{/*
*/}

9 Steps To Creating A Profitable Business Blog

9 Steps To Creating A Profitable Business Blog

Blogging can be a powerful tool for all types of small business owners and one of the best ways to leverage content. Get down the article below to know more.

There are many guides related to blog writing services like Blogger or WordPress to make money online. When I was just starting my blogging journey, the most challenging problem was figuring out the technical aspects of starting a blog from scratch. Writing issues on blog topics, keywords, etc., followed later. 

The times have changed, and I can gladly announce that creating a blog is no longer rocket science. The technical steps are not as complicated as they used to be, and even a novice can set up a blog in minutes using an online blog writing service. 

If you want to create a profitable business blog to get more traffic for your business website, this step-by-step guide is just for you. 

A consistent blogging platform is a recommended growth strategy for any digital marketing agency for small businesses. Storytelling is essential for any business to connect with its clients or customers, and blogging is the perfect way to weave relatable, high-value, consumer-directed stories.

1.   Web hosting plan

The first step to setting up your blog includes picking a suitable website hosting plan. Any reliable web hosting service provider has default packages, including different benefits at a varied price range. 

All you have to do is pick the one that agrees with your business needs. For beginners, I always advise using the basic website hosting package and not wasting resources on advanced and high-benefit packages.

Still, if you don’t want the hassle, you can just as easily take the help of a web design agency. Once the web hosting plan is taken care of, deciding on a domain name for your website is the next big step. The title should be related to or relevant to your business, but I often suggest choosing simple-to-spell words or adding a creative twist to an alias. 

A creative domain name allows for various interlinking options with other business types. 

2.   WordPress association

Most old websites that did not have blogs or even new websites do not always have WordPress associations by default. Luckily, connecting WordPress to your business website has been made easy and free of cost! All it takes is a few clicks in your cPanel to run the WordPress Installer tool, and it’s done.

Once your business website and WordPress are associated successfully, you’ll have access to the WordPress Dashboard, where you can create blog posts, add new plugins, change themes, and more.

3.   Thematic visualization

The default WordPress layout and theme is a bit bleak but practical. However, I suggest finding a custom theme that fits your brand image. 

Although thousands of free templates are already available online, using them can pose serious threats to your blog. Most free templates are SEO unoptimized, full of glitches, and highly susceptible to hacks. Even most WordPress plugins you will need later do not integrate swiftly with free templates.

Hence, spending some resources to hire a responsive UI design agency and get a paid theme template is highly beneficial for bloggers in the long run. You can still choose some good free themes in the initial stages and update them as you grow.

4.   Google analytics

Google Analytics is a free service that any digital marketing agency uses to track loads of data about your website and its visitors. Thankfully, Google has created this fantastic user-friendly and highly helpful tool.

The analytics report will tell you how many readers visit your blog and offer numerous other statistical data like traffic sources, timings, most-read posts, least-viewed posts, etc. You’ll need this data down the line to figure out preferences and usage patterns.

5.   Inuagural pilla posts

Now that your blog is ready to roll and you have already brainstormed your niche in the market, it is time to start writing and publishing your creative ideas. 

Any online reputation management firm recommends making the first post on your blog a well-written, thorough, and explanatory blog post to inform your readers about your brand statement and intent.

If it gets hard to decide what to write, I suggest simply coming up with the three most vital topics your blog should focus on and creating pillar posts for each. Long pillar posts are the backbone for each subtopic you want to introduce in the blog and will easily interlink with all other blog posts shortly.

6.   Blog traffic sourcing

Website traffic is the lifeblood of your blog once it’s up and running. The traffic and email lists are crucial to your monetization efforts, without which it is impossible to make money from blogs. 

I know it can be pretty overwhelming to get high-quality, relevant traffic for your website in the early days because there are so many traffic tactics in use and every PPC advertising agency claims they have the best ones.

Truth be told, people may lie, but the data never does. When I analyzed my blogs and other famous ones, I was surprised that almost all the web traffic for text-based content is sourced from Google or Facebook. Since Facebook is a social media platform, and you’ll need to use social media optimization services or go viral to notice significant traffic on your posts, I suggest sticking with Google.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) makes for a steady traffic stream originating from organic searches on Google. Your blog topic also plays a role in deciding where most of the traffic will be sourced. 

If your issues are personal and are often discussed among friends and family, then social media sounds like the right choice for generating traffic. On the other hand, if your topics are actively searched on Google and highly informational, I advise focusing more on using effective SEO services.

7.   Content calendar

Most beginner bloggers I know have a terrible habit of being irregular publishers. They forget about their readers and fail to deliver what they want because they don’t maintain a strict blogging schedule or calendar. If you undervalue consistency in the blogging biz, you will never be able to prioritize your profits.

I advise every blogger to stick to a strict blog calendar to help them stay organized and achieve big goals in small steps. The ensured consistency also allows readers to trust you and diligently await your every blog post.

8.   Email list

Any reputable internet marketing agency will tell you that every blogger needs an email subscription list to make money from blogs. 

Maintaining an email list is like keeping a record of the readers who love your blog and want to read more. It allows you to strengthen the bond with your readers by giving out bonus information or other promotional materials.

It may not sound like much, but please don’t skip this vital step, as I’ve seen a lot of bloggers who made this mistake time and again but never realized why they couldn’t make money from their blogs. 

Hence, starting your email list from the very beginning is an insightful idea for keeping your fan following in one place down the line.

9.   Monetization

The last step to creating a profitable business blog involves setting up various monetization strategies to start earning from your website. 

Now that you’ve set up your blog started publishing posts, have constant traffic, and maintain your email list, the only thing left is to make and execute plans to make money from your blog.

Conventional monetization methods often fail because they depend on betting on market demands based on your gut feeling. Building an audience for your money-making efforts is essential before jumping into selling stuff, making blogging the perfect monetization channel.

Final Thoughts!

Asking your audience about how you may be better able to serve them through your blogs can give you certain answers and may even strike the next million-dollar business idea. 

The audience poll will also make your market research more accessible and effective. You can also create comprehensive surveys using Google forms to understand your readers' needs.

I never liked selling products or services using various ecommerce SEO services and preferred the third option, making money from advertisements. 

Blogs using Google Adsense to make money are commonplace these days, but the income is often relatively low and unsustainable. A better way of making a much higher income is selling ad spaces on your website, which requires a high-traffic blog to work.

Maggie Simmons writes insanely helpful marketing insights. She works as a Marketing Manager at Max Effect Marketing, a leading digital agency located in Denver, Colorado.

// // //