If you’re reading this blog, then you’ve probably got some interest in technology. You may even have more knowledge on related topics that other people could benefit from. If this is you, then you might consider starting a tech blog. Technology evolves every day, and people are hungry for good information that they can use. This could mean that there’s room for a new tech blog that addresses people’s questions in a unique way. If you were to launch a successful tech blog, then you could eventually monetize it, to either supplement or replace your current income. Here’s how to get started.
Research Other Tech Blogs
Technology is a broad topic. To become successful, you’ll need to narrow things down to a niche that you can specialize in. This will take some research. You need to find a theme for your blog that’s narrow enough for you to have highly specialized, unique content. It also needs to be broad enough that there’s an audience that you could potentially attract to your website. To do this, search Google for topics of interest, or find a list of top tech blogs and see what shows up. Narrow your theme ideas down to around three or four topics. Then, do some keyword research to see which topics have the highest potential for a broad audience, while also having relatively low competition. If there’s not enough interest, you’ll get no traffic. If there’s a lot of competition, then your website is unlikely to appear on the first page of Google. So, it’s a balance.
Decide on a Niche
After you’ve narrowed your choices, it’s time to decide on a niche within the tech sector. Again, the key is to go narrow enough to capture market share, but broad enough to have a market. For example, computers are a broad category. A more niche category might be motherboards, or keyboards. You may find that motherboards are the sweet spot, because there just isn’t a huge audience for keyboards. To know this for sure, do some keyword research. You can usually do a few free searches on some of the popular platforms like SEMrush or Moz. You can also try platforms like Ubersuggest. Look at the monthly volume of searches for keywords related to the niche you’re targeting. Look at both generic, and branded keywords. Then, look at how competitive those keywords are. After you dig into the keyword research, you’ll have a better sense of which niche has a nice balance of low competition and high search volume.
Besides keyword research, you’ll want to explore social media. Are people sharing, liking, and following content and content creators in your niche? If not, then it might not be the best niche.
Launch a Website
Now that you’ve chosen a niche, it’s time to get started. The first step is usually to launch a website. You’ll need a domain name and a web hosting company. The domain name is easy. For example, Godaddy has dot com domains in the ten dollar range. You can get cheaper domains elsewhere if you buy in bulk. You can also get a free domain if you sign up for a web hosting account with some companies. Just keep in mind that it can be problematic if you cancel the hosting but want to keep the domain name. Usually it’s better to buy your domain separately from your web hosting. Take a look at this Dreamhost VPS review, for example. You can get a decent hosting account for a very reasonable price, and it’s easily expandable. Once you decide on your hosting plan and domain name, go ahead and install WordPress, along with a great WordPress theme. Dreamhost and other companies often have one-click installs of WordPress. If you’re not sure, follow up with tech support to simplify the process.
Create Social Media Profiles
Now that you’ve got your website, it’s time to claim your social media profiles. Be sure to pick up profiles on all of the major social media platforms, even if you don’t use all of them. They may be valuable in the future. Get on Twitter, Facebook, Tik Tok, LinkedIn, Youtube, Instagram, and every other major platform. Set up basic profiles that include your website name, a logo, some text, and a link back to your website. Then, add clickable icons to the navigation of your website that point to your various profiles.
Decide on a Few Categories
On your website, decide on a few categories. If you’re talking about motherboards, then you might include categories for brands like MSI, ASUS, or Gigabyte. Or you might add categories for the CPUs used like NVidia or Intel. Even better, add all of the above. Then, start creating your content.
Write One Article for Each Category
Make sure that you have no empty categories on your website. Set a goal to write one unique article per category for launch. That way, when people land on your website, it won’t feel entirely incomplete. As you add more content, it’ll feel more robust, which will help with conversion, and it’ll also help with SEO.
Start Promoting Your Content on Social Media
The great thing about social media is that it’s free to get started. So, take advantage of these platforms. Push your articles out to all of your profiles whenever you write new ones. Start participating in different groups, and drive people back to your page. The more active you are on social media, the more you can get out of it.
Get on a Schedule
Most people can accomplish a successful website launch. But then, many of them start to lose interest when they don’t see sales right away. Eventually, they stop working on the project, and it becomes a dead website. Instead, get on a schedule and stick to it. Set realistic, achievable goals. Maybe your goal is one article per week, plus three social media posts. Or maybe it’s higher. Decide on what can comfortably fit into your schedule, and program weekly reminders to keep you on track.
Collaborate with Other Blogs
After you’ve got a few articles in every category of your website, it’s time to find partners. Start reaching out to similar blogs, and pitch them on swapping links and content. As you start trading traffic, you’ll naturally learn more about SEO and other ways to drive traffic. The hardest part is often just getting started.
Find Advertisers
Once you’ve got some traffic on your website, it’s time to start monetizing it. The easiest way to get started is by adding affiliate links to your articles. These are tracked links that credit you with commissions whenever someone buys a product through your content. Look up affiliate networks like Shareasale or Clickbank. See if they have products related to your niche, and then sign up for those programs. Eventually, you might even be able to sell banner advertising, but that can take time.
Invest in Your Website
If you follow these tips, you’ll be on your way towards producing a profitable content website. Once you start generating revenue, it’s time to start to invest in your website. Buy paid ads, or pay people to write content so that you can spend your time on other things. The more you put in, whether it’s time or money, the more you’ll get out of it.
