Should You Start More Than One Blog?

Sometimes it is hard to keep your blog focused on one niche. You probably have a lot of different interests that you would like to blog about. So eventually you will face an internal dilemma – should you start more than one blog?

As a blogger that has been there and done that – meaning I have started and given up on having multiple blogs, this is my experience.

In an ideal world – people would have one blog that is focused on one topic.

As a business idea, this makes sense.

The more that you write about a single topic, the more you are seen as an expert on the subject.

You wouldn’t ask your accountant to fix a leaky sink in your house, would you?

You go to your accountant to do your taxes and you use a plumber to fix the pipes.

It’s clear cut.

But the blogging world is different.

You are a single blogger, with lots of interests, and limited time.

So, should you:

• start more than one blog to cover each of your interests,
• have one blog that covers ALL of your interests, or
• pick a lane, so to speak?

There isn’t a right answer but there is lots to consider.

Let’s begin by looking at your motivations.

The Reason Why You WANT More Than One Blog

I know the answer to this because I am right there with you.

You want to start more than one blog because you want to make money blogging and each niche has different opportunities.

I’m just telling it like it is.

You can try to deny it – but if you are spending hours at your computer writing for multiple blogs you are probably doing it for more than just fun.

Tried and true advice states that the tighter your niche (assuming there is enough demand, of course), the more successful your blog.

So, if you blog about biking and dessert recipes – it makes sense to have 2 completely different blogs.

On your biking blog you will show ads and affiliate banners for biking related products.

You will even have a clear cut scope on what to blog about, as this article from the CoSchedule Blog points out:

By knowing the specific topic you are writing about, you actually have more tools available to help get you out of an idea rut.

People will come to your site who want to know more about biking and click your links, buy your products etc.

They are already warmed up.

Your blog will also be primed for sponsored content for biking related brands.

Cha-ching! You make money blogging about biking.

But the dessert recipes have a whole different audience.

These folks might be interested in learning about different baking tools that you are an affiliate for.

Maybe you even have an e-cookbook that they might want to buy.

If you posted those dessert recipes on your biking blog people would get confused.

Your sales would not convert so well because only a small percentage of bikers might be interested in desserts.

UNLESS ….

Your recipes were for homemade granola bars that you could take on long bike rides.

Aha! Your biking audience might just be interested in that type of recipe. (but that is the topic for another post.)

The Reason Why You DON’T Want to Start More Than One Blog

From a business standpoint, it is clear that two blogs make sense if you write about different topics.

Your audience won’t get confused.

Neither will the search engines or your social media audience.

Everyone will understand what you are all about.

So – yes! You should start more than one blog.

But not so fast …

When you start thinking about it – you don’t really want 2 blogs because it is a ton of work.

Two blogs means you that need two separate WordPress installations and possibly even two WordPress hosting accounts and WordPress Themes

What about premium plugins?

Can you install those on two sites or do you need to buy another license?

And the sheer mountain of social media profiles is mind boggling.

Where will you find the time to manage all of it?

If you have a team or a VA maybe you can pull it off – but it is difficult all by your self.

Wouldn’t it be better to just focus all your time on one blog and one topic and do it well?

What About Including Multiple Topics on One Blog?

That is the path that I chose with this blog – multiple topics on one blog.

But I am not sure that it is the right choice – and it is certainly not an easy path either.

When you – as the blogger – are confused about what you offer – how will you make it clear to your audience?

On my this blog I write blogging tips, organizing tips, and recipes.

Lots of bloggers go the multiple topics route – yet I stumble.

The Secret to Making a Multi-Niche Blog Work

In Elite Blog Academy – one of the best blogging courses that I have taken – we are taught to create a custom avatar in detail.

You can think of this as your ideal customer.

There is going to be a cross section of people that are interested in exactly what you write about.

Recently I polled my email list to see what types of content they were interested in.

Since I write about organizing tips and blogging tips – I was having a difficult time deciding on what type of content to create.

Of the people that replied, one third were interested in blogging only, one third in organizing, and one third in both.

Given that I write about both topics – my ideal audience could be the people that want information about both.

You Can Speak to BOTH Audiences via Email

It is also important to remember that your blog is a separate entity from your email list.

If you can segment your email list accurately – you can different email updates to different groups of people.

I can send my blogging tips to people that want blogging info etc.

This may seem like a lot of work – but if you have more than one blog – you would have to send out multiple newsletters anyway.

Should You Have Multiple Blogs?

If you are thinking of starting multiple blogs, you should consider these 2 most important factors:

• your time and
• your money.

For New Bloggers

My thoughts are this – if you are brand new to blogging, first understand what it takes to start a blog.

Then start only one blog on one topic.

Keep it simple.

Establish yourself as an expert and work it hard.

Once you gain traction with your 1st blog you can consider whether to expand the scope of your first blog or start a second blog.

You can check out our Blogging for Beginners FAQ’s here.

For Established Bloggers

However, if you already have a blog, your options are different.

You can either

• scale back your topics,
• create a custom avatar that interested in everything that you write about,
• or start a second blog and split up your audience.

Finally, and I am going to be harsh here, if you are not experiencing success with a very broad niche ask yourself this:

Is your lack of success due to your overly broad niche or because you aren’t working hard enough on your blog?

If your process is the problem, it’s not going to work for you on multiple blogs either.

Happy Blogging!