If your blog is missing one of the things listed in this article, then you may be sabotaging your blog’s financial success. Check out these 11 things your blog is missing!
by Kimberly Pangaro
This post contains affiliate links. To learn more about affiliate links and how they work, please read our Affiliate Disclaimer HERE.
Most bloggers, regardless of their focus area, want to build a financially successful blog that engages readers with quality content. But to do this, every blog must have a few important items in place. Without the items I am going to list below, it is safe to say that your blog may not be financially growing the way it could be.
So if you’re just starting your blog or you’re revamping an older blog to grow into a more successful one, then this article is for you! Here are 11 really important things your blog could be missing.
#1 Consistency in posting quality content
Your content needs to be top quality. You also need content that ranks on Google using SEO best practices. The best way to find out if your content has quality, is to take a look at your site’s analytics. You will need to review which articles have received your best viewership versus the ones that have not. And then, you will need to recreate that same energy into all of your future posts.
As a brand new blogger, you will not have this advantage, so you will need to research your focus area for what keywords and phrases are ranking. You can do this by using any keyword finder like SEM Rush or AHREFS. Keyword research and SEO best practices, will help you create quality content that ranks on Google, allowing new readers to consistently find you. This in turn, boosts your daily unique visitors.
However, if you do not post regularly and often, you will lose those newly acquired readers. There is some debate on how often you should post with many saying once a week is best, and others arguing that once a day is better. The truth is that each blogger is different, with different lifestyles. Some may be able to post daily, while others can only post once a week. Either is fine as long as you are consistent so your readers know what to expect from your blog.
#2 Set up Google Analytics
When you first start a blog, it is super important to set up a Google Analytics account. This will allow Google to keep track of your site’s metrics, but you can only do this if you own your domain.
Once you set this up, you will need the special ID that Google Analytics assigns your site, so make sure you know how to access it. You will need this ID to be accepted into certain affiliate marketing accounts, link insert partnerships, and other income streams. Most companies ask for this because they want to see how well your site does every month, and they value Google’s data. As a matter of fact, other media agencies that will consider your site for ad placement, will also use Google Analytics to determine if your site is worthy. And if you are trying to set your blog up for financial success, then you want your site to be worthy of ad placement by other media agencies.
#3 Fresh points of view
Regardless of how much of an amazing writer you are, all readers want fresh points of view to read from. If you do not reach out to other bloggers, writers, non-writers, influencers, podcasters, etc., then you will not be doing your blog justice.
If you’re nervous to reach out or don’t know what to say, here’s a tip. Start by saying hello and introducing yourself, then explain who you are, what your blog is about, and why you would like to have them write for your site. Some people will ask to be paid. That’s ok. If you can’t swing paying anyone, then say so. But keep in mind that you can offer to market their post on your social media accounts, instead of paying them. You can also offer to swap blog posts, this way they don’t feel like they’re doing something for nothing.
By asking different people from all walks of life to write for your site, you will be giving your readers fresh and exciting points of view. Plus, if the topics are of high-quality, then you can expect great engagement from them as well!
#4 Get Google AdSense or Another Media Partner
Whether you are starting your first blog or you are starting again, setting up a Google AdSense account for your site will help you earn some passive income. Depending on how many unique visitors you receive per month, you could see a few bucks every month or you could be receiving several hundred dollars with each payout. I’m not exactly sure how this is determined, as Google is always changing or updating their policies, but I do know that it directly correlates to how many ads are being served by Google on your site. The good thing about using Google AdSense is that it also monitors your site’s CTR or click-through rate, and some other blog partners will want to know this rate.
In some cases, Google AdSense may not be the best partner for your site, therefore, you should do your due diligence in looking into other media partners. The ones I am going to mention below all require applications and vary in their acceptance requirements. For example, Mediavine–perhaps the best ad partner out there for bloggers–usually requires 50,000 sessions per month or roughly 60,000 page views per month. Other media partners include, Media.net, SHE Media, AdThrive, Monumetric, and Ezoic.
#5 Sponsored content partners
Bloggers love writing, it’s our passion, but we also need content partners. So if you’re blog is missing this key ingredient, then you are definitely leaving income on the table. That’s because ads as a revenue stream will not cover your blog’s monthly expenses let alone your living expenses, especially if you are brand new to blogging and have not built up a great deal of traffic to your site.
With that said, it is smart for bloggers to add other methods of revenue to their blogging. One of the best ways is to team up with a content partner–these kinds of companies have thousands of clients in search of sites like blogs to post quality-written content, and they will pay you to let them post on your site. Now, some bloggers will warn you against doing so. That is because they may not understand the level of control that a blogger has.
Only you know how valuable your blog is, and hopefully you’ve figured that out by now. So if you know the value of your blog, then you know that you have the ability to find content partners that will allow you to retain full editing control over any article/post that comes from them. The best way to do this is to use a writing guidelines agreement for sponsored partners–a legal document and contract template that helps bloggers take control over what they are providing to sponsored partners. Without this, then yes, it would be hard to continue posting quality content to your site that is in line with the blog brand you’ve built.
#6 Links to your affiliate partnerships
One of the biggest mistakes bloggers often make is not including their affiliate links into their posts–on their own sites or even when they guest blog for other sites. If you’re not doing this regularly, then you are literally missing out on a ton of opportunities to make more passive income.
If you are an Amazon affiliate, Target or Wal-Mart affiliate, or an affiliate for any other company, you need to find ways to include your affiliate links in every article you post. But don’t over use this function as it will become too sales-like, and if you do insert your affiliate link, try to make sure your including it with relevance to the article. As an added measure, be sure to provide a personal touch as to why you think the product your linking to is worth your reader’s time. Honesty goes a long way in the blogging world!
#7 Entertaining content
One of the things your blog is missing is entertaining content. If your blog is in a certain niche, you may be thinking you can’t provide entertaining content, but that is not true. You need to learn to spin certain stories into entertaining ones so your readers feel connected to your brand. A great way to do this is to mix humor into your posts– you can do this easily by using Instagram in combination with other social media outlets to promote your site.
#8 Legal protection
One of the more important items your blog is missing is legal protection. You’re probably thinking that I mean copyright protection, and yes, that’s definitely important to have on every page of your website (in the footer is best). But while copyright protection is fundamental, so are having other legal protections for your blog.
The first problem with this is trying to figure out exactly what you need. The second problem is how much it costs to talk to a lawyer and have them draft up all the documents and contracts you may need. But there is a silver lining here!
Rather than call dozens of different lawyers that specialize in the different things you might need, talk to one lawyer specialized in everything a blogger needs for legal protection. How? Use the same system that other popular bloggers use. That system was created by a business lawyer, specifically for bloggers–her name is Amira, and she created the Blogger Legal Bundle. In it, you will find a ton of great legal documents to protect your blogging, like a Guest Blogger Agreement, a Sponsored Posts Contract, a Media Release Agreement, plus extra freebies. Get yours here!
#9 Business License
Most people do not consider blogging as a business, but that’s where you could be wrong. Blogging should definitely be considered a business, even if it is a side hustle, and here’s why.
If you are looking to blog just to hone your writing skills, great! But if you’re blogging to earn a passive income that will eventually lead to a full-time income, then you are indeed building a blogging business. But if you remain as an individual and not a business, then legally, you open yourself up to the possibility of lawsuits on a very personal level. Whereas if you get a business license like an LLC, then you the individual are provided more protections in the case of a lawsuit.
Additionally, the business tax perks are much greater than that of an individual. Think of all the items you’ve had to purchase to start your blog: a domain, hosting, plug-ins, email accounts, equipment, project management software, advertising, and so much more, all of which can be claimed as business expenses on your taxes, thus providing some level of tax break.
#10 Memorable Branding
Branding is very important for any business, and as we’ve established, blogging is certainly a business if you intend to earn income from it. And just as any business, a blog needs memorable branding that makes people remember it.
This will come down to several factors such as target audience, area of focus, competitor’s brand strengths, their weaknesses, and of course, the look of the brand. We can see that this ring’s true throughout every popular brand like Nike’s swoosh or the red in Coca-Cola’s labels. Essentially, you need to determine what your brand is trying to say about your blog. Is it in the name? Is it the color scheme? Is there something unique about your blog? Can it be expressed using a unique symbol? These are just a few of the important questions you need to ask yourself. At the end of the day, you are the face of your blog so combining that fact into your decision making process will help you create memorable branding.
#11 Authenticity
Remember earlier when I mentioned having total edit control over the content that you publish on your blog, well, it’s true even for your own posts. Every word that you publish needs to sound like your true voice. After all, your voice is what the readers got hooked on in the first place.
So when you are accepting guest posts or sponsored content, make sure your blog’s voice is being expressed. Remember, with total edit control you have the ability to edit the content to suit your blog’s brand and voice. Make it a rule for yourself and others, that if content doesn’t meet your brand’s guidelines, then it will not be published.
The Takeaway
You are your blog’s face, voice, and owner. You get to set the tone, the rules, and the value. If you underestimate yourself as a business owner, you are literally sabotaging your blog, allowing it to become stagnant or worse, fail. So before you give up on building a financially successful blog, try to implement the above items into your blog, and maybe you’ll see real financial growth. Good luck and happy blogging!
