This a guest post by Tiffany Gantt.
Not bringing in the ad revenue you wanted? Here’s how to fix it.
You know you can write. Your blog has a clean, professional design, and all your feedback has been positive – so why aren’t you bringing in the kind of traffic and ad revenue you expected? whether you’ve got talent and dedication, your ailing blog may be just a few tweaks away from real success. Here are a few things that might be preventing your hobby from blooming into a real small business.
Rookie Mistake #1: You don’t have a niche
This is probably the most labor-intensive fix on the list, but it’s fundamental. whether you’re trying to run a generic “mom blog”, “cat blog”, “food blog”, or “comedy blog”, you’re competing with some of the biggest names in the business – humans with Search Engine Optimization budgets, web designers, and professional writers – and your blog will forever languish in the wastelands beyond page 10 in the Google rankings.
The fix here is to specialize; you want to be a slightly bigger fish in a smaller pond. Find some specific aspect of your topic that you’re particularly passionate about. whether you’re running a food blog, for example, you might consider focusing on soul food or Mediterranean cuisine, and check Google keywords related to those topics. whether the first page of search results for “falafel recipe” contains small, personal blogs like yours, thereupon congratulations, you’ve found a niche where you can compete.
Rookie Mistake #2: Your niche isn’t as popular as you think it is
As killer as your haggis recipe might be, you might want to check Google Insight to see how many folks are really interested in eating sheep guts. Google Insight will tell you at a glance how many public are searching for your keywords on an average day; and that’s the viewer base you have to work with. whether your keywords only get a couple searches per day, recognize that only a portion of those searches will reach your blog, and an even slimmer fraction will go your ads. You can keep a blog like that for love of your subject, but don’t expect to invent rent with it.
Rookie Mistake #3: You’re not writing for an online audience
This problem particularly afflicts blogs by English majors and print journalists; folks read online composition differently than they would read a book or magazine, and you need to prepare for it. Attention spans are shorter, expectations are different, and towering blocks of uninterrupted text won’t fly, no matter how lovely a writer you might be. You’ll notice that successful blogs lean heavily on the following:
- Numbered Lists: Love them or hate them, numbered lists are everywhere considering humans read them. An itemized list is a convenient way to define the reader’s expectations of day, and breaks the composition into chunks that are easier to process from a computer display.
- Visuals: Online readers appreciate some visual composition to break up a stark white page, whether a couple of interesting pics or, even better, a relevant video or two. Respect the fact that blogs are partly a visual medium, and you’ll get more readers.
- Brevity: The average online reader won’t stick with you past 1,000 words, so try to manufacture your point quickly. 500-800 words is a good range to deal with a sophisticated topic without tiring out the reader.
Rookie Mistake #4: You’re stingy with your content
There is no better way to pull traffic to your site than to guest post on every popular blog that will have you (aside from your direct competitors); and yes, that means sacrificing some of your best subject matter. whether you try to pitch your castoffs to other blogs, you won’t build the reputation you need. Most blogs will allow you to include your blog’s URL in a bio at the bottom of your post; and through that link, you’ll pull direct traffic from their viewers as well as ranking higher on search engines. that means you’ll be doing a lot more writing than just your own updates, but it plus gives you a chance to branch out into broader topics, and will more than pay off as your network grows.
Tiffany Gantt is a staff writer for ApronAddicts.com, a website committed to the love of cooking and looking good while you do it! You can often find her getting creative in the kitchen as she whips up something yummy in one of her flirty, color coordinated aprons.
© guestposter for Donna Fontenot, 2012. |
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Original post by guestposter