How to start a blog: demand, costs, competitors
This page collects measured search demand, named competitor blogs, verbatim reader complaints and documented risks for starting a blog in the US. Each figure links to its source rather than to someone's retelling.
How many people search for how to start a blog?
10,030 searches a month over 3 founder phrases
- “How to start a blog” gets 8,100 searches a month in the US.
- “How to start a blog for free” gets 1,900 searches a month, while “blog business plan” gets only 30.
- For the specific blog topics that were checked, there is no search-volume data, so the audience for each topic is unknownch.
What it means: Before you commit to a topic, measure demand for that topic's own queries, because interest in starting a blog says little about readers for your subject.
What the top how-to-start-a-blog articles leave out
What the first page of results misses
- You get no real price breakdown for a domain, hosting, a theme or paid tools, so you can't set a launch budget.
- You see no measured search demand for any blog topic, so you can't tell which niches readers actually look for.
- You get no traffic-to-income math, such as ad revenue per visitor or affiliate conversion, to judge whether a blog can pay you back.
- You learn nothing about which blogs in a topic already dominate, what they earn, or how hard it is to outrank them.
- You hear that many blogs go quiet within months, but not why specific ones failed or how to avoid it.
- The top articles give no price breakdown for a domain, hosting, a theme or paid tools, and no measured demand for any blog topic.
- They skip traffic-to-income math, such as ad revenue per visitor or affiliate conversion.
- They don't show who already dominates a topic, and they don't explain why specific blogs went quiet.
What it means: Use those articles for setup steps, then do your own research on competitors and income before you choose a topic.
The articles we read
- If you were to start a blog today, how would you do it and where ... - Reddit reddit.com
- how to start writing a blog for free - Reddit reddit.com
- How to Start a Blog in 2026 - Easy Guide to Create a Blog for Beginners theblogstarter.com
- Free Online Blog Website Maker - Canva canva.com
- Hey Guys! Can some one give me long term blogging business plan. reddit.com
- How to Start Blogging - Living Happy and Write Better Now! - Substack livinghappy.substack.com
- How to Create a Blog Business Plan (Free Template) in 2026 - RyRob.com ryrob.com
What does it cost to start a blog?
The top articles we read state no cost we can check against their text: none here until we find a source.
0 cost items with a source
- The collected facts include no verified costs for a domain, hosting, a theme or paid tools, so this page gives no launch budget figure.
- The bigger cost is your time, because ad and affiliate earnings may stay too small to cover the hours spent1.
What it means: Get current prices for each tool yourself and plan for months of unpaid writing before income arrives.
Estimate the start with FoxWho you compete with in each blog topic
| Player | What it does | Prices |
|---|---|---|
| Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce5 boisechamber.org · indirectCheck: business · site & SEO | Chamber of commerce relocation packet request | — |
| The Southern Lady Cooks9 thesouthernladycooks.com · directCheck: business · site & SEO | Southern crock pot recipe blog | — |
| Into the hike2 intothehike.com · directCheck: business · site & SEO | Hiking road trip guides and itineraries | — |
| The Wandering Queen4 thewanderingqueen.com · directCheck: business · site & SEO | Utah hiking guides and travel blog | — |
| Half Baked Harvest19 halfbakedharvest.com · directCheck: business · site & SEO | Recipe blog, weeknight dinners | — |
| WeKnowBoise20 weknowboise.com · directCheck: business · site & SEO | Free Boise relocation guide and specialists | — |
| Life With The Crust Cut Off21 lifewiththecrustcutoff.com · directCheck: business · site & SEO | Family recipe blog, dump dinners | — |
| Life In Idaho Area Guide and Relocation Resource22 boiseidahorelocationguide.com · directCheck: business · site & SEO | Relocation guide sold to real estate agents | — |
| Colorado Hikes and Hops23 coloradohikesandhops.com · directCheck: business · site & SEO | Salt Lake City hiking trail guides | — |
| Southern Bite8 southernbite.com · directCheck: business · site & SEO | Southern recipe blog, slow cooker | — |
30 players in buyer searches
- In hiking and national park content, established blogs such as Into the hike, Earth Trekkers and The Wandering Queen already publish guides and itineraries234.
- For Boise relocation, realtors, a chamber of commerce and sites like Welcome to Boise and Beyond already offer free guides567.
- Southern slow-cooker recipes are covered by Southern Bite, The Southern Lady Cooks and large sites like The Pioneer Woman8910.
What it means: Pick an angle the leading blog in your topic does not cover, because a reader has little reason to switch for the same content.
What readers complain about
“I heard it was crowded, but I wasn’t ready for the crowds.”
“I've seen this kind of behavior at many parks, especially the most popular.”
“the vehicle situation in numerous well-known parks is out of control.”
“the wifi was awful.”
“It is very difficult to find an apartment, especially close to downtown (the nice areas) when you make that.”
“the housing here is ridiculous and is one of the main factors i would reconsider...”
16 verbatim complaints: 6 — other, 3 — price, 3 — quality
- Recipe readers write: “It’s so frustrating to have to scroll back and forth multiple times just to find the ingredients in a recipe!”11
- Others say: “What really bothers me are the advertisements that take over the screens.”11
- People researching Boise focus on housing: “The cost of housing here is extremely high compared to local income levels.”12
What it means: Build your format around these complaints, for example by putting key facts up front and keeping ads from taking over the page.
How a blog makes money, and why the numbers are shaky
The niche’s checks carry no prices and no customer model.
- Any unit model here is an estimate built on the category's norms, not on data from this market.
- Competitors show some pricing, such as Budget Bytes listing $4 per recipe13.
- Display ad RPMs are collapsing, and AI Overviews intercept 47 percent of recipe queries1414.
What it means: Don't build your plan on display ads alone; test affiliate, product or service income early.
Who went quiet or shut down, and the main risks
- Adventure blogs (multiple). The adventure blog scene saw a heavy wave of dormancy after 2020, with many personal-travel sites going quiet or disappearing entirely.15
- Recipeasly: Food website removed after blogger backlash17
- Fine Cooking. On September 15, FineCooking.com will be shutting down for good.16
3 closures with a source
- Money. Earnings from affiliate links and ads may stay too small to cover the time spent, because the commission and click figures are low.1
- Competition. Into the hike already covers most of this idea, so readers may stay with it rather than switch to a new blog.2
- Demand. There is no search-volume data for this market, so the real size of the audience searching for these trips is unknown.
- Operations. Many travel blogs in this space went quiet after 2020, so a blog run from home may stop publishing if the pace slips.15
- Many personal travel and adventure blogs went dormant or disappeared after 202015.
- FineCooking.com announced it was shutting down, and Recipeasly was removed after blogger backlash1617.
- Referral fees from realtors may be illegal for an unlicensed blog, which could break a relocation blog's main revenue model18.
What it means: Set a posting schedule you can keep for years and check the legality of your revenue model before you launch.
Blog ideas that were checked
Not “blog in general” but concrete versions, each with its own real check.
- A hiking and national park blog in Salt Lake City scored 53 of 100, “Possible, with caveats”ch.
- A relocation blog for people moving to Boise scored 54 of 100, “Possible, with caveats”ch.
- A Southern slow-cooker recipe blog in Birmingham scored 54 of 100, “Possible, with caveats”ch.
What it means: Treat each idea as workable only if you can show a clear difference from the leading competitor and a revenue source beyond ads.
Check your idea: blog
Say where and for whom — Fox counts the demand and finds the competitors and complaints in a minute. 3 free checks without signing up
See also
MarketPodcasting
Demand, start-up costs, players and checked ideas
MarketYoutube channel
Demand, start-up costs, players and checked ideas
MarketWebsite
Demand, start-up costs, players and checked ideas
MarketYoutube content creation
Demand, start-up costs, players and checked ideas
ToolUnit economics calculator
LTV, CAC and payback on your numbers
GuideHow to write a business plan
Where to find the numbers for each section
Questions before you open
Is there demand for starting a blog?
Yes for the topic of blogging itself: “how to start a blog” gets 8,100 searches a month in the US. Demand for specific blog topics was not measured.
Can a blog pay for the time I put in?
Is a recipe blog still a good bet?
Why do so many blogs stop?
Sources
- travelfeed.com — Sponsorships, Press Trips..., 2023-09-25
- intothehike.com — Into The Hike, 2026-10-14
- earthtrekkers.com — Earth Trekkers, 2026-10-14
- thewanderingqueen.com — The Wandering Queen, 2026-10-14
- boisechamber.org — Boise Metro Chamber, 2026-10-14
- welcometoboiseandbeyond.com — Welcome to Boise and Beyond, 2026-10-14
- timberandloverealty.com — Timber and Love Realty, 2026-10-14
- southernbite.com — Southern Bite, 2026-10-14
- thesouthernladycooks.com — The Southern Lady Cooks, 2026-10-14
- thepioneerwoman.com — The Pioneer Woman, 2026-10-14
- reddit.com
- reddit.com
- budgetbytes.com — Budget Bytes, 2026-10-14
- recipyapp.com
- manofmany.com — The adventure blog scene saw a heavy wave of dormancy after 2020, with many personal-travel sites going quiet…
- eatyourbooks.com — On September 15, FineCooking.com will be shutting down for good.
- bbc.com — Recipeasly: Food website removed after blogger backlash
- study.com — Real Estate Commission & Fees in Idaho, 2026-09-13
- halfbakedharvest.com — Half Baked Harvest, 2026-10-14
- weknowboise.com — We Know Boise, 2026-10-14
- lifewiththecrustcutoff.com — Life With the Crust Cutoff, 2026-10-14
- boiseidahorelocationguide.com — Life in Idaho Guide, 2026-10-14
- coloradohikesandhops.com — Colorado Hikes and Hops, 2026-10-14
- reddit.com
- reddit.com
- reddit.com
- reddit.com
- reddit.com
- reddit.com
The page’s figures come from real idea checks in the niche, our search data and the articles we read; each has its source. The customer model is an estimate on the category’s norms.
How we made this page. The niche’s figures come from the real idea checks “Hiking and national park blog in Salt Lake City”, “Relocation blog for people moving to Boise”, “Southern slow-cooker recipe blog in Birmingham” and our search data. Every figure from outside data has its source, linked under “Sources”. Data as of 14 October 2026.