This article is recommended for the following people
- Want to know how to choose a theme that fits your needs
- Want to know which blog themes you can succeed with
- Want to know the essential points to consider when choosing a theme
The conclusion of your choice of theme should be based on what you spend (or want to spend) your time on.
In this article, I explain why the criteria are not what you like, what you are good at, or what you can earn, but what you spend your time on (or what you want to spend your time on), and how to choose a theme.
This article is also why I started this blog and recommend it.
I hope you will read it to the end.
A blog is 100% determined by its theme.
Please find a piece that suits you!
2. Think about how to "Grow" your blog theme
- Whom will you write for?
- How will you communicate it?
3. Think about the "Fruit" of your blog theme
- Monetizing your blog
- Benefits other than monetization
4. Three practical tips for choosing a theme
- Research sites that are doing something similar.
- First, make bullet points of titles for 30 articles
- Imagine the number of people who are interested in the theme
5. You can choose your theme freely
- Blogging is a tool for self-realization
This article will show you how to decide on a blog theme in the following three easy-to-understand steps.
Find the "seed" of your blog theme.
Think about how to "grow" your blog theme.
Think about the "fruit" of your blog theme.
Although I have divided the process into three steps, they are all related.
1. Find the "Seed" of your blog theme
When thinking about a theme, the first thing to find a theme seed that fits your needs.
The first thing you need to do is find a theme that suits you.
First of all, write down your age, gender, occupation, hobbies, specialties, favorite foods, and what you want to do this year, focusing on your "Now and Future."
"Write down your past experiences as well to know who you are now.
However, if you don't use your time in the future, it won't be a seed in itself."
2. Think about how to "Grow" your blog theme
Thinking about how to grow your theme means thinking about how you can use the seeds of your theme to help someone else in some way.
Writing a blog is to send out information that is 「Useful to others」.
The reason for blogging is to provide helpful information to others.
The following are two points to think about.
- Who to write for
- How to communicate
Who to write for
Think about who the audience or target audience of your blog is.
In technical terms, this is called setting up a persona.
If you don't have a clear idea of 「who」 you are writing for, your words won't stick in anyone's mind.
In the case of this blog, it would be 「blog beginners」.
In reality, it's "blogging beginners.
You should be a little more specific in practice, such as 「blogging beginners, working professionals, students, housewives, who manage their blogs in parallel with their current work, housework, or studies」.
How to communicate
Think about what angle you can use to attract readers and provide them with helpful information.
In the case of this blog, it would be something like beginners the information they need to manage a blog on their own, how to do it efficiently, points of concern, and advice in an easy-to-understand manner from a beginner's perspective.
In addition, think about the results your readers will expect, like 「I want to help new bloggers succeed with their blogs」.
3. Think about the "Fruit" of your blog theme
Finally, think about what you want to get out of blogging and what you want to get out of it.
The two main points are as follows.
- Monetization of the blog
- Benefits other than monetization
It is essential to clarify what you want to get out of blogging because it is the source of your motivation.
Monetizing your blog
It is the most crucial point for people who start blogging as a side hustle or earning money.
It is essential to think about monetizing your blog, and it is a point that should be kept in mind when choosing a theme.
The monetization of a blog is the income from advertising.
There are two types of ads: ads that have nothing to do with the theme of the blog and ads that introduce products and services that match the blog's theme.
Ads that are not related to the blog theme
Ads automatically delivered to readers based on their interests, such as Google Adsense.
These are proportional to the number of accesses to your blog, so you don't need to think about them when choosing a theme.
It would be best to think about introductory advertising that matches your blog theme.
Introductory advertisements that match your blog theme
It is what is called affiliate advertising.
For example, if you can naturally connect your blog theme with something profitable such as 「beauty, finance, health food」 or 「services」 you will have a good blog.
Monetization can be done later.
I think it's better not to think about monetization too much.
It is especially true if you are a beginner.
You can monetize it later if you send out more helpful information than other people.
On the other hand, if you cannot provide helpful information, it isn't easy to monetize your blog, so it is most important to provide helpful information for your readers.
Monetizing a blog can take up to three months, even for those who start early, so if you do it just for money, there is a high possibility of failure (frustration) along the way.
"In the short term, you can earn more money by working part-time."
The key to maintaining motivation is to run your blog without thinking about monetization first.
You can learn more about monetizing your blog in the following article.
Advantages other than monetization
There are more benefits to blogging than just monetization.
This is why I choose my topics based on what I spend (or want to spend) my time on.
It's a way to improve your daily experience and realize what you want to do.
Writing helpful information for someone else means that you can teach others.
In other words, you become a professional on the subject.
If you choose a theme using the method described in this article, any theme will improve your daily experience and directly lead to the realization of what you want to do.
It's like going from a student to a teacher instead of from a student who can't learn to a student who can—the dimension changes.
4. Three practical tips for choosing a theme
Lastly, I would like to introduce three practical tips for choosing a theme.
You will select a theme better if you combine them with the previous three steps.
Three practical tips for choosing a theme- Research sites that do similar things.
- Make a bullet list of titles for 30 articles.
- Imagine the number of people who are interested in the theme
1. Research sites that do similar things
It is unlikely that you will have a wholly original and unique theme.
There are always sites and blogs that you can refer to.
I recommend researching similar sites (blogs) to make your theme more specific when choosing a theme.
"As a matter of course, don't clone.
It has no advantage, as you can probably tell by reading this far."
2. First of all, write down the titles of 30 articles in bullet points.
To continue writing a blog, you need to have a certain breadth in your theme.
An easy way to check this before you start blogging is to write out the titles of your articles.
In my experience, if you can write down the titles of 30 articles, it is enough to have a broad theme.
In the end, you will have to write more than 30 articles, but if you have enough space to come up with 30 titles in advance, you won't have any trouble finding material.
3. Imagine the number of people who are interested in your theme.
If you want to monetize your work in the future, you need to make sure that many people will see it.
Before deciding on a theme, imagine how many people would be interested in it.
If there are too few, review other themes and targets.
No matter how valuable the information is, it will not be of great value if only a few.
"You are fine if you don't have a highly specialized job or a maniacal hobby."
5. You can choose your theme freely.
The last thing I would like to mention is that you can choose your theme freely.
Ultimately, you can choose your theme based on what you spend your time on (or want to spend your time on).
This is because you can decide what you want to spend your time on in the future.
Blogging is a tool for self-realization.
This may sound a bit big, but try to think about what you want to be and what you want to achieve in life when you set your blog theme.
A blog can serve as a tool for your self-realization.
And the blog posts that you create through your real experiences will be differentiated and unique content that will be useful and valuable information for others.
5. Summary
In this article, I explained how to choose a blog theme.
Now, let's look at the following three essential points in this article.
Summary of how to choose a theme
- Find the "seed" of your blog theme.
- Think about how to "grow" your blog theme.
- Think about the "fruit" of your blog theme.
Again, I believe that success or failure is all about choosing a theme.
Please select a theme that suits you based on what you spend (or want to spend) your time on!
Read the second part of the article here!
Thank you for reading to the end!
To learn more about blogging, check out the post below.
