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The digital world is more active than ever and we’re seeing many more people moving from traditional jobs to working online exclusively. There is a multitude of options, but one of the most popular ways of earning an income online is to start a blog.
Fishing is an ideal niche in today’s times. Not only is it a fantastic activity for social distancing, but it gets you out in nature, which has many mental and physical health benefits.
When I started researching how to create a fishing blog, I had to wade through a lot of information to find a step-by-step guide. This is our guide to setting up your own fishing blog.
Niche Down
Just “fishing” is a very wide niche. You can certainly cover everything related to fishing, but if you want success faster, you should try to niche down and be more specific.
Consider how specific you can get when it comes to fishing. Here are a few ideas of how to niche down:
- Type of fishing: Fly fishing, deep-sea fishing, surf fishing, etc
- Fishing species: Bass fishing, trout fishing, game fish, etc
- Level of angler: Beginners’ guide to fishing, intermediate tips, advanced fishing advice
- Fishing gear reviews
- Fishing spots (local or otherwise)
- How-to’s
We highly recommend going fairly specific with your niche if you want to be seen as an expert in your niche, rather than a generalist.
Get a Website
You can design and build your site yourself, using a website builder like WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, or Site123. Or, you can pay a designer to do it for you. What you choose depends on your own level of comfort when it comes to designing a fully functioning site.
Keep in mind that designing and building is only part of getting a website set up. You’ll need to research the best website hosting for your needs. If you want to sell products, you have to arrange things like payment options or affiliate links, depending on how you’re selling.
Create Content
Your content can make or break your blog. Google is constantly bringing out updates to ensure that content is well-written by an authority figure and not simply copied or lacking in value.
Here are our top content creating tips:
- Write regular blog posts – daily or every second day is a great timeline
- Be casual and relatable to your readers
- Offer valuable information that’s not just a repeat of stuff online
- Create visual content as well (Canva is an excellent tool)
- Optimize your content for search engine optimization
To help Google rank your blog highly, use a tool like Yoast (for WordPress – there are others for other platforms) to make sure every page is SEO-friendly and easy to read.
Get on Social Media
Social media is essential. Your website may attract organic traffic, but in the beginning, you’ll most likely rely on social media to get clicks through to your website.
You don’t need to be on every social media platform. Where does your target market hang out? You need to be sure that you’re reaching people who are interested in what you’re writing about.
Instagram is fantastic for visual content and eCommerce. TikTok is a good choice if you’re planning on adding video to your content creation. Facebook is always a solid choice, and it’s easy to find fishing-related groups to share your content on or create your own group and invite fishing fans to join.
Make sure to share your blog posts and other content on social media so people can click on your links and read your stuff.
Be Patient & Persistent
Blogging isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme. It’s time-consuming and takes a long time to get off the ground, so you should only truly consider it if you’re passionate about your topic and love writing content about it.
Consistency is the biggest key here! It can be easy to lose interest if you don’t see traction in a few months. But be patient, persist, and if you keep sharing new, fresh, valuable content, you’ll notice growth as time passes.
Conclusion
Learning how to create a fishing blog is easy if you truly love fishing and all it entails. There’s a need for authentic, up-to-date information in the fishing niche, and anglers of all levels are constantly searching for authoritative content online.
You could become the next big fishing blogger if you put in the effort and see it through! Best of luck, and push through the hard times. It’s worth it.
Bio:
Kenneth Reaves has been fishing all his life and has had the privilege of spending hours on beautiful lakes, rivers, and in the surf across the country. When he’s not on the water, he shares valuable information, tips, and equipment reviews on his website, Perfect Captain.