The old days of blogging are over. A few years ago you could create a new blog and, with a little SEO and link building you might get enough traffic to make some money. Times have radically shifted, though. Nowadays an interesting idea isn’t enough. There are plenty of interesting blogs out there.
And most of them get almost no traffic.
These days it takes a considerable effort to build a high-traffic blog that can also earn you money. The sad truth is that some blogs won’t attract much traffic or earn much money. Their niches just aren’t popular or profitable enough. No one wants to hear it, but it’s true. As a consultant I’ve turned away considerable business, because I just didn’t see a way some blogs could ever turn into what the owner would consider a success.
Some blogs, though, have the potential. And new bloggers have all the
opportunity in the world to create high-traffic, profitable websites. Those clients always ask one question, and it wasn’t until recently that I had a good answer.
They ask: What’s the biggest thing I can do to grow my traffic?
The answer is so simple that you might bop your head for not knowing the answer before. If you scroll down a bit you’ll see unmistakable message in big letters. But for now let’s go over blogs that will not attract lots of traffic or earn much money.
News Doesn’t Pay
Before I meet with potential clients I examine their websites for certain criteria. What’s their topic? What’s the niche angle? How’s the writing? How’s the format? The checklist includes about 20 questions, and for most blogs I go through every one of them.
There’s just one exception.
If the site contains nothing but a regurgitation of the news, there’s a 99 percent chance I’m going to reject it outright. Reblogging the news just doesn’t do it any more. The only exception is if the news is in a niche that few other blogs touch. If you dig real deep into a niche and talk about one tiny aspect of a big subject, there’s a chance you can attract a decent amount of traffic. Otherwise? The news doesn’t pay.
Think about it this way: the newspaper business is going under. People are getting their news from varied sources, and so advertising dollars are spread thin. That’s because the news is the news. You can get it anywhere. Before blogs, newspapers made plenty of money because news was scarce. You had precious few places to find it. But now you can find it anywhere, even if you’re not looking for it.
If you want your blog to succeed you have to differentiate yourself from the pack. Reblogging the news, even with added perspective, just won’t do that. The competition is too great and too established.
Your Opinion Stinks
Another type of blog I typically won’t take on as a client is one full of opinions. Sure, opinions can differentiate you from the crowd. They can be what separates your blog from the thousands of others in your niche. Even then, you might not generate enough traffic. Why?
Because everyone has an opinion.
In the old days, opinion sold. Writers who expressed controversial opinions generated plenty of business for newspapers. But that was a one-way conversation. In modern times we have two-way streets, and readers are privy to that. They all have their own opinions, and it’s harder than ever to convince them of anything else.
Sure, you might be able to generate some traffic by expressing against-the-grain opinions. You might even cash in that traffic for some money. But the well runs dry quickly. Unless you’re a Grade A essayist who can consistently incite the masses, you’ll flame out. And if you were a Grade A essayist, someone would pay you to write for them. If you’re even Grade B, people will leave soon enough. They’ll get sick of your opinions. It has happened a thousand times, and will happen thousands more.
So what can you do to generate high traffic and earn money?
Teach Them Something
It’s so simple, yet so true. Teach your readers something they didn’t know, and they’ll appreciate you. They’ll recommend you to friends. They’ll spread your message through social media outlets. And, most of all, they’ll come back time and time again.
That’s really it, folks: the one rule for building a high-traffic site is to teach your readers something they didn’t know. Why do you think that Delhi Courses blog is in the Alexa Top 20,000? Because when you come to Delhi Courses Blog you learn something about blogging and running websites. If this site were just opinions about blogging, it wouldn’t even be in the top 100,000. But the posts here teach people something that they can take to their own blogs.
So how can you teach someone something?
Start with what you know. If you know a lot about fitness, teach people how they can get themselves in shape without spending hours at the gym. If you know a lot about books, teach people about some hidden gems they won’t find on bestseller lists. If you know a lot about home improvement projects — and this is a good one for many reasons — teach them why they will save money by installing a tankless electric water heater. However you choose to do it, though, make sure that the reader comes away with something she didn’t know before reading your post.
We all have knowledge unique to us. If you can learn to identify and harness that knowledge, you can teach people something new. It will mean a lot of work on your part, since you’ll have to learn even more to stay ahead of the curve. But the rewards can be plentiful. High traffic and profits are at your fingertips, if only you teach people something they didn’t know.
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Delhi Courses providing SEO Training and Digital Marketing Course.
