This year, I’m diving headfirst into a focused blogging project that I’ll be nurturing like a money tree throughout 2021. The plan is simple in concept but challenging in execution — build a small, highly targeted blog, grow its traffic steadily, and turn it into a consistent income stream.While I’ve worked on different online projects in the past, this one is different because I’m narrowing my attention to a single blog. My main content creation phase will run from January to March, but I’ll continue to post updates beyond that, sharing traffic milestones, income progress, and anything else notable that happens along the way. Think of it as a long-term garden project — except instead of watering plants, I’ll be planting articles and nurturing traffic growth.
Picking the Niche – Harder Than Expected
One of the first challenges I faced was deciding on the niche. Surprisingly, this took more time and thought than I anticipated. Since the goal is to keep the blog relatively small, I didn’t want to use a niche that I might want to expand into a full authority site later. At the same time, I wanted it to be something I actually enjoy working on.
Eventually, I landed on a topic that’s tied to one of my current interests. Interestingly, I’ve only been interested in it for a few months, so I’m still learning as I go. This is both exciting and slightly intimidating because while I enjoy the subject, I’m not yet an expert. Still, I see this as an opportunity — fresh curiosity often fuels better research and more relatable content.
Keyword Research – Laying the Foundation
With the niche locked in, I moved on to keyword research, which is the foundation of any solid blog project. My approach was to cast a wide net first, then refine it down to actionable targets.
I started with tools like Answer The Public and Keyword Sh*tter to generate raw ideas. After filtering out terms with zero predicted search volume using Keywords Everywhere, I ended up with a hefty list of 1,119 initial keywords.
The next step is to check the competition for each keyword and figure out which ones are worth pursuing. That means looking beyond just search volume — I’ll be analyzing SERPs, considering ranking difficulty, and identifying gaps where my content can shine.
Going Deeper – Expanding the List
Tomorrow, I’ll be doing a deeper dive. Along with competition analysis, I’ll also be using techniques like:
- Alphabet Soup Method – typing partial queries into Google and checking what autocomplete suggests.
- People Also Ask – finding related questions that people are actually searching for.
- Wildcard Searches – experimenting with variations in Google search to uncover less obvious terms.
These extra steps often uncover hidden gem keywords that traditional tools miss, which could give me a strong early advantage.
The Road Ahead
With the heavy snow outside keeping me indoors, tomorrow will be all about deep keyword competition analysis. My goal is to sift through the list of 1,119 keywords, identify the ones with the best balance of search volume and low competition, and lock in enough content ideas to keep me busy for the next three months.Once I’ve got my shortlist, the real work begins — writing high-quality, engaging articles that answer user questions and target those chosen keywords. I’ll focus on publishing consistently, making sure each piece is optimized for both readers and search engines.
From there, it’s a game of patience and persistence. I’ll monitor search rankings, track traffic growth, and see how quickly the blog starts to pick up momentum. I’ll also be posting regular updates in this thread, including monthly reports on both traffic and income milestones.
The aim is to grow this blog steadily throughout 2021 so that, by year’s end, it becomes a reliable little “money tree” producing a healthy harvest of passive income. This is a long-term play, so while results won’t happen overnight, I’m committed to nurturing it every step of the way.