The blogging world has evolved since 2008 or 2009. The strategy before seemed to be long-tail oriented, where bloggers were encouraged to hit the publish button as much as possible to gain more traffic over time.
Now, blogging is more associated with being a hobby instead of making money.
Not cool.
And here is why…
Search engines are ranking sites differently these days. Google changed its algorithms and devalued many blogs, which is why you’ve heard words like “penguin” and “panda” in the blogging and seo world.
Look no further than Backlinko’s Brian Dean, who did 50,000 in unique visitors last month:
Consider this: he has written less than 30 blog posts on his site.
Yes, 30 posts, and 50k unique visitors per month.
The rules for blogging have changed. The days of frequent, thin content are done—you’ll just get lost in the masses, and people will rarely find you in search engines.
Content is still king. High-quality content. And yes, search engines are still sending tons of traffic to blogs. But the blogging rules have changed.
Focus More on Blogging Promotion, less on Blogging Frequency
Whether you write a personal blog or run a business blog, you need to be aware of how the rules have changed.
Old blogging rules insisted that you blogged daily. However, if you are a one-man-show or have limited resources, decrease your blogging frequency.
In the past, the average blogging strategy consisted of publishing a new blog post every day. The goal was to get ranked for as many long tailed keywords as possible. If you blogged daily, your posts would eventually rank for important long tail keywords.
Right?
Well, now there should be more planning (what keywords or topics can I rank for?) and more promotion (what type of person am i targeting?).
Begin every blogging piece by a thorough look at the keyword opportunities.
Use Google’s keyword Planner, and go after 3-5 medium-sized keywords for each post.
Going after a few different keywords will result in a longer post. Don’t worry, that’s actually a good thing. Longer posts that are comprehensive and full of conversational tone, videos and visual assets will play into Google’s algorithm nicely.
Make your content fun to engage. Infographics are good, but also frequent pictures and charts can make people consume content more efficiently (and effectively).
As a suggestion, try writing a longer post on Monday. Then, spend the rest of the week doing things that will get more exposure for your post.
For instance, write additional value-packed content pieces in your niche. Network with other sites, and send traffic back to your blog through a link. This will also send an SEO signal and Google will push your blog post higher in the search results.
Simple blogging SEO, but it works great as long as quality and value are exchanged.
Your Niche Matters
Source: Placeit.net
If you’re a business blog, this may not apply to you. You need to stick to your core topic to win traffic and brand exposure. Read Kathryn’s other articles on content strategy.
But if you’re a personal blogger looking for ways to monetize their blog, I may have a big solution to the broke blogging phenomenon.
Blog about lucrative niches.
Thing about it, the internet is flooded with travel blogs, craft blogs, DIY blogs, etc – and those are great blogs. However, most of those blogs make money through Adsense, which in reality, pays pennies. You need to be getting significant traffic (over 1,000 unique visitors a day) to pull down decent bucks.
Niches that are profitable?
Blog about the best web hosting company from your own experience, then link to your affiliate sales page of the web hosting company of your choice.
Blog about a big-ticket travel deal.
Blog about a healthcare direct sales company, like Melalueca, Brain Abundance or FG Xpress.
Blog about your local personal injury lawyer, and start cashing in on referrals.
Those kinds of niches are lucrative and can help out a struggling blogger. Obviously, you’d want to find something within your blog niche, but you have more opportunities to convert on traffic than Google Adsense.
In closing, ditch the old blogging strategies of blogging about whatever, whenever.
The days of writing as many posts as possible and hoping that people will read them are over. Content for small bloggers these days needs the proper planning (keyword research) and promotion (pointing link signals back to your blog).
Start creating longer and more thorough posts that are useful. Then, promote your blog as much as you can.
About the Author: Jeremy Page is a digital nomad and internet entrepreneur who teaches passive income lifestyle at http://multiplestreams.org.
