What no one told me (but they should have).
This is a yuuuge article… I could easily make it a short course and sell it for €7.99… It’s full of useful information you don’t want to miss – especially if you’re just starting out with blogging.
I’ve been blogging for over 10 years (13 to be exact) and I can tell you from experience – it’s not an easy job.
Not all the blogs I have succeeded, but the experience I got from each one is huge.
There are things I wish someone had told me before I started that would have saved me thousands of hours (literally) and would have gotten me to where I am now faster.
Just so you know, I make about 2K – 4K euros a month from blogging and other methods, and I plan to mention them all in a next article.
In this article, I share critical blogging tips that would have completely changed my blogging path – if I had understood them sooner. Whether you’re just starting out or have been writing for a long time, these tips will help you avoid common pitfalls and accelerate your path to success.
👉 DISCLAIMER: Before we continue, I’m throwing a quick disclaimer. Some of the links in my articles MAY earn me a commission if you use the service I recommend – at no cost to you. Instead, most of the time, you’ll save money or earn bonuses. If you want to support me, sign up through my links or buy me a coffee.
1. You Don’t Need Your Own Blog to Get Started
When I first started, I spent weeks setting up a perfect WordPress site, picking themes, plugins and stressing over details.
Little did I know that you can start blogging directly on platforms like Beehiiv, Medium, LinkedIn, Vocal or Substack and build an audience and income faster.
- These platforms already have a ready-made audience, and take care of all the technical aspects of hosting.
- In addition, their algorithm usually tests your articles on a small audience and if they get engagement, they can easily go viral.
- Finally, search engines are very much in favour of these blogging platforms and can get your articles to start receiving traffic immediately.
“Well, how am I going to make money if I don’t have my own site?”
You can start making money faster. For example, the Medium affiliate program pays you for the engagement your articles get. Vocal does the same thing.
Take a look at my earnings on Medium just two months later…
Beehiiv shows ads in your posts (sent through your newsletter or on your website – built with Beehiiv’s drag-and-drop CMS) and you start making money from day one. Plus, you can create paid newsletters and increase your income.
I could have tested “my voice”, built an audience and figured out which topics I liked best before investing in my own site.
2. You must update your published content
I thought blogging was just about constantly uploading new articles. WRONG!
Updating old content can bring more traffic than creating new content.
Read this again..
Updating old content can bring more traffic than creating new content.
Some of my most successful posts are the ones I’ve updated many times over the years.
Google loves fresh content, even if it’s an updated version of something you’ve already published.
Plus, it’s easier to improve something that already exists than to build something from scratch.
3. “Narrow” your Niche (And Very Well)
Being too general with your blog topic = a recipe for failure. I learned this the hard way.
Instead of writing about “health” (which has crazy competition), pick a sub-niche like red light therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, men’s supplements or hormonal health, etc.
The more specific you become, the easier it is to rank and establish yourself as an expert.
It also makes it much easier to identify and connect with your target audience!
4. Professional Appearance Matters More Than You Think
When I started, my blog looked like it was designed in the early 2000s. No one took it seriously.
I was trying really hard, writing really cool content but nobody was linking back to me. No one was referring me… Maybe because they didn’t trust the site? I soon realized that people link back to sources they trust.
And if your blog looks like “junk”, no one will link to you.
As well as on a personal level. You don’t want to recommend someone for a job who sucks-black.
Of course, you don’t have to spend thousands of money and time on design, but a clean, modern template and a professional logo can build trust with both readers and other website owners who may link to you.
✅ WordPress themes like Kadence and Astra have hundreds of professional ready-to-use templates that you can install with one click, making it easy to create a polished website without hiring a designer.
5. Don’t Skimp on Hosting
I’ll just get the 2.99€/month hosting package! = future headaches.
Cheap hosting means slow load times, frequent downtime and terrible customer support.
You need hosting that is affordable but still offers value and great support.
I went through at least 10 hosting providers before I settled on Hostinger.
Why? Well, very quickly:
- Very user-friendly platform
- Very good prices
- Amazing features
- Lightning fast support
- Lots and lots of free stuff.
They even have free AI tools (with their premium plans – premium ones costing around 100€ a year) to help you write content and create fancy affiliate boxes that you see on other blogs.
✅ If you plan to use Hostinger, go with their Business Web Hosting plan from just 3.99€. Use my special discount link to get 20% off on top of their already low prices.
6. Don’t Try to Compete with Giants (Yet)
I spent months writing incredible content targeting keywords that big sites were already dominating. Guess what? I never ranked for them. 😭
If you see big websites ranking for keywords you want to target, save your energy and time. Even if your content is 10× better, you will probably NOT outrank them as a new blogger.
For example, if you try to rank for the keyword “best collagen peptides” as a new blogger – KNOW IT. Do you think you can compete with the BBC, Health.com, Vogue, Amazon and Eating Well?
The search engines favor the CURRENT and you – as a new blogger – are not so strong (yet).
Pick battles you can win by finding keywords with less competition and no Giants in your way.
7. Balance “Money Pages” with Educational Content
I used to think that every blog post had to make money immediately. That is, that every post had to be a “money page” – i.e. an article with affiliate links, etc.
You cannot rank all the money pages of your website (pages designed to generate income through affiliate links or product sales).
So, if you post 100 pages about money – what do you expect – that ALL will be classified?
NO!
Focus on creating only 10-20 pages for money and keep them up to date and focus your SEO on them. Then, produce interesting educational content on those topics that complements them and positions you as an authority.
“But won’t I waste my time with educational content if it doesn’t make money?”
In fact, educational content builds trust, increases time on site and gives other sites a reason to link back to your site – all factors that help money pages rank better.
8. Secure Social Media handles immediately
Sign up for ALL social media accounts with your blog name immediately, even if you don’t plan to use them immediately.
I didn’t claim my social handles when I started my first blog, and someone else grabbed them.
A social media presence helps search engines perceive you as a legitimate brand.
Plus, you never know which platform might become important in your niche later on.
9. Invest in the Development of your Social Media Channels
Growing your social accounts isn’t just about vanity metrics – it’s about generating additional traffic sources and building credibility.
I was afraid to put money into developing my social accounts early on. Big mistake! Even a small investment in the beginning can help you build momentum.
These channels will give you credibility, attract sponsorship deals and bring more visitors to your blog.
As we speak, I’m spending €2 a day to develop my Facebook page and €100 a month to develop my Telegram channel for one of my news websites.
I wish I had done it 10 years ago. I would have been “swimming” in followers and credibility (and more cash).
10. Be patient – Success takes time
Blogging is a marathon, not a sprint. I expected to make decent money in three months. Ha!
Unless you’re a developer who can build a programmatic website and leverage programmatic SEO, don’t expect significant money in less than a year.
If you think (like me) that you’re going to start blogging and make a lot of money in three to six months, then don’t do it.
11. Diversify your Traffic Sources
Relying solely on Google for traffic is like building your house on quicksand. One algorithm change can destroy everything you’ve built.
And in my case, that’s what happened.
I learned this lesson afterlosing 70% of my traffic overnight since the March update of Google.
And it’s not just me.
Websites have disappeared because they relied only on Google for traffic.
You don’t want to make that mistake… Relying solely on Google for traffic.
Fortunately, I realized that websites like Facebook and Pinterest can bring in thousands of visitors.
I consistently get about 70 visitors a day to my website – just from Pinterest. I get a total of 7K+ visits to my blog in the last 90 days – all thanks to this little software that automatically creates Pins for me.
With this link 👆 you will get 1 month for free.
Anyway, the key takeaway here is to work on building other traffic sources like social media and direct traffic through your newsletter. DON’T RELY ON GOOGLE ALONE!
12. Start Building Your Email List from Day One
This may be my greatest repentance. I waited almost 5 or 6 years to start focusing on my newsletter!
Your email list is the only platform you really own. Use sales funnels, lead magnets, website banners, and even Facebook lead ads to grow your subscriber base.
Your email list is yours forever, and you can monetize it through sponsorships, service ads, or direct product sales.
Some recommended email marketing platforms to get started are:
- Systems – Freemium platform. Free up to 2000 subscribers 🤯
- Kit – Cheap packages + offers ways to make money from your newsletter from day one + RSS automation (great for news sites).
- Beehive – Freemium. Free for up to 2500 subscribers + you can make money from your newsletter from day one. 🤯🤯 (Recommended)
- Substack – Free. You can make paid newsletters.
13. Treat your Blog as a Business by the Authority
For years, I treated my blog as a hobby and wondered why it wasn’t growing faster.
If you want your blog to scale and succeed in the long run, treat it like a business.
Set tangible goals, track metrics, reinvest profits and make strategic decisions.
Once you automate processes and start making good money, hire a virtual assistant.
Plan your income and expenses – just like real businesses do. This is how to turn your blog into a full-time income.
14. Focus on a Blog Until It Succeeds
I’ll just run five blogs at once = recipe for disaster.
A common mistake most people (like me) make is starting multiple blogs at the same time.
They all end up getting mediocre traffic (like 10K visitors), and you get overwhelmed trying to do it all.
Focus on developing one blog to its full potential before starting another.
I remember back when I first started, after seeing my first small success with my first blog (I was getting about 3-4 thousand visitors a month) – I was excited.
I immediately thought…
“Why not create more blogs to get more traffic to my affiliates, and more money from ads?”
I am giant mind”
Huge mistake – now I realize that’s not the right way to increase your income.
The right way is to FOCUS on your one and only blog and boost it to 50K – 100K visitors per month. That’s where the real money is.
15. Reuse your Content
Your blog content can (and should) be converted into other formats.
I used to think that an article = a piece of content. So limiting!
- Re-post them on Medium and in your Substack or Beehive newsletters.
- Create X threads – just copy-paste the article into your AI and ask it to create X threads.
- Turn your blog posts into videos with software like Pictory
- Create eBooks with Designrr
- Make PDFs to upload to document sharing sites,
- Create infographics – again with the help of AI
- Turn them into podcast episodes – using AI (again).
This helps you build a brand and look much more credible, while reaching an audience that prefers different forms of content.
16. Be Selective with Affiliate Programs
When I started, I signed up for every affiliate program I could find. They were a mess to manage, and I ended up promoting products I hadn’t even worked with.
The problem with participating in many affiliate programs is that your promotional efforts become very “subtle”.
Instead of focusing your sales efforts on one program, you’re trying to sell multiple products at the same time – making you unproductive.
Focus on a “handful” of quality affiliate programs.
It’s good to have more than one (in case one program closes), but too many will confuse and overwhelm you.
Choose programs with products you actually use and recommend.
17. Not All Content Needs Extreme SEO Optimization
I used to get stuck with keyword density, LSI keywords and all those SEO metrics for each post.
You don’t have to..
Brand authority, community building and converting traffic into money through info products and services are more productive.
For most articles you write, just include your keywords in the title, meta description and first paragraph, and you’re good to go.
Similar words work just as well, and writing naturally is more important than stuffing keywords everywhere with exact match keywords.
This approach also makes your content much more readable and engaging for real people – which is, after all, who you’re writing for!
18. There Are Easier Ways to Make Money Online
The reason I started blogging was to make money. Not to get people to understand my ideas, not to build a community, not to help other people on a particular topic.
So, I did everything for the money and like I said earlier – don’t expect to make money from blogging in 3 to 6 months.
If you want to make money online faster there are other ways that can help you earn faster – if you put in the work.
For example:
- Pula eBooks
- Pula Guest Posts
- Sell your unused internet
- Publish discount coupons.
- Make Crypto trade
“But well, can I sell my unused internet?”
Yes, there are apps for that! But that’s a topic for another article.
With the above methods, you will make money FASTER from a blog.
19. You need to invest some money
If you don’t invest some money in software and services to accelerate your growth, it’s like leaving money on the table.
Think of it this way.
- If you’re not willing to invest in a good email marketing software, then you won’t be able to build a list and start monetizing it through direct sales, affiliate marketing offers or ads.
- If you’re not willing to invest in editors or AI software to help you produce content faster, you won’t be able to occupy faster.
- If you’re not willing to invest in SEO software you won’t know which keywords to target.
- If you’re not willing to invest in video software you won’t be able to quickly reuse your content and eventually build an additional income stream through YouTube.
You know what I mean.
I was too scared to spend money.
Maybe I was afraid of being made fun of by others?
“Instead of making money online, you spend money online… Haha, what an asshole you are..”
This was probably…
Huge mistake.
20. You need backlinks
When I started blogging I thought that constantly putting out SEO optimized content would do the job.
I thought the Search Engines would locate my blogs and I would start getting traffic + money.
I wasn’t thinking about finding my voice or building an audience.
I didn’t want to invest money in software or services that would accelerate my growth.
Therefore, I did not want to buy backlinks..
Nor did I want to spend 3-4 hours writing a guest post for someone else (remember, we didn’t have AI writers back then).
The fact that backlinking was not in my strategy cost me a lot of time.
You need to buy backlinks from guest post marketplaces or freelancing platforms.
If you don’t want to buy backlinks then you need to go through the hunt.
- Contact us and ask for free
- Reject 8 out of 10 times.
- Write and submit quality articles to the two websites that will allow you to guest post for free.
- Follow up to see if they’ve uploaded them.
- He repeated.
In addition, you will usually end up getting free backlinks from low-ranking websites that need free content. Backlinks from these websites don’t really make a difference..
If you’re willing to put your hand in your pocket and have a mentor, then contact me on Fiverr. There are also many Greeks on Fiverr who can help you with jobs.
The bottom line is that you need to add backlinking to your strategy if you want to speed things up – at least for the first couple of years.
The Final Conclusion
Looking back over my decade of blogging, these are the things that would have completely changed my path had I known them from the beginning.
Blogging isn’t just about writing – it’s about strategy, patience and building something sustainable.
Have you been blogging long?
What do you wish you knew when you started? Or if you’re just starting out, which of these tips surprised you the most?
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