Steps To Building A Successful Blog
An acquaintance recently asked me if I would help her begin a blog. Her request
inspired me to look at what I have acquired from operating my own blog for the past two
years. My initial proposition was to spend a while learning and reading. The World Wide
The web is flooded with blogging data and advice.
I am not the man to aid you in returning immense numbers overnight, but this data is all
over. I am also not the source for technical points; I acknowledge what I ought to know
for my situation, and I determine more as I require it.
I assume I am like most individuals who release material on the Internet. I classify
myself as a small-but-serious blogger. I am also a big-time consumer of material and
media. I follow many blogs in several niches, both for material and to learn what works.
So based on my experience, what should I tell my acquaintance that’ll get her set out
without consuming her?
Here is where I began. For me, blogging is basically a relationship. Two crucial
components of any relationship are intent and association. Choose what you want to
achieve. You are able to find dozens of high-quality direction about every aspect of
arranging and controlling your blog, but none of it is one-size-fits-all. Each choicedesign, program, post length, style—depends on the ending goal you have. Conclusions
that do not seem like a big deal now may become crucial later.
For instance, self-hosting with your own domain may feel like an unneeded expense,
but it is crucial if your goal is to construct a personal brand or a business around your
web site. Remember that it is about your audience. Design should fit the blog’s
personality. An overly easy design might appear plain and undesirable, but the
minimalist theme in reality sets the tone for his/her message and heightens the material.
Everything matters. Every choice either moves you towards your goal or away from it.
Personally, I do not pay a lot of attention to figures because traffic is not part of my
objective. I consider and track analytics each month, but that is really more about
curiosity. I seek trends, try out other ideas, and learn from my errors. I consider my site
as a ring, and I think about appealing to readers who heighten the quality of the
discussion. The point? My technique is deliberate and fits my total goal. Incidentally, my
figures have more than tripled since 1/1/10. Information, expertise, and opinion are
promptly available from an endless assortment of sources.
I consistently follow writers and other bloggers to keep up with the trends and ideas of
others. The things that are most important are consistency and legitimacy. Antics and
tricks provide short-term spikes at the expense of long-term trust and loyalty. You may
fool me into visiting, but I won’t be back if you treat me like a fool. Beware of barriers.
I appreciate concerns about spam and privacy, but balance those against the need for
readers to connect.
Make your commentary form friendly and inviting. With so many available forums, I’m
likely to choose those that cater to my communication preferences. For example, some
blogs force me to use my Google ID. Since I don’t access my Gmail account, I’ll never
see follow-up comments; why bother composing a thoughtful comment? I know there
are ways around that, but why should I have to do extra work to contribute to your blog?
I find that many folks don’t like to leave public comments, but they love more personal
contact. If you don’t want to provide an email address, consider creating a simple
contact form.
It seems obvious but fewer barriers, more connection, and so more readers. That is
what I offered as guidance to get her pointed in the right direction. What would you add?
Are Your Blogs Losing Money?
What is the culture medium with the biggest advertising spending on the globe?
Television. Television ads are so effective for advertisers and so lucrative for TV
companies because viewers will inevitably pay attention to the advertisements. Would
we be able to say the same things about content-based websites, like blogs? Not
exactly. If you consider Google AdSense or banner ads, the most used monetization
methods, you will conclude that they are practically different from the editorial content.
For instance, if you have a blog and display ads on your sidebar only your readers will
be able to altogether brush off the advertisements if so they desire. A few even use adblockers, so they will not see your AdSense units or banners regardless of where you
place them.
What would the equivalent of a television ad be for a blog? Likely an advertorial, which
is an article written by the advertiser about his product, and put up in the blog like an
additional post. Another option is the sponsored reviews, which are posts published by
the blogger critiquing a particular product or service. Most bloggers choose this example
because they get to write the article content themselves, and readers will not be
bothered with another writing style.
Here’s a fact that reinforces the similarity of sponsored reviews with TV advertisements:
If you ask any advertiser whether he would like to pay for a banner ad or for a
sponsored review, he will certainly say the sponsored review. Why? Because he will
acquire a much better return on investment, as the sponsored review will give his
product a better and greater kind of exposure with the readers of that blog.
As a result, a sponsored review is probably among the most lucrative way to monetize a
blog. Last week one company offered me $1000 to write a critique about its last product.
It was related to my niche, and I was sure most of my readers would find it of value.
This made me wonder: are most bloggers leaving money on the table by not doing
sponsored reviews? For instance, if I started doing them on this blog I could easily add
another $4,000 per month in profits (considering one sponsored review per week),
which would simply double up my advertising profit on the blog. I think this proportion is
true for most bloggers. If bloggers started doing sponsored reviews they'd double up
their ad revenue. That being said, I think it's possible for a blogger to do sponsored
reviews while keeping his integrity. There are 3 main requirements:
1. A clear disclosure on each review
2. Honesty while writing the review
3. The choice of products that is truly relevant and useful for the readers
Other people claimed that sponsored posts could get you in trouble with Google, but
this isn't true as long as you use the no-follow attribute on the links inside the review.
Google does not have a problem with sponsored links, as long as you clearly label them
as such. In essence, the question that’s raised is are your readers going to be put off by
sponsored reviews and whether or not you feel this a good avenue for your blog.
Adsense? What Is That?
Adsense is among the primary profit generators for blogs and sites. Usually, you are
able to drastically improve your click-through rate and total net by placing the
advertisements wisely, by improving the material targeting, or by optimizing the ad units
directly. Below I will cover the last point, how to optimize the Adsense units with 8
simple tips:
1. The three top-performing ad units are 336×280 large rectangle, 300×250 inline
rectangle and 160×600 wide skyscraper. Think about using those units if possible, but
bear in mind that other formats would be more appropriate for your site design.
2. The more successful link color is blue. This info is connected with the roots of the
Internet where all major sites used to feature blue links. We as buyers are used to this
style of link and it works.
3. Aside from blue links you are able to also use a link color that matches the pattern of
your site (i.e. if you use green links make the Adsense links of the same color).
4. As a general rule of thumb, blend (no border, same background) your Adsense units
if your site has a light color scheme and contrast (border, contrasting background) the
units if you're using a dark color scheme. The more organic you make the ads look,
usually the better the click-through.
5. If the advertisements are based within the content you should avoid using borders
while advertisement units outside of the content can use borders to call attention.
6. If your site has mainly repeat visitors (like Forums) you are able to rotate the
background color of the units to cut back advertisement blindness
7. Consider removing the “Advertise on this site” message from your units. That can be
done on the control panel under the “My Account” section, disabling the “Onsite
Advertiser Sign-Up” feature.
8. Test, test and test. Every website is unique so make sure you test with different
colors and formats and track the results to fine-tune your Adsense.
For a first time ad campaign, Google AdSense is a great way to get started and earn
your first income. It’s easy to implement into WordPress with a plugin and runs itself;
and depending on your niche you can earn a good income. However, using AdSense in
the make money online niche will not earn as much as affiliate ads targeted to your
readers. The payments I have experienced are a few dollars at most.
Due to the simplicity of Google’s AdSense program, it is worth taking some time to
create a campaign and run it on your blog. Test it for a while and if you find it isn’t
working for you then move into affiliate ads or another form of advertising. But as
mentioned some niches work much better than others.
Successful Advertising Tips
If you are planning to advertise on your blog, as discussed earlier you can use Google's
Adsense program. It's the biggest online market for internet bloggers and most
individuals who advertise on a blog do very well from most forms. How come? Most of
the time it's about market research. However, if you would like to maximize your chances
of advertising, with other forms i.e. individuals these eight tips below will help you.
1. Make sure your blog is generating traffic
This is the most crucial factor. If you want to advertise on a blog with success your blog
has to have steady traffic and hits. You can monetize from the word go with Google's
Adsense program, however, it is a good idea to find out what your readership wants
before you advertise to the world. This creates a good measure of 'knowing your readers'
and what they would like to buy.
2. Work on your trust rating
Each member on the internet has a trust rating, and most advertisers will check you out
before placing their bids. In other words, the higher your trust rating, the higher the
chances of advertising on your blog. As a result, you should take all the actions to
improve your trust and who you are. Advertise all social media accounts, display contact
forms, and contact numbers. Displaying valuable content is essential for building trust and
readership.
3. Don’t hype your description
If you want to sell advertising space on your blog, the more hype you put in your
blog description, the more people will think you're desperate to advertise and that your
blog isn't a solid one. Examples of remarks you should avoid include: “Huge earnings
potential!”, “A lifetime opportunity!”, “My loss is your gain!” etc etc.
Secondly, don’t hypothesize what the blog could be earning. Some people list blogs that
are making $10 per month currently, and they go on saying: “This blog has the potential
to make $4,000 per month easily!” If you knew this for certain you would not be selling
the advertising space for such a low price. Know your numbers and provide accurately
stats when offering advertising space.
4. Answer to every comment
Even if you write a crystal clear description people will still have questions, and they
may ask them through your own advertising page comment section. It's important to
answer to every single comment, as this will encourage other commenter's and readers
to want to advertise on your blog, it will also improve the overall credibility of your blog
and your advertising methods.
5. Have a plausible reason for advertising
One of the first things people will ask you is why you are advertising? If there is no
plausible reason, they will rightly assume that the blog may be a scam or simply a
reason to make money and that you want to get rid of it before it becomes worthless. In
fact, it would be a good idea to include the reason for advertising. You definitely need to
find a good advertising campaign that fits with your blog. A one that doesn’t annoy
your readers with ads that have nothing to do with your blog too. Displaying the wrong ads
can be detrimental to your readership and eventually lower your traffic stats, so be
careful when placing ads on your blogs to not annoy your readers.
Your niche should determine what advertising or monetization techniques you want to
use. There are some techniques that will only work for some niches and not for others.
The more you grow your blog to accommodate its readers the more people will trust
your judgment and buy recommendations from you in the future. Get to know your blog,
and get to know your readers, and the ways to get traffic before you monetize. By
providing nothing but free info with no ads, people will soak up your content and
become loyal readers. This will allow you to build!
When the time comes to monetize your blog, you will know what people want and what
ads you can make the most profit from. You can then target your readers and maximize
profits.
Writing About What You Love?
That's the most common cliché amongst bloggers, online experts, and internet
entrepreneurs. I'm sure you heard it before. I utilized this advice myself. It goes like this:
If you want to make money online, you got pick a topic that you're passionate about.
You need to enjoy it, else it won't work.
I used to agree with it, one hundred percent. Lately, however, I started calling into
question that rule. Creating a site on a topic that you love is certainly a great technique,
and it does work well for many individuals, but I'm not sure if it's the only way to go. The
first flaw I see on that rule is the following fact: if the niche or topic you love isn't a
profitable one, it will be pretty hard to make a lot of money online with it no matter what
you do.
Suppose you love tea. Should you write about it if you want to make money online? I
am not sure. You could certainly create a popular website around tea, but if you decided
to go with a more profitable niche instead while putting the same effort and time, you
could end up making much more income.
One argument that people use to back up the “you got write about what you love” theory
is the fact that if you choose a topic merely because it is profitable, soon you will lose
the motivation. If you write about something you love, on the other hand, you will have
content for years to come. This is partially true, but not completely because some
people get motivated by the pure desire of making money or becoming successful.
In other words, if they start a website on a profitable niche and see that their efforts is
bringing a good amount of money, they will get motivated no matter what the topic is.
They will even do research and learn about it if needed. So what is my position now? I
think that both strategies can work.
Choosing a niche or topic because you love it is a good route to success, but choosing
a profitable one and approaching it scientifically can be equally successful.
Unless you have your niche idea planned out it can take a little bit of research on finding
your niche. Try looking at some of the more important factors when it comes to
choosing a niche:
What gives you energy and excites you? If you blog about your passion, you are
never going to struggle for content.
If you have an expert hobby or job role then you have a distinct advantage over
everyone who is interested in your niche. You are already an authority.
You may not be an expert, but you may have the knowledge to create a lot of
good content. This way you can create a lot of content for the search engines.
By learning your niche and making it your focus or business, you can take an audience
on your journey from novice to expert. This is a very good way to create community.
Try blogging about hot topics and trends? This doesn’t tend to be sustainable, but can
be good for short-term niche blogging and Google traffic as the current niches are hot.
Whatever you do, try to take on a niche that you are not going to run out if content with
and what has the potential to make money
Making Money, Fact? Or fiction?
If I speak about the subject of blogging, folks roll their eyes or smile in an “I do not
understand but okay” kind of way. If I bring up the fact that I make income blogging,
however, I abruptly have their attention.
The concept seems easy enough. I write about issues in my niches, individuals read it,
and I make a profit from the advertising be it whichever form I use. To those of us who’ve
been doing it for a while, it's simple. To the novice blogger who is just getting in the
business, all the same, it is important to recognize what you are getting into.
If you are new to blogging and interested in doing it for earnings, here are a couple
things to bear in mind before dedicating yourself.
Blogging is simple. Blogging for profit is harder. I will not go as far as to say it is hard to
draw a secondary income from blogging, but it is definitely harder than most individuals
think. It is not just about creating material and slapping up some advertisements from
respective companies or affiliates. Good writing, proper tinplating, advertisement
placement, developing an audience… there are a lot of skills required to make a blog
fruitful, all of which you will need to learn.
You need to blog for the long run or not at all. A vast majority of blogs bomb in the first
few months, falling under neglect and disuse. A Couple blogs see earnings during the
first few months. Unless you are able to stick with it for at least a year, you will probably
never see any return for your effort, although there are some exceptions. Pick a niche
that you enjoy and stick with it. General-purpose or multi-topic blogs have difficulty
developing a readership. Brainstorm the topics that you care about most, then pick one
and blog about it exclusively.
Start with one blog. If you have a lot of items on your list of possible topics, don’t give in
to the temptation to start a different blog for each one. By dividing your effort between
several blogs, you increase the likelihood that all of them will fail. Put all of your efforts
into one blog to start. Once you get the hang of things, then you might consider
branching out with additional blogs.
If you’re unsure, test drive it. The fact is that many people do not have the drive or
stamina to blog for income successfully. If you are not sure, try a starter blog on a free
service such as Blogger or WordPress.com. Feel it out for a few weeks. If, by the end of
this time, you have stuck with it and find like blogging is right for you, go ahead and
commit to the effort. This advice applies equally well to test driving new topics if you’re
unsure what to write about.
Place advertisements wisely. Some individuals recommend not placing advertisements
on a blog until it's matured somewhat. Others advocate putting them up right away.
There are rewards and risks to both approaches. Just make certain to place your
advertisements tactfully so as not to overwhelm your readers. Put the user experience
in the first place and don't flood them with buying this, buy that!
Enjoy yourself. This is the real key to successful blogging. If you pick a topic that you
enjoy and blog about it with passion for months and years on end, your blog will build a
readership, generate income, and generally be a success. If, however, your blog
becomes a chore to maintain, it will inevitably fail. Thus, if you keep up with your blog
and you love it, it will succeed and generate profit. If you do not do your research, write
about things that are not of interest, and generally don’t keep up with it, your blog will
inevitably fail.
When clients buy your product or service for the first time they really make a trial
purchase. If they're gratified they'll keep coming back to you. Making a beneficial
product isn't the end of the story. A lot of business owners make the same error. As
soon as a product is purchased they forget the buyer. If you want to hold a customer for
repeat purchases you should improve your customer service. Provide great service to a
buyer who’s bought a product or service. They'll certainly come back to you as everyone
prefers safe, familiar, and quality products.
Providing a good quality products or services is just the start of the story. Don’t try to fool the
buyer. When an emptor gets a good product from you at a fair price they develop certain
expectations. Now it's your responsibility to live up to that expectation by keeping up the
quality. If they don't get good products in the 2nd or 3rd purchase they'll switch to
another brand. Remember that your competitors are there to draw in their attention.
Brand loyalty not only earns you prompt profits but maximizes your revenue in the long
haul.
Final Words
Remember, advertising doesn’t have to be a long hard cognitive process. Even on a
minor scale, personal blogs can definitely generate revenue. The internet and social
networking sites now make this easier than ever before. Advertising on your blog can
be fun, and more significantly, very rewarding.
The amounts of revenue will differ from niche to niche and also the demand for ads and
products will differ as well. However this is still not to say that you can't your blog to the
top in any respective niche online. If you command page 1 of Google for your niche, you
can create products, advertise and ultimately create customers and revenue.
Thanks for reading and good luck with your future blogging ventures.
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