Nowadays, you can still build a business around a blog or boost your existing one and progress with your internet marketing efforts to see results. So who says blogging is dead?
When the tools to make a blog became easily accessible, people who have access to the internet began experimenting with it. Blogging has become ubiquitous, and there was a surge that was probably hundreds of thousands by the number. Because of the convenience, many people resorted to it as their conduit to share their emotions with the world.
One can usually own a blog for free. And because of that, it made blogging merely a fad for most people back then.
But thanks to a few people who discovered something surprising. They were the first ones to identify that blogging would be one of the best Internet marketing methods that will enable anyone to start their own business or enhance their existing ones.
Dirt-cheap! A business model that will not cost you an arm and a leg.
Below is a concise description of the topic and some tips to boost your blogging journey.
A Blog, What Exactly Is That?
One of my favorites to talk about; I guess it’s obvious.
Unless you live under a rock or isolated from all known civilization since birth, you might have heard or known a thing or two about it already. It came from the word weblog, which is a two-letter longer word for the widely used term “blog” that we know of today.
Another simple description is that a blog is an online journal. In earlier days, people widely use it as an online diary.
Anyone can set up a blog with the choice of either paying for it for a certain period (suitable for businesses), or with no cost at all intending to use it just for the fun of doing it.
Some can write any topic. From hobbies, passions to anything you can think of under the sun, and even beyond it.
But since everyone’s time is precious, being compensated while blogging is natural. To use it for business is a wise thing to do — this giving you more benefits in the long run.
Whether setting an already thriving brick and mortar business’ online presence or putting up an eCommerce store, blogging is one surefire method to boost the visibility of your products and services to more potential customers.
How Can I Own a Blog?
Free stuff is good, right? It’s a grey area.
Sometimes, it’s a headache to juggle the decisions on where to buy domain names to hosting, to plugins you should use to just about everything. A few would consider this as nuisances.
Choosing free options, though, won’t require your wallet and those troublesome tasks; that’s for sure.
And I’ve got just the right article for you. Read How to Create a Website for Free with Leia.
Or go to sites like WordPress.com, Tumblr.com, or Blogger.com, to name a few, and sign up for an account. Here, you can start blogging right away and avoid the hassles of setting up a site by yourself. It’s that easy!
Sounds enticing, right? Probably.
But there’s a downside; the blog is not yours. The possibility of monetizing it for your benefit is very slim. You don’t have full control over it. — Are you looking for the long term? I will not recommend going on the free blogging version.
If you want the full benefits of having your very own, my suggestion is to pay for it. Remember, when I told you that starting on this business model (blogging) is dirt cheap? Because it is.
Start with a domain name. Think of a catchy one for your blog. It could be your real name or pseudo, but something that can be your future brand. Check the availability of your preferences at websites like Namecheap or Namesilo.
Then find yourself a good and reputable hosting site that will house your domain name. Some of my suggestions that stood the test of times are Bluehost, SiteGround, and Hostinger.
Use a Blog to Boost Your Internet Marketing Results
Let’s assume that you already have a blog. You want improvements and see results from your internet marketing efforts. Then below are some simple guidelines that could help boost your skills as a blogger and grow your business at the same time.
1. Keep customers/clients well informed.
Although you can do this through email marketing- (informing/ updating customers or clients of changes or what is happening in your business), a blog post can do that too, much like announcements for everyone to see. By doing so, regular visitors to your site will read the article you wrote without the need to wait for an email from you. It works like a charm.
You could also use a blog for announcements and recommendations.
2. Be consistent with your postings.
To the pros out there that reads this, the information is not new. But we all agree that the consistency of posting content is one key to rank your blogging site on search engines.
Write unique and fresh articles. Give straightforward advice or opinions you have in mind on specific products or services related to your business. From time to time, write in-depth reviews of such.
Rather than writing all your ideas for hours all at once in one sitting every single day, (which will consume you), have a definite weekly schedule to write one post. This way, you won’t get burned out.
It is the start of a best practice if you can publish an article every week. But if you think you have the potentials of a superhuman writer that could finish an article per day, no one will stop you. Although by doing that, you’ll see faster results.
3. Work on backlinks, but not too much time on it.
A short explanation for a backlink, according to Oxford Dictionaries, is that it is “a hyperlink inbound from one web page to another website.”
Working out on this will improve your rankings on search engines a little more quickly. But spending too much time on how you’ll increase your backlinks is not a good idea, though.
It’s much better if you’ll spend more time writing killer articles instead of scouring the internet for other sites to link yours. Putting well-written articles on your website week after week will build backlinks for you organically.
4. Consider adding affiliate links to boost internet marketing results.
Since we talked about links, blogging can also earn you an extra stream of income by including affiliate links related to your written articles. In another term, we call this practice as affiliate marketing.
Sign up for a membership with companies where you may sell their products or services online. Get your affiliate links from them, then put it strategically in each article you write on your blog. It will prove profitable by the time you have a considerable amount of traffic on your website.
I have discussed this topic in some of my previous posts here in JuanNomad. Check it out here.
5. Engage with your readers.
Every blog can fetch comments and questions from your readers. Respond to each one of them as much as possible.
With these engagements, you will learn more from the feedback of your readers. This way, it will let you know how and when to improve your content, services, or products you provide.
Chances are, some readers of yours may also be bloggers, connect with them well.
Some of these bloggers might put you in their preferred list once they’ve noticed that you are continuously giving excellent content for your readers. They may write something about you too. And if these bloggers will allow it, they will link you to their blogs. This way, you’ll build backlinks naturally — like what I have mentioned from number three.
To sum it up
A long time ago, you can blog on just about anything, without considering a niche. Heck! Nobody even knows what a niche site was. Just write some random topic, post it, and Voila! You will still get paid.
Nowadays, that style will not work anymore. Search engines have become more intelligent as the years went. Stick with what your best at doing, perhaps a passion. Write everything you know about it, and share it with the world through blogging.
Now that you have ideas of how blogging will boost your internet marketing efforts, use it to your advantage. You will have significant rewards from it.
You can always choose which path to go. If you feel you’re still on the fences, what seems to hold you back?
