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A profitable blog operates within a system. Basically, every single time a blogger publishes a new piece of content, she follows this system.
Here’s the system behind a profitable blog
Step 1: Decide what problem your blog post will solve; what question it will answer
People are constantly on their browsers asking questions. Find those questions.
Step 2: Research
Chances are that if there are people asking questions, then someone (if not a lot of people) has already answered them. Research what everyone else has to say about a certain topic so that when you write your blog post, you’re not missing anything.
Step 3: Write a fantastic blog post
Once you’ve found the questions, answer them in your fantastic blog posts that are:
Rich with easy words, simple sentences, and short paragraphs that a 3rd grader can read and comprehend.
Packed with more value than your competitors’ blog posts.
A comprehensive piece of content that answers a question or solves a problem completely. If needed, with images and videos.
Step 4: Ensure search engines can connect your answers to the questions people are asking
Here’s where SEO (Search Engine Optimization) comes into play. Technically, you take care of these steps as you’re writing the blog post. With time and practice, this will become your second nature, and you’ll find yourself doing this automatically. There are also tools available to make this process easier.
Step 5: Add your CTA or Call to Action
This can be as simple a message as “please leave a comment!” or something involving a bit more work, such as “please join my email list!”
If the latter, your chances will improve if you offer something in return, also known as a freebie, or an opt-in incentive, or a content upgrade.
In rarer cases, you might ask them to purchase something from you: A digital product, an online course, or perhaps a physical product!
But remember, people only take action when they’ve enjoyed and benefited from your blog post. So, be sure to take care of steps 1 through 4 if you want people to answer your call to action.
If you need help learning how to write blog posts that people can find, enjoy, gain value from, engage with, and then take action, consider joining the Spring cohort for my Blog Writing Workshop.
Step 6: Publish the post
Send it out to the world!
Step 7: Make sure people find it
If you’ve done your SEO correctly, with time, search engines will start to pay attention. But that doesn’t mean you cannot take matters into your own hands before that.
Here’s what I recommend:
Pin your blog post to relevant Pinterest boards.
If you already have some email list subscribers, send a newsletter blast letting them know that there’s a new post on the blog. Make sure to add a direct link to the post.
And that’s it.
If you’ve taken care of this system, chances are that like me, you’ll also start seeing some of your blog posts rank at the top of Google’s SERP (Search Engine Result Page) such as this one:
My blog post at the top of Google’s SERP
That single blog post has now generated tens of thousands of dollars for my blogging business!
But do understand that in order to grow a community around your blog, or to sell something to this community, two things need to happen ALL THE TIME.
The Two Most Important Things to Ensure a Profitable Blog
First, people will need to find your blog.
Second, people will need to love your blog enough to take action: Whether that’s subscribing to your newsletter, clicking an affiliate link, or purchasing a product from you.
Both of these things come down to knowing how to actually write a blog post that attracts people, and then keeps them coming back for more.
Join blog writing workshop and get my Customized feedback on your writing + Much more
In this 6-week workshop over Zoom, you'll learn how to research, write, and optimize blog posts for search engines (SEO) that not only make readers love you, but also convert to subscribers and buyers.
Maliha is a writer, blogger, and content marketer. She's the owner of The Side Blogger, a proud Canva Verified Expert, a top writer on Medium, and a confident procrastinator at large.
