find that if the adds on the page do not correspond with the content, then search engines don't find the content very well.  If your adds are targeted, then there is a good chance that the traffic will be also. 
   
   After reading even more of your articles, I think they could benefit from some targeting/defining.  Not only know who your destined audience is, but have something that you want them to get out of reading your antidotes.  Sometimes that something can be as simple as a good laugh, but most of yours seem to have a much deeper point.  Capitalize on it. 
   
   Parenting is a very broad category, and very competitive. There are many blogs on the subject, so to really stand out, you are going to have to offer something a bit different.  It seems you have a good handle on common sense and balance in parenting.  Maybe you could capitalize on that?
   
   There are two parenting blogs I read on a regular basis.  One I genuinely enjoy.  The other is a more renown blogger, who has published a couple of books.  The first, I came across when I was researching a product, and she had written a review.  That is the only time I have found her via search engine.  The second one, I picked up one of her books from the library, and then checked out her site.  I have only come across her blog once while searching, even though she writes on many of the topics I am interested in, and that one time, the information was not relevant to what I was looking for. 
   
   Sorry to ramble on.  I am still learning too, and will continue to.

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   megs78posted 15 years ago

   Thanks again Ivorwen
   
   That was really helpful.  I visited EverydayMiracles hub and found it very informative.  Once again, thanks for the tips, I appreciate the effort you put into my critique.  Will talk soon,
   
   Megs

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