Milestone Post: How to Blog for Fun and Profit

byllj-tucson

4.4K followers

6 years ago

Learning how to blog for fun and profit is a thrilling journey. I achieved a significant milestone today in my two year long journey along this path at Wealthy Affiliate. I posted my 100th blog post on my website this morning.

I had to share with my followers and the community because so many people have contributed to this achievement. And, I'm grateful for all the great training, tips, feedback, and comments I've enjoyed as a member of the community.

Note the addition of "fun" in the opening line of this post. Making money online is a fabulous goal (and one I share). But, as a retiree if it's not also fun, I'm not going there! :) Fortunately, it has been an incredibly enjoyable experience!

I started my blog in May 2016, So, there's a powerful argument that I should have achieved this goal a long time ago. But, I'm not one to stress about the woulda, coulda, shouldas in life. I'm just enjoying the moment.

SWAG Challenge

I'm vicariously enjoying the current SWAG challenge and I think it's pushed me to up my game. So, I appreciate all the sharing around this challenge. I briefly considered asking to join but didn't feel I could make the necessary commitment.

That said, I've taken note, challenged myself, and been pleased with the results. Here are a few of the results I've seen:

My Site Health has been very green for the past month or so. And, it's probably the first time I've achieved 100% publishing frequency.

In the past month (March 10th through today), I've published 10 posts with an average of 1500+ words. Seven of those posts are new articles. Three of them represent major revamps of articles published early in the life of my blog.

Based on my experience, I recommend going back and taking another look at some of those posts that may not have fared as well as you had hoped for. My rankings on all 3 posts have improved.

I'm particularly pleased with one revamped post that's been languishing on page 3 for more than a year and is now on Google page 1. It gives me hope that I've learned something along the way! :)

Another improvement I've made is changing my theme. Last year I decided to purchase a premium theme (Soledad) from Envato Market. As much as I liked the theme, it was not a good choice.

I would say it falls squarely into the realm of what Jay would call a "fancy pants" theme. Far too many features that I wasn't necessarily using were just bogging my site down and my site speed was far too slow.

I want to give a shout out to Eddy with a Y for his relatively recent post with his 3 top recommendations for free themes. I decided to go with the second theme on his list (HitMag) which has improved my site speed considerably. I'm very happy with the choice.

When I grow up, I think I want a Genesis theme. :) But for right now, I have other priorities and I'm content. As always, I would appreciate the feedback from any of my followers who have the time to check it out.

WA Enhancements

WA was a great platform when I joined two years ago this month. And, I continue to be impressed with the enhancements that just seem to keep coming. I love that Jaaxy is now a premium feature.

But it's SiteContent that really rocks!

I've published more than 50K words using SiteContent and I find the efficiencies amazing. If you're not yet using this feature, what are you waiting for? You absolutely need to try it! I have about 20 draft documents created right now with potential keywords.

Choices for your next post are always good. If the words aren't flowing on one topic (that never happens, right?), just jump to another draft. If the words aren't flowing at all, change things up and create some featured images.

Share Your Accomplishments

No matter where you are on this WA journey of learning how to blog for fun and profit, I know you have some great accomplishments to share. Please feel free to share your profit accomplishments.

But what I really want to know is what did you have fun learning recently? Because if you're having fun, it's all good!

Blog on my friends!

Linda