Making a Successful Website Seems Like a Horserace
Not Enough Content
I was spending time trying to build content on my website, and find that after 16 months working on it, I still only have approximately 73,000 words and 80 articles.
It is apparent to me that if i cannot create enough content myself I will have to buy some content from other contributors. This is because, not only do you need to produce the word content, but you need to produce it at a good rate to keep up, and also it must be of good quality too. Like a horse race, you need to do the distance, but in comparible or preferably a better time than your competitors!
I have been working at a full time job, during most of the period in which I joined WA, so my time spent on blogging has been limited by that.
I have dedicated a lot of my spare time to blogging for my main website, and also pursuing other online interests and training, all of which need time allocated to them.
Buying Content From OthersSo recently i commissioned one blog from a contributor on Fiverr.com, but the results were not good, and without amendment and editing would not have been acceptable.
So I spent time editing and improving this post so as to make it publishable. What I found was that I spent probably more time trying to improve that article than I would have spent had I drafted the same number of words myself from scratch. Lesson learned.
Finding a Suitable Regular ContributorI remember reading a post from Jerry Huang who explained the process for identification and selection of suitable writers of blog content. He explained how difficult it was to find and train the right person. I must re-read that post and go through the selection process recommended.
Keywords and SEO OptimisationSo important to do your homework on targetting the right keywords and to optimise your posts for SEO using Squirrly or something similar.
There Are No ShortcutsThere are no shortcuts with blogging, and you need to find a way to make your business successful. It is not good enough to either produce insufficient content, or to produce poor quality content, nor to produce content at an inadequate rate, not fast enough. So best take advice from the experts!
Neil Patel´s Advice for SEO What Will and Wont Work in 2019Tip 1 - Content is the key, particularly new fresh content. I was suprised at Neil Patel´s advice that posting once per week or even per month may be enough!?
Tip 2 - Grow Your Brand, check out on Google Brand Names, how you are doing.
Tip 3 - Link building is harder than ever. I decided today to buy a Link Building service as I haven´t managed to do enough link building on my site either. I need to look into the Ahrefs Link Interest Feature, as recommended by Neil Patel.
Tip 4 - Your website must load fast! Check it with Google Page Speed for each type of device.
Tip 5 - Voice Search will become more and more popular, so you need to use short sentences for most effective. This is another thing to do some homework on, as I never even considered it previously!
Tip 6 - Also you need to remember Update your old content!
All in all, it seems you constantly need to try harder just to keep up in the race!
Good luck with your blogging in 2019!
Alan
Recent Comments
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Good Morning Alan,
I do not have 2 websites because I have to. Even so, I get stressed as I want to write 1 post for each once a week. As I also do Site Comments and Pinterest I sometimes feel it is too much.
I think we often want too much and it influences our health. I work a lot less outside and because of all this sitting at the computer I have put on weight. Not easy to find the right balance.
Greetings from the south of Spain, Taetske
Hi Taetske, Thanks for taking the time to read and comment, and i am glad that you are keeping well. I agree that you need to find the right balance between sitting in front of a computer screen, and enjoying the fresh air and countryside. I think I prefer the latter. Sometimes its difficult if you schedule too many business tasks for yourself, Best wishes, Alan
Good evening Alan,
Sorry but I have to tease you. Waiting for 4 months is Andalusian speed. Actually, in old times it would be but luckily they have picked up speed these past years. When a letter from Malaga, the capital next door would take 3 weeks to reach me now it only takes 3 days.
Greetings from the south of Spain, Taetske
I would believe it Taetske:-). I am working in Macedonia at the moment. I received a letter recently from Slovenia which took 3 weeks to arrive. Maybe when (Northern) Macedonia joins the EU things will improve. Best wishes Alan
Alan I agree with everything you’ve said. I don’t know how anyone can keep up the pace of posting good quality content on a consistent basis with everything else required. I too am searching for help.
hi Alan -- yes, you're right -- a successful website requires consistent, quality inputs on a regular basis for it to be built, maintained and scaled over a certain length of time -- that's why the high income earners hire a team to keep the machinery going .....
this is definitely a 24/7 365 days kind of business .... however, the pay-off at some point is a recurring residual or passive income .... and that's the eventual reward that most people are looking for ... so that they will have time, money & location freedom ....
any other way around this? .... yes, a universal allowance .... and that's a discussion in other fora ....
thanks so much for sharing -- sentiments understood,
all the best, keep well, cheerio ... ⭐️🎈
Yes, check out Jerry Huang's articles again on hiring a writer. He has done a whole training on it. It is awesome. He uses a company in the Philippines. In due course, we will be using Jerry's recommendation. The fee is very reasonable.
Hope it all works out for you. There are two of us and we still aren't writing as quickly as we would like. We get it!
Best of luck to you,
C & P
Good tips. Maybe they will help me win the race...except this business is not really a race. It's more like hacking a trail through the jungle.
I'm doing my best to keep moving. I only do posts every three days, but do them religiously. Personally, I'd think you would do better writing your own posts, but I know not everyone does that. Whatever you decide, good luck to you.
Hi Alan, with this title, I could not resist reading what you had to say. Yes, it feels like I started out with a pregnant mare and have not really even been able to enter the race yet.
I am getting closer. My website is finally "broke to ride."
I really need to pay attention to your tip about writing shorter sentences. Thank you.
Best wishes.
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Yeees Alan, great write up! I felt like you were writing this for me (this was a lot more relevant to me than I would have expected). The content creating process can be intimidating. I've researched other avenues as far as getting more and quality content but given your experience, I'm glad my reluctance to follow through has kept me from some not so pleasant outcomes. I'm learning that in this whole process of drafting and creating and trying to be consistant.. the results are always the most rewarding when there are no shortcuts and pure organic creativity. Thank you so much for sharing this...
- Ruby
Thanks for dropping by and leaving your comment Ruby, and glad you found something relevant to you. Good luck with your own blog, Alan