As the internet has become more contested and crowded, the need to know who and how to target has become more important. Ten to fifteen years ago, it was substantially easier to target generic keywords in search in order to rank well. As competition increased and search engine algorithms became more sophisticated, it became necessary to focus more on longer-tail keywords and specific niches. Niche communities, websites and blogs have become popular among content creators, as it is now easier to perform well among smaller audiences than it is among larger audiences with a more generic focus. Today, we’ll talk about some ways in which you can build stronger niche websites, blogs and social spaces online.

Tap Into Like-Minded Outlets

While cultivating a strong showing in select search engine results is a primary part of any niche community development effort, there is a need to proactively reach out to new and different communities that already exist. There is a good chance that the niche blog or website you have built already has followers through multiple communities elsewhere. These communities may be solely about your specific topic or may be one part of a broader topic. Regardless of situation, pinging users on these websites and forums can be an excellent way to build stronger communities. Plugging your own projects through these outlets in a constructive way – assuming you have valuable content to attract these individuals – will generally be considered acceptable in most contexts.

Provide Benefits

Another great way to make your niche community even stronger than it already may be is to provide incentives for engagement. There are many different ways in which to do this, including rewards for engaging with content and membership benefits for subscribing. If your niche community revolves around a paid product or service, then there exists the ability to provide discounts, contests and other relevant cost savings in one way or another. For communities based around free dynamics, additional or exclusive information for those who either subscribe or meet a certain threshold of engagement is yet another avenue to consider.

Share Relevant Content

Who says that your niche community has to be based around just the content that you create? As mentioned earlier, there will likely be other communities that already exist, which are dedicated in part or completely to the niche you cover. Through these venues, you’re likely to find new ideas for content. This content can be shared directly through your niche social media, email and blog sources. Whether you’re pinging users with content directly inspired from other sources or actual content obtained from these sources, sharing relevant content inspired from elsewhere can be a great way to further make your own niche community stronger.  As more and more see this content being shared from their own platforms and onto yours, a larger share of the niche’s overall demographic will find their way to your community. This in turn will make it much stronger and resolute as a provider of content within the niche.