What To Expect On Your First 30 Days of Blogging

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Blogging is a common and inexpensive way to make money online. Most people will tell you how easy it is to start a blog and they are not wrong.

With platforms like WordPress, an amateur like myself who started with zero website building experience was able to establish a website like Smart Affiliate Hub in minutes.

Similar to working out, it’s easy to pay for the gym membership, but it’s hard to become successful when it comes to actually get fit.— When it comes to blogging, it’s easy to start a blog, but it’s difficult to create a successful blog.

My goal from day one is to provide accurate information to help those who are on the verge of starting a blog, affiliate marketing, etc. 

With that said, blogging or affiliate marketing is not a method to get rich quick. You’re not going to become successful overnight. Those who say you would are lying to take your money.

So in this article, I’m going to provide you with my expectation of what to expect on your first 30 days of blogging. 

Day #1: Choose Your Niche Topic

Before you set up your blog, you should think about a niche topic that you are willing to stick with. You don’t want to spend money on a domain just to realize that you don’t like the niche topic you started with.

When choosing a niche, you should choose something that is ideally an interest, a hobby, a passion, or maybe something that you would like to learn.

You see, when I started Smart Affiliate Hub, I didn’t know everything about how to make money online. So I decided to teach as I learn.

For that reason, it really helps elevate my journey to success here on Smart Affiliate Hub.

A common reason why most online businesses fail is that the person behind them treats it like a day job. You see, making money online should be fun. It should not feel like a chore, so choose a niche topic that you enjoy.

Day #2: Set up Your Blog Correctly

I know you are very excited to show the world your new blog, but it’s important to set it up properly before you start telling your peers. Make sure you cover the following:

• About Page – Let your potential readers know more about you and how you can help them with what they are searching for. This is the perfect time to sell yourself and start building a relationship. Click here to learn more about building your about page.
• Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy – You can see mine at the very bottom of my website when you first visited. It is important that you meet all regulations to prevent a potential lawsuit.
• Affiliate Disclaimer – Similar to the above policies, you should also let your readers know that the links you provide them with may contain affiliate links that allow you to earn a commission.
• Contact Page – Give your readers a way to reach you if they have any questions, comments, or concerns.
• Responsive Theme – User experience should be your #1 priority. There are many themes for you to choose from, some are free and some cost money.
• Google Analytics – Track your visitors (not stalking) to see where your traffic is coming from. This is very important if you want to know if your marketing strategies are working. Click here to learn how to set up your Google Analytics with my step-by-step guide.

Day #3: Produce Content Consistently

Now that your website is fully set up and ready to rock n’ roll. It is time to start pushing out content for your potential readers! If you’re like mine, who loves to write.

You can produce content daily, but not everybody has the time. Blogging or making money online is a marathon, so work at your own pace.

If you don’t have time, you can write weekly. You see, the main key here is to stay consistent with your publishing frequency.

Inconsistency is the quickest way to lose your readership especially if you are brand new. For example, since I publish daily, most of my readers will expect a new article from me each day.

If I stop publishing daily, my readers will start to question the state of my blog.— It’s like calling your girlfriend or boyfriend every night before you sleep. If you stop calling every night, they will start to wonder what the heck is going on.

Note: While producing content, you should utilize the Jaaxy Keyword and Niche Research Tool to optimize your content for the search engines. The purpose is to rank for certain keywords!

For example, if I use keywords like how to make money online. My articles will show up on Google when someone searches for how to make money online (this will depend on the search engine’s algorithm).

*New blogs are harder to rank since they haven’t built enough authority.

Your articles might not be on the first page yet, but that’s okay! Your authority will grow over time. For now, you should use long-tail keywords with very low competition to increase the chances of ranking on the first page.

Day #4: Request, Read, and Answer Comments

Sign up for my recommended platform if you haven’t already. You can then take advantage of the feature SiteComment. Sure, they are not organic comments, but they are from real people.

Besides reading the blog post itself. Most people are also searching for what other readers are saying and if the website owner is actually answering the comments.

It’s very important to answer every comment! Imagine if someone comes up to you and asks you a question. Isn’t it rude to not respond back?

The same applies to your comment section. By responding, you are showing your readers that you care and are interested in building a loyal readership.

Day #5: Buy, Test, and Review Product(s) and Service(s)

By now, you should have a clear idea of what to write about. Most people end up having writer’s block because they start running out of ideas.

One of the easiest ways to produce content is to review product(s) and service(s) in your space. Click here to learn how to find ideas to write about.

When it comes to product reviews, I always recommend my readers to actually buy the product because that’s the best way to provide a complete insight from the consumer’s point of view.

If you’ve never tried the product yourself, how can you provide the details to your readers?— Writing content is going to be a long-term venture!

Day #6: Read and Comment On your Competitors Blog

Don’t be afraid to leave comments on your competitor’s blogs. Don’t feel like you’re wasting your time and helping your competitions because your competitor’s visitors will read your comment.

When you leave comments, their visitors will be able to visit your website by clicking on your name.— Leave constructive comments, and don’t spam your competition because it makes you look bad.

Also, you never know, maybe your competition will visit your website and if they see the value, they might even link back to you on one of their articles!

Day #7: Write Better Content Compared To Your Competitors

Regardless of your niche, you will have competition. For example, my blog is about how to make money online.

It’s one of the most competitive niches out there, so I’m probably competing with thousands of other blogs who are trying to rank for the same keywords that I use.

So the question is, what makes me different?

When writing content, you should aim to deliver better value compared to your competition. It could be more data, more step-by-step tutorials, etc.

If my competition is writing a product review, I will try to produce a more in-depth product review. I will also pitch in some stories to help my readers relate and engage.

Day #8: Set Up An Email List

Normally, I recommend my readers to set up their email list right away, but then I realized that most people don’t want to spend additional money when they first start a blog.

By now, you should have some traction and people are visiting your website. Click here to learn about the email list provider that I personally use. It comes with a 30-day trial and if you have less than 500 subscribers, it’s completely free for life.

Once you’ve signed up, you should get started by creating your welcome email. It’s the email that reminds your subscribers who you are and why they subscribed.

Next, create emails that get automatically dispatched to your subscribers at a set time. For example, most of my emails are set to be dispatched every 24 hours.

When creating your email sequence, you should include a survey asking your subscribers what they want to see from your blog.

The key is to write for your readers, not for yourself. Once you get some feedback, adjust your blog accordingly.

Day #9: Market Your Content Via Social Media

Do you want to pay for your traffic or do you want to get it for free? Well, the answer is quite obvious. The purpose of writing SEO optimized content is to drive organic traffic from search engines like Google.

However, for a brand new website, you’re not going to get much traction because you are competing with websites with much higher authority.

Don’t worry, that’s why there’s something called Social Media which can also help drive visitors to your website for free!

Based on my Google Analytics, the majority of my Social Media traffic comes from Twitter and Facebook.

On Social Media, search for groups that relate to your niche and promote your content there. Also, make good use of hashtags to reach people who are looking for what you’re writing about.

Day #10: Contact Other Bloggers In Your Space

The power of connection is strong! Imagine if a celebrity tweets about your website. I can almost guarantee your traffic will skyrocket even if it’s only for a day. The goal is not to beg other bloggers in your space to link to you.

The goal is to build a relationship with them, so when you need them to do you a favor such as writing about your blog, they will be more willing to do so.

The key is to make a new friend, don’t irritate them by constantly asking them to mention your blog on their blog posts. What I like to do is talk about how we can both scale our blog and take it to the next level. Just briefly mention your blog about how it’s similar but very new.

Day #11: Sign Up For Quora

Now that you have a few blog posts, you should be able to answer a few questions in your niche space. Sign up for Quora and search for keywords used in your niche industry.

For me, I searched for how to start a blog. Once I find one that carries a lot of views, I would go over the answers from other users and write an even better one.

While writing your answer, you can include links wherever it makes sense to link back to your website. This is very effective because Quora ranks very well on search engines, so you can leverage their organic traffic.

Quora also provides you with a button to easily tweet your answers on Twitter! I have a decent Social Media follower base and most of them are happy to upvote my answers for me.

Day #12: Visit Feedspot And Comment On Blogs In Your Niche

Feedspot is an RSS feed for power readers who want to save time reading top notched content. It provides you with some of the best blogs in the industry.

Similar to Day #6, you should continue to comment on your competitor’s blog. This time, you have more knowledge about your niche, so it’s the perfect time to leave quality comments.

I know some bloggers are reluctant to leave comments on their competitor’s blog because they feel like it’s only going to help them.

That is the wrong mentality to have! Again, when you leave comments, your name will link back to your website which is a great way to leverage your competitor’s traffic.

Day #13: Revisit Your Old Blog Posts

If you signed up for my recommended platform, it is time to double-check your old blog posts and make them even better. Google and other search engines love it when you update your old blog posts because it shows that you are trying to improve and keep them up-to-date.

Note: My recommendation is to update and create evergreen content, so it will continue to get traffic for years to come.

For example, How to start a blog in 2017 will do well in 2017, but once it’s 2021. It will not rank well anymore because search engines will view it as old news.

Day #14: Install The Top Commentator Plugin To Encourage Comments

It’s a free plugin that you can install to encourage your visitors to leave a comment. If you take a look at my sidebar, you will notice that I display top commentators with the number of comments.

It also contains the full link back to their website with a no-follow tag. That means my top commentators will receive love from Google as well as traffic.— Click here to install the Top Commentator Plugin.

Also, you should encourage people to leave comments on your blog posts by asking a question at the end of your article.

For example, I like to ask my readers what they think about my article and if they have any questions, suggestions, comments, etc.

Day #15: Create a Series of Blog Posts

I would create a series for certain topics if it makes sense. By publishing different parts, it will keep your readers anxious to come back! It’s almost like watching Dragon Ball Super.

They only broadcast once a week, so as soon as it gets released, people are eager to go watch it.

Day #16: Monetize Your Blog – Set Up A Plan

You should never try to monetize your blog from the get-go because it can be a huge turn-off for your readers. It’s almost like a relationship! Would you ask your partner to marry you on your first date? I hope not.

However, that doesn’t mean you should dismiss how to make money from your blog. What you want to do is to test out different strategies such as email marketing, affiliate marketing, etc.

I wouldn’t jump straight into Google AdSense. I made the mistake of monetizing my blog with AdSense too early. During the early stages of your blogs life, you should be focused on getting traffic, not setting traffic away with those annoying ads.

Day #17: Communicate With Your Social Media Followers

By now, you should have a decent amount of followers on Social Media. It is now time to retweet, repost their content. You see, simply posting your own blog posts is not enough. You want other people to post about yours as well. That way, you can leverage their followers!

Even if you have 10 followers, if the person reposting your blog posts has 10,000 followers, your blog post will now reach way more people than if you were to post it on your own.

Like anything in life, you must ask if you want something to happen. Go ahead and message your followers and ask them to share your blog posts. Usually, people will automatically repost your blog posts if you’ve re-post theirs.

Day #18: Set Up An Ad Space

If you navigate to my blog section, you’ll notice that I have a sidebar displaying multiple ads with available ad space for sale. Instead of monetizing through Google AdSense where Google takes a cut. You can sell your own ad space and earn 100% of the profit.

At first, you’re probably not going to get any purchases. That’s okay because as you continue to build out your blog and start seeing significant traffic. People will start lining up to purchase ad space to promote their blog.

You have full control of what type of ad you would like to be displayed on your website. If it is not relevant, you can decline it and the advertiser will receive a full refund. While you’re waiting for someone to purchase ad space, you can use it to display affiliate banners. Personally, I use OiOpublisher, you can click here to learn more about it.

Day #19: Let Your Readers Know More About You

In the beginning, you wrote an about page which is definitely a good start, but at this stage, you can start to let your readers know a little more about you.

Nobody is perfect and I’m sure you’ve made some mistakes on your journey to blogging and making money online. I know I’ve made plenty, so I what like to do is to share my experience with the mistakes that I’ve made.

This allows your readers to better relate themselves to you because nobody is perfect. They’ll be able to see that even the person that they follow has made mistakes. To me, it’s a great way to encourage your readers to keep going even if they stumble upon an obstacle.

Also, if you haven’t already added a photo of yourself. You need to do it now! Show your readers who they are following and it helps build a connection. You can add your picture to your about page, author display, and/or sidebar.

Day #20: Check Your Google Analytics

Your Google Analytics will provide you with data such as keywords that received clicks and impressions. Focus on the ones that receive a lot of clicks and impressions and use those keywords on blog posts that relate to it.

It will also display where your traffic is coming from. With this information, you can revamp your marketing strategy to maximize traffic.

Day #21: Check Your Bounce Rate

By now, you should have the traffic coming to your blog, so now it’s time to see how you can retain your readers longer. Depending on where your traffic is visiting, your bounce rate can tell you if what you’re doing is working.

For example, a lead page should have a fast bounce rate because the purpose of a lead page is to collect information such as name and email.

However, if it’s a blog post, you want your readers to stick around long enough to read it. So if your readers are leaving within 30 seconds, then you know you are doing something wrong.

Here are some tips for you:

• Use captivating headlines to hook your readers
• Include a short paragraph that explains what your blog post is about.
• Add a sidebar widget that displays popular blog posts to encourage new readers to check it out.

If you want to learn more about bounce rates, I’ve written a complete article about them! Click here to learn more.

Day #22: Follow Up With Your Email Subscribers

It’s been a while since you’ve contacted your email subscribers. It is time to follow up and see how they are doing.

Hopefully, you’ve been using autoresponders to send the series of emails because if you didn’t. Your subscribers are likely to have forgotten who you are.

You don’t have to always promote products and services to your readers. I treat all of my subscribers like a friend, so I would ask how they are doing and if they need help with anything.

Build a relationship and promote only if you feel like the product or service provides value to your subscribers.— Don’t do it for a quick buck!

Day #23: Figure Out How Long Your Blog Posts Should Be

Most people don’t like to read and it’s to your advantage to figure out how long your blog posts should be. If you can reduce the number of words and still deliver the same value then more power to you.

Not everyone is willing to read a 4000+ words article.— Yup… like this one that you’re reading right now… if you made it this far haha!

Tip: When surveying your subscribers, you can ask them for their feedback on the length of your posts!

Day #24: Write A Guest Post For Another Blog

Search for popular and relevant blogs and see if they’ll accept guest posting. I would generate a list of at least 5 blogs that you want to write for.

Send them a message via their preferred contact method. Let them know if you can guest post for them and what you’re going to write about and how it’s going to benefit their readers.

The key is to find one that is popular because it will drive their traffic to your own. The more traffic they have, the more traffic you can potentially. Keep in mind though, the majority will decline your offer, but don’t give up.

At least you tried right? Let’s say 1 out of 5 says yes, that’s still a huge win for you!

Day #25: Tweak Your Blogs Design

Double-check your blog and ensure that its design is user-friendly and mobile-friendly. A poor design will hinder user-experience and will greatly reduce returning visitors and will struggle to keep a new visitor for more than half a minute.

If you are still using a free WordPress theme, maybe you should consider getting a paid theme that’s designed for a better user experience. For Smart Affiliate Hub, I use the Genesis framework and it’s one of the best themes I’ve used.

Even if you are not ready to spend money on a premium WordPress theme, you can still make modifications such as font size, colors, etc. The point is to deliver the best possible experience to your readers.

Day #26: Search For Local Events

Similar to day #10, networking is very important. I use this app called, “Meetup” and it allows me to connect with people in my niche space locally.

For example, sometimes I would find WordPress events or how to make money online events. If I have time, I would sign up and participate, so I can network with like-minded people.

During these events, I would try to make friends and occasionally reach out to have lunch, so we can talk about our businesses and how we can expand them.

It’s also a great way to keep each other accountable for what we’re doing. We keep each other motivated and ultimately increases the chances of success.

Day #27: Ask Your Readers For Feedback

If I ask myself what I think about my blog, my answer would be, “it’s perfect!” Deep down, I know it’s not. There’s nothing better than getting feedback from your actual readers.

They are not biased because they don’t own your website. They will only share what they find that will better their experience, so you should definitely take their advice and improve upon it.

My recommended platform has a function called, “SiteFeedback.” It allows you to provide and receive feedback from others.

Unfortunately, there are some new people who provide feedback that is wrong, so do take it with a light grain of salt.

Day #28: Cross Link To Your Other Articles

If you look at this article, for example, you’ll notice that I provide lots of links to other articles that I’ve written in the past. Google and other search engines love crosslinking because you’re trying to provide more value to your readers.

Sometimes it just makes no sense to repeat what you’ve said in the past when you can just direct your readers to an article instead.

By now, you should have plenty of articles and should have no problem cross-linking! Just try not to over-do it by providing too many links when you have very few texts.

Day #29: Continue To Publish New Content, Share On Social Media, and Network!

Congratulations on making it this far! If you’ve done everything correctly, you should now have a sizable readership.

As I mentioned before, making money online is a marathon, so you will have to continue to provide value and most importantly marketing your content if you want to see further growth.

Day #30: Take A Break!

Depending on which month you start, you’re probably on the last day of the month. It’s time to relax and reflect on what you’ve accomplished so far. Also, it’s a great time to see what you need to improve on, so next month you will do even better!

Making money online is like working out, it requires time and effort. There is no magic bullet for instant gratification. Keep up the good work and eventually, you will be able to earn a sustainable full-time income.

Stay consistent and you can potentially become the next top earners online. People like John Chow are earning over $200,000.00 per month simply because he never gave up.

In Conclusion

This article does not represent exactly how your 30 days of blogging will be. You might do things differently, but it should provide you with an idea of what needs to be done.

If you are new to blogging, you can use this article as a blueprint to help you stay on track. If you are currently blogging, you can still use this article to see if you have missed anything. 

Regardless, I hope this article was helpful! If you have any questions or need help with anything, please let me know and I will try my best to help you out.