Creating a business by blogging is a low-cost task but it’s not free of charge. So often, novice marketers attempt to make money online without wanting to pay a penny. They neglect to understand that you cannot multiply by zero. 5 Vital Tools You Require for a Lucrative Blog
If you intend to develop a lucrative blog, you will need to acquire a small number of tools. This will allow your business to be secure and you’ll also be able to fast-track your progress. If you’re on a strict budget, you should save up first prior to trying to build a blog.
The 5 Vital Tools You Require
1 – Register a Domain Name
While not a tool as such, you’ll have to obtain a domain name for your blog. Do not create your blog on free platforms. If the platform changes hands or procedures, they just may kick you out.
A few years ago, thousands of Squidoo lenses were scrapped and numerous marketers lost their business because they had created their content nucleus using this free program. This example makes a very strong argument as to why you should at all times own your domain.
2 – Get a WebSite Hosting Account
You’ll require hosting to power your site. At the start, you can begin with the lowest-priced plan and move up later as your business gets healthier. Hosts such as Siteground or CanSpace, and so on. have inexpensive plans that permit growth in the future. Always sign up with a dependable hosting provider.
3 – Choose a WordPress Theme
Any one of the free WordPress themes is a great place to begin if you’re really short on cash. If you have the budget, you may want to get a Genesis theme from Studiopress. Alternatively, you may get the Socrates theme. The free and paid choices are nearly limitless
Both these themes are good. But there are many others out there. You can do your investigation and discover one you love. Just make sure it’s easy on the eye and loads up rapidly.
4 – Get an Email Autoresponder
This is an outright MUST have and it’s mind-bending how so many newbies try to cut expenses here. A great autoresponder will come with a monthly cost. This is a requirement and a component of doing business.
Ignore the self-hosted alternatives even if they have a one-time charge. They come with a lot of trouble.
If your budget is tight, you can create your blog first and start pushing traffic using free of charge techniques. Watch the traffic to your site. Once you’re receiving about 100 unique hits per day, you can sign up for Get Response or Aweber.
You’ll then get a free 30-day trial with Get Response and a free Aweber account for up to 500 subscribers. This will buy you extra time as you build your list. The price of an autoresponder is fairly low, so you won’t break the bank.
Once you have a list of a few hundred people, you can publicize low-end products in the range of $25. Several sales will help to repay your monthly autoresponder fee.
5 – Install WordPress Plugins
Countless plugins are free, but some of the best ones will usually require you to pay for additional features. Let’s look at some.
Cookie Notice – This plugin is free and will allow you to add the cookie compliance bar that’s required for GDPR purposes.
Pretty Links – Google frowns upon affiliate links. Use this free of charge plugin to no-follow your affiliate links and also tidy up those long URLs.
Wordfence – This is a free security plugin that will protect your site from hackers who have nothing better to do than cause distress to productive people.
Rank Math SEO plugin is a powerful plugin that will guide you through the setting up of search engine optimization for your site, posts, and pages.
Share This – There are numerous social sharing plugins that are free and paid. The paid ones such as Social Warfare, Monarch, and Social Snap have more features. But I have been using the free version of Share This and it is more than adequate.
Elementor – This plugin is a must-get. It’s unmatched when it comes to helping you get leads and build a list on your blog. Lots of flexibility and features that work in the real world. You need to create enticing landing pages in order to get signups or sales. There are many page builders out there, both free and paid. But one of the best of them all is Elementor.
I have been using Elementor for several years now for my landing pages and I can say that it is one of the best. Over 5 million users have given their vote of confidence. While I use an upgraded version you can get by with the free version to create nice landing pages that include a signup form.
Aksimet Anti-Spam – Use this plugin to block spam. It’s free.
LuckyWP Table of Contents – This plugin will keep your posts organized and also helps with SEO.
Smush – Use this plugin to compress your images so that your sites load faster. Alternatively, you could do this manually by compressing images using Tinypng.com and upload them. Either way, do compress your images.
Updraft Plus – Use this plugin to back up your sites EVEN if your web host claims to do it for you.
Legal Pages – Use this free plugin to create your privacy policy page and terms of use page.
To finish, these are a few of the vital tools you require as a blogger. Once you begin making money with your blog, you can decide to acquire a page builder and additional tools that will take your blogging business to the subsequent level.
But prior to all that, obtain these tools at the outset and make them work. Develop a robust base for your blog and the skies are the limit for you.
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[avatar user=”mike” size=”thumbnail” align=”” link=”file”]Mike Gaudreau is the owner of The Wealthy Boomers, a site devoted to helping seniors make money online. Mike resides in Montreal Canada.[/avatar]
You should assume the owner of this website probably has an affiliate relationship and/or another material connection, to any suppliers of goods and services that may be discussed here and may be compensated for showing advertisements or recommending products or services, or linking to the supplier’s website.
