My 3 Commandments to Blogging Better

If you are struggling at any point in your blogging journey I want to start with this one thing.

Blogging is not a quick earn instead it is the long run.

And it’s pretty much what you need to keep in mind whenever you are feeling low. I am not any super successful blogger nor do I have years of experience with blogging (less than 3), I am just a learner like you. In blogging, every day can be a new opportunity to be successful and every day can be the same day to cry over your mistakes.

You gotta pick one. The choice is yours!

It is what makes it the most exciting. You get to decide every day. I chose to make my blogging journey better. You know what, we all eventually do!

My Story

I remember the time when I had a book blog, I was blogging for around a year without knowing that I could make money from a blog. Trust me, I was the worst case.

However, it was fun to post book reviews but nobody read them even after I forced my friends (literally!). I was doing it for myself (Self-satisfaction). Yeah so, through this process I have tried unlimited tricks, some of them have worked but most of them have failed also.

In this post, I will tell you so many things in my 3 commandments that have worked for me and will surely work for you if you are struggling to make your blog a success. These 3 things will make a change in your blogging strategy. If you implement them in the right way with patience you will start seeing results.

However, if you are blog less or are planning to start a money-making blog then this is the perfect time to start it. Follow my in-depth guide with step by step instructions on how to start a blog and make money from it right away!

Alternatively, you can enroll in my free email course Start a Money Making Blog from day 1. (I have also written a detailed email about the blogging information that you should have before starting a blog)

So without further ado, leading you to a better blog!

1. The Power of SEO

I was stupid enough to ignore SEO for six months. I mean, I was randomly writing blog posts without using proper keywords (I was like what the heck was keywords) and when I heard about keywords I stuffed them and waited for the instant traffic.

There are 3 things to learn from my story.

• You can’t ignore SEO if you want Google to send you traffic.
• You can’t trick Google by stuffing keywords.
• Instant traffic is not a thing.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategy is the most effective way to improve your blog. It doesn’t give you quick traffic, it gives you long term results.

So, if you are not seeing results it can be either of these two reasons.

• You have to give it time to produce results.
• The SEO strategy that you use needs to be updated.

Don’t worry, I have a list of all the important things to keep in mind when using SEO. It includes both on-page SEO and off-page SEO. As long as you keep each point checked, you are good to go.

1. Yoast SEO plugin.

If you haven’t already, install the SEO Yoast plugin. It makes your on-page SEO super simple. All you need to do is to turn the red bullets into the green. (By fulfilling SEO parameters)

2. Keywords

Keywords are those search terms that are also used in blog posts to improve the search engine rankings. These are also the terms used by readers to search for something.

Keywords play an important role in your search engine rankings. You have to use them smartly. Some of the points to use keywords in a smart way

• Search keywords on SEMRush or UberSuggest (free tool).
• Look for keywords that have high search volume (vol), high paid difficulty (PD), high cost per click (CPC), and low SEO difficulty (SD).
• Use keywords naturally in your posts, do not stuff them. Google is very smart and can easily catch you.
• Use your focus keyword in your title and H1 tag.
• The first 100 words are very important. Use your focus keyword within.
• Use some of the keywords in the alt tags of the images.
• Try to use keywords in the URL.

3. Readability

It is an important factor that decides whether a reader will stay or leave your post. Nobody likes to read boring content with long paragraphs. You have to provide an environment that makes your reader wanna stay. To increase the readability of your blog posts you must keep in mind these points

• Don’t write for an expert. Use a very basic language to deliver your message to a large audience. Try to explain everything.
• Keep your paragraphs short. 5 to 6 lines will do.
• Use attractive photos and videos to keep them engaged.
• Use a conversational tone. Talk to them throughout your content. Use jokes. Yes, you can!
• Plan the structure of your article.
• Use heading tags.
• Use lists or bullet points wherever you can.

4. Off-Page SEO

Some other points to remember while doing off-page SEO

• Keep your URL short. A lengthy URL can be difficult to remember.
• Interlink the content with your other relevant posts.
• Use keywords in your anchor text of internal links.
• Add the external links from a reputable source (having a high level of information). Don’t make your information appear bluff by adding a link to a poor source.

5. Site health

Site health is a really important factor. If you ignore it you will see a downfall in your rankings.

I remember how I paid no heed to my site’s health and it used to take years to load. My readers left my site a million times. My bounce rate was very high.

• Improve site speed. You can check your site speed in Google Analytics or UberSuggest.

Follow these steps to check your site speed using UberSuggest.

• Just log in to Ubersuggest with your Google Account.
• Click on Traffic Analyser then Site Audit on the left sidebar.
• There you can see your site’s full report. You have to fix those critical issues first. You can find how to fix a particular issue by the side of the issue.

• Decrease the Bounce rate. You can also check your bounce rate in Google Analytics.

• If you want to check the bounce rate of your website then login to Google Analytics.
• Now head on to Audience>Overview.

There you will find the bounce rate of your site.

Some of the points to improve your bounce rate.

• Enhance the user experience.
• Make your site mobile friendly.
• Use a caching plugin.
• Use compressed images.
• Remove unwanted images and plugins.
• Keep your coding clear.

Moving on, if you are relying on SEO to give you instant results you are highly mistaken. SEO is for the long term. You will be able to see the results if you give it some time.

Use these ways to improve your SEO similarly you can download my SEO checklist so that each time you write a post you can confirm that your post is awesome!

2. Grow Your Blog Traffic Strategy

Traffic is the deciding factor in your blogging success. Not only it brings you sales and increases Affiliate Marketing but it also helps you make a community of your loyal readers.

I was dying to get traffic to my first blog. I may have tried unlimited strategies but all I heard was crickets. Don’t you wanna know why? It was because I was ignorant in many ways (As I was ignoring SEO also). I was lazy enough to plan a proper strategy.

Plan your strategy

I want you to plan your blogging goals. When you have done it then I want you to divide your goal into small monthly goals. Finally, I want you to work on them. You can further divide them into daily goals.

If they work, keep doing them and if they don’t stop repeating them.

Download the blog planner that I have prepared for you. (It has a very beautiful design)

Below are some ways that will help you grow blog traffic. Now, if you don’t know how to plan a strategy, you can divide your monthly goals based on these steps.

1. Write Awesome Content

Content is the pillar of your blog. It is simple enough to understand that if your content is good, people will want to read it and if it is not they will leave your site.

How can you grow traffic by writing awesome content? By publishing viral posts. Viral posts are posts that get a lot of social attention. Google also notices that a post is shared a lot on Social Media, it gets higher rankings.

2. Niche Blogging

Don’t be an all-rounder if you want to see quick results. Publish posts that are highly related to your niche.

Some of the benefits of niche blogging are

• It helps you establish a brand.
• It makes you look like an expert.
• New guest posting opportunities.
• Grows your relationship with niche bloggers.
• Growing your traffic.

Plan a certain number of articles in your monthly schedule and keep your article highly related to the niche. An ideal number would be 4 in a month.

If you are not sure what your niche is then you can read this article to decide a perfect niche for your blog. 

3. Guest Blogging

Guest posting is blogging on other sites. It will help you publish your content to a brand new audience and if your content impresses them they will want to read more of your articles.

It also helps you build relationships with other bloggers.

4. Backlink Profile

Backlinks are the links of your posts used by other bloggers in their articles.

Having a good backlink profile is important for you. Google also uses this algorithm to determine search rankings.

But it does not mean that more links equal higher rankings. A positive backlink profile is what counts. Meaning, the source linking to you must be positive.

For example, a techno-savvy website linking to your DIV craft will not benefit you. It can have bad effects on your rankings.

How? When Google finds that your DIV craft is linked to a technical website it will assume that your content is irrelevant to craft loving people and will decrease your rankings.

A good way to build a backlink profile is to publish awesome content so that other bloggers in your niche willingly want to link to you. Why? Because it is relevant to their readers.

Don’t fall for baits!

You will see that some bloggers pay for getting backlinks, you mustn’t do it. It is bad and illegal. Google will easily catch you and you will be penalized.

Related Post – 19 Surefire Ways to Explode your blog traffic!

3. Branding Your Blog

I can’t regret that time enough when I paid no attention to branding my book blog. I used colors that I liked, fonts that I liked. You can’t do this. It brings no fortune.

Making your blog a brand from the first day is a wise decision to make. It will help you establish yourself fast and get known by your brand.  All you have to do is to create a brand and your readers will make it famous.

Not sure how to do it?

I want you to follow these steps to make a brand that sticks.

• Use a color palette in your blog.
• Use only 2 to 3 fonts in your blog.
• Establish your voice and stick with it.
• Design a logo by using your color palette and fonts.
• Always keep your background white.
• Keep your text color black although you can use any color in your headings.
• Use the simple font for your text. However, use any font that you like in your headings.
• Add a Tagline and use it everywhere.
• Be niche specific.
• Create Social Media profiles. Create a business account.
• Use your professional email while communicating.

Build relationships with other bloggers in your niche. They help you in many ways. You will get a lot of backlinks and guest post opportunities.

Conclusion

In this post, I have told you my 3 commandments to a better blog. Now, you may have heard of them before, even tried them but if they haven’t brought you any results is because either you stopped trying or you didn’t try them at all.

I have tried them and I was able to make money from my book blog (Which is next to impossible because no one reads book reviews!).

What you have to do? Keep patience.

As I have mentioned earlier, blogging is the long run. Patience is an important factor. While starting, I was impatient but I learned from my mistakes.

What you can’t do? Stop trying.

You have to keep trying and keep learning together. You are going to get successful.

Try them and learn more and then try them. Keep repeating!

Enough of me talking.

Now your turn.

If you have any questions about how to use these tricks you can ask me in the comments section. Tell me where are you struggling in your blogging journey? Are you going to try these tips? Which one are you trying?

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