Over the years I have received series of WhatsApp and Facebook messages from people willing to become bloggers or new bloggers trying to find their feet. Their issues are mostly similar mostly centered around how to start a blog, how to make money from blogging, how much they can make from blogging, and ultimately how to get traffic to their blogs. This blog post as titled Blogging Tips For Beginners will address just that.
I’m not an expert on every blogging topic but I definitely have my strong areas since I have been a blogger for seven years now and a full-time blogger for over 3 years now. I’ve obviously made a lot from blogging and will like to share the tips I use on daily basis with you.
I may not be able to help you make that 1 million dollars in a month from blogging but if you stick around this blog for the next few months, you will definitely be able to make a living through blogging.
Who is a Blogger
This has been a trending topic for sometime now but for the purposes of this post, a blogger is someone who publishes blog posts or articles for others to read, usually talking about one specific topic or topics of interest.
To be a blogger, you must own a blog or have a blog on which you publish your thoughts. I will address how to buy a domain name which is the blog name and set up your blog for success in a separate post since this is one of the major steps towards becoming a successful blogger.
How do I get a suitable domain name
Many new bloggers are so concerned about the blog name they buy and trying so hard to get everything perfect from the very beginning. It is not very important to get everything perfect from the start. The domain name can be important for some visitors, but a nice domain alone is useless as long as the content of your blog brings no value to the reader. In general, something short, catchy, and maybe with reference to the topic is a good domain.
But I have seen domains with names that absolutely no one can ever relate with ranking so high in google search and bringing in thousands of dollars every single month whiles very nice domains struggle for traffic. Your concentration should rather be on the content you are going to provide instead of the domain name.
What niche should I cover on my blog?
This is a very difficult question that can be answered best by the blogger. The best blog posts are the ones that connect with the writer’s emotions. For instance, I feel more comfortable writing articles on education than I do for travel, entertainment, or any other niche.
If you don’t have a topic for your blog yet, I can only recommend trying different things. At some point, certain topics solidify with you and you begin to feel comfortable writing more and more on such topics.
One other thing the blogger must consider is the traffic potential of the niche he or she is willing to enter. Critical thought must be given to this particular decision since there are niches with huge traffic potential but bad CPC which means low revenue in the long run. I will explain blog niches that pay better in a separate article but for a start, the entertainment niche in Africa is one of the most saturated niches as well as worst niches when it comes to revenue potential. Run from it.
How long does it take for my posts to get views?
The answer to this question depends on the topics you are writing on and your experience in the blogging field. Trending topics or most entertainment niche topics turn to bring in lots of views within a very short time while typical niche blogs like this one turn to generate momentum over time.
On average, it takes a new blog about 3 to 6 months to start benefiting fully from search engine traffic. But that doesn’t mean it must take you 6 months to start getting visitors to your blog. You have to explore other avenues of getting traffic such as Facebook, WhatsApp, google ads, Reddit, Pinterest, and many more as you wait patiently for your blog to be indexed by search engines like google and bing. I will write a full article on how to generate traffic in the coming days.
How long does it take to start making money from blogging?
This is probably one of the most common questions about blogging. As mentioned earlier, it can be tedious for the blog to gain views. But after you have gotten over the traffic wahala, money begins to come in. But to better answer this, you have to ask yourself the following questions.
- What do you want to achieve with the blog at all?
- Are you doing this just because you want to be called a blogger OR as a hobby?
- Do you want to just earn some money to be able to renew your hosting?
- Do you want to earn a lot of money at the long run?
Then, of course the question is, how much money do you want? Because you start earning money from the very time you set up and add advertisement to your blog but how much money is too much money for you?
Getting answers to these questions can better help you understand what you mean by earning money through blogging.
For a start, various strategies and tools can be used to monetize a blog.
The most well-known tool is Google Adsense. Adsense is one of the few advertising tools that have no requirements for the number of visits to your page. It allows you to automatically place advertising banners on your page. If a visitor to your page is shown such a banner or even clicks on it, your Adsense account will be credited with an amount, depending on the page value. This is how you make money from Adsense. I will take time to write on the requirements to get AdSense approved for your blog in a separate blog post.
There are other advertising tools like Content.ad, Mgid, Ad.plus and even direct ads and sponsored posts.
How to find a topic to write on
You can find inspiration for a blog post practically everywhere. Just think about yourself: When did you face a problem (on the computer or in real life) and how did you solve it? Can it be solved at all? Or do you even have a solution that many others could benefit from?
There are many approaches and types of blog posts, that alone would be worth a separate post which I will do in the coming weeks. A blog can be entertaining, informative, and exciting, maybe all three. In the end, you have to think about what you would like to find if you google a problem.
You can also just write about your hobby, because there is nothing such as *”that already exists, so I don’t need to write about it”*. There is always something to tell and if it is only the new perspective that particularly appeals to the reader.
I however advise you write down about 50 blog topics before you even write the first one. Check question and Answer forums in the niche you have decided on, make a search using google tools to see what others are searching for, predictive writing is also another way of getting blog topics. This is when you predict what will happen next and begin to provide information around that topic.
Does X work, or can I make more money with Y
Try it. There is no one to take the step for you. You have to find out for yourself. Whether money should be the main intention at all is more than questionable, but if you are into it, there is nothing to be said against trying.
But I said earlier there are blog niches that pay better and entertainment niche is now one of them. Entertainment, News, and Sports may bring you tons of views but it will definitely not make your bank manager smile at you.
Explore niches such as Insurance, Softwares, Technology and Gadgets, Law, Health and Medicine, and many more if money is the focus.
You will never get the quick money with a blog, but if you put enough time and energy into one thing, sooner or later you will be rewarded. The focus must always be on fun, otherwise it makes no sense. Blog topics that are of interest to you and for which you are passionate are particularly important.
I will come you way more often with blogging things and how to make a living through blogging. From how to set up and blog to how to receive that bank alert at the end of the month. I will take you through them step by step.
