For all the people out there looking to make money off creating a Blog, I have a simple question: Why should someone, out of all the millions of people on the Net searching for all the blogs in the world, choose to visit your blog? I've always been curious as to how people expect to make money off of a Blog... I used to have one of my own in the past but it was always just as a method to vent and offer opinions rather than the goal of making money. In short, what does your Blog offer that makes you think you will make money out of it?
If you can get good SERP your blog will be at the top of the list for search results on your keywords. People will simply select your blog because it is at the top. Before you can make money you need content and good search engine ranking.
I know that, and you know that, however it's so easy to just say "you need good content"; but what constitutes "good content"?
It's a good question because I debated this for a long time. I've redone my blog at least twice. This is my third iteration. So I finally decided how write my blog in my niche, and I decided to write about affiliate programs that I've tried in the past and just give my honest review of them. It's a subject I like. I use my own voice. I write it my way. You can do the same. Writ about you want. Show it to people of like minds. If they like what they read and they comment, it's good content. Then throw Adsense ads on to it. Support it with Amazon. Link to affiliate sites related to your niche.
Simple, if you offer people something of value that they can actually use/learn from, people will visit AND revisit your blog! I'd like to offer an example - http://orangette.blogspot.com/ Nothing really fancy going on here, but she's offering really good and interesting content. To some people it may not seem like much, but it is the no. 1 blog in its category in the WORLD, believe it or not!
People will read your blog because of the way YOU write. I used to think that everybody would flock to the "experts". Well, not everybody understands the "experts". People with varying levels of understanding swarm over the internet. There is a good chance that the way you see something and the way that you write about it is easier for someone of the same skill level to understand. I love reading blogs that write for people, in layman's terms. Blogs that have high levels of technical sophistication, I just click on through and don't think about twice. Writing unique content for "people" is the key. People do not realize how valuable their "perspective" is most of the time.
Good content means for a good part unique and or news. I resolved the problem for my blogs with fast local event publishing. Get the desired # 1 - 5 positions in minutes (direct ranking depends much on competition but if you go local there is usually very few competition for a good SEO)
If you're going to have a blog then it should be providing value to anyone who stumbles across it. Provide actionable content that helps your readers solve their problems or get closer to their end goals. Of course, if you want to do that you need to know what your readers want, which goes into market research. But blogs can get great SE rankings, and are awesome for getting people to come back to your site and start becoming your audience.
One of the traffic-pulling blog post in my blog is about toilet roll. That is a ranting little piece to complain about the cost of toilet roll. It seems to appeal to most people.
You have to first prove to the internet community that your content is worth coming back for. You will not make money at first with your new blog. But after a year you can really see some nice income from your popular blog.
SERPS is indeed important in order to drive traffic to your site. BUT if you do not have quality content then people will leave as soon as they arrive. There are many interpretations of good content. I personally think it is a combination of various factors, good grammar, good use of words, captivating content, great information, amusing, captivating, good niche, well written, captivating... And notice how I mention captivating numerous times. I did that on purpose. I think having a blog just for the sake of having a blog is not going to get you the results you may be hoping for. YET, being able to have a blog and post interesting information there will help you get people to subscribe to your posts. To this you add Adsense, Adbrite and anything else along those lines and you can start to monetize it.
The thing is, we the bloggers don't decide what the good content is. Your readers decide what good content is. The point of Blog Marketing is that you put interesting, relevant information that a reader is looking for. In or around this blog you put affiliate links or Adsense ads, and that where the money comes in. In essence if you put in what the reader wants (and combine some good SEO) the customers will come.
Some interesting comments in this thread. I think the problem with a lot of blogs I've seen is that they seem to be blogs for the sake of being blogs rather than being there to serve a purpose on a topic that the owner/writer is passionate about. For me a lot of the blogs that are out there clearly come across as forced and look like they just desperately want you to give them money while filling it with "token" content that can be gotten from numerous other sites on the Net, and often at far higher quality :/
we all know that writing good or better content than the others is important in keeping people read blogs, but there are some factors as well that people maybe keeping an interest to your blog that they are coming back over and over again, like, if you are always communicating with your readers through the comment section that is a good sign that you are not just writing but you are also listening to your readers opinion and interacting with them.
Yes, replyling to comments is good. Makes them feel like they're already a member rather than just a passing commentor. Maybe even obligated - or motivated - to make further comments.
Simply because i am 100% authentic with what i write. Also i provide amazing content from what i learn.
yes, it is a matter of fact. To rank high in SE is not just with these simple factors. You will need some other secret tips and quality idea in order to booster your appearance well.