This is Part 2 of my blogging tips for beginners.
Today we will focus on the best tips to grow traffic for your new blog and start monetizing or getting money for small bloggers.
As I’ve mentioned in Part 1, when I started blogging I literally had no idea what I was doing.
I was simply sharing my journey to financial freedom. It was just a hobby to track what is happening to me financially.
To make money blogging in the Philippines is something I never expected to experience.
In 2017, my blog finally had its own breakthrough.
I reached my first Google Adsense Threshold and went from zero to 20,000 a month in pageviews! My email list ballooned to 1000 subscribers and the SavingsPinay Community became blessed with almost 5000 members AND COUNTING!
God is so good through everything and everything I lift up to Him alone.
In Part 1 I’ve shared tips in starting a profitable blog and becoming a productive blogger. Now let’s move to the advance lesson on traffic and monetizing.
Let’s begin.
Related Post:
How To Generate Massive Traffic on Your Blog
Blogs To Read If You Want To Save, Invest and Be Debt-Free This 2018
How to Get Massive Traffic on Your Blog
Traffic plays an important for every blog. Of course, it is in every normal blogger’s hope to get noticed and be read online.
When I started blogging, the average monthly traffic I get was just around 300 a month.
That’s 10 visitors a day!
Fast forward to today this blog now consistently gets around 20,000 monthly pageviews.
To be read and found is such an amazing feeling for every blogger.
I wouldn’t be as passionate as I am blogging if I haven’t had any readers in the first place.
Here are my tips for you when it comes to traffic:
21. Get your own domain and hosting solution
Growing your blog and building an audience comes with a price.
This a fact I tried to avoid for so long until an opportunity came to me and I got rejected for I am a www.savingspinay.BLOGSPOT.com
I thought I could remain a free blog forever.
But, boy I was wrong.
Having my own domain and web hosting solution became the biggest turning point of my blogging life.
I soon realized that a blog, no matter how small or big it may be, deserves its own residency in the online community.
22. Make your content high-quality and valuable
This is something I also mentioned in Part 1 and will further elaborate today.
Your content is a deciding factor whether a visitor will turn to a loyal reader to your blog.
Great content makes your blog stand out from the rest.
I started SavingsPinay with posts that are too vague and shallow. The blog has no direction at all. Then just last year I made a change in the way I write my content.
Quality before quantity.
Publishing high-quality content became my first priority. And it shows in the sudden spike of traffic how advantageous this decision went.
Whenever I think of a new blog post to write I think of the following:
1. Is this post useful?
2. Is this post relevant?
3. Is this post what my audience need?
If each question has a resounding answer of a yes then I know it is worth the time writing.
23. Get involved in social media
Social media has become a great source of traffic to bloggers over the years.
Almost everyone is on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, so there’s a great chance to be found by the masses.
Your duty as a blogger doesn’t stop once you created a social media profile. To get massive traffic, you need to get involved.
Here are some ways you can promote your blog on social media:
1. Create a Facebook Page for your blog and link your best blog posts. You can also interact with your followers through questions and announcements.
2. Build your own community with a Facebook Group. This is a good idea if your blog is within a specific niche. If you have a travel blog, you can start a Facebook Group of Newbie Travel Bloggers. This will gather like-minded individual who shares the same passion as you. You can even create a vague like Philippine Travel for example.
3. Pinterest is another booming tool in promoting content. It works as an active visual search engine to find inspirations online. You need to create graphics specifically meant for Pinterest. These photos should be enticing enough and must answer what the searcher needs.
4. Create an Instagram account for your blog to build better engagement and promote more. Instagram can be very tasking at first but it could help bring a ton of traffic on your blog especially if you are in the beauty and lifestyle category. Instagram is all about highly curated photos with call-to-action captions.
When it comes to getting traffic through social media my greatest tip is to focus on 1 to 2 accounts first. Juggling multiple social media accounts can be very tough and you may lose your focus at the end of the day.
A social media plan is also important.
Personally, I keep a separate Google Doc that contains my social media schedule. This helps me maintain presence in Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest for both SavingsPinay and IzzaGlino.
Of course, my social media routine (just like my blog routine) is far from perfect. I will have days when I don’t publish anything new. But, knowing I have a page to check back when I’m in a rot turned out to be helpful.
24. Guest post to other blogs and websites
Posting to authority websites and blogs can also create a dent to your traffic.
You can bring new readers almost instantly.
How does guest posting work?
Guest posting is writing and/or publishing your content on someone else’s website or blog. At the start and of the post you will get be introduced with a link to your blog.
Here are example of guest posts sent by others to SavingsPinay:
Philequity Dividend Yield Fund First Impression from Geli
6 Top Reasons Why Pinoys Find It Difficult to Save Money from John
4 Useful Tips to Live Within Your Means from Kyle
Success in guest posting can fade away fast.
You want to turn the first time viewers to readers.
That’s why quality content is still #1.
No matter how good your guest post is, if they don’t find the rest of your content helpful and engaging, that traffic will simply vanish.
25. Always network with other bloggers
Networking is a great way to promote your blog too.
The blogsphere is a huge community so might want to get your blog out there through making connections and building genuine friendships with other content creators.
Here are simple ways you can network with other bloggers:
1. Comment to other blogs within your niche
And by comment I mean leaving helpful and relevant words on other blogs you like. I find this networking technique easy for beauty and lifestyle blogs because they are everywhere. For SavingsPinay, I stick with the top blogs I really follow and leave a comment in case I really enjoyed the post.
2. Collaborate
Collaboration happens when two or more bloggers partner or join in a collaborative effort. This can be done through hosting simple giveaways together, guest posting to each other’s blog, creating a comprehensive round-up post or interview.
I recently did this on a SavingsPinay series wherein I interview ordinary people who have helpful and inspirational stories when it comes to personal finance, investment and making extra income.
Since inception of the series I’ve collabed with a marino who started investing in the stock market at 24, a real online farming investor and a young mompreneur with her own arts and crafts business.
3. Send an email
An email is a good way to personally acknowledge and appreciate your fellow blogger. Over the years, I’ve written to bloggers I follow and I find it a good way to let them know my humble blog exists. I love reading and responding to emails sent to me at izza@wordpress-661740-2303377.cloudwaysapps.com.
4. Attend events and conferences
If you get invited to attend events or blogger conferences, say yes and go. These type of gatherings are good opportunity to meet and greet like-minded bloggers. Some of the events and conferences I joined and helped me network were iBlog Philippines,Bloggers United and Blogapalooza.
26. Branch out to other mediums
I think blogging in general, offers limitless possibilities to anyone.
And there are far more ways you can generate traffic on your blog than just writing content.
There are those who found massive success by diversifying their traffic to other mediums such as videos, podcasts and email marketing.
Making videos out of your content could be a good start. I am currently doing this over my YouTube channel where I recently made a video on Where to Best Invest Your Money This 2018. I enjoy talking in front of a camera so this traffic vehicle is something I will continue to do so.
For those who are not as keen to posting a video of themselves online, podcast could be the answer. You can create an audio version of your blog post, something I’ve contemplating to do as well for SavingsPinay.
Another way you can branch out your blog is through email marketing. Here your goal is to build an active email list you can send out content every week or every other week.
27. Build links within your post
Link building is the process of exchanging links with other Web sites to increase your own site’s backlinks and quality backlinks.
This can happen in two ways:
1. Insert as many related links from your past posts to your new content and/or;
2. Have external links from other bloggers or authority website.
Link building is another reason why you should write longer form of content. This way you can insert plenty of links that make readers get deeper and stay longer in your blog.
Related links also add further engagement for your past posts and lengthen its shelf life.
External links on the other hand is much trickier. The best (and easiest) is to be part of blog directories within your own niche.
SavingsPinay, for example is part of Rockstar Finance Directory, Personal Finance Asian Bloggers, Coins.ph Top Filipana Bloggers to Read and so on.
I am receiving traffic thanks to my link being available in these sites.
28. Improve your content’s form and visual
You really have to spend much time producing a blog post that people will love to read.
Always check on the content of the bloggers you enjoy reading and evaluate what it is about their post that makes you hooked.
Try to emulate even half of that on your next post.
Here are more posts:
1. Always use headings and bullets
Headings and bullets are helpful to make sure that your readers can easily follow the information you publish. Bigger fonts in bold are helpful too to put emphasize a certain word or phrase on your post.
2. Use shorter paragraphs
Another important change I made on my posts is writing in short paragraphs. This helps keep the eyes of the readers on your blog. You want them to scroll and reach the end of your post. Always read your post after drafting. Kapag sa iyo pa lang, nabibilaukan ka na then your readers will surely find your content too difficult to read. Keep your sentences shorter and simple.
3. Write long content
Long content produces credibility as a blogger. You can be easily perceived as an authority in the topic your talking about. It is also easier to put links within the post that could point your readers to old content. Aim to make your post longer. 1500 words minimum. My posts tend to be between 2500 to 4000 words.
4. Include photos
Images can enhance a blog post. It actually helps in the overall production value of your blog post. Included in this tip are charts, graphs and print screens that could better explain your content.
5. Tell a story if you must
Sharing your anecdotes related to your content helps in establishing your own voice as a blogger. And that blogging voice help to distinguish yourself from the rest.
29. Apply basic SEO on your blog
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of maximizing the number of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of results returned by a search engine.
The goal is pretty simple, bring your content on the first page of search engine results. People will more often than not visit your website when they see your link on the first ten results of their web search.
How to implement SEO on your blog for traffic?
Keywords.
Whenever you write a post think of the main keyword you want to highlight in your post. Then, disseminate this keyword throughout your content.
Include your keyword in the following locations:
Headline
URL/Permalink
First paragraph of your blog post
Throughout your content
End paragraph of your blog post
Alt text on images in your post
Metadescription of your post
For SavingsPinay I use Yoast Plugin to really maximize SEO. It is a free tool available that helps bloggers who are new to search engine optimization.
30. Keep your posts relevant
This is something I haven’t fully implemented on SavingsPinay but something I am convinced to be important.
Audit your current content and see which posts to keep, to update or to be deleted.
Keeping your posts relevant to your audience will increase your traffic to the maximum level. Why?
Because every content has a purpose and ultimately converts!
Old posts should be updated regularly. Those that has no conversion or traffic should be deleted. If you want to get traffic, you need to ruthlessly audit your content.
How to Monetize Your Blog
Honestly, I had no idea it is possible to make money blogging. I started this blog in 2013 to keep track of my journey to financial freedom. Never have I thought it would to turn into a helpful blog for others in learning:
- How to live with a budget
- How to save money fast
- How to invest in the Philippines
- How to retire young and
- How to make extra income with a full-time job
Success in blogging is purely based on how much hard work you are willing to spend. That’s why although there are millions of blog online, there are only a thousand few who makes stable money to go full-time.
Now that you have a blog, a business plan for it, high-quality posts, and ongoing promotion and consistent in your blog workflow, monetizing will come easy.
Making money blogging is a combination of all blogging tips for beginners previously discussed.
Here are some techniques to start making money with your blog.
31. Realize that it takes time to make money
The photo above is a simple representation of my own blog monetization timeline. From the year I started SavingsPinay, 2013 to end of 2017 I WAS NOT MAKING ANY MONEY.
In 2017 I changed my blogging strategy. I really aspired to generate real income out of my blog.
- I created a better, longer, more comprehensive and SEO-approved updated version of my low-performing posts. I then removed the old version to not distract the attention that my updated posts receive. Currently, my average word count is 3,500 words.
READ: 40 Financial Habits for Life and 10 Most Important Lessons in Personal Finance.
- I started including a smaller blog images instead of full-size like before. I also put it to the right to make my readers stay longer on my website.
- I am making all of my content readable. I started using shorter sentences with the aim to make my session time better.
- I only post valuable content that I know my readers will actually read.
- I focused on keywords that I want to rank high.
With these strategies (and more) I finally reached the sweet spot.
Here’s the deal:
It takes time to make money blogging.
But once you hit the sweet spot everything will run passively. Even as you take a short break blogging, there will still be money coming in your account.
You will be surprised how much money you can get blogging online.
32. Invest in your own domain and hosting solution
I learned this valuable lesson the hard way and for the first four years of my blogging life I got satisfied treating it as a hobby. I became comfortable with a free blog.
There is nothing wrong the keeping your blog as a hobby but if you want to make money from it, you need to make some investments.
A domain name works as the main URL/address of your blog. Instead of being yourblog.wordpress.com you can be known as yourblog.com.
This is a good investment for your blog to be easily searched and remembered by your readers! I bought my own domain, SavingsPinay.ph, with Pangalan last year and it turned out to be the biggest turning point of my blogging career.
Because I am now known as Izza of SavingsPinay.ph, it was easier for me to be remembered. I was able build my authority fast. Having my own domain also increased my chances of getting paid sponsored posts, paid advertorials and a lot more.
33. Invest in your blogging gears
It is ideal to have the best tools for your blog. If you are using a slow computer to write then you won’t finish a blog post on time. I personally believe that investing in your equipment as a blogger is important.
I bought a better camera last year to help improve my photos and it paid off for my beauty and lifestyle blog. My Instagram Feed also improved because I am using a good camera already.
You can find a lot of tips online on how to be better in blog photography even with a normal smart phone camera.
I highly suggest getting Canon EOS M3. This is the camera I currently use. It takes quality photos and HD videos at the same time. Plus, this camera is easy to use! And did I mention you can flip the screen and take a selfie?! Cool.
34. Invest in yourself
If you can attend writing or blogging workshops, why not? You can also find a lot of good online courses for as low as $10 on Udemy! I purchased a Complete Digital Marketing Course before and it helped me be better in handling all the promotion side of my blogs.
Spend time reading your favorite blogs and see which part of their blogging process you can identify with. I honestly look up to Sir Fitz of Ready to be Rich, Sir Omeng of Smart Pinoy Investor and a whole lot more good personal finance bloggers.
Reading their blogs gave me a clear understanding on what I want to achieve as a blogger myself. Invest in yourself. and improve your craft.
35. Choose a bankable topic
Although your blog can be anything and/or everything, if making money is your aim, having a niche matters a lot.
Here are some money making blogging niche you can try:
– Travel
– Freelance Writing
– Personal Finance
– Makeup and Skincare Reviews
– Gadgets/Tech
36. Choose the best spot/s to place your advertisements
If you are using banner advertisement such as Google Adsense in your blog, try to experiment which part of your blog have enough traction.
Looking at my Google AdSense record over the years, placing advertisement inside my blog post made the biggest impact on my income.
I also find placing a 300 x 600 ad on the top right corner of my blogs beneficial.
Keep a good balance between your content and your ads. There is always a downside when you place too much advertisement.
37. Try Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Marketing is a monetizing technique wherein you place an affiliate link of a product or company on your website/blog post/social media post/newsletter. You will then earn a commission for every successful purchase made through your link.
I don’t know about other Filipino bloggers, but I seriously find it harder to earn money through affiliate marketing. Unlike advertisement, you need to be proactive when it comes to making money blogging using affiliate links.
More than the traffic, you need to be build trust with your readers to generate income. Although I have yet to find success in this income stream, I am constantly learning.
Here are some affiliate products and programs I recommend:
I have mentioned this over and over again how getting my own domain with Pangalan was the biggest turning point of my blog! Having my own domain increased my credibility as a personal finance blogger, made my blog easier to search and to remember. For Php 350/ year you can secure your own domain too! Graduate from a .blogspot.com or .wordpress.com today and build your own name in the internet.
Related: Your 2017 Guide on How To Start a Blog
Looking for budget hotels and accommodation can be very daunting. Thankfully,TravelBook is there to provide me with the latest budget-friendly hotel and accommodation. One I have tried is Al Del Rio, a perfect homestay if you are going to the Caramoan. They also offer no credit card needed, pay at hotel stays for conscious travelers.
Related : The Ultimate Guide to Caramoan Island Hopping Adventure
Online shopping has never been this easy thanks to Lazada. You can almost buy everything in this A-MAZ-ING market place. I am always on the look-out when they have flash sales especially for lipsticks, skincare items, tech gadgets and the like. This site is perfect to find and buy gifts for your loved ones. Did I mention that I bought my Diva Ring Light in Lazada for less than Php 5,000!
Additional Tips when it comes to affiliate marketing:
- Focus on 2-3 Affiliate Products first and grow from there
This is important especially for beginners. Your sole focus should be building readership before actual monetization.
- Only promote affiliate products and services related to your blog
I, for example, promote books related in personal finance that I know my readers will benefit from.
- Review the affiliate product or service for your audience
Your audience will surely listen to you as long as you give an honest recommendation about a particular affiliate product or service. You may remember my review on Al Del Rio, the homestay we stayed during my Caramoan trip last August 2016. I used my affiliate link to promote Al Del Rio to the public.
39. Sell Your Own Products and Services
Another blogging tips for beginners is to sell your own products and services as a blogger.
Chinkee Tan, top influencer making money with his own books and merchandise as well as speaking engagements all around the world! This goes the same with Marvin Germo of Stock Smarts Series – which I read by the way and Randell Tiongson, author of No NonSense Personal Finance.
Books are not just the only way you can earn passive income. Here are other ideas:
- One-on-One or group coaching
- Online course
- Video tutorial
- Paid Membership Forum
- Your blog logo printed on mugs, t-shirts and Eco bag
40. It is your hard work that will pay off in the end
There is a quote I really like that goes like this;
Don’t be upset by the results you didn’t get with work you didn’t do.
The quote just summarize what monetizing is all about.
You have to work hard for it!
If you really want to earn that first $100 on your blog then you have to work and deliver. The amount of work/time you give determines the result.
There is no short cut to success.
SavingsPinay became one of the top resource blog in personal finance. I manage to create a community of almost 5000 members! The monthly pageviews is stable at 20,000 – 25,000 a month.
And above all the income is coming PASSIVELY.
Why/How come?
It seems like all the hard work and sleepless nights I spent researching, writing, making photos, editing and publishing has finally paid off.
Final Notes from SavingsPinay
I wish you all the best in your blogging journey. Whether you are a new blogger or you are currently in a limbo, I hope the blogging tips I mentioned help you.
I wish you all the best as you start blogging for real. Comment below your thoughts, questions and suggestions.
- Want to start a blog? This tutorial can help.
- Newbie investor? Enroll in the Stocks for Pinoy Email Course
- Get travel and tours up to 70% discount with TravelBook today! Link here
- Learn step-by-step how to budget the 50-20-30 Way! Click here
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