Are you starting a blog business, but you’re not sure what you need to be working on to succeed?
I’ve created a few different blogs throughout my career as a blogger and content writer, so I have a good idea of what it takes to get a new blog going.
I know it can be difficult to figure out exactly what you should be doing, especially if blogging is completely new to you. So to help new bloggers out, I’ll be going over some of the main things you should be working on when starting a blog business.
Following these tips will help you build a good foundation for your blog so you can start getting traffic and making money asap.
Let’s get started!
Publish 25-30 blog posts
A lot of new bloggers have trouble figuring out exactly what they should be doing in order to become successful with their blogs.
Writing and publishing blog posts is the answer!
A blog with only 5 or so blog posts isn’t likely to be making money (although it’s possible). After all, blog posts are the most important aspect of a blog.
25-30 blog posts is a great number to get going with. Having about 25-30 blog posts published will help your blog look established and trustworthy. It’ll give your readers more to look at as they scroll through your blog. Plus, you’ll have more chances to make money with your blog if you have a lot of blog posts!
Here’s a little word of advice… I know it can be difficult trying to pump out so much content in the beginning when no one is really looking at your blog, but don’t worry. You don’t have to spend all day every day writing blog posts forever!
Once you get to a good number of high quality blog posts (I’d say 30 or so), you can spend more time focusing on the other aspects of blogging and go a little easier on yourself when it comes to publishing posts.
Monetize your blog
There are multiple ways to monetize a blog, but my recommendation for a beginner is to start with affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing is where you promote products or services throughout your blog using a personalized affiliate link. If someone makes a purchase after clicking through one of your affiliate links, you get paid!
I recommend affiliate marketing for beginners as it’s typically pretty easy to sign up for affiliate programs even if you don’t have very many blog posts or readers.
As your blog grows, you can diversify your income streams by adding in display advertisements, sponsored posts, selling your own products and more. These methods usually require a more established blog with a decent amount of traffic, so I wouldn’t recommend focusing on them until a little later.
However, affiliate marketing is easier to get into and a great place for beginners to start.
Enhance your blog’s design
This is definitely something that you want to work on, but don’t get too caught up in it early on.
Here’s a word of caution:
A lot of new bloggers tend to get stuck in perfecting their blog’s design for so long that they end up procrastinating writing blog posts! I’ve been of victim of this myself. Hours upon hours spent picking the perfect theme, fonts, little details, etc…
But this won’t get you readers!
Of course, a blog’s design is important. Just make sure you prioritize writing blog posts before spending too much time on your blog’s design.
A blog that’s clean and easy to navigate is fine in the beginning. Make it beautiful as you go along!
Create a “recommendations” page”
A recommendations page is a page on your website where you link to all of your favorite tools, products, etc. that you would recommend to your readers in regards to your blog’s niche.
Here’s an example: If you have a sewing blog, you can link to the sewing machine you use, the sewing accessories you use, a beginner’s guide to sewing book, sewing courses, etc.
Having a recommendations page is a great way to gather all of the main tools that you use in one place for your readers to see. Plus, you can link to the products using affiliate links to monetize the page!
Check my recommendations page to get an idea.
Start pinning on Pinterest
Pinterest is a really great way to get tons of traffic to a new blog!
What makes Pinterest such a good traffic source for bloggers?
- Users on Pinterest are often specifically looking for blog posts on all different topics.
- It’s completely free to post pins promoting your blog posts on Pinterest.
- Pinterest can be a QUICK source of traffic, which is fantastic for beginners.
- Pinterest can be consistent traffic if you use it right!
Instead of explaining how to use Pinterest here, I want to direct you to this podcast interview with The Busy Budgeter on getting Pinterest traffic.
If you want a full course on how to use Pinterest to get traffic, I recommend checking out Pinteresting Strategies. I used this course to raise my Pinterest views from almost nothing up to the thousands in just a few weeks. I’m super pleased with the results!
You can easily make Pinterest pins using online tools for free. Canva is my go-to option for making beautiful pins, but I’ve heard great things about PicMonkey as well.
Follow PassiveClover’s Pinterest Here!
Create an Email Opt-In Incentive
When asked what they would do differently if they had to restart their blogging journey all over again; bloggers often say that they would have started their email list from the very beginning!
There’s a lot of power in having your own email list. Why? Because your email list is yours. No one can take that traffic away from you. Plus, people subscribe to your email list because WANT content from you! This makes it a great way to get readers to your blog.
But it’s not as easy as setting up a “sign up for my newsletter” option on your blog and leaving it at that.
Sure, you may get some sign-ups that way, but having an incentive for your readers in exchange for them singing up to your email list is key.
Here are some examples of incentives you can offer: Special tips exclusive to your niche that won’t be posted on your blog, a freebie (like a free ebook or printable) a special discount code, a free email course and more!