Blogs this good shouldn't die.
579 posts across 24 months.
Engaging content.
Great design.
Thousands of comments.
Hundreds of regular followers.
Almost no income.
Game over.
It's a true story, and a sad one. The numbers above represent a post-mortem on the blog run by a couple of my wife's good friends.
These are two talented women - one degreed in english and the other a charismatic elementary school teacher. Both funny. Both great writers.
What went wrong?
Even with 20/20 hindsight I can't say exactly why this blog didn't take off. I don't know why some blogs trudge along while others rocket into the "I just got a book deal and I'm getting my own TV show" stratosphere.
Here's what I do know:
They blogged about interesting topics - stuff their audience related to. They shared personal insights and experiences. In copywriting terms (NOT in literal terms) they "got naked," meaning they weren't afraid to talk about their fears and failures and shortcomings. Some of their posts stirred a little controversy.
All the makings of a blog that should create traction, reach, and income.
Should - but in this case - didn't.
They ignored keywords. Not on purpose - they didn't even KNOW they were ignoring keywords. But they were.
I'm telling you right now - and I'll even give you a Gary Guarantee** - if these two talented women had just added some keyword targeting to their content mix, they'd still be blogging today - and being paid well for it.
See, all the stuff they did right (engaging content, pretty design, regular followers, lots of comments) are signs that their site had (and frankly, still has) authority. Meaning, real live human beings like the site. These are the kinds of authors Google wants to put in its search results!
But they didn't tell Google (in the way they structured their site and posts) that they were the right destination for its searchers. And because Google is a lowly machine that can only work with the information you give it, they got very little search traffic.
So they didn't get the chance to find out that search traffic converts. It converts to sales and clicks and most other things a blogger wants (like links and attention).
And that's a huge bummer.
Target keywords and you'll make money.
You already know that's our mantra, so let me give you a new twist:
Without proper keyword targeting, you can do a lot of things well (extraordinarily well) - and stil fail.
With proper keyword targeting, you can do a lot of things really, really badly - and make some decent money.
Combine your desire to help people, your knowledge of your subject, and reliable keyword targeting...well then you're going to find it hard to type because of the fists full of cash.
(Okay, that was a slight exaggeration, but you get my point.)
You are the author whose content Google wants to rank - should rank. But you have to help them (and their humble content ranking machine).
Use keywords. Use them well and use them often. Get paid!
Talk to you soon,
Mark
**A "Gary Guarantee" is one offered by an old construction buddy of mine named Gary Gray (yup). When Gary offered a Gary Guarantee, no reasonable person would challenge it. Although the reality is a fact or event backed by a Gary Guarantee wasn't all that likely to be true (or actually come to pass). But nevermind that - it's a catchy saying and I'm sticking with it.
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