Let's Build Bigger, Better Blogs - and Earn More While We're at It

trickeymickey

I may have some guides on setting up wordpress blogs if anyones interested, i'll check my hard drive later and see what i can find.

FatVonD

JennyP wrote: »

If it's not a stupid question .... how do I get people to go to my blogs? Does it just happen over time?
Or is there somewhere I should be listing it?
Should I be doing all that site verification stuff with google?

I'm doing the Darren Rowse 31 Days to Build a Better Blog stuff and it's good but time-consuming! And I'm a bit stuck on Day 3 really - my blogs are very, very new and have hardly any stuff on them so I doubt anyone is going to want to link to me yet.

Should I just be working on writing and writing and writing? I like writing but it seems a bit pointless if no-one is actually going to read it!

I pretty much set up our (non profit making) work blog and we didn't even go live until we had about 30 entries. I found we picked up lots of regulars by posting when other people weren't, they'd go to their regular sites, see no new updates and then start clicking through the blog roll.

I can't remember if it was you that was asking about leaving comments but if you leave comments on the same host site while you're logged in folk only have to click on your icon and hey presto they're on your site.

Don't forget to link other blogs within the body of your entries too (not just on your blogroll) then, when they see people are being redirected to their blog they'll hit the link to find out where from.

My own stupid question is: do you get paid when someone hits your blog or do they actually have to click on the ad before you get paid?

So, can someone tell me if i've understood correctly, please, if I was to set up my own (non-work related) blog, I would have to do it on wordpress.org rather than wordpress.com if I wanted to use adsense?

trickeymickey

My own stupid question is: do you get paid when someone hits your blog or do they actually have to click on the ad before you get paid?

Not stupid question at all, yes a visitor to your site must actually click the adsense ad link and visit the other site for the click to register.

You then get a percentage of what Google pays for that particular keyword that has generated the link. That could be anything from 0.01 to the highest i have ever seen is around $18.

This is why if your setting up a blog to make profit from as opposed to a hobby, its partiularly important to target good paying keywords.

Regarding the wordpress.org or wordpress.com issue i only use my own hosting so couldnt be sure whats best. Being independent would always be better in my honest opinion.

If you do place adsense ads on your blog remember you MUST NOT have more than 3 to a page and you must include a Google compliant privacy policy so as not to risk Google taking your blog down or refusing to index it.

Mick

ps I've got 3 or possibly 4 blogs nearly ready to sell soon if anyone is interested. these will be set up to the new owners adsense codes and ready to promote.

Not sure if i could actually mention them on here as don't want to blatantly advertise them but i'll let you know when they are ready and anyone thats interested can pm me. With good mse member discount of course

joshclem

hi there,

in terms of making money from a blog i have some very good ideas

but is it easier / better to use google adsense on my own domain or would i be fine with a blog on something like blogspot?

thanks for help

GavB79

trickeymickey wrote: »

Not stupid question at all, yes a visitor to your site must actually click the adsense ad link and visit the other site for the click to register.

Not true. It is possible to have advertising on an impressions basis, so for instance every 1000 page views of an ad earns you some money. This is more for image ads rather than text ads. Imagine it's like a billboard - the ad is there but the people that see it don't actually interact with it, it's more the brand identity registering in your mind.
Pay per click is more common, but not the ONLY option.

FatVonD

Thank you both.

JennyP, forgot to say, when putting links in a post to another blog/site make sure you check for it to open in a new window so as not to navigate people away from your own blog.

JennyP

FatVonD wrote: »

Thank you both.

JennyP, forgot to say, when putting links in a post to another blog/site make sure you check for it to open in a new window so as not to navigate people away from your own blog.

Thank you! I think I've been doing that already! It's one of the few technical type things I worked out!

ReviewGuy

Having blogged now for around 5 years now I have a couple of pointers that might help save some trial and error time, for newbies.:)

It seems to me blogging is not to dissimilar to building a house. If you do not have a as perfect as you can get it foundation then your house will not come out quite right. Same with blogs.

The WordPress platform is fantastic and a fairly simple learning gradient as WordPress have a fantastic and thorough help section plus with hundreds of plugins ready to go on your new blog you should be up in no time at all. Obviously, for reasons others have stated earlier, you need your own URL(domain name) and paid hosting account. It is all about you being in control.

More foundation stuff would be niche research prior to purchasing your URL for obvious reasons, (URL needs to reflect the niche), already discussed. Keywords are very important, very, very important but fairly easy to find with Adwords research tool.

Many professional bloggers buy their blogs once they are at this stage before they then put their traffic expertise into play. Traffic is like putting on the roof of a house build, the final building act. Of course that does not mean the house will never need regular maintenance like grass cut, painting, rates paid and much more if you think about it. Blogs are no different. They have regular needed maintenance as well even though nowadays many of those regular aspects can be automated.

Blogs really are "Virtual Real Estate"

I love them...

If I can answer questions for anyone interested in blogging I will do my best.;)

Conrad

Reminds me of unsustainable pyramid schemes. Do people out there have time for this deluge of info, mp3's, face book invutes and blogging in already busy lives?
I find I peruse many sites, often only stopping breifly until I find one I will actually buy from and typically that will a trusted name like John Lewis as apposed to the billion numpty sites out there.

My self employed Turkish and Pakistani clients set up corner shops and pizza takeawyas and most are very comfortable with a few rental poperties hidden away.

You cant beat hard work if you want to change your fortunes. Incidentally dont be fooled by the seemingly humble corner shop owner. I've only ever met 1 poor one - but they will not let you know they are wealthy what with the old Nissan and clothes. Funny how thier kids become Doctors while the chavs they serve stay poor.

ReviewGuy

If I look around any of the many cities I have been in around the world the largest buildings in them seem to be owned by Insurance companies or are gambling casinos. Hm! They have people sign bits of paper or put money in a box...Does not seem like hard work at all. I am not saying there is not a place for hard work but it is not just hard work that makes great amounts of money.