14 - Blogging Traffic Mantra - Training Guide

2. TableofContents Introduction Latest Blogging Statistics Thingsyouwilllearn Chapter1:PickingYourNiche Chapter2: SelectingTheRight BlogPlatform ChoosingaNameandURL Chapter3:Efficient Waysto CustomizeYour Blog'sAppearance Creating aLogo Choosing Your Theme CustomizingYourTheme Outsourcing Chapter4: TipsToCreateKillerBlogContent Why‘ContentisKing’? How Much Content Should You Be Adding? How Many Words Should Each Blog Post Be? Choosing Topics Chapter5:AddingVideo AndImagesTo BlogsForHigher Engagement HowToAddAVideoToYourBlog Chapter6: HowToProfitFrom YourBlog? ConsiderThisBefore YouSpendA SingleCentOnAdvertising Creating andSellingProducts AffiliateMarketing

3. Chapter7:BuildinganE-MailList Chapter8:SocializingYourBlog TheBasics CreatingaCommunityonYourOwn Blog Chapter 9: Important Pages to Have on Your Blog Chapter10: Conclusion The Next Level – More Blogs What We’veLearned

4. Introduction Making a livingas abloggerhastobeoneofthesweetestgigsout there. Asa blogger, you’ll beabletoearnpassiveincomewhichmeansthat your money willflowin even asyou’resleeping,travellingorrelaxingwith friends.You’reno longtradingtimeforincome and thisisthepointyou need togettoifyouwant toreally befreeand financiallyindependent (evenbeing self-employedwithclients isstill prettymuchlikehavinga job). What’s more, blogging means you get to earn that money by writing on a topic that you find fascinating and you even get to become something of a minor celebrityinyourchosenniche. Youcanearnalotofmoneyheretoo – if a blog takes off and becomes really successful then in theory you can earn thousands a day. It’s incredibly scalable and there’s no ‘upper limit’ for what youcanachieve. What’s thedownside?It’s not easy.Thisisallabout workinghard and smartnowso that youcan reap thebenefitslater.Toomanypeople approachblogginginthewrongway,thinkingthat theycanjustwritea fewpostson a semi-regularbasisand thatthat will be enoughtoensure their success.Inreality,youneedtoapproach bloggingasafull-timejobif youeverwant it tobe yourmain sourceofincome.Inotherwords,ifyou wantthistobeyourfull-timejob… you bettertreatit likeone. Thatmeans workinghardand tobeginwithyouwanttobeuploadingas much content aspossible,havinginvested adecent amountof time and/or money increating a beautiful designtobegin with.Atthesametime though, it alsomeansbeingsmartabouthow you’regoing tobuildyour blog and itmeansusinggrowthhackssothatyou get muchmore benefit

5. outof the workyou’reputtingin.Getthisright and youcanapplyforce multipliersthatwilltakeyearsoff ofthetimeittakesforyou toreach number one. Thinkthatit can’tbedone?Thinkthat making moneyfroma blogis a one-offflukethat happensonceina bluemoon? Thinkagain!Thestats reallypaint a differentpictureand show bloggingtobeahighlyprofitable useofyourtime.

6. LatestBloggingStatistics • Marketerswhorely ontheirblogsmake13Xmoremoneythan those thatdon’t. • Companieswithblogsreceive97%morelinksinbound totheir website • Blogs are the5thmost trustedsourceofaccurateinformation online! • 81%of consumerstrust informationtheyget fromblogs • Wellover150million peopleintheUS alonereadblogsregularly • 23% ofinternet timeisspent onblogs • 61% ofUScustomershave madepurchasesthrough blogs • It isgenerallythoughtthatcontent marketing– AKA blogging–is nowmore powerfulthan pure SEO • Asyoucanseethen,bloggingisverymuch a forceto bereckonedwith and there’s morethanenoughheretogoaround.Timetoget a pieceof thepie!

7. ThingsYouWillLearn • Ifyou’re stillreadingthenyou’reprobablyratherexcitedattheprospect of becoming a‘careerblogger’and you probablycan’twaitto get started and tobegin earningmoneyfrome-booksales.Fortunately,you happento be in therightplaceandthisbookwill serveasyourblueprinttoensurethat allyourwork is focused on the right things. • Specifically,bytheend ofthistext, youwill have learned… • Howto choose aniche toworkin • Howto createa stunningwebsite • Howtoworkwithoutsourcers • Howtoaddadvancedfeatures • Howto create content thatpeoplewillwant to read • Howtoensureasteadystreamofnewposts • How tohackgrowthwithinfluencermarketingand othertechniques • Howtokeep the disciplinetokeep writing • Howto monetize yoursiteso that youearnthemaximum amountfromeachvisitor • Howtousethebesttoolsforbloggersand webmasters • Andmuchmore! • So youhavetheinformationlaidout for you… there’snothinglefttodo but start readingit and thenbeginyourjourneytoInstantBlogProfits!

8. Chapter 01- PickingYour Niche Forthosenot downwiththelingoyet, a‘niche’basically meansa subjector a topic. This is the area of interest that your website is going to focus on and it’swhat you’llbewriting about on a dailybasisforyourblogposts. This might sound likeaneasyjob– butpickingyour nicheisactually somethingyoushouldconsiderverycarefully.Gettingthisrightcan makeyourlife a loteasier,whilechoosingpoorly canmakeit almost impossibleto achievethesuccessyou’relookingfor. Herewewill look at someconsiderationsthatyou need tobearin mindwhen pickingyourniche. ATopicYouEnjoy Tipnumberoneistoalwayschooseanichethat youenjoyreading and writing about.Bloggingis nota‘small’jobby anystretch ofthe imagination.Rememberwhenwesaidit wouldessentially need tobecome yourfull-timecareerifyouwantedtobeverysuccessful?Well thenyou haveto askyourself – isthissomething youwillbehappytowriteabout on a regularbasis? Writingwillalsocomealoteasierifyou’rewell-versedinthesubject. You’llneed todolessresearch andatthe sametime,you’llfind itmuch easiertocomeupwithnewinteresting topicsthat people wholikethe subjectwill beinterestedin.What’smore, your passion will comeacrossin the content and people will bemuchmoreinclinedto readmore ofwhat youhavetosayas aresult.

9. Even ifyouplanonoutsourcingyourwriting,knowingthenicheyou choosewell willhelp youtofeelexcitedabout yoursite andto checkover the accuracyandusefulnessofthewritingyou’rereceiving.Ultimately, choosing a nichejust becausesome‘guru’saysit’sa profitableoneis a fast track to becomingbored and disillusioned and ultimatelygivingup. Popularity When pickingyourniche,youneedtothinkaboutthecompetitionout thereandhoweasy itisgoingtobetostand out.Of courseyouwant a subject thathasalarge potentialaudience, sowhynot picksomethingbig like ‘fitness’or‘cars’? Well,that’sagood ideaonthefaceof it until youthinkabouthowmany otherbloggersarewritinginthoseniches.Bodybuilding.comisoneofthe largest sitesonthenetand itgeneratesa hugeturnover–mostof which is investedbackintothesitetoensurea steadyflow ofnew topics.Question is:canyoucompete withthat?Areyougoing tobeabletocompetewith anyofthosesitesto getto pageone? Ontheotherhand,if you choosetoblogabout rearingstickinsects, you’ll likely find that there’s a much smaller audience – but also far less competition. Thebestcasescenario then istofind atopicthat ispopularbutthat isn’tso popularthat it’sgoingtoattract lotsofhugecompaniesand top-name bloggers.Thingslike‘foraging’,‘knitting’,‘writing’, ‘parkour’areall big withoutattractingtoomuch attention. Broad vsSpecificTopics

10. Another strategy is to start with a topic that has a broad appeal but then to narrow it down to something more specific. For instance if you like fitness, how aboutpickingacertain areaof fitnesssuch as runningor CrossFit? Oralternatively,what abouttargetingaparticulargroup? Forinstance ‘fitnessfordiabetics’.You canalsotrycombiningtwodifferenttopics. Agreatexample ofthisistheblog‘Nerd Fitness’. Anotheralternativestrategyistogoverybroadwithyourchosenniche which has theadvantageof allowingyoutocomeupwithlotsof new angles forcontent.If youdo thisthough,yourisk alackoffocussoyou need toensurethatyoukeepeverythingtiedtogetherwitha common thread. A greatexampleof thisisthe‘Art ofManliness’ blog.This blog writesabout anythingthat could beconsidered‘manly’– sothatincludes editorialsontheroleofthemodernmanbutalsopostsonhow tosmoke a cigarorenjoywhiskeyand postsonhow toraisechildren. Thisgivesa hugebroad rangeoftopicsforthewriterwhilestill havinga verystrong brandidentity andfocus. Choosinga ProfitableMarket Anotherconsiderationwhenpickingyournicheiswhetherornot it’s profitable.That’sright:somenichesarefarmoreprofitablethan others and you’ll find iteasierto monetizedependingonwhichone you pick. Examplesof highly profitablenichesincludefinanceand business.These areprofitablebecausetheyoffer ROI inthemselves:someonewillbe happiertospendmoneyon aneBookaboutearningmoneybecausein theory they’llmakethat initialexpense back. Likewise,thereismoneytobemadeinany nichethat hasabigand obvious ‘valueproposition’. Avaluepropositioncan bethoughtoflikeanemotional

11. hook – it isthethingthat peoplewill want tobuyyourproductsorread yourblogfor and the‘way’thattheyhopetheir liveswill benefit.Fitnessis a greatexample becausepeoplebadlywant sixpack absand arewillingto pay.Thesamegoesfordating. Monetizingthatblogonraisingstickinsectson theotherhand will be harder.Thereis simply not thesamedemandor‘need’forproductshere. That saidthough,therelativelackofcompetition inthearea,combined withtherelativescarcityof informationmeanstherearecertainlywaysto monetize. Ultimatelyit’sworthjust thinkinghardwhetheror not your nicheisgoing tobeprofitableornot and weighing thisup when choosing whetherto write about it.Lookat yourcompetition toseewhethertheylooktobe making much money, think about your business model and maybe even tryverifying your intendedbusinessmodel.Verifyingmeanstryingto sell toyourtargetaudiencefirsttoseeiftheyareactuallythere and iftheyare actually interested in buyingyourproduct. https://carbontradebazar.com/

12. Chapter 02 - Selecting The Right Blog Platform Gotyourniche?Great!Thenextthing thenistothinkaboutactually settingupyournewsiteandgettingstartedwithyourcontent.Todothis, youwillneed to choosea‘bloggingplatform’whicheffectivelydictateshow yoursite’scodewill bestructuredandwhat you’ll seewhenyou’relogging inand addingcontent. Now ofcourse,youdon’tactuallyneeda‘bloggingplatform’assuch.Youcan go aboutbuildingyour own websitefrom scratchwhichwill involvecreating pages inHTML andCSS, possiblyusinga builderlike‘Dreamweaver’butif youdo this it willtakea lotlongerand bemuchharder to createsomething thatlooks and performslike aprofessionalwebsite. Insteadthen,youwanttousea bloggingplatform/CMS.CMSstandsfor ‘ContentManagementSystem’andis essentiallyatoolthatsimplifiesthe processofdesigning and buildingyourwebsite,aswell asadding and editing content as needed. Use a CMS andyouwon’tneedtoknowalineof code in ordertobuild the site,toadd new posts and toedit yourexistingcontent.Thisof course saves a lotof time,itstreamlinestheprocessand it ensuresthatyoursite isat least functional. ChoosingYourCMS Sohowdoyouchoose aCMS? Thefirstthingtodo istorecognizethedifferencebetweenhostedandself- hostedoptions.

13. Ahosted option isablogplatformthatyouuse almost like a social network. Inotherwords, youcreateyour account and ‘signin’toanotherwebsite and fromthere,you’llthenbeabletoadd new postsforotheruserstosee. In otherwords,the platformand soyourwebsitearealreadyhosted somewhereonline, meaningyoudon’t need topayfor ahostingaccountto getstarted. GoodexamplesofhostedbloggingplatformsincludeBlogSpot (www.blogspot.com),LiveJournal (www.livejournal.com),WordPress Hosted (www.wordpress.com),WordpressSelf-Hosted (www.wordpress.org) and Tumblr(www.tumblr.com).Eachofthem has strengthsand weaknesses,thoughthey all doessentiallythesamething. Tumblrhereisreallytheodd oneout asitstraddlesthelinebetween bloggingplatformandsocial media platform–and asitmainlyfocuseson imagesthat youuploadasopposedtowrittencontent.

14. Thegreat thingabout thisisthatit’sa completelyfreeprocessand requires absolutely no set-up.Yousimply visitthebloggingplatform,bethat BlogSpotorWordPress,signinandthenstartposting!You can make changestoyourblogintermsofthe wayit looksbut you’llbequitelimited in termsofwhat youcan do.Likewise, you’llalsobelimited intermsof yourURL – meaningthatyouwon’t beabletocallyourwebsite ‘BodybuildingNewsArticles.com’– insteadyourblogwillhave tobe ‘wordpress.bodybuildingnewsarticles.com’ or • ‘blogspot.bodybuildingnewsarticles.com’.Thisofcourselooksfarless professional and it alsomeansyour URL isgoingtobefarlesscatchy and brandable.Peoplewilllikelynot rememberyourURLandtypeitbackinto the addressbar – they’llhave tosearchonGoogle.And thatsaid,even searchingonGooglewill beharderseeing asit’snot aseasytoget hosted websites to‘rank’. • Forallthesereasonsyou’remuchbetteroffwithaself-hostedCMS.This meansyou’ll needtopayfor thehostingspacetooaswellasa domain name.In all,thiswill likelyset youback $100-$500 fortheyearbutif youmonetizewell youshould beabletomakethat makeeven in year one.Ifyouplanonbecoming aprofessional blogger,thisisreallya mandatoryexpense. • When it comesto hostedbloggingplatformoptions,youhave afew popular options.Theseinclude: • WordPress (yes,WordPressisboth) • Joomla • Drupal • WordPress isavailableasboth ahostedandaself-hostedCMSoption.Ifyou go for thehostedoption, youwillsimplyneedto visitWordPress.comand startanaccount. Ifyouwanttogoforaself-hostedchoice,you’ll insteadwant

15. to download the install files from WordPress.com, then upload them to your server. You then navigate to one of the files in your browser and the set-up processbegins. Which self-hostedplatformshouldyou use? TheanswerisWordPressbya longshot.Thereasonforthisispartly that WordPressissimply themost popularbloggingplatform.Inturn,this means it alsohasthewidest support.Thatmeansthatyou’ll beable tofindplentyofdeveloperstowork withwho arewell-versed in theplatform anditmeans you’llbeableto easilyfindadditionalpluginsand themestoinstall totakeyour sitetothe next level.We’ll lookat what themesandpluginsareina momentbut for now all youneedtoknowisthatthey significantlyincreasethecapabilities of your website andare often freetouse. Thefact thatWordPressbeganlifeasabloggingplatformalsogivesit anotherbigadvantage.Thatisthatitishighlyuserfriendlyandcompared withJoomlaorDrupal, thecontrolpanel ismuchmoreaccessibleand easy to use. Butmostofall,youshould useWordPressbecause everyoneelsedoes… That might soundlikeasomewhatlamereasonbut thinkabout it: most of the most successfulbloggerson thenet useWordPress.Countlesspeople beforeyouhaveshown that a WordPresswebsitecanbeincredibly successful…sowhy thenwould you useanythingelsethat ismuch moreof an unknown quantity? Why would you take your chances with a more complicatedplatform?We know that WordPresscanbeoptimizedfor searchengines,weknowitcanbevery well optimized… if you’reserious aboutmakingmoneythenit’sthelogicalchoice.And thewebsitescreated with itlook great.

16. ChoosingaNameandURL • As you’re going with a self-hosted option for your blog, you’ll now need to choose a URL. This is the address that people will type in their search bar in ordertofind yourwebsite and assuch itwillprobablyalsoactasthe • titleofyourwebsiteand thebrandyou’regoingwith. • Choosing your name is another very important step here and there are two big factorstoconsiderwhenmakingthisdecision: • SEO • Branding • SEO issearchengineoptimization–in otherwords,tweakingyour website toensurethatit willlikelytorank highlyon Google and toshow upin searches. Your URL affects your SEObecausesomeURLs aremuchmore ‘searchable’thanothers andthiswillgive you anedgeover thecompetition. • In otherwords,ifyou wanted torankhighlyfor our earlierexample– bodybuildingnewsarticles–then having an addresslike bodybuildingnewsarticles.comorbodybuilding-news-articles.comwould beagreat advantage.Thiswon’tguaranteeyou’ll rankhighlymind and thosewho havedonemoreworkat theirSEOcould stillbeatyouin other ways – it’sjust a goodhead-startand advantage. • In terms ofbranding, youwanttochooseaURLthatis thesame as,or similar to, the nameofyourwebsite.So abusinesscalled‘Spination’woulddovery well to get‘Spination.com’. Again, thisisn’ta requirementbutitwillmake several thingseasier–not to mention promoting yoursite and making it more memorable.

17. If youdon’thavea sitenameyet, thenthisis agoodtimeto thinkaboutit. Aimfor somethingthat’suniqueandinteresting,catchyandatthesame timedescriptive.In aperfectscenarioyour URL will tellpeoplewhat your site is about without just being a boring description. So in reality, ‘bodybuildingnewsarticles.com’isadullURL that’snotgreat forbranding. Much better wouldbe somethinglikeBroNews,BBNewsorMuscleTalk. This iseasierfor creatinglogos, formakinganimpression andmorebutit stillwillgiveyousomeSEO benefit andwon’tbe tooobtuse. Asfor your‘TLD’or‘TopLevelDomain’(the‘com’or‘co.uk’part),it’s still alwayspreferabletoaimforthe‘.com’if youcan.Anexceptiontothis is if you’rerunninga local blogin whichcase a regionalTLDisbetter.In mostcasesthough,‘.com’istheeasiesttorememberandthusthe simplesttopromote.

18. Chapter03 -Efficient Waysto CustomizeYourBlog'sAppearance From thispointonweshall presumethatyouareusingWordPress.Ifthis is not thecase,thenmost ofthefollowingadvicewillapply butsomeofthe specifics and details maybedifferent. Now that you have your URL and you’ve installed WordPress, you’re ready to start creating. The first thing to do? Think about the design you want to use! But that doesn’tmeanyourwebdesign.Thiswon’tcomeuntil later. Instead, you’re going to focus on your logo first. Why? Because your logo is a crucial part of your branding and chances are that you’re going to want to use a webdesignheavilyinspired byyourlogo.Yourwebdesignwill probablyusecolors fromyour logo,itwillprobablyusecertain visual cues and thiswill helptocreatea consistentdesignlanguageforyourentire site. It’s agreat startingpoint and itwill makecomingupwithyour designthat mucheasier. CreatingaLogo

19. So how do youcomeupwithyour logo?Thefirststageistorecognize whatmakes a goodlogo.Critical criteriaherethenare: • Versatility • Simplicity • Originality • Suitability • It needs tobeversatileandsimplebecauseyou’regoingtobeusingthis in variousdifferentplacesthroughoutyouronlinepresence.Your logowill go right atthetopofyourwebsitebutit’salsogoing togo frontandcenter on yourFacebookpage,itwill berightuptoponyourTwitterpage.Andifyou build an appthen it willbetheretoo.We’llsee laterhow importantitisto havea strongpresenceonsocialmedia: andhavingagreatlogowill really make a bigdifferencetothat and will help to createbrandvisibilityand loyalty. • In terms of originality, you need to avoid obvious clichés that are present in toomanylogos.Ticks,globesandlightbulbshavebeendonetodeathandas such you should really avoid these unless you want your website to look like a massivecliché. • That saidthough,don’tgoforsomethingso creativethat it doesn’t communicateyour messageatall.Yourlogoshould entirelyon itsowntell visitorswhatyoursiteisabout and what typeof sitethey’reon.Thiswill tell youwhetherthe logoshouldbefun,whetheritshouldbeprofessional andwhether itshould be colorful. • TheProcess • A great process to go through when creating your logo is to create a mood board.Thisisessentiallya collagewhereyouwillplaceeverythingthatyou

20. can thinkofthatyoulike,thatrelatestoyourbusinessandnicheandthat youmight consideremulating.Thiscanbeotherlogos,itcan bephotosof colorpalettesorit canberandomsketches you’vemade.Createabig enough collectionand eventuallyyoushould find that somethemesand patternsbegin toemerge.Thiswayyoucanthen start sketchingsome ideas,combiningelementsandtrying out different approaches.Some you willlike and someyou’llthrow out.This spit-ballingprocessthoughwill help toleadyou in therightdirection. Likewise, it can help to look at the name of your website and brand and to tryworkingwiththat.Arethereanylettersthatcouldbemorphedintoone ofyour related items? What should thefontlooklike? Fortext,it’simportanttousean interestingfont thatlooksprofessional. Ideally,you’ll alsowanttousea font thatisuniqueto you.A goodsolution herethenistodownload a customfont fromFontSquirrel.com (agreat repositoryof freeTTFand OTFfiles)and thentotrace overyour company name,makingeditsasyoudo tomakeitoriginal.Thisway, yourfontwill be uniquebutatthesametime,it willbebasedonsomethingthatlooks professional. Finally,takewhateveryouhavedesigned and thensimplifyit and scale it back.Removeanythingsuperfluousandthemoreyou cutaway,thebetter andmore impactfulit will be. Note that when you create your logo, you should do so using vector software.ThisincludesthelikesofAdobeIllustrator.Vectorsoftware worksdifferentlyfrom raster software that producesPNG and JPG images. Whilethelattercreatesa‘map’of whereall thepixelsaregoingtogo,the formerletsyoudefinetheangle,lengthanddirectionofthelinesthat create theimage.Thismeansthatvectorimagescanbedrawnatanysize withnolossinqualityandthatyoucaneasilymakeeditstotheimage when youneed tousethelogoinanewcontext.Thebestchoiceifyoucan

21. afford it,istouseAdobe Illustrator.Thiswillproduce an AIfile and you canthen usethat to makenewPNGsas they’reneeded. ChoosingYourTheme Now you have your logo, you should have some ideas for your color palette and you should be ready to start thinking about the artistic direction of your website. At thispoint,withWordPressinstalled, you shouldalready havearather attractivelookingwebsitethatutilizes WordPress’defaultthemefor the year.Thecurrent‘TwentyFifteen’themelooksverysleekandmodernwith lightcolors andavery‘pictureheavy’layout.

22. Youcanswapthetitleforyour new logoandright awayyou’llseethat it looksoutof place.It’salsoimportanttousea themeasotherwiseyoursite won’t lookveryprofessional–it willlook asthoughyoudidn’t knowhow to createa themeofyourown and so optedtogo withwhatwasavailable by default. Adding a theme means applying a new layout and look that has been predefinedfor you. Thiscantheninstantlychangethevisualimpact your websitemakes,as wellas thewayyour visitors willnavigatearound it. Youcan findthemestoinstall for freeright throughWordPressand can previewthemthroughthecontrol panel beforeselectingwhich oneyou want.Theproblemwithfreethemesthoughisthattheytendtobeless professionallookingthanpaid themes and theytendtohavefeweroptions. At thesametime,there’salwaystheriskwith a freethemethat someone elsewillhave chosenexactlythesamethemeofyou.Thisdilutesyour brand identity and itdoesn’texactlyscreamprofessionalism. Insteadthen,itmightbebettertolook forpaidWordPressthemes.This canagainbedonethroughyourWordPresscontrolpanel,itcan bedoneby lookingonothersiteslikeThemeForest,orit canbedoneby hiringateam ofdesignerstocreatea customtheme onyourbehalf.Ofcoursethatlatter option is the best wayto geta themethatis perfectlymatched toyour branding and yourrequirements. When choosing a theme,trytokeep a fewthingsinmind.Forstarters,you need topick a themethat will be well suited tothetypeofwebsiteyou’re goingtocreate.Somethemes areveryimage-heavy forinstance and will feature slidersonthefrontpageaswell aslotsoflargecrispimageslinking toeachof theposts you upload.Thisis a great wayto make yourbloglook more modernandmorevisuallycompellingbut at thesametime,it’salso importantthat youconsidertheworkthat goes intothis and the requirements.Willyourcontentlenditselftobeingimage heavy?Will you

23. have the means and resources to acquire lots of large graphics that you have the rights to use legally? Do you want to spend time reshaping the content? • Certainthemeswillalsobewell suitedtositeswithlotsofcontent andwill havelargemenusforfindingyour way around.Other themesontheother hand will bebettersuitedtositesthataremadeupofasingleor a few static pages. • You shouldalsolookforsome specificrequirementsforyourtheme,no matter whattypeofblogyou’relookingto create.Make surethat: • Thethemeisresponsive,meaning itlooksgoodon anysized display • Thethemeisoptimizedformobileinotherways– forinstance,the buttonsshouldbelargeenoughtobepressedwitha fingerinstead of • amouseclick • Thethemeisquicktoload sothatpeopledon’tgetboredandleave andso that Googledoesn’t penalizeyou • Thethemelooksgoodand professional and iseasytonavigate • If you’retornbetweenthemes,trytaking alook at someoftheblogsthat youenjoyand admire.Whatlayoutsdotheyfeature?Whatisgoodorbad about that? Again – if they’ve shown that that kind of layout can work, it basicallyverifiesthestrategyand ensures you won’tbe wastingyourtime working with a doomed webdesign.

24. CustomizingYourTheme WordPressishighlycustomizableandthisisanotheroneofitshuge advantages.We’vealreadypicked awebsitethemebut now we can goone step furtherbytweakingthatthemetobejust the waywewantit. WordPressallowsyou todothisbydefault underthe‘Appearance’tab where you can change things like your header and footer, your logo, your background,thecolorschemeetc.Mostthemesthoughwill alsocomewith theirown optionspanel whereyoucanmake additional tweaksand customizations. Onethingyou should do right awayis tomatchelementsofyourwebsiteto yourlogo’sprecisecolorcode.Thiswillcreateastrongsenseof consistencythroughoutyourwebdesignand will ensurethateverything matchesneatly.It’s not enoughtofeature‘almostthesame’ blue– itneeds to be100%identicalblue.

25. (Above:The Thesisthemeeditor)

26. (Above:The GenesisFramework—apopularWordpressframework) ColorPalette At thesametime,think about theothercolorson yourwebsite.Onewayto dothisisby applyinga little ‘color theory’.Colortheorybasicallytellsus which colorsshouldlookgood together and whichshouldn’ton a color wheel. When usingthisapproach youhave anumberofoptions. One is topick ‘complementarycolors’whicharethecolorsoppositeeachotheron a color wheel.Purpleandgreenlook goodtogetherforinstance asdoany combination of threecolors spacedevenlyapart.Anotheroption is togofor ‘analogous’colors which arecolorsthataredirectlynext toeachotheron the colorchart. Finally, you can also pick ‘natural’ color schemes. These are color palettes that you select from photos in nature: looking at photos of natural scenery and picking out thecolorsthat occurheavilyin those. Make sure to think about practicality as you do all this. Just because a color scheme looks good, that doesn’t make it appropriate for a website. Ask: is it easy to read? To get helpwithfindingyourcolors,trygoingtoPintrestandsearch for“colorpalette”. You’llfindimagesofcolorsyoucancombine.

27. Fonts Anotherconsiderationisyourchoiceoffonts.Thisis arelativelysmall detailinthewidercontext of your web designbut it’sactuallysmall detailslikethisthatmakeawebdesignlookprofessional andgive it that ‘sheen’. Don’tjustworkwiththefontsthatcamewithyourthemethen:thinkabout adding new typefaces that will be easy to read on a range of devices and thatwillcomplement thetone and topicofyour blog.

28. Forinstance,a ‘serif’font isa font withthesmallfeet at theends.More oftenweuse‘sans-serif’(nofeet)fonts on thewebbecause it’sgenerally easiertoreadand it looksverycrisp, minimal andmodern. But ifyourblog is goingtobereportingnews,or if it’sliteraryinnaturethenyou might wanttoconsiderusinga seriffont.Why?Becauseserif fonts have been traditionallyused in print mediums and assuchtheyhavebecome associated withthat kind ofniche. Combiningfontscanalsobeusedtogood effect.For yourheadingsand titlesforinstanceyoumight opt topicksomethingbolderand larger withoutworryingasmuch aboutlegibility. ChoosingaBackground Adding acustombackgroundcanalsodoalot tocustomizethelookof your themeandthisissomethingyoucanupdateyourselfrelativelyeasily. Again,pick somethingthat ison-pointasfarasyourniche goesand which willadd tothe look andfeelofthesite. AddingWidgets Another waytocustomizeyourWordPressthemeisby addingwidgetsto the sidebars.Widgetsaresmall forms, sidebars and otherelementsthat canprovideall kindsof functionsonyour site.Forinstance,many‘opt-in’ formsformailinglistswilltaketheformof widgets,aswillmany advertisingslots,feedsfromsocial mediaetc.Usingwidgetsisagreatway togiveyoursitemorefeatures and youcan add additionalwidgets by installing them as plugins.

29. Just gotoPlugins–thenadd newpluginstofindwidgetsand‘behind the scenes’toolsthatwill enhanceyoursite’sperformance inallmanner of ways. Outsourcing If all thisissounding rathercomplicated then thereis an easierway– which istotryfindingana company youcan outsourcethe workto.A great way todothisisto visit a freelancingsitewherefreelancerscan post their CVs and youcanpost yourjoboffers.

30. Chapter04-TipsToCreateKillerBlog Content Having abeautiful sitewithnothingonitisnot enoughthough.Ifyouwant tostartgrowing yourvisitorsand buildingmomentumforyour new businessthenyou’regoingto need toaddcontent. Why‘ContentisKing’ Content generallyrefersto‘writing’whenused onlineandin thecaseofa blogthismeansblogposts.Thistypeofcontentiswhat most ofusare lookingforwhenwe searchforthingsonGoogle:wewantinformation, entertainmentoropinion.Thus,byaddingmorecontenttoyoursite,you givepeoplean incentiveto visit and youlet yourselfget toknow them. Contentisimportantfor morereasons thatthatthough.Forinstance,it alsohappenstobe your site’scontentthatwill ensureyouwinorloseat SEO.Searchenginesworkbytryingtomatch search terms tothecontent on awebsite.Themorewritingyouhave,themorechancethereisofyou getting a‘hit’and themorepeoplewillstart findingyoursitewith relevantgoodqueries. Content isalsocriticalfor ‘contentmarketing’.Contentmarketingis basicallya formofmarketingthatrevolvesaroundyourblogposts.Theidea hereisthat you’re goingtoupdate yoursiteregularlywithinteresting articlesand postsandthisshould thenhelpyoutofindgenuinefans ofyour work.Thesepeoplemightsubscribetoyoursite,joinyourmailinglist (more onthatlater) orjustbookmarkyour page.They’ll thencome back regularlytoseewhat interestingnewcontentyou’veaddedlatelyandeach timetheydo,you’llhave a newopportunityto market tothem.

31. What’s more,contentmarketingwill allowyou todemonstrateyour knowledge andexpertiseon a subject.Ifyourreadersgettothepoint wheretheyrespect whatyouhave tosayand theystartseekingyou out for answerstoquestions,thenyou’ll beabletosell tothemmoreeasilywhen yourecommendaninformational productyou’vemade,orperhapsan affiliateproduct you’re gettingcommissionon. Contentisalsocrucial for yoursocialmediamarketing (asyou can shareit to yourchannelsto get morefollowers) and itcanbeused tosellthings directly.Inshort,thesuccessof yourblogrevolvesalmostentirelyaround the content that you’llbeuploadingtoit. How MuchContent Should You Be Adding? So here’sthegoldenquestion:how muchcontent doyouneedtoadd to turnyourwebsiteinto abig success? There’s nosingleanswerherethoughand ofcoursethebestguidelineswill depend on what yourblogisabout,whoyourtypicalreaderisetc. You should alsokeep in mind that qualityalwaystrumpsquantity. BUT thesimpleguidelinefor how muchcontent to addisjust: as muchas youpossiblycan whilestayingconsistent. Consistencyiskey. We’ve seenallthewaysthatcontentcanhelpyourwebsite.We’veseenthat ‘content isking’and that SEObasicallyamountstoaddingwritingtoyour siteforGoogletofind…and withthat in mind,itfollows that themore content youcanadd,themorechancesyouwillgive peopletofind youand themoreyou’llstand to make fromyoursite.

32. We touchedon this brieflyintheintroduction alreadybut thisisreallythe key point youshould takefrom thise-book.Tobesuccessful from ablog, youneedto reallyinvest yourselfinit.That meansspendingalotoftime making tonsofgreat qualitycontent andthen promotingit.Youcan upload a blogpost oncea weekand befairlysuccessful.Butifyouwantto skyrocket yourselftoprominenceyou reallyneedtobepostingmultiple times a weekorevenmultipletimes a day.Your rewardswillgrow exponentiallythemoretop-qualitycontent youareputting out. How Many Words ShouldEachBlogPost Be? Now that you have an idea as to how much content you should be adding, thequestion nowis howmanywords orlengthshould eachblogpostbe? AccordingtoNeil PatelofQuickSprout.com and statisticsfrom SerpIQ,longerpostsare usuallybetter. Typicallylongerpostsattract moresearch traffic.Take a look at thisgraph from SerpIQ:

33. Notice the topcontent lengthissitting around2000words. Longer postsareusuallymore comprehensivethan a short 500-word article--there’smore meat and detailinit. Why it’sbetterforsearchtraffic isbecauseyou areincludingmoreh1,h2, h3headings andkeywordswithinyourposts. Thehigheryourwordcount,themorelink-backsyou’ll get.Takethese graphics fromMozasproof:

34. Morelink-backs means more search traffic. NeilPatelsays: “My own researchonQuickSproutconfirms this.All of my poststhatare more than1,500wordsreceive 68%moretweetsand 22%moreFacebook likesthanthe articleswith fewer than1,500 words.” Just somethingto considerwhenwritingyourposts. ChoosingTopics The nextquestion thenishowyou’regoingtogo aboutpickingtopicsto write about.How doyou bringsomethingfreshtoyourchosennichethat hasn’t beenseenbefore?How doyouensurethatyourcontent isgoing to bring inreadersand that it’sindemand?

35. SEO I sharedsometips on search traffic earlierbutlet’stalkaboutit a little more.Onestrategyistofocusonthe SEOaspectofyour articles. The ideal situation here is that you write a post that people are searching forbutthatdoesn’tyetexist.Alternatively,youcantry andwriteasubject thatispopularright nowbutnotyet oversaturated. Youcan dothisbyusingkeyword researchtools.Keyword researchtools effectivelyallowyouto seewhat people are lookingforand how the competitionstacksup. Thebest knownkeyword tool isGoogle’sown‘Keyword Planner’ (http://adwords.google.com/keywordplanner).

36. ThisisdesignedforpeoplewhoarethinkingofusingGoogle’spaid ‘AdWords’platformfor advertisingandtheideaistoshowwhichsearch terms might bea good useofinvestmentcapital for a companyhopingto gain exposureto a specific audience.Unfortunatelythough,Google ‘depowered’theirkeywordplannerawhileback becausetheydidn’twantto providetoomuchinformationfor thosetryingto‘game’their search rankingsystem.Thismeans thatyoucan’tseeall ofthegood keywords currently available. Insteadthen,youmight decideto lookinto alternateoptionslikethefree Wordpot,or paid MozKeywordAnalysis,RavenToolsResearchCentralor KeywordSpy. Linkstoeachtool: Wordpot: https://addons.mozilla.org/en- us/firefox/addon/wordpot-the-keyword-finder/ Moz:https://moz.com/tools/keyword-difficulty RavenToolsResearchCentral:http://raventools.com/seo-tools/ KeywordSpy:http://www.keywordspy.com/

38. Tousethese,simply searchforthetopicofrelevanttermsalongsidethe searchvolume(how manypeopleareregularlysearching forthem).From there,youcanthentrysearchingthetermyourselfinGoogleand then seeingwhatthecompetitionlookslike.Findahighlycompetitive keyword,thenaskyourself:canyoudobetterthan that?Andalso: how? ForaddedSEObenefit,youthenwant tosubtlylaceyour keywordsintothe content,so that youareoccasionallyrepeatingthephrasein a non-forced manner(aswell asusingrelatedterms).Don’tmakeit obvious(thisis called ‘keyword stuffing’ and it will get you penalized) but just take the opportunitiesastheyarise. Keywordresearchisa very handytoolforfindingtopicsthatwill bea hitfor your websitebutmakesurethat youdon’tletkeywordsdictatethetopicsof

39. yourarticles– otherwise you’ll endupwitha bunchofgenericposts thatarewrittenforGoogleoveractual humans that mightreadthem! PlacestoResearch Another waytogetgreatideasforcontentissimplytokeep aneyeonwhat otherpeoplearetalkingabout and on news.Lookingat forumsin your niche isagreat way todothis,as you canseewhatpeoplearetalkingabout, askingquestionsaboutetc.Youcan evenpostthereyourself and just ask whatpeoplewant to hear moreof! Of courseyoucanalsolookat what yourcompetitorsare writing aboutand you canlookatnewssites. Newssitesgenerallyhavesectionslikehealth, technologyetc.and thesecanprovideusefultopicalpromptsforyourcontent. Notethoughthatanythingthatis tootopicalwill not be‘evergreen’. In other words, itwill havealimitedshelf-life as far asbeingrelevantgoeswhich meansyouwon’tbeabletogetmorevalueout of it infuture. Anothertrickistolookatnewsfromwebsitesnotinyournicheandthen to combinethat news. In otherwords,youmight havea fitnesswebsitebut perhapsa newmotion-controlled computergameisrelevant?Or maybe youcould writesomethingbased on technology? EasyWaystoGetContent Lookingtogetcontentwithouthavingtoputinallthelegworkyourself?As it happens, there are a number of ways you can get good content for ‘free’ andwithout working.

40. Oneistocreate‘curatedcontent’.Curatedcontentissimplycontentthat youhavegatheredfrom around the web. Noneofit isoriginal butby collectingit allinoneplace,youcanoffersomethingnew. A very basic example of curated content would be a list of famous or inspirationalquotesfor instance.Youcan gofurtherthanthat thoughand usefull paragraphs,linksor evenentire shortarticles.Aslong asyouare providingvalueto yourtarget audiencebycollectingallthe contentinto oneplace,it willbeusefulforyourreaders. Noteaswellthough,thatcuratedcontentrunstheriskofpenalizationfrom Google.Googledoesn’tlike people touse‘duplicatecontent’which is any contentthathasalready beenpublishedelsewhere.Of course yourcurated content runstheriskoffallingintothattrap.Thisisfine:justmakesure thatyoudrivemost ofyour traffictothisparticulararticlefromsocial mediaandtrytoavoidusingthisstrategytooregularly.Anothertipisto use smallerpassages– thiscan alsohelp you toavoidbeingguiltyof simple copypasta. Anotherwayyoucanget greatqualitycontentforfreeisby publishingthe work ofguestbloggers.Guestbloggersare bloggerswhopublishcontent onyour siteinexchangeforafreelink backto theirsite.Thisgivesthem somepromotion and yougetsomefreecontent intheprocess– it’s a genuine win/winscenario!

41. Chapter 05 - Adding Video And Images To BlogsForHigherEngagement Due toitsconsiderableSEO advantages,text should always bethemain sourceofcontentforyourwebsite.However,withthatsaid thereareother types ofcontentyou can chooseformtoo.Forinstance,videoshavea numberofadvantagesinthatthey’rehighengaging,verymemorableand verypersuasive.Imagesmeanwhilewill reallyhelptosell yourcontent and especiallywhenpeople seepreviews ofit on socialmedia sites. How To AddAVideo ToYourBlog The easiest way to add video content to your website is to create a vlog on YouTube (a video-log or video-blog) and then to embed it onto your pages as posts. Always make sure to write a little content underneath too as this willhelpyou to rank on those pages.

42. Moreimportantlythough,havingvideobuilt-intoyourblogwill give visitorsanotherin-roadto reachyou.Thisway, you can usevideo marketingthrough YouTubeandbuildupalistofsubscribersthereto introduce toyourwebsite. Meanwhile, you’ll be able to get your blog subscribers to check out your YouTubechannel andconnectwithyouthatwaytoo. Thisisthefirstreal examplewe’velookedatat creatingsynergyacrossweb channelsandit’sa verypowerfulstrategyifyou’reinterestedin gainingmoreexposurefor your content.Again, makesureyouhave astrongbrandherewhichwillreally helptotieeverythingtogether.Showyour logoinyour videoopener,have itasa watermarkonyour videoanduseit onyourYouTubechannel page too. Having videosonyour sitewill alsogiveyour visitorsthechancetogetto know you(assumingyou’re goinginfront ofthe camera). Thisalso shouldn’tbeunderestimatedasit’s a highlyeffectivewaytobuild a ‘personal brand’whichisoftenevenmorememorablethan a more corporate brand. To add a video, simply get the link to your video and paste it into your post. If you are using Wordpress, it will automatically convert your video into an embeddedvideo.

43. Step1: CopytheURL Step2:Pasteintoyourpost

44. AddingImages Adding images meanwhilecan helptobreakup longpassagesof textand togreatlyheightenshareability. When youpostlinkstoarticlesonyour blogtoFacebookorGoogle+,bearinmind that thetitle and theimage are theonlytwothingsthatwillencouragepeopletoclickornot.Thisisone ofyourmostpowerful assetsthenandit’scriticalthatyouuse bothwisely. Therightimageshould not onlyattracttheattentionof social mediausers butshouldalsocommunicatewhat your post isabout andwhytheyshould read it.Somepeople willeven‘like’orsharecontent beforethey’veeven read it iftheimageis convincingenough! Of courseyoucanmakeyour own imagesbytakingphotosor byusingediting softwarebut oftenyou’ll beableto save timeand ensurea professionalquality by usingstockphotositesinsteadthatprovideyou withfreeimagesthatyou havetherightstouse. Therearemanysuchsitesbutgoodexamplesinclude http://morguefile.comandhttp://depositphotos.com. Youcan also searchGoogle Images andotherimagesharingsitestofind photosthat youcanuse.Todothisthough,makesurethatyou have selected ‘labeledforreuse’or‘labeledforreusewithmodification’if you plan to makechanges.Thisway,theimageshould comewith a creative commonslicense meaningthat youare permitted touseit onyoursiteand even toprofit.

45. Chapter 06 - HowToProfit From Your Blog? Witheverythingyou’velearnedsofaryou should now havewhatit takesto be a successful blogger, insofar as you know how to create a blog and then growit tothepoint whereit’sgettingtonsoftraffic.But whilethisishighly rewarding,it’s not going togiveyouthefreedomthat you’relookingfor. Thiswill not beenoughtoenableyoutoquityourdayjoband tostart lying in inthemornings/spendingmoretimewithyourfamily/travelling. Todothatyou’regoingtoalsoneed tomonetizeyourblog– in otherwords ensurethatit’sbringingincash. So howdo youdo that?Theanswermight surprise you… ConsiderThisBefore YouSpendASingleCent OnAdvertising Many people believe that the best way to make money from a website is by putting ads on it – specifically like Google AdSense that will pay out every timethey getclicked (thisis‘PPC’advertisingmeaning‘pay perclick’).

46. Simplysignupforanaccountathttps://www.google.com/adsense, createyourcampaigns,pastetheadvertsyoucreateontoyoursiteto embed theminyourcontent and thenensurethatlotsof peopleare going to yoursite. Problem isthough,you’reonlygoingtoearn a few centsperclickfrom thoseads. If you’regettinghundredsofthousandsofviewsperday,then thiscan be a goodwaytoearn a fairamount of passiveincome–but even then therearesmarterand moreeffectivewaysyoucouldbeearningmore. Thethingtokeepinmind hereisthatthoseadvertisersarewillingtopay youthat muchforyourtraffic.What thistellsyou,isthat thecustomers are worthmoretothemthan the small amountthey’repayingyou.That means they must have found a betterwaytomonetizetheir site – likelybyselling a productor perhaps anaffiliateproduct thatthey’ll gaincommissionfor.

47. Eitherway,thisnow meansthatyou’resellingsomethingforlessthanit’s worth. Howdo youget tothetopof thepile? CreatingandSellingProducts Theverybest waytomakemoneyfroma blogistosell something.You cando thisby purchasinginventoryinbulkandthensellingitonfor more than you paid for it but this is a rather involved and complicated process with a numberofchallenges. What’smucheasierthenandwhat’sparticularlywell suitedtoblogging, is tosellaninformationalproduct.That meansan e-book,a book,a digital courseorsomethingelse.

48. (Above:an informationproduct created by DigitalMarketer.com) As a digital product, these options will have zero overheads for you and no delivery costs. What’s more, you’ll be able to demonstrate value and build trustin yourproductthroughyourcontent marketingvery effectively. Throw

49. in someadvertsforyour productand somepromotionwithinthebody ofyour content andyoucanmakea lot ofmoney thisway. Note that ifyouaren’tconfidentenoughordon’thave the timetowritean entire e-book,youcanalwaysoutsourcetheprocessusingthelikesof UpWork (www.upwork.com),Freelancer(www.freelancer.com)and Elance (www.elance.com). AffiliateMarketing Orifyou’drathernotinvestthetimeormoneyincreatingproducts, another choiceistoskipthat part and insteadsell someoneelse’s product. You can dothisby becominganaffiliatemarketer,meaningthatyou’renow selling a product forcommission.Ifthat soundslike astep-downfrom sellingyourownproduct,bear in minditgivesyouamuchwiderselection ofthingstoselland thatit meansyoucanchooseproducts that arealready highly successful.

50. If youfind anaffiliateproductthrougha sitelikeClickBank (www.clickbank.com)orJVZoo (www.jvzoo.com), you’llbegivenan affiliatelinkto promote and everytimesomeoneclicksonthatlinkand buystheproductyou’llget around 40-60%.A greatstrategythenisto includeproduct reviews asblogposts, ortohave a list of‘keyresources’for yourreadersthat promotetheseitems.