Ever since blogging appeared in 1994, it has been evolving and changing. Today, we have around 600 million blogs in nearly every possible niche there is on this planet.
It all started with ‘Links.net’ – a blog made by Justin Hall to talk about stuff he was interested in and link the topic to his readers. Then, other bloggers appeared to do the same about things they were interested in. When Google was invented, it all took a different turn. By 2010, the blogosphere was not only a place to share ideas and thoughts but a valuable way to make a significant income.
Websites like Amazon and eBay already made millions selling online, and blogs were dedicated to affiliate marketing and pushing buyers through their funnels. It was easy to make money off affiliate marketing with a handful of blogs skilled and experienced in the matter.
How did blogging look like in 2010?
A 2010 blog would be in simple text format without paying too much attention to UX, and there might have been a couple of ads on the side depending on the ability of the blogger to find someone to pay for ad space on their page.
The best in the business would’ve earned a couple of thousands off affiliate marketing, but most of them had to have also 9-5 jobs to make it through the month. Those without too many visits on their blogs struggled to make anything and only published content because of their need to write.
How blogging looks like today?
Today, blogging is a profession. Some bloggers manage to earn millions off their content. Those who earn the most are all part of various affiliate programs and collaborate with many different websites, programs, and companies.
The most important part of it is making money out of the blog. The affiliate marketing opportunities are much bigger today, but the competition is much more intense than ten years ago. This is why most serious affiliate marketing bloggers use a pallet of tools to help them get more visitors and make more income.
What a modern blogger needs to know about their blog?
SEO
With Google leading the way of organic visits, every blogger must be skilled in SEO and turn their blog posts into SEO perfection. The foundation of every good Search Engine Optimization is finding the right keywords for a particular topic. Click here to see more about keyword research.
A perfect SEO will help the blogger rise to the top of the search engine results page. It is proven that the first three results on the first page get most of the action. That’s why proper SEO is a must if you want to profit out of your blog.
Optimizing traffic
One of the worst nightmares for every affiliate marketing blogger is getting useless traffic that isn’t going through the funnel. Only a few percent of the visits on the blog will turn into a purchase, which is why we need quality traffic – people who are truly interested in our content and buying.
This can be optimized with some tools available for us today. With these tools, you don’t even need a blog. You can optimize to get traffic through social media, but you won’t have as much success as with a blog. See more about creating affiliate marketing campaigns without blogs on this link.
Choosing the right type of ad
You can often come across different abbreviations in the marketing world, like CPC, CPM, etc. These abbreviations stand for different pricing models for the ads you have on your blog. Depending on your choice, you may get more or less income. See the link for more information on them.
It’s crucial to choose the best model for your needs. This will take some time to analyze your visits and purchases. It’s vital to determine which model will provide you with the best ROI (Return of Investment).
This is important for all types of marketing models – affiliates, ads, direct sales, etc. You must know everything about them if you want to be a successful blogger. With so many tools and practices today, blogging is a highly valuable business.
