Should you blog about multiple topics or focus on a niche subject? How do you promote multiple topics on social media? What do your readers want? Only you can answer these questions for your blog. Read on for some inspiration.
Before starting WheretoKim? I thought long and hard about what I was going to write about. For years I’d been wanting to do something with travel and books tailored to travel destinations. No matter how many times I reconsidered – because, isn’t it better to focus on a niche audience and topic? – combining books and travel felt right to me. I wrote my first two posts about my search for breakfast restaurants in South Korea and Korean books to accompany a trip to South Korea.
Consider and evaluate
In the first few months after launching my blog, I only focused on the combination of books and travel. When I evaluated the direction I had taken so far I felt restricted. Yes, it might be better to have a blog with a clear focus and theme, but I had so many other things I wanted to write about as well. Splitting the topics up in multiple blogs seemed not doable: how would I keep all of these blogs active enough?
Adding new topics to your blog
The new topics I added to my blog are art and short stories. I figured that if I have many diverse interests, then you, my reader, probably have too. You might only be looking for information about a certain travel destination or ideas for your next book, but one of my other posts may provide you with useful inspiration as well. Perhaps not for what was on your mind but for something else entirely… the very essence of inspiration.
I hope we have many interests in common, but I’m already happy if it is only one.
The next topics I’ll add to my blog are technology and linguistics. I incorporated the first low key in my Traveling Robot short stories. I’m still thinking about other technology-related posts I want to write. As my day job is in the semantic technologies field, I can’t freely write about this subject as not to share my knowledge outside of my company. That doesn’t mean there are not plenty of subjects left I can write about like lifestyle (should I?). One day I will. Or who knows, I might specialize more. It’s only been a year so I’m still exploring.
Social media and multiple blog topics
How do you promote multiple topics on social media? How to blend book posts and travel posts in one Instagram feed? Some people on social media really aced this challenge. They alternate books and landscapes or post pictures of bookstores from different countries. Their feeds are beautiful. As long as your pictures and descriptions are interesting, then it is perfectly alright to combine multiple topics. This is your brand after all.
What I personally enjoy seeing on Instagram is a mix of buildings, art, and landscapes, with not too many selfies. So this is what I do on my Instagram feed: I post pictures of an object or view that piqued my interest. This could be because of the composition, the color scheme, or simply the memory I have of seeing it.
This also means that not everything I write about on my blog will be reflected in my Instagram feed. I mainly post pictures of buildings, artworks, and landscapes. My book-related posts are featured in my temporary Instagram stories (sometimes). This division might change someday when I manage to make aesthetically pleasing pictures of ebooks.
It is also a very conscious decision to do this: I see my Instagram feed and blog as two separate ways to express what I find inspiring. In the first, it is inspiring pictures and in the second it is inspiring stories.
Your turn
Time to start thinking. These questions will help you to determine which course is right for you.
- What do you like writing about? It could be your hobby or a subject you are specialized in.Â
- What do you like reading yourself? Do you enjoy reading blogs about multiple topics or do you prefer bloggers that write about a single subject?
- Will your answers to these questions be the same one year from now? Do your interests change often?Â
- Do you have enough writing material? What if a pandemic like a coronavirus happens and your one subject falls out of grace? Can you still create content?
As for me, I like flexibility, so my blog will be an ever-evolving specimen.
