Blogging is a fast-growing industry with plenty of opportunities. Blogging can be very lucrative, with the average blogger earning approximately $51,000 a year. If you are looking to grow a blog, you need to consider these tips to maximize your chances of success.
1. Invest in Good Hosting Services
It doesn't matter what topic or how good your writing is; a bad hosting service can reduce success. A good host will allow you to have a website that loads fast.
Websites that load fast will perform better on search engines. These websites will also generate more revenue. If your website takes longer than four seconds to load, 25% of your potential audience will abandon your website.
In addition, speed is an important ranking factor for search engines. A higher rank will improve traffic levels that can improve revenue from a site.
Slower loading speeds are associated with using shared hosting services. VPS-hosted websites are quicker to load and don't cost much more. But you will still need to optimize your website for faster loading.
To improve website speed, optimize images so they take up less memory. You can also use browser caching and lazy loading to decrease loading times.
At the same time, try to have a host that has servers closest to your audience. If your audience is in the UK, you want to have a server in London or another UK city.
There is also the option to use cloud hosting and a content delivery network. Those looking to reach audiences worldwide should consider this option or a website platform with similar features. These platforms might include tools such as eCommerce, free website builders, and other tools to help growth.
Be sure to use a hosting service with excellent customer service. There are probably going to be times when you need their support.
2. Optimize Your Website for SEO
Image taken from Strikingly website
Optimizing your website for search engines is a vital activity you need to do. Search will probably contribute to about 70-80% of your traffic.
There are numerous ways that you should optimize your website for search. You should ensure a flexible and easy-to-use blogging system on your website. Strikingly is a perfect option for helping you create a blogging section on your website.
Those that blog regularly will often rank higher, build more traffic and generate more revenue. Statistics have shown that websites publishing more than 15 articles every month will generate 70% more leads than those blogs which publish only once a month.
You will also want to ensure you’re improving the experience for the reader. Ensure your website is mobile-friendly. Google will rank you higher with a design that is more accessible from all devices. You need to check several elements for this, including the button size, use of images, and more.
Then you can work to improve the on-site content to increase your rank on search engines.
3. Do Keyword Research for Your Content Strategy
Proper keyword research is a vital element of any website's success. There are numerous considerations to building content with the right keywords.
You want to target several keywords on each page/blog article with one keyword as the focus. For instance, you will want to use work like ‘start a blog’ and then use other keywords like ‘marketing a blog’ or ‘blog promotion’ throughout the article.
This strategy allows your articles to rank high for one specific keyword and well for other keywords.
In addition, you want to target keywords that have high search volume but low competition. By targeting these keywords, you increase the chances of appearing on the first page of Google.
If there are keywords with high search volume but lots of competition, you will need to consider other options. One way to do this is to embark on a linking campaign.
4. Make Your Blog Content Readable
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The best blogs are easy to read. There are lots of ways to improve the readability of a blog.
The first aspect is to ensure that your paragraphs are shorter. These create smaller blocks of text on a screen which are easier and quicker to read on mobile devices. The maximum paragraph length should be three lines long.
Avoid using jargon in your content. Avoiding technical terms means your content can be relatable to all those interested in your subject, not just experts.
Remove any passive voice from your content. Passive voice is harder to read. Removing this can be done through numerous online tools. Some of these are free and easily accessible.
Other tips to help you improve readability include:
- Using bullet points that allow for quick access to content.
- Split up long posts into lots of smaller sections with headings.
- Use images to convey core messages.
5. Network with Other Bloggers
One of the best and fastest ways to grow your blogging brand is to network with established bloggers. There are lots of ways you can do this.
The first is you offer guest posts to like-minded blogs. In your guest post, you create an article that you can use to include two or three links to your website and a couple of links to the publishing site.
Create content that is unique, thought-provoking, and high-quality. If you need help, you can always speak to writers who can help you create the content.
Spend some time connecting with bloggers on social media. You can share their content via your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn pages. Or you can write comments on their articles with valuable insights you might have.
Finally, you might want to email bloggers in your niche. Introduce yourself, ask them for their opinion on your content and seek their advice. They might be able to show you how to get more followers or feature you on their social media.
6. Contribute to the Top Blogs in Your Niche
Image taken from Strikingly User’s Website
There are numerous ways you can contribute to the top blogs in your niche. As well as guest posting, as mentioned above, you can offer additional content for existing blog posts.
Contributing to existing articles allows you to add new points and improve paragraphs. It also helps you build a backlink from an established blog to your website, helping you to rank better.
Another factor you want to consider is replacing old links on existing blogs to content on your website. This strategy targets blogs with lots of older content. They are more likely to have outbound links to websites no long being hosted.
There is software to search for 404 or old links on a website. You can then contact the website owner and offer them an alternative link to your website's blog post with a similar message.
7. Promote Your Blog
There are numerous activities to bring more traffic to your blog. Getting to grips with different platforms is vital for the long-term growth of your blog.
The first thing you need to do is build a mailing list. With lead capture forms, you can collect email addresses from visitors to your website that you can then email whenever you release new content.
Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to prove value to potential partners. The larger the list, the more money you can charge to sponsors.
Also, look at promoting your blog on social media. More than four billion people use various forms of social media. Social media is free and is one of the ways to converse with audiences.
In addition, your website's rank on search engines can improve with social media use. Twitter can help index your website pages quicker, and interactions from sites like Facebook can help to improve rank.
Every day try including at least two-three posts to help increase engagement.
To help you get started, try to promote your Facebook page to attract likes. Just $50 of adverts can build a good following. This small investment can add social proof to your branding and build trust.
Try to automate a lot of your promotional activities. There are tools where you can preset social media and email campaigns to run. New content can be timed for when your audience is most active.
Conclusion
Blogging is a profitable business model with plenty of opportunities out there. Above are some tips to help you grow your blog quickly and efficiently without overspending. Good luck with your new venture.
