I created my first website decades ago. It was a German fitness site that earned me about $100 a month at its peak. While trying to figure out how to drive traffic, attract readers, and make a bit more money from it, I stumbled upon the concept of niche websites.

Back then, everyone was recommending building websites with an extremely narrow focus. I read about one guy who made a site about Micro Machines (the toy cars), another who built one about microscopes, and another about flip knives.

The idea was simple: the more specific your topic, the less competition you’d have. That way, Google would send traffic your way almost instantly for a particular keyword. It worked — for a while. My site made its $100 a month consistently but never really grew beyond that until I moved on to different ideas.

Today, nobody builds niche sites anymore. The market is oversaturated, and AI has taken a huge share of the pie. Trends come and go — and niche sites are definitely going.

Not long ago, NFTs were the hottest thing online. Everyone was talking about those pixelated ape images selling for thousands of dollars. Now? Almost no one mentions them. The market has dried up completely.

When you build your brand around a trend, everything you do becomes tied to it. And when the trend fades, your brand fades too.

That’s why most niche sites have such short lifespans. Just like NFTs, they might enjoy a year or two of hype where you can make some quick money, but after that, it’s over.

So what if, instead of chasing trends, you make your website — and your brand — about yourself?

Now we’re talking about a personal blog, one that documents your way through life. This year you might be focused on getting fit and losing weight. Once you reach that goal, maybe you’ll write about building an online business. And perhaps two years from now, if NFTs make a comeback, you’ll explore that too and share the process.

Sure, not every reader will follow you in every direction. But most readers aren’t there just for your first topic — they’re there for you. And you’ll still be you, whether you’re writing about fitness, online entrepreneurship, or digital collectibles.

That’s why creating a You website is the better way. Such websites don’t fade when a trend fades. As long as people are online and reading, there will be an audience for your writing.

Whatever your interests are, make your blog about you.

For example, I could have started a generic blog about becoming an author. There’s already plenty of content out there to copy or rewrite. I could even ask ChatGPT to write a daily post about book marketing for indie authors to publish on it.

But if I write about my personal effort — how I’m trying to become a successful author, how I market my books, how I find readers — that makes the blog interesting to read for an audience. What I do here is real, it’s authentic, it’s me.

And people who read my stuff are not just interested in the topics I cover; they’re interested in me. And as long as I keep being me, they’ll come back for more.