Searching for a topic for a new blog? One approach is to look at what people are searching the web for and Yahoo! has helped out today by providing us all with a series of Top Ten Lists of 2006 in different categories. Of course there are only so many Britney Spears, WWE, Shakira and Jessica Simpson blogs that the world needs – but it does give you some hints at where the world we live in is currently at (warning – some will find the lists pretty depressing).
Also in the list is the 10 most searched for blogs of 2006 in Yahoo (with a few similar themes in it).
Thanks to everyone for emailing me about this list – Kris was the first.
PS: don’t forget that Google has a similar tool that updates weekly at Zeitgeist where as of writing this you’ll see that ‘Christmas’ terms are starting to climb the rankings (hope you’ve optimized your blog for Christmas!). No doubt they’ll release their 2006 summary Zeitgeist in the coming weeks.
Thanx Darren good to know everytime to be up to date!
I for one can say that I am proud to never have searched for any of those terms :)
it’s all smut if you ask me.
“it’s all smut if you ask me”
Now I wonder which lists you actually looked at Ian?
Australia is at the top of one of those lists – I’m proud to say I blog about it quite often :)
If we’re going the route of letting market demand dictate blog topics (rather than personal passion), then is there a way to find the most lucrative industry verticals by way of AdSense / AdWords bids? In other words, if you wanted to truly monetize your blog, wouldn’t it be best to pick the vertical for which the adwords were $$$?
Anyone want to write a blog about mesothelioma or asbestos litigation? Three years ago, the clicks went for $30! Yikes!
it’s an approach that some take ANP – of course with $30 clicks you can bet that a couple of hundred thousand web publishers are also thinking similarly. In fact I suspect there is more websites on those topics than there are people searching for information :-)
Of course – the same thing can be said for Britney Spears. Many many people searching for information but it’d be a very crowded space to start a blog in :-)
So, the key is to find an area that nobody is providing information for, but lots of people are searching for. That sounds a lot easier than it really is. Unfortuantly, none of my keywords are in any of those lists. Better luck next year I suppose. :)
“find an area that nobody is providing information for”
Bad idea, it’s funny how often blogging is seen as a competition, but it is really a team effort. Of course you should strive to be the captain of the team [like Darren has achived] but to be the only one providing info would be mighty lonely…who would you link to and vice versa.
Also, a way to calculate profit potential is a combination of traffic potential and cost per click potential. So lots of traffic but low click value is about the same as low traffic but high click value.
Stick with what you are passionate about, there is always the most leverage in working with what comes most naturally. If the primary goal is to make money, imho you are doomed right from the start.
Hi Darren!
I appreciate the article, it’s nice to see what others are interested in. That can be of great use for bloggers of course : )
Keep up the great work and don’t forget to find something GOOD in your day
: )