Let’s get right to it:
You need to choose a topic that fits 2 criteria, as evidenced in the picture:
The first criteria is that it has to be able to make money online.
The second criteria is that you have to be an “expert” on the topic.
Now let’s qualify both of those ideas here.
Is the topic profitable online?
Here is what I would do when considering a possible topic.
I would go to the Google search engine and type in your main keyword. Alternatively, you could type in several keywords that will be the sorts of things that your site visitors will eventually by typing in to the search engine to find you.
So if you are thinking of starting a website about “global travel” then you might type that into Google, but you might also type things like “round the world ticket” or “European vacation” and so on.
Then, look at the number of ads that are showing up in the Google results. Are there lots of ads? Go to the second page of Google results. More ads there?
You want to see LOTS of ads. If there are very few, this is a red flag: not much money to made here.
(If you type in searches based on my example topic, you see plenty of ads there. Probably a profitable niche….)
Am I an “expert” on the topic?
Now it is easy to go start a website about cancer lawsuits or credit cards, but those topics are pretty much impossible to rank for anyway, and really…..are you an expert at them?
Ask yourself: could I write 100 different articles on my topic, without repeating myself too much, and without running out of talking points?
If so, then you probably “qualify.”
If, on the other hand, you have to do research before you can write articles on your chosen topic, then that is probably going to be a deal breaker.
Why?
Because the internet has an army of writers that are already churning out content at the substandard level.
Google wants the experts at the top of its search engine results, not a bunch of “me-too” junk content. So if you cannot write like an expert off the top of your head, then you are probably wasting your time.
Examples of profit intersecting interests
My parents are not web experts by any means. They were clueless as to how to start a website. I helped them do it, and they chose their own topic based on their expertise. They happen to be seasoned travelers, and they are retired, and they travel a LOT. And they are pretty articulate people who can lecture you right into a coma if they had to.
They happen to be very good at writing but trust me, that is besides the point. The quality of the writing is not nearly as important as the quality of the information. There is a big difference there, but most people miss it.
Your personal experience and expertise is what is valuable. Whether you can write that well or not is pointless on the web. The web is starved for authentic ideas and real people with real insight. It does not need perfect grammar or perfect spelling or well structured paragraphs. That stuff is for a stuffy English course in high skoo.
So my folks built a site about their expertise in travel and it is over a year old now and it is generating steady passive income. How much? A few hundred bucks at this point, but it is entirely passive, so that is hard to beat. Plus they genuinely enjoy writing on the website.
So then:
List of your areas of expertise.
Check them for profit potential online.
Go!
You might also consider these articles that dig deeper into topic selection:
* How to know when a website topic is just too competitive for you
* What if you create a huge website and no search engine traffic shows up?
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