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To go from blogger to business founder, there are various steps you must take and challenges to face. It isn’t easy and requires dedication and a lot of time. But with experience in a niche, it gets easier as you become an authority within it. There are many aspects to growing a blog into a business, but from focusing on quality content to branding, here are some handy suggestions.
Find the Right Third-Party Services
Bloggers and other online creatives often evolve into something more, to the point of becoming a business. However, they don’t get there alone. Strategic growth and scaling rely on working with the right third-party services and consultants. For instance, suppose your legal advice blog is becoming something potentially lucrative. A law firm SEO company can help drive more traffic to your site, potentially resulting in more visitors, which you can then convert into sales.
Go from Blogger to Business with Content
Bounce rate is the average number of visitors who leave after interaction with a single page. It depends on the business/theme, but the average bounce rate is between 26% and 70%. However, bounce rate plays a critical role in SERP ranking, so content must be engaging:
- Ensure all content is reliable, expertly crafted, engaging, and useful to the audience.
- Optimize content for search engines using various types of SEO, including local.
- Engage with your audience through content such as posts, videos, and social media.
Identify and Explore a Niche
Some will say that a niche isn’t necessary, and that’s true. Not all blogs and businesses require one. However, it helps your chance of success to focus on a specific topic and become an authority in it. The tricky part is finding a niche that has enough interest yet has lower competition. Something too broad makes it hard to compete, and something too “niche” could result in low visitor numbers. This means there is no traffic to monetize for a business income.
Explore Monetization Options
Further to monetization, this is where your bread and butter is. Today, there are many ways you can monetize website traffic and provide an income for your brand. Popular influencers rely on ad revenue, subscriptions, and merchandise. However, these can be paltry at first and might put you off. These are better used as you get larger. But that doesn’t mean they should be ignored. Other monetization options include digital products, memberships, and affiliate marketing.
Analytics Help You Go from Blogger to Business
There are many ways to make money with a website, but it’s pretty challenging to do so without specific tools. One of those is analytics data. According to Gartner, around 53% of marketing decisions are driven by analytics data, and before you go running, it’s easier than you think.
Set up Google Analytics
Create a free Google Search Console and Analytics account and link it to your website through the dashboard of the platform you use and the blogger tracking ID that starts with “G-.”
Analyze the incoming data
Analyze data based on demographics such as age and location to tailor content to your largest audience. Identify popular posts and link to and from them to form an intricate link system.
Refine strategies based on data
Create more of what’s popular on your site, but don’t oversaturate. Keep things fresh with relevant content, but don’t neglect structure, navigation, and search engine optimization.
A Google Analytics account is a great start and introduction to data that you can use. However, it takes time to learn what it all means, so don’t skip this. When you learn how data is used, develop strategies based on information in order to define campaigns and refine your blog.
Consider the Best Business Structure
You might not even consider it, but your business as a blogger requires a structure. For example, you can establish yourself as a solo venture or an LLC. Depending on the business, legal requirements, and how you want to operate, this is a critical decision. For the best idea about how to proceed with this, it is helpful to use the official tax office website of your country of operation, as there are different complexities around this depending on where you are.
Pitch Ideas and Find Investment
Scaling a blog into a business is just like any other. It costs time, money, and resources, any of which you may not have. However, there are investors out there who believe in blogs, YouTube channels, and influencers as a brand. If you create content, then it pretty much speaks for itself. However, investors will usually still request data such as sales projections, subscriber numbers, and costs. Of course, you can also use non-traditional methods like crowdfunding.
Go from Blogger to Business with Branding
Branding can potentially transform how others see you, which is why it is so popular today. Bloggers and influencers become their own brands to capitalize on the benefits that come with it, and 69% of consumers trust influencers. You can become more visible with branding:
- Define the brand identity through niches and topics, value propositions, and core values.
- Keep it consistent with a posting schedule, branded graphics, and a memorable name.
- Establish an online presence using media kits, appealing blogging, and social media.
Curate High Profile Partnerships
Like any type of business, networking is critical when you want to build a brand from a blog or channel. Some of the best bloggers and content creators in the business often work with others, as their viewers can become your viewers and vice versa. Creator collaborations are also a solid way to expand upon your niche and welcome fresh audiences into your space. With some time and effort, making friends within satellite niches helps establish you as an authority.
Summary
Using outsourced services for expert methods such as SEO is a solid start to go from blogger to business. Of course, data is everywhere these days, and you will miss opportunities if you don’t use it well. Working with others in your niche will also help you get more traffic and attention.
