There are lots of ways to make money online these days, especially with the popularity of social media on the rise. So many people are taking advantage of sell from home product opportunities, and influencers are making money simply from the fact that they’ve got lots of followers. But one of the most tried and true ways of making money online is blogging. The fact is that people go online to get information, whether it’s to learn something or to be entertained. And if you’re good at writing, and you’re willing to learn about marketing and SEO practices, there’s money to be made in starting your own blog in 2019.  David Urban also offers great information on how to be a successful influencer. 

So if you’re ready to start blogging, and want your blog to be as successful as can be in 2019, here’s what you have to do.

Choose the right topic

These days, every subject under the sun is being written about. That’s why, when it comes to choosing your blog’s topic, you have to write about something that’s both interesting to readers and interesting to you. Start brainstorming, and choose a topic that you’d never get bored of writing about. (Otherwise, later down the line, there’s the trouble of struggling with creating new posts.) Additionally, do your online research to find out if there’s an interested audience. It’s all about picking the right niche: it has to be specific enough that no one else is writing about it (or you can have your own personal take on it), but also broad enough that you can draw many readers in and make money.

So once you know what your interests are, do your research. Find out what’s trending not only in the blog world but also on social media. And think, finally, about whether you can make money from it. Can you sell products related to your topic, and will businesses be interested in buying ad space because your readers would want to buy their products or services? Considering that there are over 2 billion websites and blogs out there, choosing the right topic will make a huge difference to your success.

Get a domain name and blog site

Once you’ve decided on your topic, it’s time to choose a domain name. Pay for an actual domain name that ends with .com; even though it’s an expenditure, it’s worth it, because it gives your blog a professional tone. Then, figure out what blog hosting site works best for you. WordPress is the most popular, so if you aren’t sure where to start, use that. But if you think your blog might become something else in the future–for example, an ecommerce store with a blog posts section–then you might want to check out other site builders such as Wix and Weebly. You can find in-depth reviews for both of these website builders on www.mybestwebsitebuilder.com

In addition to setting up your site, create the associated social media platforms too, and connect them all to your main site and each other. That way, whether readers stumble upon your site or social media presence first, they’ll find all your content eventually. Think about this: 2.23 billion people log into Facebook every month–so having a social media account will be helpful to you.

Understand your audience

For your blog to be effective, you need to understand who your audience is and what they want. That way, you can design a site that’s aesthetically pleasing to them, and match your social media profiles accordingly. More importantly, you’ll know what kind of content to post. Let’s say you’re running a health blog, where you provide lots of advice for digital nomads who want to stay healthy on the go. By understanding who’s following you, you can focus more on providing recipes, apps lists, or workout tips.

Once you’ve started posting, don’t forget to do so regularly and with high-quality content. Carving out specific times during the week to write will help you, especially in the beginning, until you get used to your new blogging schedule. 60 percent of bloggers posting daily reported very strong returns, which goes to show how important it is to post often.

Master your SEO skills

You also need to master your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. This means not only knowing what’s trending and what your audience wants to read, but also knowing exactly what keywords to use. Using a tool like Google Keyword Planner makes a huge difference. And installing a plug-in like Yoast will help you use keywords the right amount of times in your post. If you’re not sure where to start, consider getting a free SEO course from HubSpot.

The average blog post takes 3 hours and six minutes to write, so make your time worthwhile and use SEO right so that people will actually read your content!

By following these strategies, you’ll be running a successful blog in no time. Why have you decided to start a blog, and what do you hope to accomplish?