Did you ever wondered why some blogs become so successful? And why is not your blog the one getting million of views and followers?
In the last months I studied multiple blogs: the top ones in different niche, then the ones with not so much success. I have a conclusion now, and I put together all the info in order to share it with you.
In case you do not have a blog yet, you can find all the information here: How to create a blog or website in 2019 – Easy tutorial
Here is the recipe for a successful blog:
1. Unique content
This is the most important thing when we are talking about a great blog, all the information should be original. I understand, there are some topics where research is needed. For example, I do not expect you to write the technical definition of block-chain. But I do expect from a great blogger to summarize the information about that definition.
Do not copy paste it, read the definition and add the explanation in your own words. One exception is when using quotes, you can copy paste them,but do not forget to mention the source.
Use a plagiarism checker and make sure that your copied text is no more than 10% from the entire article. I would aim to 0% duplicated text. Not only your readers will appreciate your articles, but the search engines would love the original content. You’ll be rewarded with great positioning on Google, Bing and so on.
2. Write about something you are passionate
Let’s remember, during school time, when you got those boring homework’s over and over. All that felt like burden because it was not what YOU wanted to do in your free time, is what the teacher or society wanted.
Choose a niche you really love and writing articles will be a beautiful way to relax and forget about your daily struggles.If not, you’ll get bored, stop writing new content and the website will become a museum artifact. In addition to that, readers can feel how passionate is your writing and will come back for more
3. Write about things that are useful to others
Nobody will be interested to read an article about how cute is your cat or a long description about the view from your hotel room. I am sorry if I hurt your feeling but I am trying to be honest here. The alternative of those 2 articles would be: ‘7 steps to have a happier cat’ or ‘How to get discounted hotel rooms’. The difference is obvious, your article should answer to a question, should have a purpose.
Just stay 10 seconds and think about what are you interested to learn right now? Or what information you know and can teach others too. The goal of your article would be to deliver a solution for that specific question. It’s lovely to see how easily you can help others and guide them to learn something. You should feel successful even If there is only one person who read your blog post and applied the advice. That is how everything starts, one by one.
4. Be consistent
Post regularly a few times a month. It is better than adding 5 articles at once and then having no activity for the rest of the month. From visitors perspective: you want them to come back often in order to check if there is any new article. Best way is to have a schedule, for example: posting a new online article every Saturday. Also it’s good from SEO perspectives. Same as YouTube, Google loves consistency
5. Easy to read articles
Main reason why internet became so popular is because the information is really easy to find here. Now there is no need to search in library for multiple volumes and look through pages if you want to read about stomach pain, or anything else. You can just write ”stomach pain symptoms” on Google and all the information will be showed in front of your eyes.
That is why the structure of your blog post is so important. If there is a really long text without any Headings, the reader will get bored and move on to the next site. That happens because of the competition, so you should really create articles that stand out both from the content and structure perspective.
Use bold, italic, quotes, lists, and anything else you can find in order to highlight the more important information and to make your article really easy to read. I have seen from my research that people love list type articles, as it contains a lot of useful information and saves time because reading all the items it’s just effortless. Also lists makes it clear what the article is about and readers can focus on the part of the article that interest them.
6. Add relevant pictures
Using at least one photo in each of your articles could make your blog successful. In the case of a tutorial, add multiple print-screens with the steps as it will be easier to follow. My advice would be to add unique photos taken by you or created especially for you. If it’s a travel blog it’s mandatory to add photos taken by you as it will increase your credibility. In the case of a more general niche, using copy right free photos should be fine.
Make sure the added image supports the text in the post. There is no sense to add cat pictures to a blog post about money. Well, maybe it does, but only if the post is about how much it costs to have a cat. That is the only exception.
7. Personal touch
What do you think is more useful to a reader? A descriptive article about a product/service OR an article where you describe the product/service and tell your personal experience with it. Same with a travel blog. They want the opinion of a real person, how you feel about that travel destination. The basic demographic and geographic information is found on Wikipedia anyway.
People will want to read more from you. No need to be Dostoevsky or Hemingway in order to write successful articles online. Nowadays the internet in full of information. Of course, you’ll repeat some of that content in a way or other. For example there are several articles like this one: “How to create a successful blog” or “10 ways to be a successful blogger”. And that is OK. You just have to make sure a unique point of view is added to your content, tell your story and people will appreciate it.
8. Marketing
No matter how much time and effort are put in creating the most amazing blog if no one can see it. Advertising your site is vital if you want to grow. You do not necessary need to invest money for that. Nowadays there are so many ways you can be more visible.
Let’s see some examples:
Free:
- SEO optimize your blog posts – use a WordPress plugin like YoastSEO, add meta tags and descriptions. Now you’ll have more chances to get visitors from search engines
- Create social media accounts: Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram ( use whatever is fitting your blog best)
- Share the articles with your friends- Share them on Linkedin (the ones that are related to jobs/career/money)
- Guest post: contact well known bloggers in your niche and ask to publish a guest article on their blog ( do not forget to mention your website in the article)
- Create YouTube videos and promote your articles there
- Answer to related question on Quora and add the link to the article in your answer
Cost money:
- Facebook ads
- Google ads
- Pinterest with Tailwind
- Encourage people to share your post by creating a Contest with a prize ( you should offer something related to your niche if you want to attract the right type of people)
- Get the services of an experienced marketing analyst.
Marketing is the final key for a successful blog.
Conclusion
Many bloggers start writing a few articles, then they get bored or just think that it does not worth the effort. Blogging is not something that have a very quick payoff. At least not for most of people.
In conclusion you can see that this tricks are not rocket science. Following them will not guarantee an instant success. But I guarantee you that on the longer term you cannot fail with this steps. Don’t forget to have fun while working on your soon the be successful blog.
Also trust me, all your hard work will pay off someday. Just don’t give up. 🙂
What are your tricks used in order to achieve a successfully website?
