As an aspiring blogger, you’ve heard so much about the transformational power of blogging and now you’re wondering about the steps you could take to build a successful blog like Linda Ikeji or even a thriving media business out of blogging just like she did.
A part of you believes that achieving such feat is no longer possible because Ms. Ikeji built her success a long time ago. But, one part of you still believes it’s doable. So you’re here, casually checking if it’s actually possible to build a thriving business from blogging.
As someone who’s built a thriving business from blogging, I can tell you, it’s possible to build your own blog, grow it and build a thriving business out of blogging. Not just I or Linda Ikeji, many other people have done this, regardless of their locations.
Truth is, the path to successful blogging is tasking, demanding and different from what it was some years ago. But, in this guide, I’ll be taking you through the nitty gritty of blogging today and the steps you can take to successfully get started on your own journey.
Define your Niche
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In the past (early to mid and late 2000s), blogging was almost all about creating and posting about anything you feel like when you feel like it.
This was okay back then because a lot of people were not blogging. There was less internet compared to nowadays, fewer smart phone and of course, less competition.
So, the fewer people that blogged as at the time did not bother about things like making much impact, earning an income or trying to get too much visibility. Most of those early bloggers were all about sharing their ideas and getting heard. So, there was no need to define a niche or anything.
In modern times however, blogging has become so big with millions of bloggers. That means unlike before, today you’re competing against many other people.
With such a large competition, everyone wants to get better visibility than everyone else. And to get the most visibility or grow faster, you have to define an area and focus on that. This is where defining a niche comes in.
So, go ahead, define what you want to be blogging about.
For Linda Ikeji, although she started as a generalist, she later channeled her focus into news, entertainment blogging, celebrity gossip etc. And over the years, she’s taken out time to build her brand in this niche, year in, year out.
So, if you want to build a successful blog like Linda Ikeji, then you have to define your niche from the get go. Identify an area you want to focus and then build your brand in that niche.
Know your Goal & Target Audience
If there’s one thing that successful bloggers like Linda Ikeji have in common, it’s the fact that they have a specific purpose for blogging and they also have come to know about their target audience so well that they can always create the kind of content that matters to that audience.
These kinds of bloggers are so familiar with the game that they have now hacked what their audience needs are and how to meet those needs.
Doing this successfully over the years has allowed them to build a consistent fan base growth, visibility and a growing tribe of ready audience.
As someone that intentionally wants to build a successful blog like Linda, you want to know your purpose for blogging and then identify the people that can help you to achieve that purpose.
Let’s make it clearer. Supposing your purpose for blogging is to create the biggest entertainment blog in Africa. That means, your audience are clearly people in Africa (and some outside) who are interested in entertainment blog or entertainment articles.
This is the kind of people you want to attract to your blog.
So again if you’re in the entertainment blogging niche, you want to go ahead, find out the needs of the audience in that niche. Identify the kind of content they are interested in, their preferred content format, content length, preferred platforms etc.
You can do this by engaging in a keyword research, researching existing platforms in your niche and also, using some tools like Ubersuggest, Google Keywords tool, Wordstream etc.
Data generated from these tools will give you some ideas on what matters to your audience.
Create a Plan
I know you might be wondering why you should create a plan for your blog. Thing is, back in those days where the competition was less, people really did not have a need to take steps like this.
Back in the days, you could get a domain name, buy hosting, write your blog posts and boom, you’re already getting a decent visibility.
Today, things have changed. Apart from developments in search algorithm making it a bit more tasking to build success without a lot of effort, in this age and time, millions of other bloggers are also hustling for visibility just like you’ll soon be doing. So, to beat these bloggers, you have to come up with a strategic plan.
No, it doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. Your blogging plan should contain details of things like how you’re going to grow your blog. The steps you’ll take, how you’ll create and share content, promotional plans you’ll put in place etc.
It should also cover things like how you want to generate traffic, revenue, etc.
In essence, your blog is serious business. So, if you want to realistically build a successful blog like Linda Ikeji or something close, you must create a plan that outlines the steps you’ll take to build that blog. No room for guess work.
Set up your Blog
Now that you already have identified your niche, goal, audience and created a plan, it’s time to set up your blog.
In the past, some successful bloggers like Linda Ikeji started blogging on free platforms like blogspot. That was the popular idea back then. And it yielded quite some results.
Nowadays, building a blog on such platform is almost like a waste of time. Because not only do you not have a full access to the platform, you’ll also find it difficult to monetize or gain the full potential of your blog.
And just like it happened to Linda at some point, you may get kicked out from the platform if you run fowl of its rules. And yes, your years of blogging and hard work could be eroded if that happens.
So, considering that no serious entrepreneur wants to build their business with such risk, you want to take some major steps to get a domain name, hosting and build a blog that you own, 100 percent.
There are a number of platforms and content management softwares you could use to build a blog successfully. One of them is WordPress which powers more than 40 percent of all websites on the internet.
You can use this platform to build your blog or hire us to do that for you here.
You can also choose any other platform you and your audience is conversant with to build your blog from scratch.
Create Valuable Content
In an internet age where quality trumps quantity, to build a successful blog like Linda Ikeji, focus on creating, curating and sharing quality content that will add value to your audience.
Avoid plagiarizing (what we call copying and pasting content) directly from other blogs on your own blog in the name of blog posts.
Even though this used to work in the times past, doing this will only end up hurting your blog now.
Prioritize creating and publishing fresh, high quality and valuable post with a decent number of words. This is crucial for keywords optimization.
Regardless of your niche, go for quality posts over quantity. This will help in improving the ranking of your blog on search engines.
Avoid thin content. This is very crucial if you want to get visibility. Recent algorithm updates have made it very difficult for blogs with thin content (or content with fewer words and value) to get a decent visibility on the search engine.
Avoid AI generated posts. If you’re planning to get more eyes on your posts, create additional value. Add your own perspective to information from other platforms before posting them.
And of course, before publishing any piece of content, ask yourself; “is this content educational, informational, entertaining or would I like to read this if I were to be an outsider”?
This self-evaluation will guide you to improve the quality of your blog posts.
Optimize for Visibility
I mentioned earlier that in the mid to late 2000s when successful bloggers like Linda started out, there was far less competition in the blogging industry, compared to what it is now.
Based on statistics, there are more than 600 million blogs today. And one thing all these blogs have in common is that they are all aiming to get the most visibility.
So, compared to many years ago where it was easier to create a post and attract readers even without any optimization, its different today.
To build a successful blog like Linda Ikeji today, you’re going to take proactive measures to optimize your blog and blog posts for visibility.
This means, you’re not just going to create blog posts and publish them, you’ll have to go above and beyond to optimize your blog post and get it in front of your target audience.
Promote your Content
It is not enough to create and optimize your content. After optimizations and publishing, to get an even wider reach, take steps and promote your content.
I know this might sound difficult. But, promoting your content can be very rewarding when done correctly and absolutely, what you want to do if you plan to build a successful blog like Linda Ikeji or other successful bloggers you know.
Now, one of the biggest platforms to get started with promoting your blog posts is the social media.
Remember in the early days of blogging, the social media was not as powerful as it is now. So, this is also to your advantage.
To get started, head over online and research for the social media platform with the largest number of your target audience.
You have to do this research because you don’t have to be on all social media platform. As your target audience are not on all of them.
So, choose the platforms with the largest number of your target audience and create a profile on those platforms.
As soon as your profile is completely done, begin to share and promote your content across those platforms.
Don’t just post link from your blogs, create and post other valuable content that aligns with the needs of your audience.
There are many other ways to promote your blog outside social media. You can find them in this guide here.
Monetize your Blog
Most successful bloggers were able to build success because they found ways to monetize, earn from blogging and build a business out of it.
One thing you have to keep in mind though, most of these bloggers did not start out with monetization goals alone. Majority of them all wanted to create value first. And this is one of the approaches you can take to build a blog as successful as Linda Ikeij’s blog because, that’s how she did it.
She started blogging first. Monetization came in later.
So, as a new blogger, you might also want to monetize your blog but, do this only after you’ve been able to create a lot of value, garnered a decent audience and of course, built traffic.
That said, there are a lot of options you can use to get started in monetizing your blog. This includes; using Google AdSense on your blog, Putting up Banner Ads, Joining Affiliate Marketing Programs, Accepting Sponsored Posts, Creating your own products and services like most successful bloggers, etc.
There are a handful of these strategies. I’ve written a guide on how to monetize your blog, here.
Evaluate and Grow
If you want to build a successful blog that grows in leaps and bounds, one of the things you must put in place is to understudy your results, evaluate your outcomes, take lessons and find better ways to get even better results.
A lot of newbies do not bother about evaluation because they feel it doesn’t matter. But, it does.
Successful bloggers are only able to stay successful because they have taken steps to recreate their success every other time. This is what you want to do. And one of the ways to do this is to evaluate what is working, find out what is not and get your plan in shape.
Don’t ignore metrics, insights and data generated from your blog. These are the information you need for your blog’s growth. Pay attention to them.
Final Words
Building a successful blog today is no doubt more demanding than it was years ago but the good thing is, unlike in the past where it was mostly trial and error, now you have a success blueprint that can be used to create repeatable success.
That’s exactly what you’re reading today. And just like Linda Ikeji and many other successful bloggers did it, you have what it takes to build an even more successful blog, if only you’re going to use this guide and put in the work.
Now, there’s one other thing I want to put to you. Stay consistent. In the face of low traffic and les results, don’t hesitate to put in the effort.
Innovate, grow and keep learning. Keep finding ways to know what’s working and trending if you want to stay successful. And of course, sign up for our blogging masterclass, if you truly want to build a thriving blog that stands out.
Now, it’s your turn. What are your challenges when it comes to building a successful blog? Drop your comments below.
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