Content Creation for Your Blog

Content creation is, of course, the most important concern facing every blogger. Without compelling content there would be no reason for anyone to visit your blog.

At this point.. you should have already taken the time to choose a blog niche as well as register a domain name and make a decision as to your web hosting provider.

Hopefully, you have also done some brainstorming and made a list of some things you will be able to start creating content around for your blog posts.

If you have not yet completed this step.. sit down and make a list of all things you can think of pertaining to your niche. Many of these things will become topics for your posts.

If you need help getting started go to Google and type in you main niche keyword.

The Google auto suggest will help you find the things people are most often searching.

CREATING CONTENT – COMMON BLOGGER MISTAKES:

When it comes to content creation.. a lot of new bloggers make the mistake of just sitting down and starting to write blog posts without giving any thought as to whether or not these posts will actually be able to rank well in the SERP’s.

They simply start writing about whatever it is they want to write about. This is fine if it is your intention to create a personal journal of sorts.

If you want to create a personal blog of your wedding and honeymoon photos.. or photos of events and gatherings, etc. to share with friends and family.. that is entirely different than starting a blog with the intention of creating an additional income stream.

However.. if you are starting your blog in the hopes of it being a viable way to earn some extra income.. then you need to select a niche.. do your keyword research.. and write blog posts based on the things people are searching for.

You can learn more about selecting a blog niche on our post: How to Find Your Blog Niche

CONTENT CREATION AND SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION:

The first thing any blogger needs to learn is Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Since SEO is the number ONE priority in creating a successful website it needs to be addressed before continuing with your content creation.

However.. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is certainly not something that can be explained in a paragraph or two.

There are a lot of books and courses available online for learning the art of SEO.

Some of the top ones can be very expensive.. and although some of them are definitely worth the cost.. you may want to start with something less expensive in the beginning.

After you have learned the basics and are ready to move on to more advanced techniques you can consider one of the more expensive in-depth courses at that time.

I have taken a number of courses and have read a lot of SEO books in all my years of building websites and earning money online.

SEO is something that is ever evolving.. but the basics are always going to remain the same: On Page Optimization.. as well as establishing Backlinks to Your Site.

These two things are absolutely necessary for your site to be found in the SERP’s!

CONTENT CREATION REQUIRES KEYWORD RESEARCH:

Before you start writing.. you need to do some keyword research. You don’t want to spend a lot of your time writing posts based on keywords that no one is searching for or that you will not be able to rank for.

If thousands of other bloggers have written blog posts using the same keywords.. you may find yourself competing with a lot of blogs that have been around longer than yours and have built up a lot of authority.

There are a lot of tools to use for keyword research. The best tools are paid tools, but there are also a few free options that will get the job done when you are just starting out.

One of the best keyword tools to use for this is Keywords Everywhere. You can enter your keyword and it will give you a list of long-tail keywords that will be easier to rank for.

The tool is available as a free download as either a Chrome or Firefox extension.

They also have a paid version, which is unbelievably inexpensive. The least expensive plan gives you 100,000 credits for $10.

If you have the paid version.. when you do a search.. if you get a list of 50 long-tail keywords.. it will cost you 50 credits. Believe me.. 100,000 credits will last a looong time!

Begin by downloading the extension to get started. I am not sure how many keywords you get for free. When I used to use it I always used the paid version.

Ten dollars is a bargain for the amount of information it will provide for you. If you join.. be sure to print out a copy of your receipt and put it in your tax file.

This is a business expense and you will be able to write it off against any income you earn from your blog.

NOTE: To keep from using up your credits .. when you are not in keyword research mode.. you can turn off the extension.

That way if you are searching Google for something that has nothing to do with your business.. you will not be using your credits for these searches.

The extension will live in the upper right corner of your screen.. next to the address bar. The icon is a round circle with a K in the center.

If you click on that you will see the following.. where you can turn it on when you are doing keyword research and set the extension to off when you are done using it.

Another great tool is KeySearch.. which actually gives you the volume for each of the keywords, as well as the keyword difficulty for each. There is a free one-month trial which allows you 5 searches per day.

If you were to take advantage of the free trial you could assemble your list of keywords and you will have 30 days to enter 5 searches per day.

Thirty days should give you enough time to gather plenty of information.. as well as a boat load of ideas for content creation.

I would think you could find enough keywords to keep you writing posts for at least the next few months.

SETTING YOUR CONTENT CREATION GOALS:

Now that you have come up with some ideas and you are ready to embrace content creation mode.. it is time to give some thought to how much time you have available to devote to your new business venture.

You need to set some goals for yourself and set a reasonable content creation schedule.

In the beginning I would suggest adding new content at least every 3 days to get your blog off to a good start. That would give you 10 new blog posts in the next 30 days.

After you have reached the point where you have 50 posts on your blog.. you can slow down a bit if need be.

You can choose to create one new post each week.. or stay at 2 new posts a week.. whatever seems manageable for you.

What is the best way to fit this into your schedule? Are you a mom with 3 small children to care for? Is this something you can do while they are napping.. or after they are in bed for the night?

Be honest with yourself and set goals that are attainable.

Whatever sort of schedule you ultimately decide on.. try to fully commit to it as if it were a job you have been hired to do.

Having discipline is important if you want to succeed!

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