Do you want to know the secret recipe to build a blog that makes a ton of money?
The #1 secret to build a profitable blog is: having a clear vision about your blog.
You need to have weekly, monthly, yearly goals in order to build a money earning blog.
That’s how all the successful blogs are made.
90% of the blogs out there fail because they focus on short term and quick goals. They want to make money quickly and that’s why they fail.
Here are 5 powerful strategies to help you build a better blog that makes money and is helpful to your readership in the long run.
#1. It all starts with keyword research
See, building a profitable blog takes time.
Above all, you need a strategy especially you need to focus on SEO.
When it comes to SEO, keyword research is one of the most important, valuable and high return activities. Ranking for the right keywords can make or break your website. Getting visitors to your site is not important but getting right kind of visitors is important.
Doing effective keyword research is an important skill for digital marketers. Keyword research is useful in finding out what topics you should write about and what phrases you should use while writing. You should never focus on just one keyword. You should make a long, a very long list.
- If you start from very competitive head terms to slightly longer and less used search terms, you will get a pretty good idea of where your website should be able to fit in and rank.
- Write really awesome blog post related to your products. However, a keyword is not a subject of a blog post just yet. You will need a specific angle or topic for the keyword you would like to rank for.
- Use Google trends, if you have to choose between certain keywords you would like to rank for, but you don’t know which one to choose. Google trends will allow you to compare the search volume of a few terms. If you want to know whether it makes sense to write about trendy postcards or about personalized postcards, you will get answer from Google Trends.
- While doing your keyword research, you should also think about the chance to convert for people searching for a specific keyword. People searching for long tail, specific keywords generally have a higher chance to buy something when they end up on your website.
The very first step in SEO is keyword research. Once you have done research, you will have to start writing. You will not see instant results in higher rankings. It takes time. It’s a long term SEO strategy. But when you focus on the right topics eventually you can earn a lot of money.
#2. The money is in the list
For any business marketing strategy, Email is a critical piece. If you are serious about growing your business, building a healthy email list should be one of your top priorities. Your list is one of the only online assets that you have 100% control over and that gives you a way to make money.
However, building an effective email list is not so easy. Building an email list gives you the ability to not only stand out from the crowd but also builds relationship with your email subscribers.
Building your email list from day 1 is one of the best ways to build a profitable blog from scratch. How can you get email subscribers without annoying your readers then?
#1. Sign up with an email marketing service: Choose a reliable and easy-to-use email service provider as they will provide you with all the tools, templates and services you need to get subscribers, test your campaigns, and manage the day-to-day requirements of your list.
The pricing models varies from one email service to others. So, make sure that you will choose the one that best suits your list size and expectations for growth. Some email service providers will charge a monthly fee based on list size, while others will charge per number of emails sent.
If you can’t afford then you can make use of the free service fr0m AWeber. The free plan from AWeber is an easy way to get started with generating a profitable list of email subscribers and increase your blog traffic.
#2. Create a compelling lead magnet: Before people hand over their email address, offer them something enticing in exchange. This could be free eBooks, access to a Webinar, or the promise of discounts or deals exclusively for your subscribers.
Repurpose some of your existing blog content and turn it into a guide or resource list. Whatever you decide to offer, just make sure it’s something people will recognize as holding true value!
#3. Create an opt-in form: ESP gives you tools to create an opt-in form for your site. Ask your readers for an email address, and also ask for a first name so that you can personalize your emails. However, asking for any information beyond these two fields can decrease conversion rates significantly without adding much valuable data.
#4. Put the opt-in form on your site at the RIGHT Places: Placing your form on your site is easy. Just copy and paste a snippet of code provided by your email marketing service on your site. Most website owners put their form in their right sidebar, which has been shown as one of the highest-converting locations.
You can choose any of these places to put the opt-in form:
- At the top of your sidebar
- After each blog post
- In your site’s footer
- On your About page
- In a little bar across the top of your page (For this, you can download the Attention Grabber plugin for free).
Each placement will perform differently depending on your site, niche and audience, so test out various locations as you go along. Make sure to include a download link on the page that subscribers are directed to after confirming their email.
If your site receives a good amount of traffic and you have a truly compelling offer, this shouldn’t be too difficult.
#5. Run a giveaway: Online contests, giveaways, and discounts can attract a lot of attention. Find a balance between offering a valuable promotion and maintaining brand integrity. If you host live streams using Streamyard the tool that Ms. Ileane recommends. It's very easy to host a giveaway during your stream and offer custom swag, gift cards or access to your online course. Watch the Streamyard Giveaway Tool in Action and you can see how engaged the viewers are with this free promotional tool.
#3. Do thorough competitor research
Know what content performs best for your competitors. When you know what content works for your competitors, you can use those topics to brainstorm ideas for your own blog articles.
Because your competitors can be a goldmine of information that can inform every aspect of your marketing and rocket your site to the top of Google. With the right tools, performing an in-depth competitive analysis of your niche is super easy.
#1. Identify most shared content: If people are sharing content from competitors’ sites, there is a good chance they will share similar content from your site as well. So, you need to research what content competitors are publishing and where they are finding the most engagement.
You can use BuzzSumo to identify most shared content. Enter your competitor’s domain name and the tool instantly analyzes your competitor’s blog content. It will display a table containing the number of social shares for each of that website’s posts; the posts with the highest number of social shares are at the top of the list.
If you want to find out who is sharing your competitor's’ content, enter the keywords related to your niche to view a list of the most shared content related to those keywords. You can easily identify a few platforms that are very popular with your competitors’ audiences and if you are not currently active on those channels it’s probably time to set up shop there.
#2. Observe keyword rankings: To find out, what keywords competitors’ blog content is ranking for, you can use SEMrush. Enter your competitor's’ names and it will display the list of the top 10 keywords driving traffic to them.
The list includes the keyword combination your competitors are ranking for and their current position in search results. You can also see the average monthly volume of searches for a given keyword combination in the location you have specified.
You can find popular topics and write many more detailed articles focused on particular keywords to work your way up in the results.
#3. Find the highest ranking content: Using Moz, you can find the highest ranking content. Every website ranked has a number from 0 to 100 where Moz calls this domain authority. The higher the domain authority a site has, the more influential that website is online. The more influential a website is, the easier it is for it to rank on Google.
Moz also ranks individual website pages and assigns page authority), again using a rating from 0 to 100. Using the PA score, you can tell which content is ranking highest for each website.
You can also use the Moz Link Explorer tool to get a full list of all pages for a particular website and sort them by PA. You can also view the backlinks for that piece of content.
Researching your competitors is extremely important. When you know what’s working for them, you can create your own content around similar topics and give it your own spin. It requires a bit of time to find and analyze competitor performance metrics, but using the right tools makes the process easier.
#4. Start offering services first
Offering services in your area of expertise is one of the fastest and easiest ways to make money online. There are four services that you can provide as a way to earn money and possible even gain massive income.
#1. Offering Consultation: You can build a seven figure SEO agency like Moz (if you've the right monetization plan and content marketing strategy). You can sell your time for anything from $50/hour to $300+/hour. To find your potential clients, you can use these 3 strategies. Although Moz is now not a SEO agency but it first started as an agency to gain traction, sales and exposure.
- Guest posting is an extremely effective technique to attract clients.
- Write data oriented and actionable blog posts.
- One of the best strategy to attract clients for offering SEO consultations is by showing the results you have personally achieved for keywords.
#2. Content Marketing: Compared to traditional marketing, it generates 3 times the number of leads.You need to learn the fundamentals of marketing before you write a single word. Once you become good in your writing skills that suits the content marketing climate, then you can start offering your services at freelance marketplaces like Upwork.
#3. Social Media Marketing (SMM) Consultant: For most of the businesses, social media presence is crucial. So, start with your own blog and develop its social following. Once you have built very good social proof, businesses will be ready to pay you as much as $250/hour. So, once you have good results from running your own social media marketing campaign, you can guest post on high-traffic blogs in your niche to attract clients.
#4. Advertisements and Affiliate Marketing: Selling print and digital advertisements in their publications is the traditional business model of most media companies. As a blogger, you can add value to a niche community by offering high-quality content as a service. If you consistently serve in-demand content, you can build a considerable audience and earn passive income through affiliate links and ad banners.
You will gain trust and authority in your niche. And your visitors start to buy the products you refer on your blog. Then, you can earn a great commission by endorsing valuable products that you personally like in your niche.
#5. Networking is the key
If you are just sitting and writing, you will feel lonely in blogging. Many say, blogging is fun. Yes, it is fun when you network with other bloggers in your niche.
Make sure you keep these tips in mind while networking with others:
- Give more than you take. Be willing to offer more of your time and service than you are expecting to receive.
- Be presentable on search. Have a weblog setup to showcase who you are and what you do.
- Treat them the way they want to be treated. This is the ultimate form of showing someone that you understand them and are willing to give them what they need.
Here are the 5 tips that will help to network with other bloggers:
#1. Reach out to them on social media: Who do you interact with online? Who do you chat with regularly on Twitter? Facebook? You can tell if someone is an authority blogger or not just by their social media. Their posts are shared everywhere, and they need no introduction.
Reaching out to them on social media is an effective step towards networking. Be part of groups, forums and message boards on social media. Connecting with them there is easier than on a personal profile.
#2. Leave them genuine comments on blogs posts: After you have read a chosen post, leave a worthy comment which shows that you read the whole article carefully. Focus on a specific detail that you liked, like their style or a reference they made.
So that, the blog owner knows that you are an involved reader, enough to leave a worthwhile comment. And that can be the basis of further relations. It is important to show other bloggers that you support them. Because when they see you support them, they will support you.
#3. Share their stuff that you like: If you like any of your niche blogger content, then share it. Choose bloggers and their content that you personally like. Indirectly, it gives them more authority which they can find valuable. Importantly, they will know that you have provided value to them and can be more readily willing to return the same.
#4. Guest Posts: Guest posting is a powerful way to build network. Offer really great and useful content on the site where you write guest post. Allow other bloggers to share posts on your own page. In this way, you will find new readers to your blog.
#5. Subscribe to other blogs and offer valuable suggestions: Always follow other blogs. It will not only benefit you while networking, but also you will get more information about the niche you are blogging. By following other blogs, you are able to see what are the trending topics that people tend to share. At the same time there is a chance that the blog owner will follow you too. You can also give them suggestions or blog post ideas every now and then so you can build strong rapport.
So what are your thoughts about building a profitable blog? Do you have any more questions? Share your views in the comments below.