Today I’m happy to feature a guest post from Sam Hoffman, marketing consultant and outreach specialist for White Label Digital Marketing.

Sam is a wealth of knowledge whenever it comes to blogging and digital marketing, and I know you'll gain a ton of value from this post. Take it away Sam!

As anyone with interest in the blogging filed knows, it takes a lot more than luck and small bits of effort to turn a blog into a profitable online business. In reality, for a blog to grow, drive traffic and gain followers, the owner has to commit with prudent planning, data-driven decision making, and strategic moves. In this article, I’m going to put the emphasis on the five primary points you’ll have to focus on if you want to be the owner of a prosperous blog.

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Furthermore, numbers and statistics help us shape the business strategy in any given industry, which is why I decided to provide you with the necessary numbers you should be aware of if this is your chosen occupation. According to an article written by Neil Patel (co-founder of KISSmetrics and Crazy Egg), 36 percent of people prefer list-based headlines, like the one you’re going to see here. That means that you should take advantage of this piece of information and implement it in some way in your blog posts.

Generating organic traffic is critical!

Approximately 70 to 80 percent of users completely ignore paid ads and only focus only on organic results, which is why applying the instructions given here is going to make all the difference on your pursuit to successful blogging.

1. Technical details

Setting up a blog with WordPress, Blogger or any other content management platform is a simple and straightforward task. It will only take 30 minutes of your time. The dashboards are intuitive and easy for users, and the web builders are quite visual, which makes using them a piece of cake even for amateurs.

WordPress, for example, features an almost endless number of themes and plugins that can make your blog beautiful and easier for managing. Some of them are even free!

However, WP hosting is the one issue, which requires your attention more than any other technical detail during the initial setup. The whole structure depends on you choosing a reliable and secure provider, which can guarantee an uptime of at least 99.90 percent.

2. Niche-related specifics

As a blogger you want to gain credibility, so your readers and followers can trust your articles enough to share them or recommend them. This subject is very closely tied to the brand you would have to build as a blog owner. The primary mission is to find a niche specific to your interests and hobbies and blog about it as an expert. Everything on your blog should feature similar topics, including the theme, the videos and the photographs you publish.

3. Quality Content and SEO

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My favorite line when it comes to content is the popular quote by Bill Gates “Content is King!” mostly because it sounds good, but primarily because it is utterly accurate. Despite the fact that the layouts for proper content are constantly changing, the requirements for quality always remain high.

Your content is the best representation of your blog, and it should be written per the requirements of your target audience. It does not matter if it’s funny and charming, or professional and technical, as long as you always uphold your standards of quality copywriting. The easiest way to gain a general perspective is to find articles on the internet you enjoy reading, and then try and replicate this writing style in your blog content.

Another issue you need to pay attention to is SEO. Keyword optimization, on-site optimization and building an internal and external linking structure to your blog posts. You need to optimize your content with the right keywords if you want Google to be able to find it and rank it.

If you’re wondering which additional criteria, your blog’s content should fulfill in order to be competitive on the market, Forbes featured a high-quality article on the subject. One of the main points discussed in the piece is the need for a compelling lead that is engaging your readers. Each subtitle should start with a summary, explaining the context of the content in the first couple of sentences.

As a blogger, you must learn how to balance the beauty of the written word, the SEO optimization of the content and quality storytelling, which will be informative enough for people to read it. It’s not an easy task by any means, but it’s quite rewarding both on a personal and professional level.

4. Digital marketing and content strategy

Content marketing is another important topic, possibly the most important one of all. Even if you’ve written the best blog post in the world, it’s not going to matter if no one reads it. This is where promoting your content comes in as a digital marketing strategy. One of the easiest ways to support your content is through guest posts on the more famous blogs in your particular niche. Contact your fellow bloggers and influencers, and ask them if they would publish a guest post that links back to your articles.

5. Social media and shareability potential

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According to the report by Social Media Examiner, approximately 66 percent of marketers reported using blogs in their social media content in 2017. That’s a staggering number only because of the potential of shareability and engagement, which is virtually non-existent without social media. As a blogger, you’ll have to understand that social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Telegram) is a “must-have” and “must-use” tool for driving traffic to your blog.

A piece of advice, do your due diligence when it comes to the most popular social media channels used in your niche and focus primarily on them before you develop the rest. For example, the cryptocurrency community has moved to Telegram and Reddit to promote content and share news and ideas about Bitcoins and other crypto coins.

If you feel like you need additional information on this subject, you can also read this article written on bussines.com about the essentials required for launching a successful blog in the internet climate today.