How to Make Money Blogging

How to Make Money Blogging

Jan 14, 2021 | Blogging

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Is it actually possible to make a living out of blogging? Or is it just a myth?

Here’s the good news: You CAN make money from blogging. You just have to do it right.

Take my blog as an example.

Blogging played a crucial role in my success. But reaching this point did have its fair share of obstacles, mistakes, and lessons.

Currently, my revenue is $381,772 for 30 days.

Now, that’s a LOT of money, especially for a blog.

But how am I able to pull this off?

I was completely dedicated and put in tons of hard work to create useful and detailed content and use relevant images to provide accurate and thorough information to my readers.

This helped me become an authoritative figure and thought leader in my niche.

And no, it doesn’t have to take you years to become a successful blogger.

Knowing the art of consistently churning out top-quality content, driving search engine traffic, leveraging social media, and generating leads is great. But you also need to know how to make money from your blog.

The process is certainly challenging, especially with the internet painted with a lot of bad advice.

But this isn’t one of those articles.

In this guide, I’ll show you the exact way to make money from blogging by avoiding the mistakes I’d made in my 10-year journey. So not only will your blogging success be easier, but it also is quicker.

Excited? Let’s begin.

Your 2-Minute Cheat Sheet

The very first thing you need to start making money is to come up with an idea and the name for your blog. Think through the topics you’d want to write about often.

After that, sign up for the Basic plan with Bluehost. Even if you don’t have much of a budget, this is practically a steal at just $2.95 per month.

Set up your account, taking care to skip all the add-ons except for domain privacy and protection. A few extra dollars for better privacy and security is an investment.

And with this, you’ll have your own blog domain. Hurrah!

The next steps will have you installing WordPress and then finally writing and publishing your first blog post.

Once you’ve posted a couple of blogs and have started to attract some traffic, you can work on monetizing it to make your first dollars.

For this, you’ll have to sign up for a Google AdSense and Amazon Associates account to make money through ads and affiliate marketing, respectively. You can also sell your own products and services after successfully driving high traffic to your site.

That was the basics. Let’s get into the details now.

Step 1: Figure Out Your Blog’s Niche

The first on the agenda is to decide what your blog is going to be about. Whether you want to talk about marketing, CBD, veganism, or just random life stories, figure it out.

Remember, your idea doesn’t have to be revolutionary, but you do need a unique voice.

Here are two tips for deciding on a blog niche:

Choose Something That You Enjoy

I know that this sounds like a cliche, but it makes no sense to blog about it if you don’t love the topic.

Never start blogging about something that you don’t love–it will show in your writing and your readers will know. Moreover, you won’t be able to consistently produce top-notch content to build your audience and later monetize from it.

Make a list of things that get you naturally curious and that you enjoy learning about. Or think about what your friends and family come to you when seeking advice.

Find Out Whether a Prospective Niche Has a Readership

The only way you can earn money through your blog is if you have enough site visitors.

Let’s assume you’ve already figured out your blog niche and want to write about arts and crafts.

You make a smart decision to niche down further and develop a blog exclusively dedicated to either paper art or scrapbooking. While you enjoy writing about both topics, you prefer to focus on one primarily.

But how do you choose between the two options?

Answer: Do a quick Google search.

As you can see, there are far more results related to paper art as opposed to scrapbooking. Therefore, it makes more sense to write about paper art, which is what audiences are searching for.

I would also like to add that it’s better to avoid broad or generic topics. Don’t be afraid to get specific as long as you have takers for it.

For instance, if you want to create a food blog, don’t use words like “food.” Instead, use “barbecue” or “vegan.”

Get my point?

Step 2: Name Your Blog

Once an idea is in place, you need to work on naming your blog.

Does the name Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ring a bell? Thought so.

But I bet Lady Gaga does.

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta is Lady Gaga’s real name. She decided to go with a catchier and easier-to-remember alternative that aligns better with her music.

That’s the power of the right name.

Choosing a blog name is equal parts exciting and daunting. After all, this will be your brand name and dictate how people will remember you.

Don’t overthink it, and don’t name your blog something random or offensive.

Keep in mind the following questions when deciding on a name:

  • Does it reflect what your blog is going to be about?
  • Would your target audience like it?
  • Is the name easy to say and spell?
  • Is it short and concise?

I chose my own name as my domain (NeilPatel.com) simply because Neil Patel is who I am, and it’s also my brand. You could do what I did or come up with something entirely different.

Whatever name you come up with, make sure it’s available as website domains.

You can use Bluehost’s domain name checker for this purpose. Type in each potential name in the search bar, and click Check Availability to know.

I’d recommend opting for a .com whenever possible.

Don’t buy an available domain at this point. I have something up my sleeve to help you get it for free.

Step 3: Sign up With a Web Host Like Bluehost

You need to sign up for a web hosting service to get your blog live, along with a registered domain name that will serve as your blog’s address.

I recommend Bluehost as its hands down one of the best web hosting companies—not to mention affordable—that assures excellent service and a free domain.

And did I mention that as a NeilPatel.com reader, you get an additional discount?

You’re welcome.

Head over to Bluehost.com, and click on the green Get Started Now button.

Next, sign up for the Basic plan. You can always upgrade later, but since you’re just starting a blog, it’s better to stick to the Basic plan.

Register the domain name you came up with without having to pay anything extra. Just make sure the drop-down is set to .com before you click Next.

Following this, you need to sign in using your Google account. You can also manually enter your personal credentials.

Scroll down to choose your registration term, which can either be a 36-month, a 24-month, or a 12-month agreement. To get the best deal ($2.95 per month), you’ll have to sign up for a three-year contract.

It still isn’t over yet.

You’ll find package options like Domain Privacy + Protection, Codeguard Basic, Bluehost SEO Tools, Microsoft 365 Mailbox Trial, and SiteLock Security Essentials.

In my opinion, you only need Domain Privacy + Protection to protect your contact information against scam callers and unsolicited emails. Ignore the others.

Finally, enter your payment information, read the terms and conditions, and hit submit.

This is the point where you’ll have your blog! 

Complete all the remaining instructions to set up your account, and then move onto the next step.

Step 4: Install WordPress CMS

You have your web host, next you need blogging software.

I trust WordPress to run all my blogs as it is user-friendly, feature-rich, and free. Plus, you can install thousands of free plugins to make your blog more functional and customize it however you want.

After signing up for Bluehost, you will have a free domain and hosting account. Log in by filling in your credentials and then click on Install WordPress.

Next, select Do it yourself (FREE) and hit Install, followed by Check Domain. Lastly, acknowledge WordPress’s terms of service and finalize your install.

Ta-Da! You now have a fully functional WordPress blog ready to roll.

Step 5: Design Your WordPress Blog

To design a blog, you need to select an attractive and affordable WordPress theme.

Why do you need this? Well, after signing up for WordPress, your blog will look something like this:

Not exactly what you’d call sleek and welcoming, right? The way your website looks can help drive more website traffic, which, in turn, will enable you to make more money.

Luckily, WordPress has thousands and thousands of themes for you to choose from. I’ve even done a roundup of some of the best ones. Here’s how you can select a WordPress theme:

  1. Log into your WordPress account.
  2. Click on Appearance in the sidebar menu on your dashboard.
  3. From the drop-down options, select Themes.
  1. Go to Add New, located at the very top of the screen, to gain access to thousands of fancy WordPress themes. You can also click on Feature Filter to filter your search to see options more suited to your tastes.

You should choose a theme that fits your personal style, but at the same time, it should also be in sync with your blog niche.

  1. Preview the theme to see what it will look like.
  2. If you like the sneak peek of a specific theme, click on Install and then Activate.

With a nice new theme, your website will get a much-needed upgrade that makes it look appealing to visitors.

Step 6: Come up With Interesting Blog Topics

If you want to increase your website traffic or encourage more email signups, you need to offer your readers interesting content.

My tip is to make a list of questions you get often. Trust me, within just 30 minutes, you’ll be able to come up with a bunch of potential blog topics. Your priority should be to look at things from your reader’s viewpoint.

You can also focus on higher-level questions.

Suppose you want to start a parenting blog for stay-at-home moms. Below, I’ve created a list of questions to ask yourself, along with a list of answers concerning the mom blog.

Q1) What could be an intriguing or exciting talking point for your readers?

For stay-at-home moms, topics related to sleep training, homeschooling, and budget-friendly meal ideas could be a great place to start.

Q2) What are your reader’s pain points and challenges?

Common household challenges for stay-at-home moms could be meal planning, understanding developmental milestones, and so on.

Q3) What are your readers’ character traits?

Moms are typically patient and caring and appreciate a sense of humor.

Q4) What niche topics would appeal the most to your readers?

A child’s mental, physical, and emotional development could be attractive talk points for stay-at-home moms.

Q5) What topics would your readers hate about my niche?

Stay-at-home moms don’t like to be looked down on by others. So, you could write blogs about how society views them and their impact.

Similarly, you can use the above questions to come up with ideas according to your niche. While you’re at it, don’t forget to work out a catchy headline that will make the reader instantly click on your blog.

Step 7: Optimize Your Blogs for the SERPs

Search engine optimization or SEO is a crucial step to earn money via blogging. Here, you will optimize your website to rank higher in search engines for specific keywords and phrases.

If you’ve been following me for a long time, you may already know how SEO is my trump card.

By incorporating particular keywords and phrases, I’ve successfully driven more than 30 million visitors to my website. Shocked?

That’s the power of SEO.

On WordPress, you can optimize your content and blog by downloading a plugin called Yoast SEO.

Go to the Plugins menu, and click on Add New. Search for Yoast SEO in the search bar, and then install the plugin.

Don’t forget to activate it to complete the installation process.

You’ll find that this plugin will give you all kinds of improvement tips and suggestions based on the keyword you select to help you optimize your content. I’d recommend incorporating as many suggestions as you can to improve SEO and content readability.

Step 8: Sign up for Google AdSense

Setting up ads is the best way to monetize your blog. But you need to be smart about it.

The biggest mistake people make is to bombard their sites with blinking ads. Avoid this at all costs.

Instead, focus on using targeted ads that appeal to your customers without annoying them.

To start earning money through ads, you need a Google AdSense account. Head over to the AdSense page, and click on Sign Up Now. If you don’t have an existing Google account, you have to set up a new one. If you already have a Google account, simply sign in.

Fill out all the relevant information before submitting your application. The AdSense team reviews every application, and if everything goes well, you’ll be in!

Next, follow the below steps to set up your account:

  1. Go to your AdSense dashboard and click on My Ads > New ad unit.
  2. Select the size of your ad and the type of ad. Once you’re done, select Save and get code.
  1. You’ll get a bit of code that you’ll then have to copy and paste between your page’s tags. Here’s how it’ll look.
  1. Once you’ve pasted the code, your ad will be live. Your AdSense dashboard will have all information about your earnings, so check it regularly.

While you can use ads on as many as you want, I would recommend starting with just one–maybe two max–to get an idea of how your audience responds to them.

If you see a higher bounce rate on your dashboard, you should consider repositioning your current ads for better results.

Step 9: Create an Amazon Associates Account

You might have already heard of affiliate marketing. If your goal is to earn passive income, leveraging the power of affiliates is your best bet.

You can start by signing up for Amazon Associates, which allows you to start earning right away through referral links, display ads, or Amazon-based shopping carts.

If your visitors decide to use your referral link or click on the display ads, you’ll get a small commission.

To sign up for Amazon Associates, all you need to do is visit the website and click on Join Now for Free.

This can be pretty effective. Just check out these earnings of Brendan Mace for definitive proof.

Amazon Associates isn’t the only affiliate program.

You’ll be happy to know that there are plenty of companies with their own affiliate programs, some of which pay higher commissions than Amazon. Just make sure to research before signing up to be an affiliate for a brand.

That said, I’d also like to emphasize the importance of advertising only those products or services that you’ve used yourself or genuinely believe can help your audience.

Step 10: Offer a Product or Service for Sale (Optional)

Many people think that advertisements are the only source of income for bloggers. This might be true for a few, but you’ll also find many bloggers make quite a bit of money by selling a product or service.

Of course, this will only work when you already have a loyal readership with steady website traffic like Nomadic Matt. Once you’re at this stage, you shouldn’t be afraid to take the leap.

Here are a few things that you can consider selling:

  • Training courses
  • Books
  • Video courses/webinars
  • Coaching services
  • Consulting services

Next, you have to figure out how you want to sell your product. Services like Shopify or WooCommerce plugins on WordPress, Amazon, or Etsy are great options for digital products. If you’re selling a physical product (like phone cases or clothes), you’ll have to set up a more comprehensive ecommerce store.

Finally, let your audience know about your product or service by sending them emails. You can also consider developing lead magnets like pre-recorded webinars, PDFs, and whitepapers to build your email list.

Conclusion

There’s a difference between simply having a blog and monetizing a blog. To make this transition successful, you’ll need to adopt a more proactive and focused approach.

You’ve got this!

Just remain focused and work consistently to keep improving your blog and build trust between you and your audience. And follow my steps above to get things started on the right track.

Remember to stick with what works, and you’ll have a successful formula.

Have you tried blogging yet? Let me know about your experience.

5 Alternatives to Yahoo Groups

5 Alternatives to Yahoo Groups

Jan 14, 2021 | Blogging

Yahoo Groups was one of the original online communities. You could use it to create or participate in online chats with people from across the world who have the same interests and ideas as you.

A host of new online communication tools have been released in recent years. Many of these new platforms offer features Yahoo Groups doesn’t. After lagging behind their competitors for a few years, Yahoo Groups officially shut down in December of 2020.

Thankfully, if you were a fan, there are a plethora of alternatives to Yahoo Groups. Below, we’ll discuss our favorites so you can pick the best online group platforms for you.

What Was Yahoo Groups Used For?

Yahoo launched Groups in January 2001. Users could post messages, polls, photos, events, files, mailing lists, links to websites, and more. The platform soon became a popular host for vibrant online discussion boards.

If you owned a group, you could also assign moderators to help you run and oversee all the group’s activities.

Online businesses and marketers took advantage of the platform. This is a place where you could easily post a recent blog, image, or file to drive brand awareness and increase website traffic.

I know what you’re thinking—this sounds very similar to many of the online tools we have today. That’s because Yahoo Groups was similar. In fact, you could argue that Yahoo Groups was the foundation for many popular social media and online groups.

At the height of its popularity, Yahoo announced it had 115 million users and 10 million groups.

But a quick search for the platform today will show you this:

Where do you go from here?

Here’s a list of the best Yahoo Groups alternatives to create valuable online connections with your market.

What Are the Best Alternatives to Yahoo Groups?

If you used Yahoo Groups and want to continue creating online communities with like-minded people, drive traffic to your website, or build brand awareness, it’s essential to look for an alternative that will meet your needs—and the needs of your audience.

Here are five options to consider.

1. Facebook Groups

Facebook has over 2 billion monthly active users, and over 1 billion users participate in Facebook Groups each month.

Besides catching up with old and new friends, creating a group on this platform makes sense, especially for businesses. It can help you position your brand, find potential customers, and build long-term relationships with them.

Like Yahoo Groups, Facebook Groups allow you to schedule group events, share files, images, and other useful tools to continue engaging and connecting with your market.

While many brands may have Facebook Pages, Facebook Groups are where the magic lies because they see a lot more engagement than Pages.

Facebook Groups allow members to start and participate in conversations easily. They can also be private—when you have a closed group, members can engage and share their thoughts in a private setting that can only be seen by group members.

There are three types of Groups to choose from. Depending on your needs, you can create:

  • A Public Group: Anyone can access the group and see what users post.
  • A Closed Group: This is a private group. You can search and find the group, but members still need approval before gaining access to the group.
  • A Secret Group: These are invite-only groups where only invited users can find the group or see what other users post.

Here’s how to create a Facebook Group:

After logging into your account, click the + button from the top right and select Group.

Next, enter your group name, choose privacy options, and invite people to join the group.

Once you’ve filled in the details, select Create.

You can further personalize the group by adding a description and cover photo.

If you want to start a successful Facebook Group for your brand, the first step is to decide on your Group’s purpose.

  • Are you a new brand and trying to increase brand awareness?
  • Are you trying to reach new customers?
  • Do you want to provide a group for your existing customers where you can nurture long-term relationships?
  • Would you like to showcase your expertise and establish authority in a niche market?

Understanding the purpose of your group will help direct all the content you create.

For instance, let’s say you sell a weight loss coaching program that lasts for six months. You can create a private Group for customers who are currently in coaching to share unique content and allow members to support each other.

Creating this type of group allows members to learn more about your brand and get the support they need while using your service.

2. Meetup

The concept behind Meetup is simple—choose what you’re interested in or passionate about, find a local group that shares that same interest, attend events the group organizes, and connect with like-minded people.

The groups you join or create on this platform can be about anything: book clubs, bike rides, business networking, music, or other niche social activities.

Of course, the main difference between Meetup and Yahoo Groups is that Meetup focuses on creating real-life encounters with the people you meet online.

If your business or brand caters to local communities, then Meetup could be a great fit.

Let’s say you own a coffee shop in New York. You can find and join groups of other coffee lovers in the area. Once you’ve joined the groups, you can engage with members, build relationships, and invite them to a company event.

If you can’t find a relevant group, you can create one.

Once you’ve signed up, you’ll go through a seven-step process. This includes:

Selecting your group’s location:

Choosing topics that best relate to your group:

Choosing a group name:

Describing what your group will be about:

It is free for users to sign up for the service. However, meeting organizers pay a monthly fee.

There are currently two pricing options:

  • $4.99 per month for six months. This plan is for smaller groups.
  • $15.00 per group per month for six months. This plan includes unlimited groups and allows you access to attendee emails.

Whichever plan you choose, creating a Meetup group will help you connect with relevant people in real-life.

3. Nextdoor

Like Meetup, Nextdoor is a platform where local communities connect in real life, outside of online communications.

For Nextdoor, you must be a part of a particular neighborhood, as the focus is more on building a good network with your neighbors.

On the site, they explain:

“It’s where communities come together to greet newcomers, exchange recommendations, and read the latest local news. Where neighbors support local businesses and get updates from public agencies, borrow tools, and sell couches. It’s how to get the most out of everything nearby. Welcome, neighbor.”

Nextdoor shares a few similar features to Yahoo Groups, such as file sharing, chat messaging, and wiki pages.

For a local business or brand, creating a Nextdoor account makes sense as the platform has grown exponentially. It doesn’t just focus on residential neighbors anymore. Local businesses, public agencies, nonprofits, and brands are also recognized on the platform.

You can then decide whether you want to create an open or a private group.

For an open group:

  • Anyone in the neighborhood can search, find, and join the group.
  • Potential group members outside the community can still request to join if you send them a link.

For a private group:

  • Anyone in the neighborhood can find and request to join the group.
  • Group admins approve requests.
  • Only members of the group can view messages and discussions.

The platform is completely free to use, but you can also advertise your business or brand using Local Deals to gain traction. This is where you can share discounts and promotions with your neighborhood.

The price for Local Deals depends on your neighborhood and how long you want to advertise, but the average cost is $75.

4. Groups.io

Mark Fletcher created groups.io. You might have heard of him before. He founded ONElist, which eventually became known as Yahoo Groups.

When he introduced Groups.io, Fletcher explained that:

Yahoo Groups and Google Groups both exude the dank air of benign neglect. Google Groups hasn’t been updated in years, and some of Yahoo’s recent changes have actually made Yahoo Groups worse! And yet, millions of people put up with this uncertainty and neglect, because email groups are still one of the best ways to communicate with groups of people. And I have a plan to make them even better.

Groups.io is an email-based service with features that include:

  • Integration with other popular products, such as Slack, GitHub, Facebook Pages, and Dropbox
  • Hashtags to help keep group messages organized
  • Unlimited chat rooms

Groups.io is a Freemium product, which means the basic features are free to use, but you can pay extra to customize your homepage, access extra storage space, schedule events, and send reminders.

The best part about Groups.io is that there is no advertising! If you spend a lot of time online, you’ll appreciate this.

5. Discourse

Another popular online discussion forum is Discourse. Users can use it as a discussion forum, mailing list, or chat room.

Creating an online group on a different and unfamiliar site can be an overwhelming process. There’s a free 14-day trial, which you can use to help familiarize yourself with the platform and see if it can be a good fit for you and your needs.

Like Yahoo Groups and the other options on our list, Discourse is an online discussion forum that allows you to create discussions, share links, files, and integrate with various devices and online tools.

If you’ve been on online discussion forums for a while, you’ll know that some users don’t follow the rules. The platforms we’ve covered so far allow group moderators to filter out inappropriate content and users.

On Discourse, the focus is more on community moderation. However, they do offer various moderation tools, including the ability to move posts to an existing topic, merge with other posts, or delete.

Members who’ve displayed consistently positive behaviors earn likes and badges. Furthermore, they can help to maintain and moderate content and resolve disputes.

There are three pricing plan options:

  • Standard: $100 per month
  • Business: $300 per month
  • Enterprise: You’ll need to contact them for a custom quote

Conclusion

A lot has changed in the world of online communication. Yahoo Groups was once a popular pioneer of online communities, but it’s closed down, like many other trailblazers. Thankfully, there are plenty of advanced Yahoo alternatives to choose from.

Whatever you decide on, I hope you found the above information helpful.

Can you think of other alternative online groups that are great for building connections?

What Is a Blog Category and Why Are They Important for Your Blog?

What Is a Blog Category and Why Are They Important for Your Blog?

Jan 10, 2021 | Blogging

Do you read every post on a blog? If you’re like me, you visit sites for a specific reason — be it the New York Times crossword puzzle or the latest gear roundup from Outside. You know what you’re looking for when you click. That frame of mind is why blog categories help readers navigate your site.

But what categories should you choose? How do you name them? And what’s the difference between categories and tags?

→ Download Now: 6 Free Blog Post Templates

Let’s cut the confusion with blog category best practices that keep readers combing through your content.

What is a blog category?

Blog categories organize your site and allow readers to find the information they want. They’re high-level topics that make it easy for people to understand what your blog is about and navigate to the content that interests them. Think of it like a table of contents. The categories provide structure to your site by organizing individual posts and sub-topics under several main topics.

For example, imagine you run a food blog. You create recipes, write reviews for appliances, and share photography tips. These main topics (recipes, reviews, photography) are your blog categories. But within each topic fall a handful of sub-topics like bread and pastry recipes, small appliance and tool reviews, and low lighting and stop-motion photography tutorials.

If I’m visiting your site for dinner inspiration, I should be able to quickly click your recipes category to view all of the tasty options you have to offer.

No matter what kind of blog you run, the content you create needs to fall under one of your chosen categories.

Why Blog Categories Are Important

You put hours of work into each blog post, and you don’t want it to disappear into the black hole of your archives. Without defined blog categories, your content quickly sinks out of view — only to be found by endless scrolling. Preventing this from happening is only one benefit of categories.

1. Blog categories provide simple site navigation.

A visually appealing site is incredibly important for visitors. 90% of people have left a website due to poor design. Blog categories group content under a handful of topics, so people get to where they want to be, fast. Some website themes limit the number of categories you can create, so make sure to consider that before grouping your content.

2. Blog categories improve site SEO.

Categories give you a leg up in the blog SEO game by adding hierarchy to your pages. This helps search engines better understand what each page is about and rank accordingly.

If you create a category page, for instance, and continue adding and linking posts that are relevant to that category, it will become increasingly optimized. Search engines will recognize this and bump up the ranking, which makes it easier for people to find your site.

3. Blog categories make blog content strategy easier.

Planning an editorial calendar is no easy feat. But with well-defined blog categories, you have a guide for what to write about. Your strategy can touch on each category to avoid stacking one with all the content. This rounds out your blog and prevents you from falling into single-category chaos.

If that’s not enough to sway you, know that 65% of the most successful North American bloggers have a well-documented content marketing strategy. Among the least successful bloggers, 39% admit they don’t have any strategy and 14% actually write down a strategy.

Blog Category Examples

Every blog is unique, but it’s worthwhile to look at others for inspiration. Here are a few examples of how different sites sort their content into blog categories.

1. HubSpot

Since you’re already here, let’s take a look at how this blog is organized. The main categories are Marketing, Sales, Service, and Website. But within the Marketing category, for example, are sub-topics like social media, branding, SEO, and digital marketing.

HubSpot Blog Category example

Image source

2. Patagonia

Outside of their product website, Patagonia runs a blog called The Cleanest Line. It’s broken down into the following categories: Stories, Films, Books, and Activism. You can search deeper by clicking on sub-topics organized by sports like kitesurfing, climbing, and trail running.

Patagonia blog categories

Image source

3. The New Yorker

Personally, I go for the cartoons. But The New Yorker has a lot to offer, which is why they sort content into 10 categories: News, Books & Culture, Fiction & Poetry, Humor & Cartoons, Magazine, Crossword, Video, Podcasts, Archive, Goings On.

blog categories on The New Yorker

Image source

4. Joy the Baker

I could scroll through this site all day, but it’s easy to navigate thanks to five categories: Recipes, Cookbooks, The BakeHouse, Drake on Cake, and Workshops. Joy infuses her personality into the names while still making it clear what she’s all about: delicious baked goods.

Joy the Baker blog organization tags

Image source

Blog Categories vs. Tags

Maybe you’ve grouped all your posts under one category and gone tag crazy to create some sort of structure. You’re not the only one. The world of tags and categories can be confusing. But now is the time to learn the difference between the two so you know when to use one versus the other.

While categories and tags help organize your site, you already know categories are the high-level topics to guide readers where they want to go. Categories usually make up your navigation bar or are displayed on a sidebar for people to see. The fewer categories you have, the better. This is especially important if you’re running a niche blog, because it helps you stand out from the other sites in the space.

There’s no hard and fast rule for the right number of categories, but most niche blogs have between three to five, while larger sites have around five to ten categories. The New York Times has 19 categories, but this is definitely too many for most businesses. The larger the number, the more difficult it is to stay organized.

On the other hand, a tag is an indicator of what a particular post is about. It’s one to three words that sort your post into a particular archive. It’s not typically shown on your site, but helps search engines find your posts.

For instance, this post falls under the Marketing category, but it’s also organized with a tag for Blogging so that you can easily navigate to other posts on the topic at the very bottom of this post. With tags like this, our post now pops up when you’re looking for information about naming blog categories.

Choosing tags is simple — start with the keywords you already plan to use for a post. If you’re using a pillar/cluster model like we do, you might even consider naming the tags after the pillar or cluster your piece(s) will sit under.

Or, simply use existing words people may type into search that relate to your post. Avoid tags with the same names as your categories to prevent overlap. Aim for less than 10 tags per post. And don’t make up words unless it’s a strategic part of your blog or brand strategy.

Now that you have a better understanding of tags and categories, it’s time for strategic fun: choosing category names.

Naming Your Blog Categories

1. Use analytics to help name your blog categories.

Choosing names for your categories starts with one major factor: analytics. Yes, really. Even if your site is whimsical or totally unique, creating strong categories requires data.

What articles are getting the most views, comments, likes, or shares? If you know what people love about your blog, you’ll have a better idea of where to focus. It also helps to look at what topics aren’t resonating with your readers, especially if you had considered them a priority in the past.

2. Narrow down the topics you cover.

It’s time to whittle down your topics. There’s no ideal number, but between three to five categories gives you enough breadth without being too overwhelming to manage. Some bloggers prefer five to eight categories, while news sites may have around eight to ten. The number is up to you. Just consider your content, your strategy, and your time. Blog categories are meant to make writing easier, not more complicated.

3. Get specific with your blog categories.

For some people, choosing names will be easy. Of course, food blogs always have a Recipes category. But this is the time to think about your unique brand and what you want to present to people.

For instance, the food blog Kitchn has categories for Recipes, Holidays, Meal Planning, Learn, Shop, and People. This site is mainly for an audience who cooks often, plans ahead, hosts holiday meals, invests in quality cooking tools, and is inspired by famous chefs. Know your readers, and cater to what they want. Just don’t get so creative that people have no idea what your content is about.

4. Be consistent in your blog category naming.

Be consistent in style and structure. Remember how bad design scares away readers? Inconsistent categories play a part in the overall look and feel of your blog, so keep them as similar as possible. This includes capitalization and use of nouns, verbs, or adjectives. Not every category has to be exactly the same, but you don’t want one to be a six-word question while another is a one-word noun.

If your blog has been around for a few years, you may have some serious organization to do. Blog categories are a great way to start sorting. Consider what categories your readers enjoy best, and get rid of any with only a few posts. Trimming down categories isn’t always easy. But it’s definitely worth the effort for a site that’s simple to navigate and build a strong content strategy around.