Single Topic vs. Multi-Topic Blog: Which is Better and Why?

This post is part of our question & answer series.
Here are a couple common questions asked by many beginning bloggers:

• Should I blog on one topic or should I blog on multiple topics?
• Should I create one blog for multiple topics or different blogs for each topic?

In blogging, we often refer to a blog’s topic as its “niche”.

Here are some examples:

• Blog: MOZ
  • Niche: Search engine optimization
• Blog: Dailyblogtips
  • Niche: Blogging
• Blog: Labnol
  • Niche: Technology
• Blog: ShoutMeLoud
  • Niche: Internet marketing, blogging, and entrepreneurship

Yes, there is some overlap between certain niches, but what’s important is that you stay consistent. Don’t talk about finance one day, and then talk about pet care the next.
The most important questions you should ask yourself before starting a blog is:

• What will be the topic of my blog? (i.e. What will I be writing about?)

Often when I talk to a new blogger about their niche, I hear something like this:
“I have an interest in lifestyle, fashion, photography, travel, and health –  and I want to write about all of these topics on my blog. I think that’s going to be the USP (unique selling point) for my blog, as I will be covering all of these topics in one place, and this will attract more readers.”
Prior to answering this in detail, let me make this clear:

• This is the wrong approach when you are planning to monetize (make money from) your blog.

If you are planning to create a personal blog in which you write about many different topics, then this is fine, as money is not the primary reason you are blogging. If you’re blogging because you love to write and want to write about multiple topics, and any consideration of earning money from the blog is secondary to that, then by all means, write about anything and everything you wish.
However, if you are creating a blog from which you wish to earn an income, a multi-topic/multi-niche blog is a bad idea.
Let me explain…

Why a multi-topic blog is bad for readership, SEO, and making money:

We’ve established that if you’re blogging for fun and not for money, you can write about anything. This is because you do not need to be concerned about traffic when working on a personal blog.
However, in a strict business sense:

• Traffic = Money

If you are blogging because you want to make money, you have to take a proper business approach.
Note: Making money from blogging is not as easy as it looks, but it’s also not that hard. If you do it properly, you can make good money, or at least enough to cover your cost of living. I earn my entire living from blogging.
When trying to monetize, there are several downsides to a multi-niche blog:

1. It will be difficult to define and create a readership for your blog.

Ask yourself a few questions:

• What compels you to subscribe to a blog?
• If you have an interest in a topic like “relationships”, what kind of blog will you subscribe to and ready daily – a blog which is dedicated to relationships, or a blog in which the author posts about relationships, blogging, the forex exchange, and smartphones?
• If you subscribe to a blog which has “blogging” as its topic, and suddenly you start seeing posts about dog care, will you remain subscribed to that blog, or will you unsubscribe?

Surely after answering these questions you can see why multi-niche blogs will not hold a reader’s interest for very long.
When searching for a blog on any given topic, we have thousands (sometimes millions) of options.
As a blog reader myself, I like to subscribe to blogs dedicated to topics that are specifically interesting to me. I don’t want to be bombarded with information about a wide variety of topics when I set out to read about a particular topic. I prefer to keep my focus on those topics which I enjoy reading and learning about.
If I subscribe to a blog related to SEO, and later I start finding posts about the author’s dogs, or their new house – subjects with no connection to the main topic of the blog – I will click the unsubscribe option straight away, and some other blog related to SEO will get a new subscriber.

2. The SEO of your multi-niche blog will be tough.

Search engine optimization, particularly for a blog that is created and maintained as a source of income, is very important. To maintain good SEO, your blog should have a single focus.
Here’s why:
Let’s say you operate a search engine like Google, and you have to rank a blog for a topic like “how to take the best photo in daylight”.  You have a choice between the following blogs:

• A blog which is dedicated to photography tips.
• A blog which contains posts about religion, photography, and dog care.

You would probably select the first blog, as it is likely to offer more quality content (because it is a blog dedicated specifically to the topic of photography), and there’s a higher chance that it will offer a better user experience.
The face of search engine optimization is changing, and search engines like Google are ranking blogs based on brand and authority. A single-topic blog has a better chance of creating a position of authority on a topic compared to a blog containing posts on multiple and varied topics.
As a matter of fact, I recently created a blog on a niche-specific topic, and with 12 blog posts and almost negligible SEO, that blog is getting 7,000 pag- views per day.
Takeaway: A niche blog always performs better.

3. Making money from your multi-niche blog will be tough.

Now let’s consider the final and most important question:

• Which will make more money for you — a single-niche or a multi-niche blog?

Remember this important point:

• Income from your blog is directly proportional to the quality of targeted traffic your blog is getting.

You may have previously assumed that with multiple topics, a blogger can drive more traffic. But you now know that is not the case.
But even if that is the case, targeted traffic matters more.
Here’s an example…
Let’s assume you are a company that has developed a camera, and you have a limited advertising budget. You are creating an advertising plan and you have two blogs you’re considering placing advertising on:

• Blog #1: This blog gets 10,000 page views per month, and all of the traffic coming to the blog is for topics related to photography and cameras.
• Blog #2: This blog gets 50,000 page views per month, and the traffic coming is for various topics including photography, dog care, baby care, blogging tips, fitness, makeup, and many other things.

Which of these two blogs would be ideal for the advertisement of your product- a camera? Probably #1, as you will be getting a better ROI (return on investment) for your advertising budget. Why? Because you will be getting targeted traffic from blog#1, whereas blog#2 will be sending traffic which might not be relevant to my product.

• Read: Why Nicheless Blogs Can’t Compete with Niche-Based Blogs

Now that you understand what kind of blog you need in order to drive more traffic and thus create more income, let me quickly address how to choose a topic.

How to find a topic for your blog

If you wish to write posts on multiple topics, you can take one of two approaches:
1. Create different blogs on different domains:

• ShoutMeLoud – (Blogging and internet marketing)
• ShoutMeTech – (Technology)
• WPSutra – (WordPress)
• WPHostingDiscount – (Hosting)
• CoinSutra – (Bitcoin)

2. Create different blogs with a sub-domain of the original blog:

• Tech.ShoutMeLoud.com
• Hosting.ShoutMeLoud.com
• Bitcoin.ShoutMeLoud.com

Although, I wouldn’t recommend starting a new blog on a sub-domain. It’s better to start a separate blog.
Tip: If you are just starting out, don’t start multiple blogs. First, create a blog on a particular topic/niche, and once that blog is well established and is driving lots of traffic for you, only then should you start a second blog.
If you are confused about how to choose topics which you can write about regularly and consistently, here is a very simple approach:

• Take a notepad and paper and create columns for topics that you wish to write about. For example, Dog Care, Baby Care, Facebook Tips, Photography, etc.
• Once you have created your columns, write down 20 post ideas for each topic. When you are writing down the post ideas, think about what you are going to write in those posts.

This process alone will help you remove 2-3 topics from the list.

• Now, start blogging for two weeks on the topics that remain on your list. In two weeks, you will be able to determine which is your strongest topic, and thus the one you should use.

If you are completely new to blogging and this is your first attempt, create a blog on BlogSpot.com. BlogSpot is free and will allow you to start blogging with zero investment while you figure out which topic you want to write about.

• Read: Points To Consider When Selecting A Niche For Your Blog
• How To Choose A Niche For Your New Blog

If you have any remaining questions about niches, feel free to ask them via the comments section below.
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