I can hear you asking me, “Why isn’t my blog successful?” I took a peek at the keywords that people were using to find information on blogging and this is one of the ones that gets a lot of searches. It is also one that doesn’t necessarily have a straightforward answer. But I’ll help you sort it out, don’t worry.
But before I answer this question I am going to tell a little story. Almost two years ago I found out about Squidoo and started my first lens. The lens was terrible. I didn’t know what I was doing, the lens hardly got any traffic, and it wasn’t rated very well at all. I let it sit for a few months. I thought, hmm – squidoo is fun but nothing is happening.
Instead of give up, I got really stubborn.
I fixed the lens. I expanded it. I made it look pretty. I researched the keywords to go in it. I found lenses that were successful and tried to figure out why they were getting a lot of traffic and sales. Things were starting to improve so I expanded my collection of lenses. I also started making sales. At the time, Helium had a nice affiliate program that yielded me $8 every time someone signed up. Associated Content also had an affiliate program.
I’m telling you this because if you think your blog isn’t successful, chances are you haven’t gotten really stubborn yet.
That lens is two years old now. I get around 500 visitors a month. It has a higher pagerank than this blog (a PR of 4). I sweated a bit and worked hard making that lens fun and entertaining and helpful. This is what needs to happen with your blog. Slapping content up and some Adsense ads isn’t enough to make your blog successful. The content needs to be good. The blog needs to look nice. Most of all, your writing needs to have personality. It also needs to have well researched keywords.
So before you worry about backlinks, go back through and create a blog you’re proud of. That way, sharing it is second nature. Then when the blog looks nice, reads well, and is optimized you can start building backlinks through article marketing and promoting it on the social networks.
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This is interesting, because I’ve kind of had the same thoughts about Squidoo but am also going to give it a real go. Thanks for the reminder, and the inspiration, that I shouldn’t give up so quickly!
Ruth – Web Career Girl´s last blog ..Remember to Set Goals Bigger Than Your Work
I’d say that being stubborn is a trait of almost any successful blogger. One smart webmaster told me, “Blogging is not a sprint – it’s a marathon” and the more I know the more I believe this. The bloggers who think that they will be able to quit their job in six months are likely not the ones that are going to even be around in six months. The ones that are hard headed and stubborn as a mule are the ones that will be around in six months, a year, or ten years from now.
Danielle´s last blog ..My New Year’s Resolutions
Ruth, it’s funny isn’t it? Almost everything has potential I guess we just need to give it a chance.
Danielle – that’s very good to hear! I certainly have no problem being stubborn. He he…