Today is 13th August 2013 and this marks exactly 2 months since the day this website is created.
This blogging journey had taught me a lot especially when it comes to building authority, increasing traffic to blogs and foster relationships with other bloggers.
Before that, I had created a simple video (yes, my second YouTube video) as a summary of this whole article:
Did you enjoy the video? I hope you do! (p/s it would be great if you could just give me a ‘Like’ on YouTube)
Let’s see how far this website had gone, shall we?
This is how my website traffic looks like during the first 60 days
Total traffic: 7,977 (100%)
Organic traffic / Google: 2,446 (30.66%)
Direct traffic: 2,302 (28.86%)
Referral traffic: 3,229 (40.48%)
On an average, the website is getting about 132 traffic a day or approximately 3,988 traffic a month. No biggy right?
I got to admit, I am ashamed of publishing the stats but for the sake of learning and sharing, I believe this is the best interest for all 🙂
Here’s a quick summary of what this whole article is all about:
My website traffic experience (organic traffic vs referral traffic)
Monetizing my blog
Satisfaction issues as a blogger
It all comes down to blog traffic
If you are planning to start blogging, then you got to know that traffic is the lifeline of a blog. It doesn’t really matter if you are blogging for money, passion or as a hobby.
You need traffic to sustain and maintain your site. Moreover, running a self hosted domain isn’t that cheap after all.
When I started this blog, I wanted to make this blog different. This means that I do NOT want to do the same mistakes I did years back with probably a dozen or more websites.
Instead of focusing on organic traffic, I wanted to focus on referral traffic instead. Let’s see what makes them different.
1. The differences between organic and referral traffic
Which is the better choice when it comes to building traffic for your blogs?
Organic traffic vs Referral traffic … what?!
Let’s see what the web has to say about them:
Organic traffic – Visitors who come to your website from unpaid organic or natural search engine results
Referral traffic – Visitors who come to your website from other domains (and pages in those domains)
Source: Google
In my own words …
Organic traffic can easily be defined as traffic gained from search engines. If you are getting more of this, it is safe to say that you are doing the right search engine optimization techniques to rank well on SERP’s.
Referral traffic (aka referred traffic) is traffic that comes from a second party and it doesn’t come through search engines. This type of traffic usually comes from social media, other domains and blogs who are sharing your links.
2. Why I decided NOT to be normal – focus more on referral traffic
Are you focusing in the conventional (organic traffic) or the unconventional (referral traffic) for your blog?
Some bloggers say focusing on organic traffic is risky and I got to agree with this.
Google can easily change its algorithm several times a year but building a website from scratch would take months or maybe longer. You can’t just change your game plan overnight even if you have the manpower to do so.
So yes, I took the road less taken and I know what I did would actually be beneficial for my organic traffic as well (indirectly).
This brings me to the next related point below. Before that, ask yourself why did you do blogging. Could it be:
Earning some side income?
As a hobby?
Living your dreams?
For me, I blog because I love it and the ability to earn some side income is definitely a good plus point.
Okay you will be asking, “So, what would these have to do with referral traffic?”
I want to make sure that every traffic that lands on my blog counts. This means that if I can have 100 readers daily who really enjoy my writing, then I would have struck the gold mine … literally speaking.
Here’s what I think. Readers won’t click on a link shared on Twitter or Facebook if they are not interested with the topic. Therefore, is it safe to say that referral traffic means targeted traffic?
Yup, you can say that!
Now, do you see where this is going?
Monetizating my blog with referral traffic
How you make money blogging … the smart way?
Personally, I think I did rather okay even though I wish I could do more 🙂
Here are the stats after 60 days of uptime:
Google Adsense: $ 1.69
Affiliate sales: $ 209.96
Again, I know most of you guys could be earning more than this. Shame on me!
But here’s the thing. For those who been visiting my site during June would realized that I have more Google Adsense banners.
Compared to now, I only place Google Adsense banners on several spots or categories. But why? I had replaced them with specific banners that are closely related to the said categories.
For example, I will be featuring a web hosting affiliate banner if that category is about website creation. Chances is, those targeted readers will be probably looking for a cheap hosting to go with their self hosted domains.
Oh yes, this is rather crazy as I ended up with 68 widgets on my blog.
Like what I said, the earnings above could just be a fraction of what many other bloggers are earning. Nonetheless, it is a good start. At least, I know that what I did (mostly) are bearing fruits 🙂
Recommended freemium tool for social media management: Socialoomph
You can’t please everyone. So, stop trying!
1. Making your readers happy …
As a blogger, you can’t possibly make everyone happy and you are bound to have lots of enemies when you are above the rest.
And for the record, I do receive hate mails and some super epic comments (which sadly, still lying in my moderation folder due to too many 4-letters words).
Here’s the thing about blogging. As long as you are doing it right, you don’t worry about what others think.
I very interesting quote I would love to share from someone I really respect:
Source: Smart Passive Income
The above is taken from Pat Flynn (the guy behind SPI) and the author of the eBook, ‘Let Go‘ which explains how unemployment changed his life completely and currently earning more than $100,000 monthly.
2. Unforeseen issues with blog subscribers
I had just a small number of followers for my newsletter and I too, received some feedbacks from them. Here are some of those:
My emails are either too long or too short
Wanting more freebies
15% of them subscribed as they thought I was doing more reviews instead
Some of them were expecting me to email them during specific days of the week
And the list continues …
Disclaimer: Feel free to think if I’m BS-ing but these are the things that REALLY happened to me recently.
My reply to them are the same (including the ones who leave comments on my blogs); I am not forcing you to subscribe to my newsletter and you are free to unsubscribe at any time.
I’m sorry if it might feel a little cocky but I am just one man and obviously, I don’t have super powers to make everyone happy.
Note: It is still rather sad to see that there are people who doesn’t really appreciate you and your writings.
Brighter sky after some stormy days
There is always sunlight after a stormy day
I am sure that all of us have our ups and downs.
Being a blogger is very fun and I am very honored to meet up with some seriously great friends (bloggers).
There are definitely more than this list but they are the ones that truly make my day:
Adrienne Smith ~ Lovely woman who never STOP giving you encouragements especially in blogging and life.
Barry Wells ~ Nice guy and pretty good in IT related stuffs. LOVE his writings too! He’s also one of the guys behind Marketing Mini Classes.
Corina Ramos ~ Another nice lady. If I would give her a nickname, it would definitely be ‘Work From Home GURU’!
Adam Connell ~ Great writer and one hell of a marketer. Learned from him a lot especially when it comes to building authority and Internet marketing.
Harleena ~ One of the most inspiring bloggers I ever seen. She teaches me that you can be good in anything as long as you have the passion.
Again, I felt truly honored to meet up with so many bloggers and lovely friends. I would possibly given up last week or earlier but thanks to them, I felt that everything will be just A-okay for me.
60 days and 7,977 website traffic later …
So, what did I actually learn about blogging after this life changing experience?
We need to:
Focus on the right traffic for our blog.
Make friends with other bloggers and most importantly, learn from them.
Mistakes are common in blogging. Use them to improve yourself.
If you want to make money blogging, start improving your blogging skills and focus on traffic first.
There are many ways to build your blog traffic. Choose the one that fits you best.
Don’t ever give up on negative feedbacks. They will make you stronger!
Before I end
I truly hope that you enjoy this blog post as much as I do. So, did I miss out anything? Hit the reply button below and tell me what you think!
*p/s If you like my writing, feel free to signup for my newsletter and could you please share it for me using the red button below?
The hype is finally over. Genesis 2.0, HTML5 and Scheme are here to rock your website.
I personally waited more than 3 months for this and I know many who waited way longer for this. When I saw Brian Gardner’s post on G+ yesterday hinting on the possible Genesis 2.0 release, I was basically glued to the download page.
Yes this is the one of the advantages of being a Genesis Pro user. I have unlimited access to all their child themes and updates.
In this article, I am going to cover a few things such as:
Why you should use Genesis framework and the advantages?
Why you should update to Genesis 2.0 right now (for those current users)?
How you can convert Genesis child themes to HTML5 correctly?
I know your heart is pounding like the drums of Amazon and therefore , without any further delay, let’s dive in!
The Advantages using Genesis Framework
See why over 86,000 website owners trust StudIoPress themes
Here are three very obvious advantages for using Genesis framework. With so many website owners using it, I bet you can’t go any wrong with it!
1. Search optimized
State of the art code and smart design architecture mean search engines clearly see your content. And with automatic updates, you never have to think about it again.
Genesis framework and all the child themes are SEO ready out of the box.
Genesis framework is also working together with Yoast SEO to ensure that all the themes are having great SEO features. If you want to rank well on search engines, you need Genesis framework.
2. Turn-key designs
The Genesis turn-key designs give you an array of beautiful frames for your content. The design settings give you unprecedented control of the framework.
Imagine you are a website developer and you want to customize the website. Genesis framework empowers you to do so … without hassle!
Basically, this feature offers you a huge range of beautiful designs that you can work with.
Imagine this: Each child theme works as a ‘general body’ for your customized theme. Choosing the right theme and customizing the detailed to fit your requirement is so easy and can be done without needing a developer.
3. Unlimited everything
Unlimited support. Unlimited updates. Unlimited websites. There’s no “Developer Option” here. One low price entitles you to support, updates, and domains.
StudioPress’s business isn’t charging you for every upgrade. Instead, you’ll just need to pay only once and that entitles you for a lifetime update.
Upgrading to Genesis 2.0 offers you more mobility that you can ever imagine
Not yet upgrade to Genesis 2.0 … or maybe still deciding on whether to get Genesis? Let this three reasons be the ONLY reasons you need to get it right now!
1. HTML5 ready
Being HTML5-ready out of the box means your site will be fast, flexible, and future-compatible without hassles or headaches.
There are many advantages using HTML5 for your website such as:
It makes your website future compatible.
It improves cross-browser compatibility.
It makes your site truly mobile-friendly.
It allows for extensible design and supports video and audio like no other markup language.
It is cleaner and more efficient in terms of storage, API interaction, and other ways impact user experience.
2. Mobile responsive
Now every visitor to your site will get a layout optimized for the device they are viewing from, without you spending big $$$ on a separate mobile site.
We are living in the 21st century and technology is over our heads. Gone were the days where you surf website on your laptops or PC.
Mobile responsive ready out of the box? Bring it on!
3. Microdata
Don’t make search engines guess about the most important elements on your page. Support for schema.org markup lets you do just that.
No idea what microdata or scheme are? Don’t worry! Here’s are what the pros think about it:
Google doesn’t use markup for ranking purposes at this time ‘” but rich snippets can make your web pages appear more prominently in search results, so you may see an increase in traffic. – Google Inc.
Let me start with explaining why you should be bothered with schema.org if you weren’t convinced yet. Not just Google uses schema.org, all 4 major search engines, Google, Yahoo!, Bing and Yandex use it for several different purposes ‘¦ but it’s not just them. Recently, Pinterest joined the party by announcing support for Product, Recipe and Movie schema’s through their Rich Pins effort. So, in my opinion, schema.org markup is a must for everyone serious about their websites optimization. – Joost de Valk’s (Yoast SEO)
Still want to read more about Schema? Then I highly recommend you to check on Ana Hoffman’s article on Schema Markup.
Converting Genesis child themes to HTML5
Converting to HTML5 is easy with the guidance
One thing you have to understand is HTML5 is NOT automatically enabled on your current theme unless it is recently released.
Being said that, you would need to get your hands dirty a little bit to get it working. At this point of writing, all child themes will be able to convert to HTML5 easily.
Important disclaimer: Backup your functions.php and style.css before doing any changes.
1. Adding Genesis HTML5 markups
Open your style.css and replace the old codes (left side) with the new ones (right side). You need to use programs such as Note++ to do the conversion.
Example below:
All you need to do is to change the codes on the left with the ones on the right
You can find the full list provided by Brian Gardner here.
2. Update the new Genesis HTML5 loop hooks
Now, open your functions.php and do the appropriate changes or updates. Again, credit to Brian’s for the codes which you can find it here.
Do not panic if some of the codes are not in your file. These are just very general codes and you just need to replace them if they are available 🙂
3. Enabling HTML5 markup features to your Genesis
As I said above, Genesis is not able to automatically enable HTML5 markup for you. Instead, you need do it yourself.
Before you go wandering around for the solution, all you need to do is to place the code below in your functions.php.
The reason for this is when using HTML5, we (StudioPress) cannot default to </div> for the closing tag since it could be opened with <article> instead – Credit to Nick_TheGeek for explaining this to me.
Did I miss out anything?
Tell me … have you converted to Genesis 2.0 and enabled HTML5 on your website? If yes, how was the process like? Tell me using the comment form below.
A few years back, applying for guest posting is rather easy and you could easily land yourself with one without much effort. Nowadays, you definitely need to step up the game if you want to earn a spot in the guest posting segment.
The requirements for publishing guest post has increased dramatically and do you know what it takes to stand out from the crowd?
Are you ready for guest posting?
Getting started for guest posting … the absolute basic
Guest posting 101: Knowing your targeted website is important
Choosing the right website is important for every guest post opportunity. There are hundreds and probably thousands of websites that you can apply for guest posting position.
Bloggers tend to signup for any type of topics with some crazy hopes … literally.
Do you think this is a waste of time?
Absolutely! Why don’t you just spend some time finding 5 or 10 niches that you really want to target instead?
Deciding on the niche you are going to get your hands dirty with will actually opens more doors when it comes to guest posting.
Let’s see it this way. There are many websites which offers general information but at the same time, there are also many who offers specific information.
Now, which do you think will benefit you more?
I would go for websites offering specific information as I am sure 75% of the traffic heading towards there are looking for that same type of information. This gives you a better chance to grow your authority.
Does this make any sense to you?
Fact: Choosing the right niche and website will give you the most benefits when it comes to guest posting.
2. Please give me a chance – Try before you buy
Do you feel better and safer when you are able to try out a dress before you buy? I bet it does and the same concept applies to guest posts.
If you want others to give you a chance, you need to offer them something back in return. It can varies from making them feeling safe, helping them to accomplish certain tasks or 100 more ideas you can think of.
The 70 words above might sound super easy but honestly, life doesn’t go that way. Nowadays, most editors are more picky and choosy when it comes to guest posting.
Hey, they are not wrong! After all, guest posting is all about quality right?
Here’s my confession: If you want to be given a chance for guest posting, then start building authority and make your presence counts. This means that spending time to build a certain level of ‘existence’ in that particular topic especially on social media.
This would take time and probably months. I personally took a month plus to build my presence on 3 specific niche and at the end, I was offered several chance of guest post.
Once that happens, the rest are rather … easy and straightforward from there on.
My guest posting checklists
Guest posting checklist is important to ensure that you are inline with the requirements
If you want to be successful in guest posting industry, you need to have a strategy … a damn good one.
I call it, “My guest posting checklists”. This checklist doesn’t only serve the purpose to write a good guest post but at the same time, making the whole process as smooth as possible.
Here are some of my personal guidelines:
Rules of engagement
Quality control
Mentally and physically prepared
All in all, keeping in mind that guest posting is all about a win-win situation between both bloggers and editors.
1. The rules of engagement
You should only start thinking about guest posting topic after knowing where you are going to publish the article.
Why is this important?
Each website has their own rules and regulations. You wouldn’t want to your articles to rejected just because you might have overlooked on a certain rule.
You are definitely facing a series of rejections if you are not applying on the right websites. For example, you might be writing about fashion niche and what will happen if you decide to write for CopyBlogger?
Does this make any sense to you?
The trick here is to write for websites that require your expertise or in line with your niche.
I make it a habit to discuss on the guest posting rules and regulations over email with the respective party. Ask them 101 questions if you got to.
It is never wrong to ask … but please, do ask logical questions only.
The best questions you can probably ask are:
Topics that the editor has in mind
The length of the article
Number links (DoFollow and NoFollow) in a blog post
Size and number of images allowed
Time frame for submitting the guest posting
2. Quality above everything in guest posting
If you are putting 100% in your blog post, then you should put 120% or more in guest posting.
Remember this: You are putting not only your brand and name on the line but as well as that editor’s one as well.
Even though guest posting is apart of creating backlink, this doesn’t mean that you should do link stuffing into the article. Instead, provide useful links to support your writing and not just links from your website.
Note: If your main goal for guest posting is to get backlink, then you are wrong. The correct goal is to provide relevant information, tips and tricks to boost not only your authority and credibility but as well as that particular website’s ranking.
3. Sending in your first draft
Waiting for the editor to reply could be the most nerve-wracking and nail-biting experience I ever had.
This is probably the moment of truth. Usually, the editor will take about 24 to 72 hours to get back to you and trust me, it felt like forever.
You got to be mentally prepared as there is a high chance of failure especially when it comes to submitting the first draft.
Once you received the review, do the appropriate amendments if needed and make sure you follow the guidelines given by the editor.
You could take a week or so to redo the draft but don’t take forever!
Go ahead and tell me. Did I miss out anything?
I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I do. Remember to hit the Reply button and tell me if I overlooked anything.
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Web hosting is important when it comes to starting a website. For me, web hosting service more than just plain important as it is my partner who I will work along for a long time and this is also one of the factors that will determine my website success rate.
A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their website accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server owned or leased for use by clients, as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center.
Source: Wikipedia
Everyone has different opinion when it comes to the term ‘best web hosting’. In my books, the best web hosting company consists of:
Customer service and support
The truth behind server uptime
Control panels with very low learning curve
Affordable price or hosting plans
Security features provided
Before we proceed, what does it takes to be the best web hosting plan for you?
What attributes make a web hosting great?
Which web hosting do you think PSY uses?
#1 Down right customer service and support
A great web hosting company consist of service and support. I am no developer and I have very limited knowledge in those IT related stuffs. Therefore, my web hosting company works as a support team who will provide me with essential information and ways to solve an issue.
I don’t expect them to solve all the problems for me but at least, they need to point me to the right direction to get support or to solve the problem. I really don’t mind getting my hands dirty if I have the required information.
Give the hosting company two thumbs up if they offers support via telephone, email or live chat. This is extremely important especially when you have a website that is down as you know that support is just one click away (or phone call in that sense).
#2 Secretive cover up of the server uptime
Nearly all web hosting companies around the world claim to have 99.9% uptime and guess what? Most web hosting companies doesn’t even live close to that. Seriously.
You: My website is down! OMG!
Support: Thank you for calling or emaling us. We are checking on the matter.
30 minutes later …
Support: Thank you for waiting. It seems like one of our partners is being hit by DDoS (or maybe, our servers are experiencing sudden increase of payload which resulted in the website downtime). We are in the midst of …
Two questions that might pop up in your mind right now; “What the hell is DDoS” or “So how long do I need to wait?”
The above sounds more than just familiar to me and this happens to a few web hosting companies I worked with, literally. Whenever we try to ask where is the 99.9% uptime as promised, they would probably say ‘this’ only happens once awhile, or maybe they have another 100 more reasons to tell you.
So, what am I trying to prove here? This —–> don’t be fooled by the ‘so-called’ uptime.
#3 Control panels for the less geeky
How many of you actually know how to navigate around using the control panel of your web hosting?
I bet 7 out of 10 would only know how to install WordPress and nothing more.
A good web hosting (or maybe the best web hosting) company should provide at least easy to navigate control panels and the most basic functions required for website maintenance.
Have you image using a web hosting company that takes 24 to 48 hours just to install WordPress into your brand new and shiny domain? Happened to me and it probably will happen to you as well. Trust me, that is really annoying!
#4 Go easy on your wallet – web hosting pricing
When it comes to choosing the best web hosting plans, price is definitely an issue. The best web hosting plans (for a single website) would easily cost you below $30 monthly and if you think it is bad, you are probably wrong.
Remember that you are not only paying to secure your website but also, subscribing to a better customer support plus services.
If you are looking for a long term partnership, you can even opt to get a longer hosting plan duration. Usually, the longer you subscribe to the plan, the more discount you would get.
Important tip: Please avoid going for the cheapest web hosting company or plan you can ever find. Cheap web hosting companies could be a huge security factor for your website.
#5 Web hosting that offers SSL features and eCommerce functions
These are two core features that must be provided by your web hosting company if you are running an online site. I believe this is rather self explanatory when it comes to website security.
You definitely wouldn’t want to expose your potential customers to the thousands of online security threats just by using a cheap web hosting that doesn’t support SSL.
So, what if you don’t run an eCommerce website?
SSL feature could still important for non commerce website. Well, it might not be that useful but it is definitely going to beef up the security matters for your site.
Finding the best web hosting company
With the above methods, I hope that you would have an easier time trying to figure out which hosting plan to go with. In order to find the right web hosting company that suits you, all you need to do are:
Do your research on various web hosting providers
Check for user reviews
Subscribe for a web hosting plan that fits your requirements
Avoid rushing to get a web hosting plan if you are not prepared
I have a question for you. Do you need some guidance on choosing the best web hosting provider?
Recently, I also reviewed HostGator web hosting plans and you can have a look at it here; HostGator Review – Possibly The Best Low Budget Web Hosting?
If you are looking for a web hosting plan that allows you to host multiple domains at a very cheap rate, BlueHost could be your best bet.
I certainly hope you enjoy reading this article as much as I do. If you like this article, feel free to share with your friends and signup for my newsletter using the link below!
Starting a website – Everything you should know about!
So you decided to start a website and you want to start it right now. But something is holding you back … you are fearful about the uncertainty in the whole website creation thingy and you have no idea where to start.
NO WORRIES! I am here to help … or at least, let me share some info with you!
Important disclaimer: This article contains more than 3,000 words and 28 tips about starting a website. I know it is extremely long to read this and thus, feel free to bookmark this page and come back for more.
Starting a website may sound easy but why do we often hear many bloggers complain that they are not doing well in blogging?
In this article, we (yes … you and me) are going to discuss on the ultimate do’s and don’ts in blogging. And of course, important facts about which will affect your website building process.
1. Why do you start a website?
You want to start a website … I got it! But have you ever wonder why you want to start one? You see, if you want to start a website, you got to know why you want to start it.
Let’s assume that you have a plan. Sounds good right? Carry on asking yourself what’s the next step, say in the next 3 months or so. Can you answer that?
If you want to be successful, you got to plan. Yes, you read and hear other blogger talk about planning but how many of them actually practise that? Personally, I am facing the same difficulties to get along with my blogging schedule as well!
2. I blog for money. So now what?
Can you really monetize your website?
This term is extremely common among bloggers; make money blogging. You probably heard about others bloggers like Reginald Chan making tons of money from blogging. And … you are tempted like a hungry lion.
Wait … hold on a second.
I am Reginald Chan and I am not making tons of money from blogging. Does this mean that you can’t make money through blogging?
Well, I do make some money from my blog but not that much. You can make money through blogging and that is possible. Now, how much you can earn is another thing. Most bloggers earn few cents a day through Google Adsense and that doesn’t really make the cut isn’t it?
Fact: You can make money through website but don’t expect a windfall in just a short period of time.
You can start making money from your website but it would take time to grow. And of course, there are much more things to do then just “how to make money blogging”.
And if you think that you want to start a website to make money (solely), you are definitely on the wrong track!
3. The relationship between topic, keyword and niche in website creation
Now let’s assume you had done your work with #2 and #3. The next step is the most crucial part when it comes to starting a website.
You need to know what you are going to write. Yes! Now is the time to figure out what genre you are going to write, the keywords and niche for your lovely website.
The trick here is very easy. Let’s say you are starting a website on blogging tips. Here’s a little draft I did as an example:
Main topic – Blogging
Keywords – Choose 10 different keywords (maximum) <– Each keyword contain just one word
Specific keyword – For each keyword, choose 5 different variance of words (example, the word blogging could have specific keywords like make money blogging, blogging tips, creating a blog, blogger and starting a blog.
Once you have the above info, starting a website should be a brief! Yes, now you know how and what to write. Whenever you write, keep in mind these keywords and use them on your blog post. Just make sure you don’t over stuff them up!
This step helps you to figure out what niche and probably the name of your domain name associated to the keyword. Does this ring any bells?
4. Finding the right domain name for your website
Domain name is your website brand and you need to have more than just a good name. Could this be the reason why so many bloggers are puzzled about their domain names when it comes to starting a website?
It is best to choose a domain name which is closely related to your writing topic as it will offer a better chance to rank better on search engines. That’s why #3 (above) is important!
So, how about sites which are self-named like this one? In short term basis, domains with keywords would get ranked faster and better but when it comes to long term, it doesn’t make a different due to SEO and other optimization factors.
Therefore, choose one and stick to it!
For those wondering if you should get a .com or a .net, there’s no difference in it. Google still index them like normal. However, when it comes to human behavior, we are so used to key in .com instead of .net.
For me, a hosting provider is more than just a client – customer thing. It is my partner in crime for Christ’s sake! Hosting providers are the only one who is going to determine the speed of your website and as well as the uptime.
Avoid cheap hosting provider as they are dangerous (in terms of website security) and also reliability. I know many cheap hosting providers who claim to have a good uptime but in fact, your site will go down at least once a day!
This is why I only recommend BlueHost or HostGator for shared hosting. If you are looking for a secure and premium WordPress hosting, you must definitely give WP Engine a try.
There is pointless to have a website which is always down and not accessible right?
6. Choosing the right WordPress theme
Rule number 1: Don’t use free WordPress themes
Rule number 2: Don’t forget rule #1
Website theme is the heart and soul of a website. It portraits to your readers what your website is all about and there’s no other reason why you shouldn’t be worried about it.
A good WordPress theme offers complete customization, no hidden backlink or malicious codes and most importantly, website security. These are why you need to consider using the right theme even before starting a website!
There are many premium themes you can choose from such as Elegant Themes and My Theme Shop. If you are looking for a more customizable WordPress theme (plus easy to use), you can also try StudioPress (Genesis framework and child themes) and Thesis Theme as well. You won’t go wrong with any of these.
7. Planning the website layout properly
This part is extremely crucial. You must make sure your readers are not ‘lost in the Amazon’. Placing the right information on the sidebar will help reduce bounce rate and don’t forget that Google crawl sidebars as well.
Footer area is also a great place to add in more information such as contact details and latest blog posts. Bloggers such as Jane from ProBlogging Success said that her sign up rate increases when she place an opt-in form at the footer area.
8. The importance of permalink structure
Search engines such as Google and Bing love to index websites with clean URL structure. Being said that, it is always best to use /%postname%/.
One of the SEO best practices is when you use www[dot]yourdomain[dot]com/%postname%
The logic behind this is easy. Let’s take the image below for example:
Search term: Scribe Content
Now see the above. For instance, if I am searching for scribe content, a clean permalink structure will provide confidence level to the readers to click it.
Also, a good permalink structure is usually short and a clear example is as above. You can basically see everything in one line. This is excellent for search engine to index your site and a possibility of higher website ranking.
It is very important to start this in the early stages of starting a website as changing of permalink at a later time would means a complete ‘overhaul’ of all the site links. This will also affect all the link building you have made in the past!
9. Choosing the right plugin for your website
Plugins are essential when you are starting a website. WordPress is filled with tons of useful plugins. You got to choose and decide which are the plugins that you will install and use. Avoid keeping unwanted plugins in your database as they might pose security threats to your website.
Plugins will affect the site one way or another especially when it comes to website load time. It is always advisable practise minimizing the number of plugins used. There are many free website plugins are coded badly and therefore, always remember that keeping the number of plugins installed to the lowest number is the best practice when it comes to maintaining a website.
Also, uninstalling unused plugin can easily improve website security and at the same time, improve the site speed.
10. Categories make navigation easier
Readers dislike websites with no clear navigation
If you want to reduce the bounce rate or even increase the time a reader is on your website, you need to focus on creating categories. Imagine you have 100 posts of different topics and you definitely do not want to cluster everything into one.
Separate them into several topics with specific names. This makes finding an article or post much easier. Don’t forget that many people doesn’t use the search bar even though it is extremely visible!
11. The ‘about me’ and ‘contact me’ pages
These are two of the most vital things on Earth when it comes to starting a website. You want to make sure your readers are able to contact you if they need to or maybe, read more about you. You need to make it plain simple for this.
Place these links on the top bar or side bar. Make sure it is visible at all time and this is definitely a plus one for reader’s engagement.
12. Determine the writing styles when you are starting a website
When you blog, it is always a good practice to keep thing simple. The tone of your writing should be either coaching or guiding a friend instead of military style.
C’mon mate! How sure are you that your method will definitely work for them?
Portray yourself as a mentor or tutor and you here are here to help. When you write as a low profile blogger, you sounds ‘nicer’ and this increases the possibility of the readers come back for more.
Readers love to visit websites which are able to solve their problems, not about the author to talks great about himself.
I totally understand this. How many of us can write really good English? My country has three main languages and even though I studied in an English school, my English isn’t be perfect either.
The point?
Regardless of the reasons, you must always avoid making any errors especially with language. Keep in mind that anyone can visit your website regardless of location and therefore, proper English is vital.
A great blogging tip is to always check your blog post for any spelling errors. We are all humans and at times, we could easily overlook on such ‘innocent’ mistake. A simple spell check can help you in a long, long way.
14. Blogging is nothing when there’s no fun involved
Blogging … most of the time, consists of a wall of text. Yup that’s reality and this is where you need to make your reader’s entertained.
Remember that when a person reads, it is not the same with television where there are advertisement breaks etc. Blogging is probably blasting out 1,000 words with the hope that 20% of your readers will read until the end.
Therefore, bring the fun in now and you will grow your website audience.
15. It pays to be honest
If you want to be popular, stop lying right now. You need to tell your readers that they are reading the truth and nothing but the whole truth.
For example, if you don’t have 10,000 readers, why say so? Lying won’t make you famous but telling the truth will.
Don’t be afraid to tell the truth even if that is going to spark a controversial. Well, I am not saying it is right to do so but it is not wrong either.
If you dare to say that, then prove it with facts. Anyone of us can deny anything we want but when there’s fact, we won’t drift that far away … if you get what I mean.
16. How long should a blog post be?
Forget about the myth. What do you think of this?
You have seen successful bloggers who published many long posts (more than 1,500 words) and some who post less than 800 words. Which will you follow … or should I rephrase … which will be the best way to build a successful website?
Forget about what people say but this is the fact. The length of your blog post is nothing if you have no content. Write a long post if you have enough content to fit in. If not, anything above 500 would be enough.
Guys, there’s no recipe for this and therefore, stop finding for one!
17. Titles and subtitles mean everything for website visitors
If I would give it a guess, I would say 85% of the readers in the world are just skimmers.
Skimmers are people who actually browse through the site looking for keywords that might interest them. And they do not read the whole article if there is nothing attractive. So to say!
Opps, the secret is out. So, what you can do about it?
Headlines are important. You can easily play with H2 to H4 (heading sizes) to attract attention. Here’s some tricks you can start with:
H2 – Main title
H3 – Sub titles
Bold / Italic / Underline – Stressing a fact or keyword
The goal here is to ensure that skimmers stay as long as possible on a page. This is to ensure that the readers are occupied as long as possible at your site.
18. Build an email list the same time you start a website
Start building a mailing list right after you start your website is the best thing you can do
Some call this too early but look around. You need a mailing list and you need one right now. Building a mailing list is an important step for when it comes to website marketing. It doesn’t matter if you start with MailChimp or AWeber. You just got to do it right now!
A mailing list is vital especially when you want to promote a new post, product or even getting your readers back! Remember that with a good mailing list, you can connect with your readers and get to know them better.
19. Recipe to make readers sign up for your website newsletters
So, you decided with build a mailing list. Good for you mate!
But what’s next?
If you think setting up a mailing list is hard, getting readers to subscribe is even harder! Here’s a few tips you can start with:
Clear reasons why they should sign up for your mailing list
What you are offering to them
What the readers will get in return
Place not one but a few sign up forms on the website with a few Call-To-Actions
Make it as clear as possible (on the advantages of your newsletter) and you will hit the jackpot (literally). Need an example?
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20. Involving in the world of search engine optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization is techniques or best practices which will affect the website ranking. If you want to be on page 1 on Google, you got to know SEO.
Good SEO techniques are not mainly techniques! Instead, they are focused to understanding and SEO practices which makes websites and articles rank better on search engine result pages (SERPs). The more you understand about SEO, the better you will perform.
Link building is one of the techniques for optimization. You need to start building links (some call it backlinks) immediately after starting a website. A good quality backlink is worth more than 100 bad quality backlinks.
Authority is important in the blogging industry and when you are starting a website, you need to think about it. So, the secret to grow your authority? Write good great content.
Readers like you and me love to read articles which are jam packed with facts. So, start building authority with the right content and on top of everything, focus on your quality. You need to be known for sharing quality content and not just sub-pars one.
Wondering why you need to have authority? With authority, people are going to trust you and yes, trust your every word. You may say, talk or blog nonsense but if you have authority, your readers are going to trust you with that. Seriously!
23. Reader’s engagement is extremely important
Readers will come back if they are appreciated. You got to make sure that replying to every comment you received. This is one of the important steps when it comes to starting a website. Sometimes, a simple “thank you for your comment” can go a long way for readers.
I am using CommentLuv plugin which allows me to send automatic emails to readers who leave their comments here. In the short email, I will thank them for their time and offer to connect to them on social media.
For me, I would be very delighted when the admin of the site drop me an email (automatic is fine) to thank me for dropping a reply. How about you?
24. The holy grail of DoFollow and NoFollow
When you are starting a website, you want to make sure that Google and other search engines are not labeling the site as a link juice … you know, a site which link out too much.
This is where the DoFollow and NoFollow comes into play. You can get this done easily by adding rel=”nofollow” to the URL code and crawlers will not link that site.
NoFollow is great when you want to avoid abusers trying to get the best out of your website in terms of backlink.
On the other hand, DoFollow is an excellent ‘tool’ when you are thinking of building links between articles or other sites.
25. Submitting sitemap to Google and Bing
One of the key virtue of starting a website is getting the website indexed. In order to do so, you need to ‘tell’ Google and Bing that the website is ready. You can do so by submitting a sitemap of the website to these webmasters.
Indexing is a process where indexed posts will start showing up on SERP’s. This is where people start clicking and visiting your site.
Just signup for both of them is fairly easy and you just need to submit your sitemap. A sitemap is a directory where it tells crawlers what the website has and it’s breakdown.
Two tools to help you build sitemap are Yoast SEO or Google Sitemap Generator. Once the sitemap is created, submit the URL to Google Webmaster Tool and Bing Webmaster Tool.
*Note: Yoast SEO is a WordPress SEO plugin that have the option for automatic sitemap creation. It is extremely useful as it will auto generate sitemap every time you publish a new article.
26. Enabling Google authorship
Have you activated Google Authorship on your website?
Google authorship is more than just a pretty face beside the website link. It shows authority and on top of that, it provides a great deal of trust as well.
In order to get Google authorship, you need to:
Have a Google account
Link Google account with the website
Linking Google account to the website is easy and here are a few steps:
Verify your email on Google+
Link Google+ profile to your website or content
Link your content to the Google+ account
Once these are done, it would take a few days for Google to start indexing it. After that, you will get this:
Google Authorship plays a great role in terms of SEO
Do you see the image beside the post? That’s Google Authorship. You should start linking Google authorship immediately after you start your website.
27. Starting a website and monetizing it?
Starting a website is easy but monetizing it is hard. This is why you need to make sure that you monetize the website the right way. For starters, you should start by doing the ‘slow-mo’ strategy.
This means that in order to monetize the website, you need to do it slowly and with the right method. For starters, you can start by doing small advertising with Google Adsense.
When traffic picks up, you should (or consider) shifting some of your website monetization to affiliate programs. Selling an affiliate product can earn you more than $20 and at times, more than $100.
If you are looking for a good affiliate program, you can sign up for this program which has a very good track record.
28. Maintaining the website after starting it
Starting a website? Anyone can do that! Ask yourself this; How many of you actually maintain their websites?
Maintaining a website is a must if you are planning to start one. Website maintenance varies from:
Updating website core features and plugins
Checking, amending and updating the information on old posts to ensure the information stated are up to date
Removing broken links (and bad ones too)
Ensuring good load time and speed of website
With the proper maintenance, I’m sure the website will remain its value and at the same time, making sure all your blog posts are in an ‘ever green’ state.
Does the above 28 tips help you in starting a website?
Phew!
I know the article could probably be the longest post in my website but I hope you learn much from it. After reading, do you think that starting a website is more than just ‘that’?
Tell me what you think using the comment form below and if you like it, I would be grateful if you could share it by clicking on the red button.
Recently, I came across a blogging contest organized by Uttoran Sen of Guest Crew. Basically, the contest is opened to all bloggers and even members of Blog Engage. We are not talking about $50 or $100 but it is $500 worth of cold hard cash! The below are the prices for the winners:
1st Prize – $200
2nd Prize – $100
3rd Prize – $75
4th Prize – $50
5th Prize – $50
6th Prize – $25
Yup, there is 6 prizes to grab! This blogging contest runs from 1st July 2013 to 15th August 2013. So, hurry up and join right now!
How to score more points: Simply share, try to get as much traffic and comments as possible for the post. Trackbacks are also allowed.
2. Register an account at Guest Crew (it’s free)
Once you had verified your account, head over to the article gallery and apply for an article at the guest crew.
Alternative method: You can also request for an article from the request gallery and one of the guest bloggers will apply and write an article for you! Just publish the article on Blog Engage as guest post and you are all set!
Yup! You’ll earn points for being active in the forum or helping out others. Very easy right?
Hint: The more active you are, the more points you might get in return. Win – win situation right?
Wait! There’s more!
Once you had done registering for the contest, make sure you drop Uttoran Sen a private message on Guest Crew. Just hit the PM button and give the following details:
Your name
Your email ID
Your PayPal ID
Your Guest Crew user ID
Your Blog Link
Now, you are absolutely on the way to win the contest!
How to score more points?
The keyword here is … sharing is caring!
You gain more points by:
Sharing on social media
Drive more traffic to the article
Get more trackbacks
I hope this information will be sufficient enough to help you get started on this blogging contest organized by Blog Engage and Guest Crew. So, are you ready to rumble??!
You can also check out my guest post for the contest here: 9 Tips to Effectively Use Email Marketing.
