Beginner’s Guide: Start a blog, get 100,000 page views and make over $100 your first month

Leo says on March 28th, 2007 at 5:58 pm

Wow, great post, Kyle! Very useful stuff here.

Jimmy says on March 28th, 2007 at 6:37 pm

Kyle…I’ve been reading for a while and always wondered what earning ballpark you’re in now that your an established site? Care to share any info on that?

j henry says on March 28th, 2007 at 8:44 pm

What do you recommend for an offbeat blog? Mine is about nudism/naturism and travel destinations (wholesome oriented – non-sexual).

For example, I just did a post entitled “Nudist Fitness Expert / Radio Show Host Offers Nude 5K Race Tips” on http://nudisttravel.blogspot.com

Andrew Flusche says on March 28th, 2007 at 11:26 pm

Kyle,

Overall this is a great post. I do disagree with a point about Digg. You said that every post that doesn’t make it to the frontpage will get 100 page views. Perhaps this is true for some blogs/posts, but I don’t think it applies to everything. I personally haven’t experienced anything like that with Digg. I can regularly get 300 page views from a good post on StumbleUpon, but only ~20 (if that) from Digg. This is just my experience.

Most of your other advice is dead-on, though. Maybe I’m just doing something wrong with Digg.

Take care,
Andrew

Nenad Ristic says on March 29th, 2007 at 12:23 am

Wonderfull advice… I have stayed away from digg in my own promotional efforts, since I did not know if my posts were good enough, but you are right, the only way to find out is to try.

William Ryall says on March 29th, 2007 at 2:22 am

I’d like add a few extra tips.

Submit all of your articles to reddit (I get more pageviews from reddit than I do from digg, unless it’s a popular story and reaches the first page).

Add reddit buttons and digg buttons to the bottom of all of your posts. That way your readers can easily just digg your stories if they like them. (Also, if it looks like your stories are getting traction and might hit the first page your feeders are likely to help you get there.)

Comment – Write comments on blogs you frequently visit. (Not in the hopes that somebody clicks on your name and visits your site, although I have got readers this way.)

But if the authors of the blog read your comment (which they will, I don’t know of any blogger who doesn’t read their own comments) they might check out your site and if they like it you got a good chance of getting a link in the future.

I’d take a link from lifehack/techcrunch/boingboing over hitting digg front page any day of the week.

Also, if you don’t think you can post 2-3 times a day don’t worry. Just save up content for a month and then launch with saved content. That way you can keep your blog rolling along nicely for the first month.

Once you start seeing some money come in, you will get motivated and blog more often and there’ll be no need to use your stored content.

Another option is to just invite people blogging about similiar things to do guest pieces on your blog.

Ford F. says on March 29th, 2007 at 6:06 am

The best part of the article is that it doesn’t take long before any reader is advice to write 50 posts and get to the dirty part.
As about digg, I had a few articles I submitted to digg that didn’t get 10 diggs. And I was pretty content with them as a beginner.
Perhaps it’s because of presenting mostly news that one hundred other sites also show, but I intend do expand the area of blogging.
Nice article to keep the high spirits.

Svaj Malizo says on March 29th, 2007 at 6:52 am

Hey!

I’ve got another tip for the beginning blogger: write on other blogs!

It’s a great way to break the ice with an audience and spread the word about your blog.

For example, just right now I am writing this comment on this blog which hopefully will make someone click and go to my blog.

It’s not spam, it’s a comment that answers the question “What would you add that I didn’t mention?”.

It works because this way you contribute to your online presence it states that you are there (you’re active). And, well, online being alive is measured purely by how active you are.

BTW! Visit my blog http://svajmalizo.blogspot.com :-)

MacKash says on March 29th, 2007 at 10:13 am

I’ve been toying with the idea of creating my own blog for quite some time now. I don’t know if it’s been lack of motivation, or lack of real knowledge about the way the whole choosing a blogging platform, choosing a hosting service, and choosing a domain name thing worked, Never mind thinking of a topic and coming up with content to fill it at least 6-10 times per week.. But this post really helped! I’ve been reading lifehack.org for a few months now and I have to say I really enjoy it! Keep up with great posts like this one!

OSXDaily says on March 29th, 2007 at 1:50 pm

I would suggest utilizing the entire gamut of social networks other than just Digg and StumbleUpon. Of course what works depends on your blogs topic, but other web2 sites certainly can help drive traffic and build links.

Good information though for those that are just starting out.

Liming Xu says on March 29th, 2007 at 3:19 pm

hm.. let me test out if anybody clicks mine from HERE!

JamesT says on March 30th, 2007 at 9:56 am

Hey Kyle,

Still no mention of what you guys are making here?

Leon says on March 30th, 2007 at 11:55 am

@JamesT: maybe the answer itself warrants for another article. Subscribe and stay tuned ;)

Stephen Miracle says on March 30th, 2007 at 2:42 pm

I don’t know if nobody has thought about this secret yet or its just a little to obvious, but with my most recent upstart I utilized my Myspace account with my “friends list”. I’ve asked several to do guest posts and frequently supply a bulletin with recent posts. Also, I don’t mind just flat out spamming them to come to my blog on their comments page (which is read by their friends). Of course, I do it in a polite fashion and not with every comment/message/bulletin. In the end, it might not generate incredible numbers of links, but its a great way to boost page views and getting conversations going on the comments.

Liming Xu says on March 31st, 2007 at 10:01 pm

I guess it works? i got several people clicked just from the post I comment above.

looks like I’m going to have start following your suggestions!

JamesT says on April 2nd, 2007 at 11:20 am

@Leon: No worries about subscribing, as I’ve been reading lifehack.org for quite a while. Anyways, looking forward to that future article ;)

Rene Kriest says on April 2nd, 2007 at 11:43 am

Everybody starts small in blogging I think. :)

Very nice round-up. It is really motivating to hear from an AAA-Blog what it was like when everything started.

Regards,

René
ProBloggerWorld.de

Pedro says on April 2nd, 2007 at 11:48 am

uhmmm nice post, I’ll try some of thesse things in my new blog :)

thanks

Elle says on April 3rd, 2007 at 9:43 am

Thanks for this really helpful article. I’ve had a blog for two years and have had no success with it. I’ve spent too much time and effort on it to give it up, so I’m starting anew and amping up my promotion efforts.

Jose says on April 4th, 2007 at 6:41 pm

I’ve just started taking my blogging more seriously. I’ll definitely try some of these ideas in the future.

Kate says on April 10th, 2007 at 8:20 am

I have found this article very misleading. The online quick setup blogs do not allow you to insert ads or google analytics. The wordpress standalone is not easy to set up. MySQL? I don’t have MySQL… I continue to be baffled by this whole process, it seems to me you need several hundred dollars to set up a semi-professional looking blog that allows ads.

Rich Tatum says on April 11th, 2007 at 6:50 am

Thanks to your encouragement, I’ll start Digging a few of my non-niche items with broader interest to see if they experience any sort of digg effect. Like you, I’ve found StumbleUpon to be a great tool for promoting content. It doesn’t get “demoted” for being self-serving when I post a review of my own content, as I have seen happen on Digg.

For what it’s worth, you may enjoy my article along these lines:

39 Tips to Improve Weblog Traffic and Visibility

Which I have dug here.

Regards,

Rich
BlogRodent

Wilson says on April 17th, 2007 at 3:31 pm

So I did everything that was suggested, and I started get great traffic to my blog… but after submitting my articles to Digg they banned my url. Saying that I am not allowed to dig my own site.

heluhelu says on May 16th, 2007 at 2:12 pm

i am a seriouse blogger. i love the world.
blog back to me!!!i love to read!@!! read you!!upand down/ oooooohh baby!1

Sleeping Dude says on June 16th, 2007 at 1:52 am

Kate,
my advice is that if you’re not techy enough, pair with someone who is. There are plenty of hosting options with WordPress preinstalled (Blue Host, Dreamhost, etc) and it’s not that hard to customize to your taste. From my experience when I worked on a blog with my friend we generated 5x more ideas than I would do on my own.

paynito says on July 17th, 2007 at 4:22 pm

I took this as a how-to manual to monetize my blogging. I’ve dugg 5 posts already and after I get to 50 posts dugg I’m going to count up the revenue. I just did the popunders b/c I don’t know how to set up my Expression Engine sidebar with Adsense.

LanguagesLover says on November 15th, 2007 at 4:11 pm

Very useful guide for beginners. I didn’t know how to use Digg.

Dale Merritt says on January 4th, 2008 at 10:28 pm

Nice blog and article! I agree with everything you said but personally found wordpress too much work, although I love its design features. I started on a blog platform called moguling.com with has built in SEO and also includes more niche graphic options for headers, etc.. oh yea..and its free! my fave

Dale Merritt says on January 4th, 2008 at 10:32 pm

oops, forgot the link, http://www.moguling.com

Caught Picking says on January 17th, 2008 at 12:53 am

For a great blog about people caught nose picking, check out:

http://www.caughtpicking.com/

Daniel says on January 23rd, 2008 at 10:09 am

What a great, summed-up article. Thank you!

mahesh says on February 1st, 2008 at 3:07 am

I will follow the tips what you have mentioned in this post. Iam posting just 1-2 posts per 3-4 days. Really this is very good post!

garry says on March 31st, 2008 at 8:43 pm

I have just started out blogging and will try out some of these tips. Some helpfull adivice which is greatly appreciated.

start a blog says on May 5th, 2008 at 11:11 pm

thanks for sharing how to start a blog :)

nice job !

nick says on June 7th, 2008 at 2:42 pm

I’m starting a new blog for my company and all this advice has helped a lot. Thanks!

nick says on June 7th, 2008 at 2:46 pm

In my last comment I mentioned that I am starting a blog for my company…but I forgot to mention the name and website…It’s called Fusion92. We’re an interactive marketing agency near Chicago. I’d love some traffic/visits – http://www.fusion.92.com

nick says on June 7th, 2008 at 2:48 pm

Man, that won’t help me get traffic. I typed our url wrong. I’m sorry. It’s http://www.fusion92.com

Michael Wong says on June 24th, 2008 at 2:46 am

if anyone wants a digg, shout me. i digg as:

michaelwong38

also thanks for all the good tips everyone, especially lifehack, you guys so rule.

Reccemaster says on August 11th, 2008 at 12:17 pm

With regards to digging each post. Doesn’t that go against Digg TOC unless of course you get someone else to do this for you. I’ve read a lot around the problems with accounts when you digg your won posts.. which I would expect to be seen if you digg say 50 posts from one domain.

Webdesi3 says on September 16th, 2008 at 4:29 pm

Thanks for the post! I’ve started up my own blog after a lot of research, but your post was the most worthwhile advice I’ve come across…Thank you.

srinivas says on October 19th, 2008 at 12:01 am

hi…I tried to add digg button to my blog…but it is giving me some error codes..I followed many online resources to add the digg button..but none worked..how can I solve this problem?

Paradise @ lastminuteacademic says on November 21st, 2008 at 7:36 am

I’m going to try a fair few of these posts, so thank you! Also, I’m nervous because unless you blog about blogging or technology, it’s harder to grab readers. I blog about study tips etc and so its kinda for a specific market, although I believe that most of these tips apply in the real world as well.

At first I started commenting on blogs in case someone would click on my name and go to visit my blog, but then found that to be redundant. I only really comment on things I am interested in.

gary v davis says on December 3rd, 2008 at 3:51 pm

nice right to the point post!

Tamir says on December 16th, 2008 at 3:16 am

Great blog post! Really taught me a lot, especially since I just created a brand new politics blog. If anyone visits please let me know what you think!

Adam Di Stefano says on December 23rd, 2008 at 5:49 pm

Coming late to the party, I know, sorry. I bookmarked this article a long while ago, and just came back to it, and it got me thinking.

I know on the web content is king, but the suggestion to write 50 articles in your first month seems a little excessive to me. From a purely traffic standpoint, sure I guess it makes sense, but there’s a quality vs. quantity argument to be made here.

I’d rather read a blog that updates twice a week, and puts out quality articles, than scan through 3 posts a day in my feed reader. Not only that, but if I notice that a blog (or perhaps more accurately, a single writer) produces tons of content, I might actually be less likely to read it because I’ll just assume the person’s trolling for traffic. Unfair assumption, perhaps, but there it is.

All I’m really saying is that I think it’s important not to lose sight of the one thing that any writer should be looking to maintain, and that’s quality. It shouldn’t be sacrificed for traffic, for revenue or for anything, because in the long run, quality is what will bring you the greatest rewards.

Just my $0.02, but overall great article, and as a new blogger myself, I appreciate the tips.

john says on May 19th, 2009 at 8:06 pm

very nice, thanks for the info :)

Taylor says on July 23rd, 2009 at 3:49 pm

Thanks! you were alot of help! Maybe you could check out my blog, i’ve just started but I’d like some feedback on what i need to improve on

wayangtimes says on July 29th, 2009 at 12:14 pm

hmmm great post here. but i did all u said except the digging part as frequently digg fails. however i cant seem to get the hits u mention. is it because my website’s problem?

Nea | Self Improvement Saga says on September 28th, 2009 at 5:12 pm

I think one important thing to remember is that good content, not just content, is key. I’m new to blogging, but it is apparent that a lot of people are in it for money rather than a real interest. This makes a big difference to readers. You visit a blog because of a link at Digg, SU, or another site. However, you only return to a site if the writer offers what you’re looking for. Focus on your audience and they’ll focus on you.

Sanjeev says on October 22nd, 2009 at 9:10 am

Does this really work?

Jacob says on November 6th, 2009 at 1:36 am

Hey there!

im new to this bloging thing and this post help me out tons! just like to give you my personal thanks mate. Anyway i was wondering if your or anyone reading this could check out my blog and give me tips and hints, you know an area i mite be totaly screwing up on.

Also i was wondering how do you add digg it buttons to your pages.

http://vibed.wordpress.com/ – Thats my blog!

Anyway thanks for all the helpful hints!

Wilson says on November 13th, 2009 at 8:35 am

Thats a lot of great tips you got here. A big thanks for the tips. Since you mentioned it, I’ll take your word for it.

- writing 50 posts, thats tough for me. But I’ll do it.