For anyone who dreams of becoming a financially successful blogger, the path to fame and fortune is not as easy as one might imagine. There is some luck involved. Many hardworking, creative bloggers never find success, and it’s no secret that some of the most successful blogs in the world aren’t particularly well written. While the actual blog content is of course the most important thing, there are plenty of other factors that go into becoming a successful blogger. For starters, here are a few traits that a budding blogger should cultivate.

1. Focus. It’s great to have a personal blog on which you can talk about whatever’s on your mind or share thoughts about your days, but this will not be your money-making blog. Even the best personal blogs are generally followed by a relatively small group of people. For your money-making blog, try to choose a topic that will draw more visitors than just your family and friends. And when you have your topic, make sure your blog does not veer off course. You can write broadly, but everything should relate in a direct way to your central focus.

2. Follow your heart. It may sound a little corny to bring heart into the business of blogging, but it really is essential. If you choose the topic for your blog based on what you think will earn traffic rather than what you are passionate about, then it’s not going to be a sustainable endeavor. Choose a topic that will keep you writing and which can yield an endless supply of new, interesting topics.

Many bloggers make the mistake of choosing a topic because they think it will be popular and end up going against lots of established competition. Remember, the internet is a worldwide medium, so even if your topic is relatively narrow and exclusive, there are doubtless many people out there who are interested.

3. Consistency. Successful blogs are continuously active. You can’t expect your blog to be successful if you put up a few posts, disappear for weeks, and then come back. It has to be an everyday effort. Think of it this way: During all your downtimes, your competition is working hard to make the best blog they possibly can. Even if this isn’t strictly true, it helps to think of it that way.

4. Social connectedness. The most successful blogs are deeply plugged into the broader community. To help promote your blog, set up social-networking profiles that are connected to your blog, and also take an active part in the discussions on blogs that are similar or related to yours. But keep in mind that having no social profile is better than having a spammy, robotic one. If you’re going to dive into the social realm, make sure you are really into it and will genuinely engage in the conversations. Promotion for promotion’s sake does not go over well in the social networks.

5. Good writing. This one may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s amazing how many people think they can put together a successful site with no writing ability and no desire to cultivate writing ability. On today’s web, which is teeming with content of all kinds, the single most valuable resource is a well-written, informative piece of content that presents new information in an interesting way and advances the discussion on a given topic. This isn’t easy, but that’s why there are so few successful blogs.

6. Flexibility. An unwritten rule of the web, especially when it comes to search engine optimization, is that what worked yesterday probably won’t work today and may even be harmful. For instance, a few years back, all the bloggers were stuffing their posts with keywords and key phrases in an effort to get the search engines to rank them well for certain terms. And though keyword-stuffing worked for a while, it now leads to lost ranking. Successful bloggers must stay on top of these trends. And they can’t simply trust whatever advice they come across. Remember that the web is always changing, and much of the advice you see is outdated.

7. Concision. Good bloggers get right to the point. People read differently on the web than in other media, and no one wants to read long, wordy introductions. They want to skip to the meaningful content. This does not mean that blog posts should necessarily be short, however. On the contrary, substantive posts are always good. But if you can write posts that are substantive while saying what they need to say without a lot of extra fluff, you will have found the sweet spot.

8. Technical skill (or access to it). For beginning bloggers, it’s perfectly fine to sign up for a blogging service, set up a template, and start writing. But if you want to get serious about it, you should have your own domain, your own server, and a custom-designed template plugged into your content management system. And if you cannot design the site yourself, spend the money to hire a skilled professional who can do it for you. Just make sure the person you hire stays true to your vision. For instance, if you want your blog design simple and clutter-free (always a good idea), that’s how it should be.

9. A few friends. If you take a look at some of the most successful blogs out there, one thing you might notice is that very few of them have a single contributor. Most have a few writers or, in some cases, entire staffs putting together the blog content. If possible, make your blog a collaborative effort. You can be the main contributor, but bringing in a few other writers will give a greater variety of voices and lend a little extra credibility to the site. This is not as necessary when you’re just starting out. But down the road, consider sharing the load with others.

In the early days of blogging, people seldom hoped to get more than a handful of visitors to read their posts. It wasn’t about the numbers. It was about sharing one’s thoughts with anyone who was willing to read, even if this only included a few family and friends. But even back then, everyone in the blogging world new that it was possible to make it big. Through some combination of luck, talent, and a hard work ethic, a few bloggers were finding ways to monetize their blogs and even make good money off it.

Since then, as the internet has grown, more and more people are finding that there is good money to be made by blogging. Finding success is not as difficult as it used to be, but it’s still hard, and only a small percentage of people who have blogs actually make significant money from them.

One must be ambitious to be a successful blogger. You obviously cannot rely on your family and friends to provide the visitor counts needed to make money. And what surprises and disheartens many beginning bloggers is that you usually can’t get good traffic via search engines alone. If you have a well-made blog, you’ll probably get a decent amount of traffic from Google, but probably not enough to make your blog a hit. Besides, it doesn’t make sense from a business perspective to rely on one source for visitors, because what if that source should someday go away? If there are other options for promoting one’s blog, it’s best to take advantage of them.
Social networking
That’s where social media comes in. For smart bloggers, Facebook and Twitter are important promotional tools, driving a good percentage of the traffic leading to their sites. But there’s more to it than simply setting up your blog to automatically send out a tweet or a Facebook update when a new blog post is submitted. One actually has to engage these platforms.

Whatever blogging platform you use, there is a good chance you can find a plugin that automatically sends out social networking signals whenever you post on your blog. While it’s good to have these plugins, they should not be set on autopilot. If you want all your followers to know that you have submitted a new blog post, that is of course fine, but personalize it. Take a few seconds to come up with a few clever or compelling sentences to promote your new post, and type them in so that your social profile doesn’t seem like a robot.

But of course, cross-posting has no effect if you don’t have anyone following your social-networking profiles. That’s the hard part. How does a humble, hard-working blogger get people to follow his or her Facebook and Twitter profiles? It involves getting active and putting yourself out there. You have to actually use and enjoy those platforms. Follow people who interest you. Share interesting comments and insights. Share relevant links that your followers might want to read. Engage in discussions.

Think about the niche that your blog covers, and tailor your social networking profile accordingly. You want to be yourself, of course, but the Facebook or Twitter account associated with your blog should not be your personal account (there are exceptions to this for more personal-oriented blogs). You should mainly follow people who are relevant to the topic your blog covers, and you should mainly participate in ways that further the discussion around your blog’s topic.

Whatever you do, be active, and put your heart into it. Remember that in today’s social-driven web world, people appreciate genuine discussion. So rather than overpromoting your blog or sending out bland promotional posts, engage in discussions. Do it for enjoyment. If you do well, you won’t have to actively promote your blog. Just put it in your profile, and people will find it there.
Social blogging
While social networking is crucial to promoting one’s blog, we must not forget that blogs are social in and of themselves. Keep in mind that you can’t expect people to take you seriously as a blogger if you are not an active reader of others’ blogs. This basic truth applies to all creative fields. The greatest film directors spend much of their free time watching movies. Great painters regularly roam the art museums. Great writers will never be caught without a book in reach. Bloggers, similarly, must actively cultivate their expertise not only in the topics they cover but on blogging itself. Keep up with trends. Stay up to date on the latest blogging technologies. Most of all, follow and read lots of blogs.

It’s good to read lots of blogs of all stripes, but it’s most important to read blogs that cover topics relating to yours. There are several reasons why this is a good idea. First, you get to see what the competition is up to. Even if the competition is friendly—as it should be—it’s always good to challenge yourself to do better than those you are up against. Second, it can inspire ideas for your own blog posts. And third, it gives you a broader perspective that enhances your expertise in your chosen field.

Beyond simply reading others’ blogs, be an active participant. Most blogs have comment sections, and these are great areas not just to share your thoughts but also to promote your blog. Keep in mind, though, that you won’t make friends by posting shallow comments that are transparently only about promoting your blog. If you don’t have anything substantive to say, avoid posting. You will earn genuine, lasting followers of your blog by ensuring that your comments meaningfully contribute to the discussion.

If you are thinking that all of this social stuff adds a great deal of time to your work, you’re right. That’s part of the reason why most successful bloggers happen to be hard workers. To really make good money blogging, you have to be fully committed and prepared to work hard. If you can’t do this, then blogging is not the best way to make money online (though it’s still a fine hobby).

When it comes time to find a domain name for your business, blog, or professional website, it’s important to tread carefully. Your domain name will forever by associated with your site and by extension you or your business, and what you choose may determine whether your site succeeds or flops. If that makes the process of choosing a domain name sound intimidating, that’s because it is. But if you approach it thoughtfully, you will have no problems.

1. Think about it. It’s easy to go onto a domain registry website and pick the first available domain that pops into your mind, but this isn’t a good approach. You’re going to have to live with your chosen domain for a long time, so it’s best to mull it over a few days before deciding. If you have a little extra cash to spare, you can go onto a registry website and just buy up all the relevant domain names you can think of. But there really is no rush. If a given domain is still available today, it will likely be available in a few days from now.

2. Stick with a reputable domain extension. The domain extension is those two to four letters at the end of a domain. The most common one is .com, but there is a growing number of others. Expert webmasters try as much as possible to get .com domains, and when no good .com’s are available, they go with .net or .org. Outside these options, there are also country domain extensions such as .us for the United States, .uk for the United Kingdom, and .au for Australian Domains. Outside .com, .net, .org, and country domains (and, of course, .edu and .gov ones), most of the other extensions are often associated with disreputable websites.

3. Make it short, memorable, and easy to spell. You want people to be able to visit your website without having to Google it or even bookmark it. It should be easy to remember so they can just type it into their browser without having to think about it. This can be a challenge since many short domains are taken.

4. Use names, nonwords, and neologisms. Given the fact that there are thousands of domain speculators snatching up URLs based on all kinds of word combinations, it can be extremely challenging to find a domain that has not already been taken. That’s why it’s easier to use a domain that does not rely totally on conventional words. If you are starting a new business, you might even want to come up with a creative name for your business just so you can snatch up the .com domain. An added benefit of this is that having a creative name is good for branding.

5. Keywords aren’t everything. A few years ago, when Google and other search engines were placing a high preference on domains with keywords in the title, there was a buying spree on domains that contained potentially relevant search terms. But while it is still a good idea to have relevant terms in your domain, this isn’t everything. The search engines are placing less and less importance on the domain name itself and more emphasis upon on- and off-page elements.

6. Avoid hyphens. When all the keyword-rich domains had been snatched up, people started placing hyphens between the words, and the process started all over again. But eventually it became obvious that hyphens just confused people, and moreover it became clear that sites with lots of hyphens in the domains were often (though certainly not always) of low quality. Hyphens are okay if you simply must have them, but they should ideally be avoided.

7. Get domains close to yours. If you are fortunate enough to get your ideal .com domain, protect your property by registering the equivalent domains ending in .net, .org, .info, .biz, and so on. Also, if there is a chance people might misspell or mistype your domain, try to register any of the misspellings. Redirect all of these to your main .com domain.