In this post, you'll discover five evergreen blogging tips to help you achieve the highest level of success that you possibly can with your blog in 2021 and beyond! Let's get to it.
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Success in blogging is often equated to popularity, which means attracting a good stream of traffic regularly is important. High traffic translates to higher monetization. It can contribute to better rankings in search engine results.
In 2020, acquiring success with blogging has become a bit more challenging. Blogs are no longer as popular as they once were. In a way, they have been supplanted by vlogging with YouTube and being an influencer on social media platforms.
For today's audiences, reading posts is not as engaging as watching videos. Also, generating revenues with the latter is considerably easier.
I don't want you to think that blogging is not popular because it is. In fact, according to eMarketing, there are close to 100 million blog posts published each month.
So, just so you know, it is absolutely possible to achieve success with blogging in 2020 and beyond. Content monetization through blogs can generate reasonable amounts of revenues, even today, and especially with the five pointers listed below.
Let's dive straight in!
Almost every guide on how to start a blog that generates income recommends a careful evaluation of the niche to pursue.
Bloggers should not choose a subject simply because it is popular or trendy. It has to be something they find interesting so that they can sustain it.
It is unlikely for readers to find a blog engaging if the author is not interested in the topic. It will show in the writing, in the commitment, and enthusiasm in putting up content for the blog.
On the other hand, it is equally important to choose the right platform. Whether WordPress, Blogger, Wix, Medium, or some other platform, it is vital to have a good mastery level. Otherwise, it will be difficult to work with the blog and troubleshoot issues as these emerge.
Just like starting a business, starting a blog should be guided by goals and objectives. It is important to have a plan or a guide on what the blog needs to achieve. Do some research. Venturing into blogging without knowing anything about it is a sure way to fail.
Today, the blogosphere is saturated with thousands of blogs that tackle the same topics. For a blog to stand out and attract readers, it has to offer something of value.
A photography blog that features galleries that do not look any different from stock photos is unlikely to gain a following. Similarly, news or current affairs articles that merely rewrite existing content cannot offer something readers want.
Strive to be original and interesting. Also, be creative and make use of various content presentation styles and media types.
When writing posts, avoid using nothing but long blocks of text, unless these “boring” texts provide sought-after information such as exclusive updates about a topic many are interested in.
Instead, embed images, videos, or interactive elements such as surveys or quizzes in a post.
Check out this post that Fabrizio wrote about diversifying content.
However, we need to make sure we do not overdo it. Learn how to use graphics and other page elements to improve readership.
As revealed in a study commissioned by advertising authority David Ogilvy, images can make or break a copy.
Using obvious stock images or those that do not have any relevance to the content, for example, can irk readers instead of keeping their attention.
There should be no obstacles in accessing a blog. Anything that is tagged as potentially harmful by antivirus systems, for instance, should be eliminated.
Having obstructive or too many ads on pages can also drive away potential readers, so it is best to avoid them. The same goes for excessive animations, endless popups, and flashy banners.
Additionally, take web accessibility into account. Help those with physical and mental challenges access your blog. The World Bank estimates that there are around a billion people with disabilities worldwide. Of this number, more than half use the internet. Refusing to make a blog web-accessible means foregoing the potential traffic from millions of internet users.
It is not necessary to spend thousands of dollars to achieve accessibility that meets WCAG standards. There are easier and cheaper ways of doing it, like using automated web accessibility solutions like accessiBe.
Successfully attracting blog readers, let alone subscribers, cannot be a passive endeavor. It is a rarity for people to subscribe or bookmark a blog without being guided to do it.
As such, it is advisable to include strategically positioned calls to action. This is the classing blogging counterpart of the seemingly compulsory “subscribe and hit like and the notification bell” statements said by YouTube vloggers in their videos.
Take advantage of plugins or web tools that draw attention to the blog subscription button.
WordPress, for one, has many subscription plugins and opt-in forms. They are not mere aesthetic add-ons. They are designed to improve subscriptions, which help bring regular traffic to a blog.
Optimization in blogging often refers to two things: page loading time and SEO.
The former is about making sure that pages load the fastest they possibly can. The latter focuses on boosting online visibility by appearing on top or on the first page of search engine results.
Google itself confirms that page speed is one of the signals used by its search algorithm in ranking search results. According to Search Engine Journal, pages should load in full no longer than three seconds.
To achieve this, it is a must to implement the necessary optimizations, including compression enabling through Gzip, for example, CSS and HTML minification, reduction of redirects, elimination of render-blocking JavaScript, browser caching leveraging, image size optimization, and the use of a content distribution network (CDN).
When it comes to search engine optimization, consider familiarizing the basics in the newbie guide provided by Search Engine Journal. An essential aspect every blogger needs to master is the selection and use of appropriate keywords. While keywords are important, having too many of them can do more harm than good, so keep that in mind.
The internet in 2020 and beyond still has a lot of room for blogging. Bloggers just need to be smart about how they plate up their content.
Consider that there is no dichotomy between being a blogger and a vlogger. Anyone can do both. In fact, most of the tips discussed above also somewhat apply to vlogging.
You need to start with the right mindset, offer value, ensure accessibility, diversify your content, actively capture readers and subscribers, and optimize, especially in terms of page loading time and SEO.
The very best of luck with your blogging endeavours in 2021 and beyond!
