Just after registering your domain, securing web hosting, and installing WordPress can be one of the most confusing times for a new blogger. You have a million and one things to do and no clue where to start.
I’m not a whale blogger (yet), but Props Blog has shown some solid signs of growth over the couple of months. I have no doubt that I would be 50 days ahead of where I am now if I had followed this path, and not the one I took. These are the basic steps in the order I would do them.
Step 1. Get a Killer Theme, Professional Appearance, and Unrivaled Usability
When you first start, you have to find a theme (free or premium). Just because you’ve found a theme doesn’t mean your design work is done. You still have to create a logo and/or some sort of distinguishing look for your site. This is especially important if you get a free theme. (Learning to code helps). Without a nice logo your site may look unprofessional. Don’t risk it.
Even after you have a theme and logo, you still have to hunt down appropriate plug-ins to make your site easier to navigate and more user friendly. This is an unending process.
One major usability feature that will end up being critical for monetizing a little later is a mailing list. Go to Awebber and sign up ASAP. I should have done this from the day my blog went live. I am dumb.
Step 2. Write Useful Relevant Content That Entertains and Educates
Now that you’ve got your site looking good and navigation ready, you need to make sure there is something worth reading when visitors arrive. At first you might be able to write with minimal research, but eventually, you’ll start having to look for new ideas.
Your writing should also grow over time as you learn new techniques (like writing smart-ass comments and cussing like a sailor) to capture and entertain your reader. In theory, you’ll also learn a few tricks for headlines too. Either way, be boring and die, entertain and thrive.
Step 3. Make Sure Your Site Is Fully Optimized (SEO gogo!)
Make sure your theme is designed for full optimization. (Hint: Chris Pearson knows SEO tricks you’ve probably never considered, read his site)
If you selected a solid premium theme like Thesis, you probably won’t have to do any major code editing, but that doesn’t mean your site is fully optimized.
Using utilities like Website Grader can help you see how search engines see your site and help you to make practical use of your header, title, and meta tags.
Also, pay careful attention to long-tailed keywords (those crazy 5 word search phases that somehow point people to your site). Until you are a king baller problogger, you’ll have a hard time ranking well for “Make Money Online” or “How To Blog,” so consider the long-tail search terms in your titles and headers (this post doesn’t do a very good job of that. Bad me!)
Step 4. Promote Your Site To Someone Other Than Your Mom
This is easily the most dangerous area for a blogger for several major reasons:
Done wrong, you make yourself look like a selfish jerk and lose all credibility. (Read: Blog Comment Etiquette and Twitter Newbie Mistakes to Avoid for starters)- Done right, you become addicted to successful promoting and forget to work on other aspect of your blog which leads to your long term demise.
- You get so caught up reading others blogs, commenting, and reading your twitter feed that you forget to do anything (including eat, sleep, take a bathroom break, or blog).
Promoting your site is critical to your blog’s growth, but don’t lose yourself promoting.
Step 5. Tastefully and Ethically Monetize Your Blog (because you deserve it)
Now that you’re site is looking sexy, search engines think you rock, and everyone in the world has heard about you on social media, you deserve to make a little money for your time. It is time to tastefully and ethically monetize your site.
Two keys words: Tastefully and Ethically.
Loading your blog up with 5 AdSense blocks is not tasteful. Don’t do it. Seriously… It’s not worth it. Add a couple of 125×125 ads on your sidebar and make ethical suggestions for products.
If you put a few PPC ads on your site, make sure they don’t ruin the user experience. You might make a little more money, but losing your reader will cost you more in the long run.
Also, your mailing list is your longest long term source of profit. Make sure to take extra special care of the people on your mailing list!
Stay On Task And You’ve Got a Chance
Problogging isn’t for everyone. It requires a ton of discipline, hard work, and a little bit of talent. One of the more critical things you can do to be successful is Stay On Task. I find my best work comes when I’m on task. When I’m off task, I end up hours if not days behind where I want to be.
Later this week I’ll be posting a few tricks I’ve used to stay on task, and what happens when I get off task.
Related posts:
- Don’t Judge A Blog By It’s Homepage: At Online Marketing Blog Content is King
- Props to Pro Bloggers – Making a living writing a Blog
- 7 Steps To Building A Following And Following The Right People On Twitter
- SEO and Design Tips You Never Knew About
- Invade Blog Archives To Build Your Knowledge In A Flash
LaRea Says:
November 3rd, 2009 at 3:01 PM
Thank you forthe valuable information. I am just getting started and having a blast. But I do find myself getting off task once in a while. I look forward to your ideas on that subject. Thanks for the great article.
Blake Waddill Reply:
November 3rd, 2009 at 3:59 PM
Thanks for the support. Blogging is a lot of fun, but it can be a lot of work if you’re trying to make money doing it.
The article should be done Friday. I’m really excited about it too… Now I just have to follow my own advice ;-)
Zaheer Says:
November 3rd, 2009 at 3:11 PM
Very useful article. I totally agree that good content and an appealing theme are the
prerequisites for a successful blog. Promotion and SEO optimization will nor do much good without great content. Monetizing the blog is trick question it is hard to get correct balance but i think one should start with a conservative approcah. Build a base of loyal readers and then slowly start adding ads to your blog. My 2 cents.
Blake Waddill Reply:
November 3rd, 2009 at 4:01 PM
Thanks for visiting! I think blogging is all about bringing the total package.
Good content doesn’t do you much good if no one comes to your site to read it. Once they get to your site, they won’t read it if they can’t find the content or it looks like a 10 year old put it together.
Finally, they won’t come back if the content sucks. When you bring the total package you start to see serious growth.
btw – I like your logo and especially your favicon. Looks amazing.
Blaine Bullman Says:
November 3rd, 2009 at 4:10 PM
Well you’re doing one awesome job already.
Very solid points that every blogger should have checked on their list.
Im a victim of point 3 step4. There’s just an endless line of tweets and blogs posts to read and comment on.
I don’t promote my posts as much as I should. How do you do to promote your posts?
Blake Waddill Reply:
November 3rd, 2009 at 4:30 PM
Thanks for your kind words of support! :)
I think we’re all victims of twitter feeds once in a while. I think the more established you are as a blogger, the less time you have to spend on your blog and the more time you can spend elsewhere.
Right now, I mostly promote my posts on Twitter. I try to use titles that inspire clicks (“Problogger, Copyblogger, and Chris Brogan hang out in their underwear” was a good one.)
I also have started using hashtags a little more and try to message @people who are likely to retweet. I write a lot of reviews, so it is a little more natural to mention @people.
Outside of that, I’ve done a fair amount of commenting and have had mixed results. I don’t think I’ve ever had a comment bring me more than 10 hits, so I’ve been focusing my efforts elsewhere. (I still comment, but never for promotion now).
Making friends on Stumble is helpful. Make friends with people who have a lot of subscribers and ask them to discover your article. A message will go out to everyone subscribed to them, so you’ll get some extra traffic off that.
This comment is turning into a whole article.. Once I’m a little more qualified I’ll probably write a series about it :)
Blake Waddill Reply:
November 3rd, 2009 at 4:45 PM
Another thing I thought about – I don’t submit my own articles to Digg, Stumble, Reddit, etc.. I always let others do it.
I also consider what I am submitting. Not all articles are stumble, digg, reddit material. I try to write one specific article that I think will be good for those sites and ask my friends to vote them up. That way all my attention is focused on blowing up one article (which increases it’s chances of getting big).
I’d rather one article go viral then 10 articles have slightly improved traffic.
Blaine Bullman Reply:
November 3rd, 2009 at 5:21 PM
That is an excellent title by the way, curiosity just burns when you read that.
I actually don’t use hashtags at all, I guess I should though. I’ve never got more than that from a single comment either but I comment for other reasons too.
That’s a good tip about SU, I’ll have to try that.
Haha it does look like it is. I’ll be looking forward to that article.
I don’t submit my articles either except for the odd time. That’s a smart move because if you focus on 1 article, your chances of making that article viral and a success are much higher compared to spreading your focus over multiple articles.
Blake Waddill Reply:
November 3rd, 2009 at 5:28 PM
I’m all about “the killer article.” If you haven’t read the free ebook from dailyblogtips.com you should check it out. He talks about the killer article which I think is an amazing concept.
I wasn’t sure if the article title was good today actually. I’m glad you liked it. Nice to know when things turn out like I want them too :)
I’ve just started with Hashtags too. I’m interested to see how they work out. My article for tomorrow is the big test.. It’s all about hashtags… I’m hoping it blows up.
daydaily.com Says:
November 3rd, 2009 at 5:47 PM
nice articles and tips :D
i will bookmarked it
Dana @ Online Knowledge Says:
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:37 PM
It seems that i really need to create my own logo. I already work on others tips except unique logo for my blog.
Dave Doolin | Website In A Weekend Says:
November 4th, 2009 at 12:23 AM
Bah.
If I could get away with solid text and no images, I would!
I might just try it anyway.
Blake Waddill Reply:
November 4th, 2009 at 9:11 AM
LOL. For some reason I believe it. I DBT and Copyblogger are about as close to text only as I can imagine (and still being successful). Give it a shot and report your results ;-)
Tekshek Says:
November 4th, 2009 at 10:02 AM
i want to ask, to submit you site to directories helps in seo or not?
Blake Waddill Reply:
November 4th, 2009 at 10:09 AM
I don’t think it necessarly helps your rank, but it might help search engines detect you if they haven’t seen you yet.
A better option for getting detected is setting up a XML-Sitemap. There is a plugin for it and it pings Google for year.
From what I can tell, SEO is mostly about using keywords constructively, tagging things correctly (headers, titles, meta, etc..), and link building.
Link building is the hardest part, but I also think it is the most rewarding.
TheBuzzedLife Says:
November 4th, 2009 at 2:19 PM
Wow. I just added you to my Twit feed today, and since I launched my blog only a few days ago, this was some of the most helpful and timely advice I could get right now. Thanks! I look forward to your tips on time management and staying on task–darn Twitter!! Lol.
Blake Waddill Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 11:16 AM
My goodness, if I could only follow my own advice. I hope to have it posted today before 3. Wish me luck!
I’m glad the advice was timely. Hopefully you’ve been able to find a lot of helpful things. Let me know if you need any help getting setup.
Gabe | freebloghelp.com Says:
November 5th, 2009 at 8:27 AM
Great tips on getting a blog rolling. Almost any single one of those could totally consume a blogger for days on end.
Although many don’t realize it when they first start, blogging forces you to learn to juggle real fast!
Blake Waddill Reply:
November 5th, 2009 at 11:33 AM
No kidding. I find myself constantly off task chasing all 5 of those areas. Sometimes I feel like I’m never going to be setup.
Gabe | freebloghelp.com Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 10:40 AM
Once you finally get set up, it’ll be time for a redesign and do it all over again.
Blake Waddill Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 11:15 AM
Stop crushing my dreams of spending less than 5 hours a day doing blog related things. I hate you!
Jk. I hope that’s not true. I’d like to get settled in and leave it how it is for a solid 6 or 9 months. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see!
DS R4 Says:
November 13th, 2009 at 4:25 AM
I will use these tips for my site. Definitely would be prove helpful.