And these income reports can do a lot to inspire you to get online and start your own blog. Those very income reports are what spurred me into action, even though I seriously knew nothing about blogging.

Terms like domain, host, plugins, framework and themes were foreign to me. But, nonetheless, with dreams of earning major passive income as a blogger on my mind I launched and — barely earned anything during the first three months Work from Home Happiness was online.

Fast forward another three months and I was actually starting to pull in a blogging income! It definitely wasn’t anywhere near $100,000/month (and still isn’t), but it was enough that I could cut down on freelance writing to focus on growing even larger. And by my first year up and running, I was making a full-time income as a blogger.

So, what was it exactly that turned my blog around?

An expensive paid-for blogging course? Nope.

A super-secret online treasure chest? Uh-uh.

I simply changed my theme! Seriously, that was it.

Choose Carefully. Your Theme Matters

Being the frugal person that I am, I opted to use a free WordPress theme when I first launched Work from Home Happiness back in April 2015. The non-optimized, design-lacking theme made the site look, well, cheap. This bargain-bin look repelled visitors and advertisers alike.

And in the world of blogging, no visitors + no advertisers = no money.

So, even though I was blogging my heart, I saw next to no growth and equally low income. Not wanting to throw in the towel just yet, I set out to figure out why great content alone wasn’t enough to grow my blog.  What was it these pro-bloggers were doing that I was missing?

The answer was right in front of my face — or on my computer screen:

The majority of them were using the exact same blogging platform AND framework.

What was it? The power of WordPress with the versatility of Genesis framework!

WordPress and Genesis for Blogging Success

As a newbie to the blogging world, I knew that most bloggers used WordPress for its versatility and ease of customization. You probably know that too! But when it comes to themes, I didn’t realize many super-successful bloggers were all on the same page — or framework, that is.

Take a look:

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner of Making Sense of Cents earns upwards of $100,000/month as a blogger. What powers her blog? WordPress and Genesis!

The Budget Mom, Kumiko, offers sound financial advice to the masses while earning $2,000+ a month. What software and framework is her beautiful blog built on? You guessed it — WordPress and Genesis!

Lena, over at What Mommy Does, earns anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 each month on her blog. And, as you probably guessed by now, she uses the WordPress-Genesis combo too.

And that’s just three examples of successful bloggers. Really, the list could go on and on — seriously. To date, Genesis Framework powers more than 500,000 WordPress sites and counting.

Starting to see the potential in running a WordPress blog using the Genesis framework?

But before you go out and start a blog using the one-two WordPress-Genesis punch, let’s look at what Genesis is and why it’s so darn awesome.

What is Genesis?

StudioPress is the mastermind behind Genesis, the industry standard design framework pro bloggers love. It’s built specifically for WordPress and can be easily customized with any number of child themes. For example, Work from Home Happiness is run on WordPress using the Genesis framework with a child theme by Restored 316.

Confused? Think of your blog like a house.

WordPress is the foundation.

Genesis is the walls.

And the child theme is the decor that makes your space uniquely you.

Why is Genesis so Popular?

There are a number of reasons Genesis is the preferred framework of thousands of full-time bloggers, myself included. My big reason for switching to Genesis early on was the fact that it gave my blog a professional look without the professional price tag.

With the different child themes and plugins, Genesis is easily customizable, giving your blog a perfectly polished look even when you’re pinching pennies and taking the DIY route.

And that’s why Genesis is the perfect platform to use from the time you launch until you reach full-time success. You don’t have to look like a beginner just because you are one

If you’re already impressed by Genesis and how thousands of online entrepreneurs trust this versatile framework to bring their blogs to life, just wait, it gets even better!

Introducing StudioPress Sites, The Risk-Free, No-Hassle Way to Launch a Blog!

Recently, StudioPress took their popular framework a step further by packaging it with hassle-free hosting, top-notch support, and more than 20 pro themes as part of StudioPress Sites.

So, what exactly is StudioPress Sites? Great question!

Aside from gaining access to the Genesis framework and 20+ amazing themes to create a beautiful blog right out of the box, you’ll get:

• Fast-loading performance
• Zero hosting hassles
• Rock-solid security
• World-class support
• Automatic updates of Genesis and WordPress
• Advanced SEO (great for beginners!)
• Free SSL certificates

All of these amazing features can be had for one low monthly price paid out quarterly or on a yearly basis — the choice is yours. There are plans available for bloggers and affiliate marketers as well as those with ecommerce ambitions.

And because StudioPress believes in their products, they offer a risk-free 30-day refund policy. If you’re unhappy for any reason or just don’t think it will work for you — no problem! They’ll give you a no-questions-asked refund.

So, what are you waiting for? Head on over to StudioPress Sites and start your own money-making blog today so you too can say #goodbye9to5!

This post contains affiliate links. What are they? Check out my disclosure statement for more info. 

The post The Seriously No-Fuss Way to Launch (and Maintain) A Blog Like A Pro appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.

For me, it was all about reaching a point where blogging became my full-time job. But when exactly did that “tipping point” happen where a blog was producing enough income to live off of? As a beginner, I had no clue.

Fortunately, the book, How to Blog for Profit without Selling Your Soul by Ruth Soukup had the answer.

Ruth interviewed many of her blogger friends and asked them how many page views  they were receiving and compared that to their annual blogging income.  The results? On average, blogs with 100,000 page views a month were earning about $25,000 a year.

Thankfully, I’m already a ahem frugal person and live in a very affordable area. I reasoned that, even if it might be tough, I could live off of $25,000 a year. And so, I set my one-year goal firmly at 100,000 page views per month.

So, fast forward one year later. Work from Home Happiness is coming up on its one-year anniversary at the end of April 2016. How did I do?  Did I reach my goal?

Yes! Not only did I reach 100,000 page views per month but I did it in just 9 months.

It wasn’t always easy. But once I figured out what worked, the numbers grew and grew month after month. What worked for me? Here are the 3 tools and techniques I used to get 100,000 page views per month in just 9 months.

Get Blog Traffic

If you’re new to blogging, one of the first things you’ll probably Google is “get blog traffic.” And the results can leave you feeling overwhelmed — that’s how I felt, anyway.

I read article after article with headlines that promised 1001 Ways to Get More Blog Traffic Today or 500 Proven Techniques to Flood Your Site with Traffic (these are made up of course, but you get the point!).

Needless to say, there was too much information out there. So much so that it was difficult to actually put together an action plan to reach 100,000 page views per month.

After reading just about everything I could on the subject and taking a few e-courses, I determined that, for one, people tend to over complicate things, and two, I would build my traffic strategy around three things:

1. Content
2. Social Media
3. Google

While there are a number of different tools, techniques, tips and tricks that can help you get traffic to your blog, it made sense to start with the basics and grow from there.

Content

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Content is King.” While a tad overused, content really is key to growing your blog. If you provide great content, you’ll be rewarded with social shares and repeat visitors — two important building blocks to steady traffic.

My content strategy? I focused on what’s called long form content. If you take a look around Work from Home Happiness, you’ll notice that the majority of articles are well over 1,000 words. Many of them tip the scales at 3,000+ words and others clock in with more than 4,000 words. I’m not writing a lot just because I have a lot to say (although that helps) but because in many niches lengthier articles often perform better than short ones.

What is Long Form Content?

There’s not really a set answer to this question. Some content marketers insist that anything over 700 words is long form. Others believe an article doesn’t qualify until it hits 3,000 words or more. It probably boils down to your niche.

What’s long form in one niche may not be so to another and vice versa. Here at Work from Home Happiness, I tend to think long form content is anything in excess of 1,200 words and almost always write blog posts closer to the 1,500-word mark.

What are the Benefits of Long Form Content?

I give long form content a lot of credit for growing Work from Home Happiness in a relatively short time. My longer posts are the ones that are linked to most often, shared more frequently on social media, and rank better on Google — and I’m not the only one who gets better results with longer articles:

• When WordStream increased their word count, their user engagement went up, too
• Search Engine Land finds that longer articles rank better in searches
• Neil Patel reports that 3,000+ word articles receive more backlinks
• Articles with at least 1,000 words get greater social shares according to Buzzsumo

But keep in mind, this content strategy only makes sense if your readers respond to it and what you’re blogging about requires in-depth explanations.

When Long Form Content Works (and When it Doesn’t)

Let’s say your blog helps others turn a handmade hobby, like knitting, into a home-based business. You’d probably include a lot of how-tos, beginner’s guides, and other step-by-step posts that spur readers into action.

This type of blog lends itself well to long form content. Why? Because it requires detailed posts to explain everything someone must do to get the end result they’re looking for. Plus, the reader will find value in in-depth articles that don’t leave them guessing on what they should or should not do to be successful.

On the other hand, if you’re blogging, say, about entertainment, pop culture, or create curated listicles that are meant to be consumed in short blocks of time, say while waiting in line or on break, long form content probably wouldn’t be the best strategy.

As a general rule, if your niche and your audience would benefit from long form content, so too will your traffic.

Social Media

Social media marketing is something I’ve had a hard time with in the last year  — but especially so in those first nine months. Even still, I can credit social media with helping me reach my 100,000 page views per month goal. However, I truly believe had I done a better job on social media, I may have seen those results much quicker!

So, what worked and what didn’t?

First things first, I knew that it would be impossible for me to try to keep up with every single social media platform out there. Instead, I made the decision early on to focus on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

Twitter

Out of the three, I see the least traffic from Twitter. However, I’ve learned that my Twitter traffic grows whenever I make a it a point to use relevant hashtags when tweeting. To help me with this, I often turn to Hashtagify.me.  The Hashtag Encyclopedia is free to search and can offer a number of useful hashtags that you might not have thought to use otherwise.

When using the right hashtag, it’s much easier to get found in Twitter searches and you increase your chances of getting more likes and retweets. And the retweets are where you can really start seeing some traffic roll in — so it’s worth researching hashtags and incorporating them (sparingly) into your Twitter strategy.

Facebook

I have a love-hate relationship with Facebook. Just when I think I’ve gotten a handle on what works well, Facebook goes and changes their algorithm and I’m back to square one. But as with anything worth doing (and Facebook totally is) it’s worth doing well. So, I’m always reading up on ways to get more traffic from Facebook.

My favorite guide to date is Drive Massive Traffic from Facebook (for free) by SumoMe.  This guide is a lengthy read (10,000 words!) — so set some time aside to get through it all. Thankfully, they’ve provided a checklist to help you digest everything!

I’ve also used Facebook advertising with varying degrees of success. My first campaigns went well. But then I was banned from Facebook advertising altogether (seriously. banned.). After a series of back and forth emails with Facebook, the misunderstanding was cleared up and I was reinstated.

For just $50, you can get your content in front of 10,000 to 50,000 people. And the best part? You can be very specific about who sees your ad and who doesn’t — so you dollar stretches very far here! If you’re only going to advertise in one spot, Facebook gives quite a lot of bang for your buck. Check out the Beginner’s Guide to Facebook Advertising by AdEspresso for a detailed look at how to make the most of your Facebook ads.

Pinterest

I always looked at Pinterest as a great growth tool for craft, DIY, home decor, food and other lifestyle-type bloggers but never thought it could work well for me. So, imagine my surprise, as a work from home blogger, when Pinterest became my number one source of social traffic. In fact, Pinterest accounts for more traffic on Work from Home Happiness than all the other social channels combined.

But gaining traction on Pinterest wasn’t easy going at first. Once I made a few changes, like upping my graphics game, taking advantage of automation, and joining group boards, my Pinterest traffic grew seemingly overnight.

Canva

You can’t get noticed on Pinterest if you don’t have pinworthy images. My favorite way to create images is through Canva. This is a free tool that lets you quickly and easily make images that are perfectly suited for Pinterest. They even have a selection of templates and stock photos you can use for free.

Tailwind

You’ll want to spread out your pins throughout the day. But since it’s not practical to be sitting at your computer all day waiting to pin, you’ll need the assistance of automation.  I prefer Tailwind because you get some really great analytics that let you see, at a glance, what pins are performing and what pins aren’t. These analytics were a game-changer for my Pinterest marketing since I was able to easily identify my highest performing pins and make sure those were landing in front of people at the right times. Before committing to a plan, you can try out their free trial and watch your Pinterest traffic grow.

Group Boards

When you’re just starting out, you won’t have a lot of Pinterest followers. And that’s okay. To help get your pins seen, join as many group boards as you can. If you join a board with 10,000+ followers, your pins have the potential to be seen as many people — no matter how many followers you actually have. Visit PinGroupie, The Pin Junkie, and BoardDeck for a directory of Pinterest community boards you may want to join. Remember, when asking for an invite, be polite and personable. And always, always follow the group board owner’s rules!

Pinterest for Business

Signing up for a business account makes it much easier to get a blog found on Pinterest. Plus, it lets you confirm your site and associate your account with other social media accounts. A business account also gives you access to some Pinterest “goodies” like rich pins, analytics, and button and widget builders that you make it easier to share your images directly from your blog.

A lot is being said about Pinterest marketing at the moment. And it’s definitely worth listening to all the buzz! Check out Pinterest Marketing: Your Complete Guide to Success by Social Media Examiner for tons of useful details and helpful hints for Pinterest business.

Google

Think about this: Google processes an average of 40,000 search queries every single second. That’s a whole lot of Googling. Even if you can get the smallest sliver of that gigantic pie, you’d be well on your way to 100,000 page views per month!

But making your content search engine friendly isn’t always easy to do. And then there’s actually tracking down and incorporating relevant keywords to use. How do you begin?

I started with the basics. I knew nothing about SEO, keywords, or analytics. And I certainly didn’t know how to incorporate these things into my content marketing strategy! So, I downloaded the Kindle App, signed up for Kindle Unlimited and started reading every ebook I possibly could on the subject.

What did I learn? That you want to optimize your content for both search engines and human eyes. But doing both at the same time, isn’t always an easy feat. Thankfully, there are a number of free tools that can help.

Google Analytics

After you set up your WordPress blog, you’ll want to place a Google Analytics tracking code on your site. This will give you tons of insight that you can use to improve your content strategy. Some things you can see in Analytics include your page views, number of unique users, where your traffic is coming from, and how long people are spending on your site.

Keyword Research Tools

The Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress is my go-to tool for making sure each and every post I write is on point with its SEO. The basic version is free and comes with everything you need to craft content that will rank well and help you reach your 100,000 page views per month goal. This plugin really has made all the difference for me in terms of SEO — when in use, I feel confident that each post is optimized before hitting publish.

Although I prefer Yoast for my WordPress blog, there are a lot of other options out there for you to. For everything you ever wanted to know about the pros and cons of different keyword research tools, check out this guide from Authority Hacker.

Keyword Research

Admittedly, researching keywords is something that made my head spin. Instead of opting for complicated tools or expensive memberships, I simply turned to Google.

You’ve probably noticed that when you type a term into Google, it suggests search terms for you. These suggestions are actually popular searches that others are actively Googling.

So, when I type in online jobs (a broad keyword in my niche) I can see related long tail keywords people are searching for. For me, this was the least complicated and yet effective way to find and target long tail keywords. Once I started using this method, I noticed my pagerank slowly started to grow week after week. This in turn created more organic search traffic since I was using popular long tail keywords into every post I was writing!

9 Months to 100,000 Page Views per Month

The road to 100,000 page views per month wasn’t exactly easy. If I had to start all over again tomorrow, there’s definitely a thing or two I would do differently. But, I would still focus on content, social media, and Google to get me there. In fact, continuing to focus on those three core elements has doubled my traffic in just another two month’s.

From March 25th to April 24th, I got 201,807 page views — more than double my original goal of 100,000 page views per month in a year!

Ready to start your own money-making blog off on the right foot? Check out this step by step beginner’s guide to setting up a WordPress blog. This no-fail guide will walk you through the process of picking a domain, setting up hosting and installing WordPress so you can begin your blogging journey quickly and easily!

Have a question? Want to share your own traffic-growing tip? Please leave it in the comments below! You can also email me at ashlee(at)workfromhomehappiness(dot)com and I’ll do my best to help.

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure statement for more information.

The post 100,000 Page Views per Month in Just 9 Months appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.

Making a living as a blogger is a dream job for many (myself included!). But getting to the point where you earn a full-time income isn’t an easy road. Although some bloggers find near instant success, many more work for years before they’re seeing numbers large enough to live on.

Since I launched Work From Home Happiness at the end of April 2015, I’ve researched and gotten my hands on as many free resources as I could to help build the site the right way. And while I’m still learning something new every day and am, by no means, an expert, I wanted to share some free resources that may be valuable to anyone who wants to launch a money-making blog.

For the purpose of this article, I’m going to assume you already have a blog name, niche, and concept in mind (you may even have a blog up and running but are beginning to stall out and need a little push to get back on track).

If you haven’t thought of a blog niche or name, head on over to Niche Hacks for some ideas and inspiration. You’ll find tons of advice and practical tips for picking a profitable blog niche.

After you’ve got your blog niche and name picked out, it’s time to turn it into a fine-tuned money-making machine!

3, 2, 1 Launch Time!

The undisputed preferred blogging platform is WordPress. If you’ve never used WordPress before, it can be a little tricky until you get a feel for it. Once you do, it’s super-simple and you’ll be customizing, creating, posting, and updating like a pro.

Freebie Resource 1:

WordPress- Blogging on the Web

This is an online course offered through ALISON (a free global network of high-quality courses and educational programs to help you improve your personal skillsets!)

In this course, you’ll learn all the basics of WordPress and how to set up your blog. This really is a true beginner’s course that not only shows you how to get started, but helps you build your confidence so that you actually follow through and get your blog launched.

Create A-MA-ZING Content

Content really is everything. If you don’t fill your blog with some of the best content around, you will find it difficult to secure traffic or gain a loyal following of readers (and without traffic, you’ll never reach your dream of blogging for a living).

While you could outsource content writing to Fiverr or one of the other freelance marketplaces, you really should roll up your sleeves and take the DIY approach. After all, your blog should be a reflection of you (not someone pretending to be you!).

Freebie Resource 2:

Intentional Blogging – Become a Better Blogger in Only 12 Days

This is a 12-lesson course designed to help you create better content that actually gets read! Complete beginners and those already up and running looking for a little boost, will find tons of actionable ideas in this 12-day email course (one course emailed directly to you each day!)

With Intentional Blogging you’ll learn it all, from writing for search engines to formatting posts, and even discovering your blog’s unique voice, there’s tons of great information to help you create compelling content each time you update your blog!

Open the Traffic Floodgates

When I launched Work From Home Happiness, I naively had the Field of Dreams mindset of, “If you build it, they will come.” But in the online world, just because you set up a blog, doesn’t mean anyone will bother to stop by. The sad truth is, when you’re just starting out, much of what you write won’t get seen at all (so, thank you to those of you reading this!).

And that’s okay, as long as you use your passion to push through and keep going, knowing that with time and the right strategies, you will get the targeted traffic you’re looking for.

Freebie Resource 3:

How to Start a Profitable Blog and Get More Traffic

The Kindle Edition of this guide is free. Don’t have a Kindle? No problem! Amazon.com – Read eBooks using the FREE Kindle Reading App on Most Devices

And while this eBook covers much more than driving traffic (bonus!) there is a lot of advice on how to get more traffic and use your numbers to make your blog profitable. So whether you’re new to blogging or looking to take your blog to the next level, you’ll find helpful strategies to get you there with this eBook.

Monetize in Ways that Makes Sense (or Cents!)

The right monetization strategy for your blog is key! The ways you monetize will largely depend on your preferences, niche, and audience. Affiliate marketing and advertising networks are two popular ways to start earning money even if your traffic numbers aren’t quite where you want them to be.

Freebie Resource 4:

Become an Affiliate Marketing Expert

This is a 3-hour Udemy course created by Jeremy Schoemaker (aka ShoeMoney). He has a pretty impressive backstory and has turned into a millionaire thanks to his affiliate marketing efforts. In this course he shares all he’s learned and provides real-world strategies to help you do affiliate marketing the right way.

Freebie Resource 5:

AdSense Optimization for Your Blog

Another amazing Udemy course providing a step-by-step guide on how to best optimize your blog for maximum AdSense earnings. The video tutorials were created by Jeff Conkey, an AdSense expert with over eight years of experience helping others get the most out of ad networks. By the end of this video course, you will be armed and ready with the right strategies to start earning money with the ads you serve on your blog!

Keep Going and Growing

While you may have laid the foundation for what will be a profitable blog with amazing content, traffic coming in, and monetization strategies in place, there’s still the need to constantly market your efforts and bring it to new heights.

Running a blog is very much running a business. If you’re not exactly business savvy (don’t worry, neither am I) you can feel like you’re constantly spinning your wheels trying to take your blog to the next level. Having marketing strategies and plans in place makes sure your blog is always poised to grow while also giving you the opportunity to measure how well your strategies are working.

Freebie Resource 6:

Web Business Development Marketing

This is an ALISON course that reiterates all the things you’ve learned up to this point while also introducing marketing strategies to help you grow. This is much more of a broad overview of marketing best practices and all the different things you may want to implement to develop your blog as a business.

Freebie Resource 7:

Social Media Marketing

Another amazing ALISON course, this will take a more in-depth look at all things internet marketing with an emphasis on social media. You’ll learn about creating a booming Facebook business page and also how to connect with readers online. You’ll walk away from this course with a well-rounded understanding of social media marketing and be able to use those strategies to attract a greater audience.

Keep on keeping on…

They say blogging is a marathon and not a sprint. So, remember, be patient! Most bloggers don’t find overnight success. But with commitment and passion you can (slowly!) begin to grow your loyal following and watch your earnings grow every month. Although I’m new to the blogging world too, I’ve found that the best way to keep building my traffic each month is to learn, learn, and then learn some more.

There’s no secret method or trick that will help you reach your blogging goals. It’s up to you to learn the best practices and strategies that will turn your blog into a money-making business!

What do you think? Have you tried any of these strategies with success? Do you have any advice you’d like to share? Leave them in the comments below!

The post 7 Free Resources to Help You Launch a Money-Making Blog appeared first on Work from Home Happiness.