If you search the internet for anything about blogging, you’ll quickly stumble upon the term niche. And the second will probably be a “niche blog”.

A niche is a specific target audience within a much larger, general market. It’s important that you create your blog with a niche in mind.

When you write for a general audience, you may not get as many loyal users because the blog isn’t designed for their specific needs. You have to focus on a niche so visitors will keep coming back because you provide content that is highly targeted to them.

The content and design of the blog should meet user expectations. These expectations are formed with your niche in mind. Don’t give them the design or content of a health and fitness blog when what you’re running is a technology blog.

The design for each niche should be distinctly noticeable from others. We’re going to break down popular niches and tell you the design and content users expect.

Your Niche Blog: Money and Business

There are a lot of niche blogs that cater to the finance category. Everyone is looking to make money, so there will always be a demand for this niche.

When you’re creating your blog, try to add green into your design. People associate green with wealth and money. This will make users feel like they’re in the right place.

If you’re writing a blog about how to make money online, you should implement design strategies you teach.

If you write a blog post about a pop-up signup box, you should have one on your website. Users will trust you more if you implement what you believe in.

Your Niche Blog: Productivity

Procrastination is a modern-day plague in today’s technological society. Distractions are everywhere, and people want to learn how they can use their time more efficiently.

If your visitors are on your niche blog to learn time management, then don’t waste their time. Your blog should be designed to give users the information they desire as quickly as possible. Feature your popular content on the home page and have a sidebar where users can find your content while they’re reading your post.

Colour is related to productivity. Add colour to your design that promotes productivity and focus. If your users feel more productive when they’re on your blog, they’ll associate your blog with positive feelings. This will turn them into loyal readers.

Your Niche Blog: Technology

The technology landscape is constantly changing, and people want to be updated on the latest inventions. If people are looking at your blog for technology news, then your blog’s design better look good on any gadget.

Your design must work on mobile devices. It can also consider having a mobile-like experience on the desktop. Your articles can have large featured images preferably vector images for scalability, and have infinite scrolling. A futuristic look would fit well with the technology niche.

Your Niche Blog: Health and Fitness

When someone visits a health and fitness blog, they’re looking for two things – a clean lifestyle and a simple way to achieve it.

Having said that, your design should be simple and clean. A white background and easy navigation are common in the health and fitness niche. Flashiness might turn users away because they aren’t visiting your blog for complicated information.

People visiting your blog might also have a specific recipe or workout in mind. There should be a visible search option where users can look for this information.

Your Niche Blog: Design

If you’re blogging about design, then your blog reflects your legitimacy. It’s your resume that shows visitors if they can trust your content.

Would you listen to financial advice from someone that’s homeless? Of course not. So why would anyone listen to design advice from someone who can’t design their own website?

Make sure your design is unique and creative. It shouldn’t be too busy, but add your own artistic touch that’ll make it stand out.

Stay True to Your Niche

Niche blogs can make you a lot of money, but your blog has to reflect what users within the niche are looking for. As long as you stay true to the niche you choose, you’ll be on track for blogging success!

This is a guest contribution by Lexie Lu, a designer and writer who enjoys researching trends in the web and graphic design industry. She writes weekly on Design Roast and you can follow her on Twitter @lexieludesigner.