 Sometimes I think SEO experts talk a load of codswallop and I must admit I've preached similar stuff on this blog. The fact is though that there are only two secrets to building a successful money making blogs.
Yes, I've read/preached about inbound links, leaving comments on other blogs, social networking, syndicating articles, exchanging links, promotions and so on. You know the usual advice if you've been blogging for a while. Everyone says the same thing and then regurgitates it perhaps with a slightly different format.
But really you don't need these things. At least I found out by accident that you don't.
I started a blog, never did any promotional work (other than putting links to it on some of my other blogs), never left any comments on other blogs, never exchanged or tried to get inbound links etc. etc.
But, despite this, the blog has done okay and has earned me money. Sure other blogs may have more hits but this one has only been running for about six months. Here's the last weeks traffic chart.
So what are these two big secrets?
(Secret 1) Publish text and/or images that people really want to read.
(Secret 2) Use the right Keywords.
You might be thinking, "So that's it? No way!" However these two things are paramount - in my opinion, of course - to anything else in creating a successful blog that will make money. They might sound a bit disappointing but if you think about it, they really are all important.
Let's take Secret 1.
I've previously harped on about this but it's no good having the best writing skills and accurate grammar and prose if nobody wants to read what you write. So the niche you choose is all important. It must be popular - I am talking about making money with blogs here.
You have to find material that people want to read and will be searching for on the search engines. If neither of these apply to your subject matter then it's doubtful if you'll make much money or attract many hits easily.
Also included in this secret is the suggestion that you should write lots of posts and cover a wide variety of topics within your chosen niche. I'd suggest churning out quality posts, perhaps four, five, six a day when the blog is brand new. This gives a wider range of possible searches.
And with Secret 2.
The keywords have to tie in with the subject matter of each post and with the general theme of your blog. Look also for long tail words and phrases. You want to cover as many options as possible that may be used for searches.
From what I've experienced if you use these two things then traffic will come your way plus the money making that goes with it.
"Ah," you might say, "But what if you also followed the standard SEO advice as well, wouldn't that get even better results?"
And the truthful answer is probably. 'Yes.'
It's surprising though that if you follow Secrets 1 and 2 how the search engines will pick up your posts and images and will send you traffic. You'll also most likely get inbound links as well from other bloggers who like, and also need, what you have written.
To sum up: posts that people want to read plus using keywords correctly are the way to make money with blogs. All of the other SEO advice and tricks are the icing on the cake.
Good luck,
Mike. Labels: Blogs, Keywords, making money, money making, money making blogs, SEO |
Sometimes I think SEO experts talk a load of codswallop and I must admit I've preached similar stuff on this blog. The fact is though that there are only two secrets to building a successful money making blogs.
Hmmm...
I can agree with a lot of what you say (especially about all that social networking, which I find a real drag!), and you did link to the blog from your other blogs, so you gave it inbound links, even if only a few...
But how many of those hits came from Google images?
Nothing wrong with that, if the person clicks out of the iframe onto your blog itself, but many don't bother. They just want the image.
This is okay on a free blog (as you emphasise), but on a self-hosted blog it can cause havoc with your bandwidth with little reward (and an iframe hack may get you banned from big G's image search...).
I don't know which blog you are talking about, but I would guess it very much depends on the niche you are promoting. I know myself that an old wordpress dot com blog of mine gets thousands and thousands of hits without me ever promoting it, so I know this works. Trouble is, the blog cannot be monetised, so I have to use it to link to my other blogs instead.
I would love to think this works in many different niches and makes money, but I must admit I'm sceptical...
Wish I wasn't though :)
hi mike
I personally experienced this too although accidentally. I had a site which I did 0 promotion, a handful of links from my own sites and that's it.
After a few months, it's in the top 2 or 3 pages of G serps for many countries. It's still PR0 but who cares - it's making me money!
Hi!
Thanks for the interesting comments. I think, Zania, that this doesn't work in all niches. It has to be a niche that is very popular and not some obscure subject.
It's also true that referrals from Google Images aren't the best but they still see the ads and any promotional banners -
especially if contained within the post.
Mambo: PR isn't everything and I think we get brainwashed into thinking that it is. With a money making blog what's important is simply how much money we make - full stop.
Thanks both,
Mike.
"With a money making blog what's important is simply how much money we make - full stop."
Absolutely! :)
Absolutely!
Hi Mike,
I guess the trick is to link those non-updated sites to another blog that is being promoted currently.
Sounds as if websites are like wine, the more that they age, the more valuable that they become.
I had read it in several places today that it takes a website about 3-6 months to build up visitor momentum.