by Dan King | Feb 26, 2025 | blogging strategy
My personal blog just turned 18 years old. And while the dynamics and landscape of blogging has certain changed (substantially), the reality is that blogs still drive the Internet more than most people think. In fact, there are currently over 600 million blogs out there, all vying for attention (Source: Tech Business News). So having a strategic blogger growth plan is essential for anyone who writes online and wants to stand out and achieve sustained success.
When I started blogging, it was an easier time to stand out and get your writing noticed. Then more people started doing it. And algorithms change. Then even more people jump in to try to leverage the benefits of having a blog (mainly the ability to monetize content or whatever online). The focus used to be just on quantity. The more you wrote and put yourself out there, the more you got seen. And that drives success.
But today, with so many more people out there trying to find some quick gains online, the game has gotten much more strategic. And believe it or not, even with the incredible amount of content being published each day, it’s still not that difficult to get your stuff seen online. You just need to have a blogger growth plan (something we can help you with in our blog coaching services), and you need to be much more intentional about what you do and why you do it. And if you get a few things right in planning your growth, then you can reach lots of people with your message!
Understanding a Growth Plan
Building a blogger growth plan doesn’t just happen. It requires that you are intentional and clear about what you’re trying to do with your content.
When I started blogging, I was writing just for the sake of writing. And I never really gained any real traction. But when I found my focus and started fine-tuning what I was writing, then I started to see the momentum grow. And the same is true today.
So, in order to build your growth plan, there will be a few things you’ll need to ensure you’re putting in place:
- Setting Clear Objectives – Where exactly do you want to go? Think of it like getting in your car and telling your GPS to get you to your destination, but you don’t know what your destination is. The GPS won’t be able to do much to help you at that point. But if you know where you want to go, then the tools will help you get there.
- Identifying Target Audiences – Who are you trying to talk to? This one thing that I see a lot of blogger miss. They want to be the answer for everyone. But imagine talking to a room full of leading scientists about a children’s art project (or vice versa). It’ll fall on deaf ears. No matter how much you niche down your audience, there’s always an audience. With 8 billion people in the world, if what you’re talking about is only for one in a million, then there are still 8,000 people out there who are the perfect fit. And most authors would love to have an audience of 8,000!
- Outlining Actionable Strategies – What exactly are you going to do? It doesn’t help to just fill your plan with vague strategies that don’t really do anything. You’ll need to have actionable steps that you can take that will get you to where you want to go with the people you want to talk to.
A structured plan provides you with direction, it measures your progress progress, and it can adapt to changing trends. And that’s pretty important, considering the current landscape of the blogosphere.
The Current Blogging Landscape
The opportunity out there with blogs is really pretty enormous. But it can also be overwhelming thinking about how you can stand out. Consider these two numbers…
7.5 million – That’s how many blog posts are published daily (Source: Tech Business News). That’s a massive amount of content… every. single. day. The good news is that the vast majority of it has no specific plan for how it’s going to stand out. This means that simply having a plan is most of the battle. And if you have a good plan, even better! I’ve even seen people implement just a few elements of a plan that I suggest, and they’ve seen incredible growth as a result.
77% – That’s the percentage of Internet users who engage with blogs (Source: Express Writers). That over 3 of 4 (almost 4 of 5) of all people who use the Internet. The reality is that blogs have become a major source of how we consume content, learn and engage with new ideas, and find community with people like us.
Key Components of a Blogger Growth Plan
A solid blogger growth plan really has just a few key components in order to be effective. Granted, each of these components can become as simple or as complicated as you like. So I suggest starting with something simple in each of these components and building from there.
- Content Strategy – These days, successful blogging is more about producing great quality content (as opposed to writing lots of blog posts). You can produce a large quantity, but it doesn’t help to do more just for the sake of doing more. If you do more, just make sure it’s still produced at a higher level. Often, longer content tends to perform better. The average blog post that ranks well on search engines is about 1400 words. But then again, high quality is better. If you only write 500 words, and it’s a great, concise post, then that’s better that 2000 words of fluff just for the sake of trying to create a longer post. So build a plan that considers what you feel like you can produce at a high level of quality, and then build from there.
- Audience Engagement – Consider how you’re going to engage your readers. Things like writing in a conversational tone and inviting reader interaction to foster a loyal readership can pay big dividends with building community. And consider using reader comments and feedback to refine content and address audience needs. Remember, a conversation is a two-way street. Don’t try building a platform where it’s all about you talking at your readers. The more ways you can find to foster community and engagement, the better chance you have at growing a community of loyal readers.
- Promotion and Distribution – 97% of bloggers use social media to enhance their blog’s exposure (Source: DemandSage). But you need to approach social media in the right way. It’s not just a link-sharing tool. It’s also one of the places where you can focus on building community. What you do on social media should enhance your blog content. And search engines are quickly becoming a place where people get answers to their questions. So there’s significant opportunity be a provider of those answers for people. If you build your promotion and distribution plan well, then it will be a great complement to your writing and pay off with increased traffic.
- Monetization Strategies – Explore options like affiliate marketing, sponsored content, and digital products. As a content producer, you’re going to have some natural opportunities to use your content to generate revenue. The key is that you use a a thoughtful approach to monetization in order to ensure it aligns with your blog’s brand and audience expectations. Some bloggers do a little if this to help offset some of the costs, while others find ways to expand monetization and generate a substantial source of income.
Creating a blogger growth plan that contains at least something from each of these components will help you achieve long-term, sustainable growth. Start with what you can, and then when you begin to master various elements of the plan, then step that area up a little bit. And then keep measuring your success and adjusting for more growth over and over again.
If you’re looking for more directions, resources, and tools to help you build out elements of this plan, then I know of a great resource for you…
What the Experts Have To Say
There are plenty of voices out there giving all kinds of advice (not always good advice). But here are a couple thoughts from people I respect that bring some valuable insight to what we’re talking about here.
On Consistency:
“The key to success in blogging… is small but regular and consistent actions over a long period of time.”
— Darren Rowse, ProBlogger
On Content Quality:
“A good blog has a niche. It has focus. It has topics that are proven to drive results.”
— Neil Patel
And that’s the key to success… quality content, consistently.
Final Thoughts
Here’s the thing. Just like my wandering in the blogging desert for a while, you don’t want to get stuck without a plan. Find your focus, and set your GPS for where you want to go. Then follow those directions. And sometimes, just like with the GPS, the best course may shift to a faster/better route. Go with the flow. But no matter what happens on that journey, it’s better than just setting out and saying, “I think I’ll try going this way, and hope I get to where I want to go at some point.”
Build your plan. Set your route. And go!
If you need help figuring out where to start, then feel free to schedule a free 30-minute discovery call. I’ll talk with you and help you figure out which of our coaching options (or courses) will be best for you. I also highly recommend our Awesome Blogger Seminar course! It’s walks step-by-step through every one of these elements and helps you build a great plan for growth. This is the culmination of everything I’ve learned through 18 years of blogging, and 13 years of helping others grow their blogs.
And drop a comment below with any questions you have!
by Dan King | May 1, 2023 | blogging strategy
In today’s fast-paced world, it can be easy to neglect our emotional needs and put off dealing with our innermost thoughts and feelings. Writing therapy offers a unique and effective way to explore and process our emotions, helping us gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and improve our mental health.
In this blog post, we’ll explore seven writing therapy exercises that you can use to improve your mental health. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, or simply need a creative outlet for your emotions, these exercises can help you find the balance and well-being you seek through writing therapy.
By regularly practicing these writing therapy exercises, you can develop a stronger sense of self, find peace amidst life’s challenges, and improve your overall well-being. Whether you’re an experienced writer or just starting out, these exercises can be tailored to your individual needs and goals. However, it’s important to note that writing therapy can be a challenging process, and it’s important to practice self-care and seek professional support if needed.
What Is Writing Therapy?
Writing therapy is a form of expressive therapy that uses the act of writing to promote healing and improve mental and emotional well-being. The process involves putting thoughts and emotions onto paper or a digital platform, allowing individuals to explore and understand their feelings in a non-judgmental way.
Through writing therapy, individuals can express themselves freely and work through difficult emotions, past traumas, and life transitions.
This form of therapy can be done individually or in group settings, and can be tailored to the needs of each person.
Research has shown that writing therapy can have a positive impact on mental and physical health, reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, and improving sleep quality and immune function. Writing therapy can also help individuals clarify their goals and values, strengthen their relationships, and increase feelings of happiness and well-being.
Why Is Writing Therapeutic?
When people write, they are encouraged to dig deep and explore their innermost thoughts and feelings. This process allows individuals to acknowledge and validate their emotions, leading to an improved sense of self-awareness and emotional regulation.
Furthermore, writing can help people gain new insights and perspectives on their past experiences. By reflecting on their past experiences and journaling their thoughts, writers are better able to understand their thought patterns and behaviors, and can develop coping strategies to manage negative emotions.
Overall, writing can be highly therapeutic as it provides individuals with a safe space to process their thoughts and emotions. Through journaling, reflective writing, and expressive writing, writers can gain a better sense of control over their lives and their emotional well-being.
writing therapy for depression
Studies have shown that just 20 minutes of expressive writing a day can lead to improved mood, decreased symptoms of depression, and decreased levels of stress hormones. Writing therapy can be used as a complement to traditional therapy or as a standalone treatment option for those struggling with depression.
If you are struggling with depression, please seek professional help. And if the idea of writing therapy sounds appealing to you, then talk with your therapist about how you can use it as part of your therapy.
writing therapy for grief
Writing therapy can be a valuable tool in processing grief. Through writing about their feelings, those experiencing grief can gain insight into their emotions and begin to understand their reactions. This process can also help them to identify patterns and triggers that may be causing their grief.
Additionally, by expressing their thoughts on paper, individuals can release their emotions and find a sense of catharsis. Writing therapy can also provide a sense of control and structure during a difficult time, allowing the writer to set goals and track progress.
writing therapy for anxiety
Writing therapy is a recognized approach that can be used to ease anxiety. By putting one’s thoughts and feelings down on paper, people gain control over their emotions, expressing them in a productive and healthy way. It also helps to identify and understand the triggers of one’s anxiety, and to develop coping strategies.
Writing therapy has even been shown to physically reduce anxiety, by lowering heart rate and blood pressure. So, whether it’s a daily journal, a gratitude list, or creative writing exercises, putting pen to paper can be a powerful tool in managing anxiety.
writing therapy for trauma
Writing therapy can be an effective tool for individuals recovering from trauma. This approach allows individuals to express their emotions and experiences in a safe space. It provides a way to process, organize, and make sense of difficult emotions, thereby reducing the impact of trauma on their lives.
Writing therapy can also improve mood and overall psychological health. By encouraging self-reflection and introspection, individuals can develop a greater sense of self-awareness, which can lead to greater emotional resilience.
How To Start Therapeutic Writing
To begin your writing therapy journey, there’s no harm in giving it a try on your own. It’s an accessible form of exploration that doesn’t require special equipment or software.
However, it’s essential to remember that writing therapy should not replace professional treatment, particularly if you are dealing with a severe or long-lasting condition or illness. Consult with a mental health professional to identify the best course of action for your unique situation.
Here are some tips to help you get started with writing therapy:
- Carve out Time: Set aside a specific time for your writing therapy, and ensure that you have enough uninterrupted time during this period to focus on it entirely.
- Identify a Theme: Before you begin writing, identify a few critical topics or ideas you would like to explore during your writing therapy sessions. This will help guide your writing process, ensuring that you’re focused and on track. You could also use prompts to guide your ideas (see below).
- Be Flexible: Be kind and flexible with yourself, maintaining few expectations for your writing quality. It isn’t as important as the thoughts you express. Remember that you don’t have to produce a set amount of text; the primary goal is to sit, reflect, and write during your allocated writing therapy time.
- Choose a Medium: Use a medium that you trust for your writing therapy sessions, which only you can access. Ensure that you can write candidly without holding anything back, writing for your eyes only and that of your trusted therapist.
With these tips and the help of a mental health professional, you’ll be on your way to experiencing the therapeutic effects that writing therapy can provide.
Note: While sharing your most personal feelings should likely be done in a personal private journal, some people like to journal online in a blog format. If you’re looking to start an online blog for writing and sharing your thoughts, feelings, and perspectives with others then check out our FREE blogging platform at FistbumpPress.
7 Types of Writing Therapy Exercises
If you are looking for a way to improve your mental health and explore your thoughts and emotions, writing therapy exercises can be a powerful tool. Here are seven exercises that you can use to gain insight into your experiences and cultivate a deeper understanding of yourself.
- Free Writing: Set a timer for 10-15 minutes and write whatever comes to mind without censoring or editing. The goal is to let your thoughts flow freely and release any pent-up emotions.
- Emotion Mapping: Draw a map of your emotions, with each emotion as a separate island. Write about each island, describing what it feels like and what triggers the emotion.
- Self-Reflection: Write about your personal values, beliefs, and goals. This exercise can help you gain clarity about your identity and purpose.
- Mindfulness Writing: Write about the present moment, focusing on your senses and surroundings. This exercise can help you cultivate mindfulness and reduce stress and anxiety.
- Narrative Therapy: Write a story about yourself or a character who overcomes a challenge or hardship. This exercise can help you reframe your perspective and develop resilience.
- Gratitude Writing: Write down three things you are grateful for each day. This exercise can help you cultivate a positive outlook and reduce negative thinking.
- Letter Writing: Write a letter to someone you love or admire, expressing your appreciation and gratitude. This exercise can help you strengthen your relationships and boost your mood.
These writing therapy exercises can be done individually, or with the guidance of a therapist or counselor. It’s important to remember that the process of writing therapy can be emotionally challenging, and it’s important to practice self-care and seek professional support if needed. With consistent practice, however, these exercises can help you gain a deeper understanding of yourself and find greater emotional balance and well-being.
20 Writing Therapy Prompts To Get You Started
Whether you’re writing online in a blog format or in a personal paper journal, when you’re feeling the need to let something out but aren’t sure where to start, then try starting with one of these writing prompts. And feel free to spin off from these prompts into something that will help you express what you need to express in your writing. Regardless, these prompts can help you get past the writer’s block that comes when stating a blank screen or page.
- Write about a childhood memory that has stuck with you.
- Write a letter to your younger self.
- Describe a time when you felt truly happy and content.
- Write about a time when you felt overwhelmed or stressed out.
- Describe a place that makes you feel calm and at peace.
- Write about a fear that you have overcome.
- Describe a person who has had a significant impact on your life.
- Write a letter to someone you have lost or who is no longer in your life.
- Write about a time when you felt proud of yourself.
- Describe a difficult decision that you had to make.
- Write about a time when you felt betrayed or let down by someone.
- Describe a dream or goal that you have for your future.
- Write about a mistake you have made and what you learned from it.
- Describe a time when you felt misunderstood.
- Write about a time when you felt deeply hurt.
- Describe a person or situation that makes you feel anxious or stressed out.
- Write a letter to someone you admire or look up to.
- Write about a time when you felt lost or uncertain about your future.
- Describe a moment when you felt grateful.
- Write about a situation or person that you need to forgive.
Final Thoughts
I cannot emphasize this enough, but if you are struggling to deal with certain issues in life, please seek professional help. Call someone. Even calling a friend to help you navigate through your troubles can make a big difference. Just don’t stuff it and try to handle it alone.
With that said, writing therapy can be a great tool to improve your mental health and wellness. As you sort out your thoughts and feelings, you’ll find yourself becoming stronger when dealing with challenges in the future. It’s like physical therapy for your mind, will, and emotions.
I would also encourage you to be careful with what you share publicly online. While I’m a huge fan of blogging much of this kind of thing (because it can help someone else deal with their similar challenges), you don’t want to use it as a weapon that tears someone else down.
Regardless, I hope this little guide has been helpful in guiding you towards better mental health through writing therapy.
by Dan King | Aug 12, 2021 | blogging strategy
If you’re wanting to share the words in your head (and/or heart) out there for the world to read, then you need a website. And because most writers I know are not web designers, you’ll likely be looking for a good website builder for writers. But there are so many platforms out there to choose from, it can be overwhelming trying to figure out which one is the best.
Regardless, it’s a tricky balance. You want something that impresses readers. Let’s face it. People do judge a book by its cover, and your website is the cover for all of your online writing efforts. But you don’t want (or need) to get bogged down in lots of complex design.
That’s where a good website builder comes in.
If it’s doing it’s job well, then a good site builder will simplify some of the more complex design work, so that you can focus more on your writing. And the less you need to stress out about the design of your website, the easier it’ll be to just relax and get into writing great content that looks great for the readers you want to impress.
Selecting the Right Website Builder for Writers
One of the biggest decisions you’ll make when building your blog website is deciding on which platform to use. As you decide, there are a few things you should consider…
Blogging Platforms
Using a true blogging platform like Blogger, WordPress.com, Typepad, and many others are great places to easily start a writing online. They’re usually free to start, and have a variety of built in templates that can help you implement a little bit of design into what you’re doing relatively easily. So they are simple to get rolling, which gets you focused on your writing with minimal time/effort.
The downside is two-fold. First, you don’t own the platform. That means the platform maintains a certain amount of rights over your content and can use it in various ways. Sometimes that means they could do things like put ads that you don’t profit from (or even approve of) in your content. Generally, it’s going to be better to pay a little bit to ensure that you have greater control over your environment. The other downside is that it can be a little trickier to move to a better platform later when you want to scale and grow your website. It’s not impossible, but it could end up costing you a more later on as you explore expanding your functionality.
Website Builder Platforms
Site-builder platforms like Wix, Squarespace, and others are usually very attractive to people who want to build a website because of how easy it is to build something “pretty” with little to no website design experience.
But honestly, it’s not always as easy as it seems.
Having a page-builder is great, but you still need a little bit of an eye for design and the ability to piece things together well. There plenty of well-intended sites out there that resemble the website version of nailed it fails and just don’t quite hit the mark. And even more so than the blogging platforms, migration is even more difficult if you ever want to move out into a better platform. All of this really just leads to a lack of flexibility and the inability to keep up with your growth well.
The Best of Both Worlds: WordPress with Divi
The option we really like is a self-hosted WordPress website (often referred to as WordPress.org) with the Divi theme (from Elegant Themes). WordPress is by far the most used platform for building websites. At it’s core is a rock-solid blogging platform. And it has a well developed eco-system of themes and plugins that will allow you to do virtually anything you want.
And with the themes, Divi is more than your typical theme (or layout/skin for the site design). It’s core is the Divi page builder. So it uses a sort of building block method to allow you to create any kind of layout you want. But it also has hundreds of pre-built layout packs that you can use for your design, or that you can use as a starting point to customize for your needs. Each layout pack has several pages, so designs for various pages on your site (home page, about page, contact page, etc.) all have a starting point for you to build from.
P.S. All of our managed WordPress hosting plans include the Divi theme at no additional cost to you, saving you $89/yr!
7 Pre-made Divi Layouts
The Divi layout packs are great because not only do they give you a great, professional design that helps you put your best foot forward, but it’s also flexible enough that you can customize it in any way you want. So when you’re looking for a website builder for writers, the key here is to find something that gets you close to a layout you like, and then you can tweak and adjust as needed to fit your brand image.
With that said, here are a few of our favorite layout packs that provide a great starting point for writers.
- Author – Great for writers, especially those who already have books available for sale. It brings a nice focus on featuring the book(s) and the author.
- Blogger (NEW!) – A fresh, modern layout for bloggers who want to build their personal brand and feature their writing well.
- Influencer – If you want to be an influencer, then this layout will help you look like an influencer. After all, as a writer you are an influencer with your words!
- Travel Blog – You don’t need to be a travel blogger to use this layout. It’ll work well for anyone who wants to feature their writing along with some strong visuals.
- Technology News – In the same way, don’t let technology hold you back from this one! This is a great layout for organizing and featuring your writing.
- Magazine – As a content producer (fancy term for writer), your blog/website can function much like an online magazine. And you can use for your solo writer and if you feature other writers on your site regularly.
- Podcast – Many writers are also becoming podcasters with their content too. And if that’s you, then this layout can help you with that!
The great thing about these layouts is that they can fit any style you want to go for with your website. And the modular structure means that you can add or remove any element you want on any of the pages.
Let’s take a closer look at each of the layout packs…
1 – Author Website Layout
Divi’s Author layout pack has a simple, clean design that many writers are looking for these days. And it brings a nice balance between showcasing the products (books, or whatever else you want to sell) and you as the author.
The pre-built pages include home, about, landing, events, shop, blog, and contact pages.
Landing pages could be used for individual book pages, and can be easily linked to the online retailers where people can purchase the books online. Alternatively, you can implement WooCommerce (free e-commerce shop plugin) if you want to sell books or other items directly.
This is a great website builder for writers who have any books currently published or expect to be releasing one in the near future.
2 – Blogger Website Layout (NEW!)
The Blogger layout pack Is a great way to build your personal brand and feature your writing. It has a fresh, modern design, and features blog and post layouts that allow you to effortlessly connect with your audience.
The layout pack includes home, about, landing, contact, and blog pages. And it has a customized post layout.
This one will certainly help you stand out from the crowd, especially when you start putting your personal style and content with it!
3 – Influencer Website Layout
The Divi Influencer layout pack is a great design for anyone wanting to build themselves as the brand. Often online writers underestimate how much they really are being influencers, and people who read your work are there to read your work. So building your brand requires a website that features you well.
This layout pack includes home, about, landing, blog, and contact pages. It also has four different blog post layouts you can use if you really want your blog posts to stand out.
The focus here is on style and building an image. It brings you an opportunity to elevate your message with a strong visual impact that stands out from the norm.
4 – Travel Blog Layout
With the Travel Blog layout pack, you’ll find a nice balance between the writing and the visual. And that works great if you’re one of those writers how likes to use strong imagery with your blog posts (or feature your own photography). So don’t let the “travel” part keep you from using this layout pack, because it’ll work well for a variety of bloggers. Home and lifestyle blogger? Foodie blogger? Homeschool mom blogger? No problem! You’ll find this one to be a great fit for just about any kind of blogging you might be doing.
The layout pack includes home, about, landing, blog, and contact pages. And the trip page layout can be adapted for all kinds of purposes, like featuring a series of content you’re working on.
You’ll love the versatility of this one and how it bring a nice balance of content with an elegant design. You likely won’t find another website builder for writers that gets you a simple and effective blog design like this one!
5 – Technology News Layout
The Technology News layout pack is a cool website builder for writers who want all of the focus to be on the writing (and less on the writer). It works well, especially if you have a few core categories you’re writing about and need a good way to organize the different types of content. So don’t focus on the “technology news” part of this layout, and look at the elements as ways to organize your content better.
This playout pack includes home, about, landing, blog, and contact pages. And it includes two sharp-looking blog post layouts that can be used to improve visual presentation of your written content.
So if you want the attention to be less on you, and more on the writing, then this might be the best starting point for you.
6 – Magazine Website Layout
In the Magazine layout pack you build an strong presence for the content, with the more professional look and feel of an online magazine. You can use this as a solo writer, or if you also like to feature other writers on your website too. And much like the Technology News layout, it’s a great layout for managing content in multiple categories for easier grouping and featuring of various types of content.
The pack has layouts for home, authors, landing, categories, and contact pages. Plus, it includes two blog post layouts you can use.
It doesn’t matter if you want to build an online magazine, this website builder for writers gives you a great looking way to present the content you’re writing!
7 – Podcast Website Layout
While the Podcast layout pack might not look like the typical blog, it certainly works well for writers. Many writers today are also converting their written content into audio content and publishing it as a podcast too. When you do that, this layout pack can provide you with a great way to present your content, both written and audio.
The layout pack includes home, about, landing, (all) episodes, and contact pages. It also has two post (individual episode) layouts.
And just to put this out there, you don’t even need to podcast in the traditional sense. You can use audio podcast content or video content (from YouTube, Facebook Live, etc.). And all of that can be shared with the written version of your content too. There are a number of possibilities to take your content production to the next level with this one!
Create Your Own Writer Website Template
The best part about using WordPress with Divi as a website builder for writers is that you can build anything you want with it! Not only can you use these layout packs as a starting point for your development, but you can also start from scratch to build your own layout.
Divi Builder is a modular page builder with a variety of customizable modules that you can use to build out your own design. When you get comfortable with the builder framework (which we are always happy to help our hosting clients with), you can literally look at any website and build the same layout on your website. Granted, some elements will take more customizing than others. But your design options are virtually limitless. And that makes for a great website builder for writers, no matter what your goal is!
Here are a few additional writer websites we’ve worked on with some clients of ours:
- Ginger Harrington – As an author/speaker, this site tries to bring a balance to what she has to offer and building her email list to grow her readership.
- Kim Hyland – An influencer and podcaster, this site pushes the podcast itself to Spotify, but builds a strong brand for everything else about her on the site.
- Robin Dance – Self-proclaimed encourager, seeker, wanderer, Robin features her writing on her blog, other websites, and the book with her readers.
With all of these sites, you’ll certainly find some similarities. But the design of each brings out the personality of the writer well, and helps move their readers towards the things they want to accomplish. And that’s the main goal when working with a good website builder for writers. Whether you’re using a pre-made layout or building from scratch, you should be designing towards putting your best foot forward and accomplishing your goals with your readers.
Wrapping It Up
The bottom line is that you can build an incredible website to showcase your writing! And it doesn’t need to be difficult. If you use the right tools, then you can a place online where your readers enjoy being while they read your (awesome) content. The user experience is crucial to helping you meet your goals. So put your best foot forward!
And that’s what we try to do with our managed WordPress hosting. Ultimately, you can get space on a server to house your website files anywhere. The difference between us and them is not only the additional maintenance (and security) that we take care of for you, or the fact that the Divi theme is included in the hosting plan (saving you $89/yr), but that our team is always here for you to help you learn whatever you need to learn to use these tools to build a great website. Education and support is included, so you never need to worry about feeling lost and on your own! And if you just need us to help out with some of the design/development work for you, we can often get you affordable pricing that won’t break the bank.
If you have any questions about how we can help, that don’t hesitate to grab some time for a free consultation with someone on our team!
by Dan King | Jun 22, 2021 | blogging strategy
Considering the state of social media and other traffic sources the way they are these days, blog SEO (search engine optimization) is becoming more important all the time. Ultimately, you want to drive more traffic to your writing.
But here’s the reality most writers are facing these days…
Social media platforms simply don’t have the “viral” effect that they used to. Sharing on social media becomes limited to reaching your friends. And the algorithms of various platforms make it more difficult for content to be seen by even the people who follow you to get those updates. Email subscription and readership is down for many writers too, simply because subscribers deal with burnout from managing too much content.
Regardless, there are people out there right now who are looking for the exact content you have on your blog.
So the focus for writers needs to shift to how you find those people (and get your content in front of them). And that’s the focus of what we’ll explore in this article. We’ll dig into five questions to help you understand why blog SEO is important and how you can do it well.
How important is SEO for blogging?
Let’s face it. If you’ve been blogging for a while, then you might remember the day when you could share a link to a post on Facebook or Twitter, and watch it generate plenty of clicks (through to your post) and shares (extending your reach). But with algorithm changes that filter what people see, most writers have been experiencing a massive decline in traffic from social media sources.
And traffic studies across many websites are showing the same results. One study shows that social media sources account for just 5% of website traffic. Meanwhile, organic search is bringing in 51% of all traffic.
Source: monsterinsights.com
If you take a deeper look into the data, then you’ll also see that Google accounts for over 90% of all search engine traffic. So when you’re looking for traffic from search engines, getting it right for Google is (or at least can be) the single biggest driver of readers for your writing.
But doing blog SEO well is much more than simply installing a plugin and getting a green light on your blog post for some random (or too generic) keyword phrase.
With around 3.5 BILLION searches performed on Google every day, there’s a pretty high likelihood that some of those searches are for something that you wrote about. The best part about this is that it’s most likely being done by people who you are not already connected to (as through social media). That means you have access to new readers looking for you… if you can get your content to show up (especially on page one) in Google search results.
How to make your blog visible in Google search results
There’s good news and bad news with this one.
Bad news first… It’s not like social media where you can just post it and it’s there for everyone when you publish new content. And the downside, as we’ve already discussed, is that there’s no guarantee that people will even see that. At least with social media, you can share a link anytime you want to get it out there.
Now the good news… There’s really nothing you need to do to have your content available to show up in search results. Search engines use ‘bots’ to crawl websites across the Internet and then work to figure out how to index that content. So while there’s nothing you need to do to get it to show up in search engine results pages (SERPs), there are some things you can do to improve your chances of ranking well.
- Strong technical SEO – One of the first things you need to understand about SEO is that Google wants to provide a good experience for their searchers. That means if they send people to your website, then they need to know that it’s going to perform well. So evaluating elements like page load speed and website architecture can impact your standing on search engines. You should have a plan to ensure you’re running well and providing a great user experience for your visitors.
- Best content available – Just because you wrote a blog post that you’re passionate about doesn’t mean that it rank really high. Again, Google is looking to provide the best experience for their searchers. Part of that is making sure they send people to the best answer to their questions. From Google’s perspective, if they sent you a visitor who saw no value in your content, then the searcher loses confidence in Google as a source of providing good answers. So your content strategy should focus on providing great resources.
- Leverage crawl data – The best SEO strategies are not just a one-time function that you can set and forget. They require an ongoing analysis and adjustments to work towards key improvements. Therefore, understanding and using your analytics and crawl data (which Google will provide for you) is one of the biggest keys to driving your content up the rankings and obtaining more traffic from organic search.
Getting your website to show up in Google search results isn’t really difficult. But it does mean you need to be intentional. You also need to remove barriers (even unintentional ones) that can prevent you from ranking well.
Here’s a little deeper look at some core concepts related to each of these three points.
Which blog platforms are the most SEO-friendly?
I’m just going to come out and say it. I believe that WordPress is hands-down the best platform for blog SEO. Not only is it one of the most widely-accepted platforms out there, but it’s easy to implement all of the elements that help you improve your chances with the search engines.
The biggest of these has to do with how well you can enhance your technical SEO. Standard WordPress is a simple content management system that does a good job of storing and displaying your content. Then you can slap any theme on it to get you the design and style you want. Beyond that, a variety of plugins can be used as needed to improve the user experience. And while there are many more types than what I’ll discuss here, these types that can help you fine-tune your website to get better search results:
- Caching plugins – Without getting too technical, caching is a method used to push elements closer to the user so that they don’t need to ‘download’ every element on the page every time. This helps speed up page load speed, since there is less ‘distance’ for some elements to travel.
- Image optimization plugins – Another factor in page load speeds is the file size of the images you use. Many writers pay little attention to this, and upload larger, hi-res images that take longer to load. A good image optimization plugin will help reduce that file size and help pages load quicker.
- Analytics plugins – Knowing how your website is performing is paramount to building a strong SEO strategy for your blog. Google Analytics will certainly give you some of the best information regarding visitor tracking, and there are some good plugins that can help you integrate and sort through what’s important.
- Security plugins – Few things can kill your search rankings quicker than a security-compromised website. So yes, keeping an eye on how secure your website is, and dealing with potential issues quickly, will help you maintain your earned rankings. So it doesn’t necessarily get you ranking higher, but it can keep you from losing what you have.
- SEO data plugins – A good SEO plugin doesn’t make your website rank by itself. But it can help with some of the extra ‘coding’ that help those search engine bots figure out what your content is about so that it knows how to index you.
Getting the right mix of plugins running on your site can go a long way in improving your search rankings. If you can get your website to load quickly, provide a good and safe experience for visitors, and build in some good ‘coding’ structure, then you’ve just set yourself up for success. From here, the next thing you’ll want to look at is your content.
Note: The exact plugins we would suggest (free and premium) are all listed in the How To SEO a Blog e-course (get 25% off at checkout using that link). And our BASIC+ Hosting plan includes some of the best premium plugins we know of for great SEO performance (plus some cool reports).
How to make your blog content SEO-friendly
Once you’ve built a strong foundation for your website, the content is the next element you can focus on. And while sometimes it’s good to write just to write, with no big blog SEO goals in mind, you’ll want to have a strategy for how you approach your writing to help you get found. There are a few basic phases of content development that you’ll want to consider:
- Keyword strategy – Using search engine data, you can find the best opportunities for keywords to target in your writing. A little bit of research here can pay big dividends not only in how you target terms, but also in the ideation of new blog post topics to inspire your writing.
- Structure your content well – The biggest thing here is to write your content in such a way that it’s the best resource out there for your desired target search terms. That means you’ll need to know what your page one search results competition is talking about, and evaluate what it would take to provide a better resource than what they have.
- On-page optimization – Some of the plugins we mentioned earlier will help with some of this. But getting your post structure right and ensuring you have all of the right elements in the right places will get that post set up for success when the bots come crawling.
Ultimately, it’s important that you write for humans, not for search engine bots. So don’t overthink this stuff! Write great content first. Then go back through an cover your blog SEO steps to ensure you’re doing what you need to do for the bots.
How to use Google Search Console (GSC) to improve SEO
The follow-through is probably the most important element of your strategy, because it’ll show you how you can improve. And while Google Analytics will give you some great information about what your visitors are doing when they are on your site, Google Search Console will give you some incredible insight into how Google is ranking your pages/posts in their search results.
With the data in Google Search Console, you’ll be able to evaluate:
- Which terms you’re ranking for.
- Where the pages/posts on your site are ranking (on average) in the results.
- How many clicks (and the click-thru rate) you’re getting from any of those search results through to your website.
- Errors that Google sees that can impact your rankings.
All of this information can tell you how to optimize your content, including the meta title and descriptions, in order to improve rankings and click-thru visits. And knowing the errors that Google sees when their bots crawl the site gives you the opportunity to correct the issues and keep the crawls running smoothly.
Conclusion: Getting Blog SEO right
Blog SEO isn’t really rocket science. But there are some key concepts that you need to understand. And if you can build a solid plan for how you approach your blog SEO, then you’ll be rewarded with some great traffic from new readers who are looking for you right now. I can’t stress this enough… If you’re a writer, keep writing great content for people. You shouldn’t really be thinking about blog SEO while you’re writing. Think about whatever message you have for your readers. But if you have the strategy built into your publishing process, then you’ll be able to create your content in such a way that it’s more likely to climb the rankings and get found more often.
Better search engine rankings = more traffic for your website = greater readership for your writing.
P.S. We’ve developed a course to help you understand key SEO concepts and build a plan that will drive more traffic to what you’re writing. And just as a thank you for reading this post, you can get How To SEO a Blog for 25% OFF using the promo code of SEO25OFF at checkout!
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by Dan King | Feb 2, 2021 | seo strategy
It certain is frustrating sometimes, right? Trying to figure out how to get customers to leave reviews for your business is one of those things that keeps many business owners up at night! Positive reviews are a major factor in getting better search results for a small business.
You’ve exceeded your customer’s expectations with your product or service. You’ve under-promised and over-delivered. Maybe you’ve taken a loss for them. Or you’ve worked late to get their projects done.
Above and beyond. You’ve earned a certain level of praise, for sure!
And when you talk to them, they’ll even tell you how much they love you. So why won’t they do it? Why won’t they write a review?
Barriers.
Barriers Keep Customers From Writing Reviews
Happy customers are generally open to the idea of writing a review. Unhappy customers on the other hand, are far more motivated express their frustration online and write negative reviews.
But both customers are in the minority.
The vast majority of customers simply don’t leave reviews. They don’t offer feedback. There’s a wide variety of reasons but it really comes down to four common barriers.
Aside from expectations, these barriers determine whether you’ll be able to get a customer to write a review.
So, how do you get more customers to write reviews?
It’s simple.
You eliminate the barriers.
But first, you have to identify them.
Get a Free Reviews Scan and Local Business Listing Audit!
Barrier #4: Happy customers are secretly unhappy
Most customers aren’t open with the companies they do business with. The sad part? Many happy customers are secretly unhappy.
Most customers won’t tell you they’re unhappy.
Skeptical?
Here’s a look at a few stats pulled together by Help Scout:
- For every customer who bothers to complain, 26 other customers remain silent. Source: White House Office of Consumer Affairs
- A typical business hears from 4% of its dissatisfied customers. Source: “Understanding Customers” by Ruby Newell-Legner
- Resolve a complaint in the customer’s favor and they’ll do business with you again 70% of the time. Source: Lee Resources
- 91% of unhappy customers will not be willing to do business with you again. Source: Lee Resources
Here’s the real reason customers won’t tell us the truth. We’re socialized to be “nice.” Telling the truth often comes with unpleasant consequences.
And when it doesn’t?
Delivering bad news or constructive criticism feels yucky, especially when customers feel it’s petty, tiny or insignificant. Even delivering good news can create headaches. Especially when the recipient of that news takes it pretty hard or reacts negatively.
For some customers it’s just not worth it.
Most of these customers feel it’s better to simply keep their thoughts, feedback and opinions to themselves.
So, how do you fix this?
Create an environment of safety.
On the surface that sounds easy but it can be difficult to put into practice. Here are a few strategies you can test in your business.
- Welcome horrible reviews. A negative review is a wonderful opportunity. It’s a chance for you to show prospective customers you’re a safe company to do business with. When something goes wrong customers know you’ll take good care of them. Thank customers for their unpleasant review, act on their feedback, then show what you’ve done.
- Ask customers for good, bad and ugly feedback. Reassure customers, letting them know it’s safe for them to hold you and your staff accountable. Then, keep your word. New customers will test you; they’ll attempt to verify your words. Handle it well and you’ve earned their trust (and a review). Mess things up and they’ll quietly slip away.
- Improve staff EQ. Give staff the incentives they need to eliminate dysfunctional behavior. Use training, resources and tools to eliminate the big four relationship killers – condescension, contempt, defensiveness and stonewalling. Be kind, be helpful or your chance at a review will be gone.
- Promote clarity over persuasion. Anticipate and defuse concerns, objections, risks and fears ahead of time. Create policies that ensure customers feel safe and treated well.
Barrier #3: Customers don’t remember what you did
When you’ve done a great job, customers tend to forget. Do a bad job and customers never forget.
We all have a negative bias.
As people, we’re on an obsessive hunt for problems. For disasters, fears, and frustrations. Research shows we’re far more attuned to the negative events in our lives than we are to the positive.
Our negative bias keeps us safe.
It’s an important survival mechanism we depend on from the time we’re born.
- Problems create stress and anxiety.
- Solutions (you) relieve stress and anxiety.
When you give customers the solution they so desperately need, you give them relief. That’s a good thing (obviously) but it’s also a bad thing.
Because relief induces forgetfulness.
The longer you wait to ask customers for their feedback (or a review) the less likely they are to remember what you actually did for them.
So, how do you fix this?
It’s simple. You ask customers for their feedback or a review, immediately or shortly after they’ve purchased and used your product.
Kind of obvious, right?
There’s actually a better way. You prime the pump. When you sign customers up, you tell them you’re going to do a regular check-in to make sure they’re taken care of, like this:
Hey, Angie!
We’re excited that you’ve decided to join our tribe and have you as a customer!
And we want to make sure you’re taken care of. So, I want to reach out to you for a quick 2 min chat to make sure you’re in a good place with everything.
Would that be okay?
You can use this check-in to share feedback, concerns, complaints, vent about a problem – it’s all fair game!
Just let me know when it would be convenient for you for us to connect.
Thanks,
Dan
You’ll obviously want to customize things for your business, but you catch my drift, right? Then, you schedule each “check-in” with your customers. If you can, it’s also a great idea to use an automated review management tool (like fistbump.reviews) to automate review requests. Review conversion rates go way up when the email “ask” is combined with a face to face request.
Save live chats, record phone calls (get permission), save emails.
You dramatically reduce churn and you gain valuable insights to make them happy. And the best part? Customer reviews are baked right in!
Barrier #2: It’s too hard to write or share a review
Great success! You have a customer who’s able and willing to share a positive review. They decide to search for your business on Yelp and they see this.
Customers can’t seem to find the right account or profile…
They spent 15 min writing a review only to lose it…
It’s too time consuming…
Or too whatever.
Customers write reviews for a wide variety of reasons.
Customers stop caring when it becomes tough to actually write a review – whether that’s on your site or a third party site.
You know what that means.
They lose interest and they abandon their review. And just like that the opportunity is gone.
Here’s the thing.
It’s not just about technical difficulties. It’s also about direction. Customers don’t always know where to write or share their review.
They need direction from you.
So, how do you fix this?
You make things ridiculously simple. You make it incredibly easy for them to write a review. Then you show them where you’d like their reviews to go, like this:
Hey, Angie!
Your feedback was amazing! Thanks so much for sharing.
Would you be willing to share your feedback and advice with other customers if it only took 30 seconds?
Please let me know,
Dan
It’s ridiculously easy for customers to respond. All they have to do is write a “Yes” or “No.”
Okay. They’ve said yes. What do you do?
Thanks so much, Angie!
Here’s what you can do.
- Copy and paste your review below.
- Click this link (link to your preferred review site)
- Paste your review, select a rating and click Done
…..
[Customer’s review transcript goes here]
…..
Thanks again!
Dan
Alright… What if they say “No?”
Hey, Angie,
No problem! Thanks for letting me know. I’m curious, what is it about sharing feedback that isn’t working for you?
Thanks again,
Dan
You’ll have some customers who ignore you anyway. That’s fine. Focus on the customers who answer. Thank them for their feedback, act on it (if possible), then show them that you’ve taken their advice.
What if you don’t want to do the personal follow up? What if you’re looking for a systematic way to attract customer reviews?
If you’re looking for a scalable way to attract reviews you’ll need your review funnel. Semi-automation is key if you’re looking to gain traction quickly. Using your review funnel gives you the ability to scale quickly, reminding customers to write a review and share their feedback.
Barrier #1: Customers don’t know what to say.
The biggest hidden barrier by far is awareness. Many customers simply don’t know what to say. So, rather than struggling with it they simply do nothing.
You can change that.
You can guide customers. Does this mean you’re telling customers what to say and when to say it?
Absolutely not.
It means you’re focused on asking the right questions. Why do questions matter? And, how on earth will questions get you the amazing reviews you’re looking for?
Clayton Christensen, a professor at Harvard Business School, shared the answer.
“Questions are places in your mind where answers fit. If you haven’t asked the question, the answer has nowhere to go. It hits your mind and bounces right off. You have to ask the question – you have to want to know – in order to open up the space for the answer to fit.”
Customers can’t teach you about their experience until you’re ready to learn.
Ask the right questions and you give customers the fuel they need to create amazing reviews.
Because reviews flow from feedback.
Ask customers the right question and the barrier – I don’t know what to say – fades away.
Which questions do you ask and when?
First, start with the basics.
- What would have prevented you from buying?
- What did you find as a result of buying this?
- What did you like most about our product (or service)?
- What would be three other benefits to this product (or service)?
- Would you recommend this to someone else? Why, or why not?
You can add in additional questions as needed provided that you make it easy for your customers.
Make it easy, and barriers come tumbling down.
Aren’t barriers unnecessary?
Believe it or not barriers are necessary. Sounds crazy doesn’t it? Who makes it harder for customers to write positive reviews?
You do, if you’re a savvy marketer.
Reviews are like magnets. Customers are drawn to them. That’s a problem if you have the wrong customers.
- Have discount shoppers? Offer great service and you’ll attract more of their penny pinching friends.
- Provide lots of “handholding?” You’ll attract more of the same demanding customers.
- Nightmare customer writes you a positive review? You’ll attract more customer predators looking to take advantage of your generosity.
What if removing barriers doesn’t get customers to write a review?
It won’t for everyone.
But you’re not looking for everyone. You’re looking for all-stars, customer evangelists who’ll tell everyone they know about your business.
The diamonds in the rough.
How To Get Customers To Leave Reviews
You’ve exceeded their expectations. You’ve under-promised and over-delivered. You’ve taken a loss for them. You’ve gone above and beyond.
But when it comes to writing a review for you, they’ll still continue to struggle with following through…
If these barriers remain intact that is. When you discuss things with them, they’ll be full of praise. When you ask for feedback they’ll do their best to be nice. But these barriers will keep them from writing a review.
Happy customers want to write a positive review. Remove their barriers. Make it easy for the right customers and you’ll find their reviews exceed your expectations.
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