Many individuals and corporate brands have discovered the power of blogging for their internet marketing strategies. Blogging was hitherto considered a fad and something that only those with the privilege of unlimited time could engaged in.
However, the rise of the professional blogger has changed all this with top earners helping to change this perception. Blogging superstars such as Pat Flynn, Harsh Agrawal, Pete Cashmere, Michael Arrington, Arianna Huffington and Mario Lavandeira among others have proven that in fact, a blog can be a single source of steady income.
Personal specialty blogs such as Life Hacker, Huffington Post, Mashable, TechCrunch, venture Beat are now redefining blogging alongside corporate blogs such as Coca ColaUnbottled, AllstateBlog, and Whole Food’s Whole Story among others. If you had any doubts about the potential of your blog, you just have to look at these trendsetters for inspiration.
WordPress Blogging for Business Success
If you are thinking of building a business blog, you have most likely considered a WordPress-based one. WordPress is the most popular blogging platform and for many good reasons. Some of the most outstanding blogs you have most likely come across are built on WordPress. Such blogs include Reuters, The Cranky Flier, After Ellen, TechCrunch, Perez Hilton, Rafael Nadal Fans, Spoon and Tamago, My Nitendo News, Mozilla Blog and of course the Matt Mullenweg blog started by the WordPress founder.
Whether you want to start an individual or a business blog, the numbers are on the side of blogging. According to a recent study, B2B marketers who use blogs on their websites get 67% more leads than those who don’t. A similar study shows that 43% of internet users admit to checking a blog when online. 94% of users share blog content because it is helpful, which means if your posts are informative, you are guaranteed of making money.
A blog not only increases your brand’s visibility on the internet platform but also boosts traffic and conversion. It is also easier to engage with your readers on a blog as opposed to the main website. With the increasing popularity of social media, your brand can grow its authority by positing high-quality content. Becoming an authority in your niche translates to more traffic, which you can then convert to leads.
WordPress as the Ultimate Blogging Platform
While there are other blogging platforms such as Blogger, Joomla and Drupal, there are many reasons why professional bloggers use WordPress. For a start, it is estimated that 27% of all websites and blogs use WordPress, making it a trusted option. This is a robust content management system (CMS) which is nevertheless easy to use.
Take a look at some of these reasons:
- Open-source software – WordPress is an open-source software, which means it will not cost you an arm and a leg to set up your blog. There are thousands of WP themes and plugins which you can use along the way to fine-tune your blog and make it better. To start a WP blog, all you need is a domain and web hosting and voila! You are good to go.
- WordPress support – Got no HTML and coding skills? No problem, because you have access to highly experienced bloggers in the user community. In case you have any queries, these experts will provide a prompt answer and the learning curve is an exciting journey. This strong community support develops free themes, e-books, message boards, and free tutorials among other resources to help users.
- Ease of use –The platform is very easy to use, whether you are unfamiliar with the workings on CMSs or you think creating a WP blog is easy and fast. WordPress is popular because of its simplicity. It is possible for anyone to build a professional WP website without the need for a web developer or designer. Blog administration is easier than on any other CMS with an intuitive interface, making content management a walk in the park.
- One-click setup – This is another big thing going for WordPress, especially for blogging beginners. There are no files to download and when you visit your hosting site’s control panel, you just need to click install and you are good to go.
- Search engine optimization (SEO) – There are extensions and plugins you can use to make your WP blog SEO-friendly. This blogging platform also makes it easier to share your posts in order to boost visibility online.
- Customization – If you are blogging for money, your blog should reflect your personality. It is easy to customize your WordPress blog using all the free themes and plugins. Remember, readers want a uniform layout which they can relate with and which stands out from the crowd.
- Trust and respect – There are many other free blogging platforms out there. They are mostly used by spammers and readersavoid them. However, with a self-hosted blog like WordPress, you earn the trust of readers who willkeep retuning for more. If you intend to become an authority in your niche, avoid BlogSpot and other such platforms and instead build a WP blog.
- Monetization – A trusted WP blog is easier to monetize than, say, a BlogSpot one. Private advertisers are only attracted to self-hosted platforms where they are guaranteed of good ROI.
- Safety and security – One outstanding thing about WP is the fact that it is built with security in mind. There are many security plugins available in the community which you can use to enhance the security of your blog.
Popular WP plugins such as Akismet (staving off comment spam), Contact Form 7 (creation of contact forms), Google XML Sitemaps (making it easier for Google to crawl and index your site), jetpack (all-in- one plugins), WooCommerce and Wordfence Security will help optimize your blog.
If you want to make money from blogging, WordPress remains the best option. The vibrant community guarantees a continuous development of free plugins which are intended to boost your blog. Moreover, WP is a trusted software and advertisers will have no problems working with you. Whether you want to make money form affiliate marketing, advertising, selling products, e-coaching or any other strategy, it is time to set up a WordPress blog and start enjoying the benefits.
