Follow These 6 Steps to Transform Your Blog into a Business

Are you doing part-time blogging?

Do you own a WordPress site and want the freedom of self-hosting? Then listen up! This article is for you.

All you need is a good idea, already running a blog, and good hosting services from the reliable UK Hosting providers.

 

Is it really that easy? The answer is yes and no!

Let’s not keep you in the loom anymore.

But like anything, if you want to make it a full-time living, you need to treat blogging like a business. It takes time and determination but the rewards are phenomenal!

Read on as I share with you the 6 steps that will help you go from zero to making over 6 figures in the next 6 months!

1. Understand Your Audience

The very first step is to understand your audience. You need to know who your target audience is before you start any marketing efforts if you want them to be successful.

So, the first thing you need to do is create buyer personas. You can use these questions to get started:

1. Who are you blogging for?
2. What kind of content will they be interested in?
3. What are their goals, fears, and problems?
4. How much money does your audience earn on average?
5. Where does your audience hang out online (social media, forums, etc)?

When you have answered these questions, you can create your buyer personas.

They should be a brief overview of your main audience and their interests so when you hand them over to your team, they have a clear idea of who you are targeting.

For instance, if you are planning to turn your business into a web development business. Your target audience might be small businesses that need web development services in the UK.

An example of the type of content you need to create would be the importance of web development for businesses or building a website in 4 easy steps.

2. Get Influencers on Board

Once you know who your audience is, the next thing you need to do is get some influencers on board. Influencers with a large following and could create a lot of buzz about your business.

Influencer outreach should be a careful process so you don't annoy these people with your requests. It can take time but there are ways around it:

• Use HARO. This free service connects you with journalists, bloggers and other influencers looking for sources for their stories.
• Offer to guest post on relevant blogs. This is a good way to get some quick exposure as it will show your audience that the person who created this great content is an expert in their field.
• Build relationships with same-like businesses. If you're looking to get in touch with some influencers, try finding people who blog about the same topics and leave useful comments on their blogs.

This is a great way to attract more target audience towards what you do and how you do. When you have relationships with influencers, getting investors and businesses promoters on board is easy which ultimately leads to revenue.

3. Create Content That Stands Out

Great content attracts links which is a great way to get more traffic. Of course, it's not as simple as that which is why this next step is so important.

To create something that stands out from the crowd, you need to ask yourself some questions:

• How do I want my reader to feel when they read my post?
• What words do I want them to use when they talk about my post?
• How do I want them to interact with this post in the future? For example, will they want to share it with their friends or leave a comment?

Check this portrayal of great content from Hubspot

If you can answer these questions and make your content work towards an obvious goal, you will have something truly amazing on your hands!

Plus, if you make the goal enjoyable, your readers will come back for more.

For instance, you plan to start a digital marketing company in the UK, creating content about the issues that small businesses usually face in the online realm would benefit your business.

4. Learn SEO

Fact: You won't get very far if no one can find your blog.

SEO is the fundamental factor if you want visibility, searchability and good ranking.

That's why you need to know at least the basics of SEO i.e on-page, off-page and very basics of the technical side of SEO.

It will help you to attract visitors who are interested in your content. People do not go to Google and search for something that doesn't exist.

After checking the image below, do I still need to tell, why learning SEO is a must?

You need your content to show up in search engines if you want people to see it. Learning SEO in one day isn’t easy but these tips will help you get started.

Some SEO tips to get started:

1. Use the right keywords. Keywords are important to SEO so choose them carefully. You can find out which ones are the most popular by using keyword tools.
2. Check your content for grammar and spelling mistakes as this will make people less likely to read it.
3. Create a lot of content (at least one high-quality post a day) because this is something search engines love.
4. I would recommend checking out 'SEO Moz' for more information.

People are always searching for the content they want to find. If you make it easy for them, they will be more likely to come back!

Make sure your blog is focused on these needs. For example, if your website is about interior decorating, make sure all of your posts are around interior designing.

5. Define Your Hosting Needs

Ask yourself what you are planning to do with your blog. If you think your business will attract lots of customers, you need the best hosting providers in the UK that allow website owners to have unlimited pages, bandwidth, and storage space.

If you're just looking for a place to share some pictures and text, shared hosting services will probably be fine.

But, if you have long-term plans and want to create an eCommerce platform, you might need to opt for professional business hosting.

You need to understand, website loading speed is crucial to running a smooth business.

If your website takes more than 3 seconds to load: first Google won’t rank it and your customers would bounce back from your site due to poor loading.

These are just some of the things you need to consider when deciding how to turn your blog into a business.

6. Choose Your Revenue Streams

So, you thought just blogging can get you enough money? Probably yes or no!

There are multiple income streams to generate money. Let’s follow some of the most sought-after income generating ideas.

1. Affiliate Marketing:

You can promote other company's products or services on your website and they will pay you a commission every time they make a sale.

2. Paid Advertising:

You can make money by letting advertisers promote their products on your site. There are different kinds of ads, like text links, banners or videos.

3. On-Site Advertising:

You can create a website that helps you to make money from advertising. You can use Google AdSense or similar services.

4. Direct Sales

You can sell your own products or services on your website. For example, you could sell eBooks, digital downloads, etc.

Don't Forget to Promote Your Website!

People won't find your website unless you promote it everywhere. But how do you promote it?

Use Social Media

If you are not currently using social media, you are missing out on a lot of potential customers. Most people use it to share their opinions about brands and products.

So, you need to find the social media platforms where your audience hangs out and become an active content creator.

Conclusion

A blog is a great way to showcase your knowledge and help people at the same time. The best blog authors are constantly learning, which means they create amazing content every single day.

But you should know that everything you do when blogging should be with SEO in mind.

To create great content, get influencers on board and learn how to optimize your posts for search engines because that's what will bring traffic to your blog.

In the end, if you are based in the UK, opting for the best UK hosting providers would get additional perks which is a plus for your business.

If you manage to do this, you will have no problem turning your blog into a business!

 

By Websouls Content Team - 13 Oct 2021