If you are looking to launch a career in blogging and generate income from your blog  you will be looking at a  business focused criterion when it comes to your site.    Important decisions such as choosing the right domain name for SEO purposes (which helps you get found on the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) and providing content that is relevant and engaging will help you to create a successful blog that can be monetized through reader donations, pay-per-click advertising as well as Brand Sponsorship opportunities.

The first step is to decide what level of engagement you plan to have on your blog.   If you want to derive an income from blogging it’s best to consider your blog like a small business and devote the same amount of time and attention to it.  Don’t spend too much time thinking about how you will monetize your blog but rather focus your efforts on creating a blog with great content and a niche audience that will make Brands want to connect with you.

Getting Started

• Create a business outline that defines the audience (or niche topic) that you are targeting.  Cooking, Finance, Health and Fashion are all popular topics that can lead to brand sponsorships.

• Choose a domain name that is easily searchable.  Avoid choosing a long domain name or one that is not memorable.  Take some time to consider the SEO benefit of having a well searched domain name with effective keywords.

• The theme of your blog should be easy to read and allow structurally for monetized advertisement on the left or right columns.   Check to see if your theme is also easy to navigate by mobile device (smartphone and tablet).  Consider investing in a premium theme that is SEO enabled.

• Create social media profiles on Twitter and Facebook that are branded to your blog theme.  Include a keyword researched description of your website to promote yourself in social search.   Make it easy for readers to find you.

• Build a content plan for your site and contribute regularly.   The more quality content you provide, the faster you will grow your audience and your global page rank.

• Familiarize yourself with Alexa.com to understand your page views, readership and demographics of your audience.  Also make note of the posts that receive the most reactions.  If your readers love that type of content, do it more often!

What Not To Do

• Never use images that are licensed or copyright protected.  Only use images that are free of royalty or license restrictions.  Not only can the unlicensed use of images create an SEO penalty for your site, it can also land you in some legal trouble.

• Do not copy or ‘borrow’ content from another site without permission or attribution.  Aside from legal implications for plagiarism, your website can incur an SEO penalty which will place it lower in the SERPs (search engine result pages)

• Keep it positive.  If your goal is to become a Brand sponsored blogger, keep your content clean and professional.   Brands not only measure the success of a blogger by audience size but also by quality of their content and the bloggers personal image and online influence/reputation.  Profanity is a no-no.

One of the great things about the ShesConnected Community (and our conferences) is that it allows women of various levels of blogging to connect with each other and share ideas and expertise.   Create your personal social and professional blogging profile on our website and get connected!