One of the common mistakes Webmasters make is they don’t define who they are targeting.
Now that everyone is learning you can profit online by writing about any topic and adding Google ads, people are often mislead.
It’s not just about publishing as much content as you can on one subject and waiting for the money to roll in.
Your site needs to have a focus, voice and personality. You should talk to a specific group and meet their needs.
I got an email yesterday from someone looking to do an information site on football.
He asked me if 3 pages on a certain football subject was enough for an article on his site. Right away I could tell he was missing the point.
That’s not something I can answer because I don’t know who he’s targeting or his site’s main focus (other than football). Clearly he wasn’t sure either.
Know Your Intended Audience
If you have not clearly defined who your site is for, then you run the risk of building pages and pages of content with no direction.
On the flip side, when you know exactly who your site is for, writing content becomes much easier because you can write about the things your audience has experienced, questions they may have, problems they’ve faced, etc.
For example, if you are building a self esteem help site for female girls between the ages of 13 and 19, that begins your site’s roadmap. You now have a clearly defined group and subject matter you can focus on.
Knowing who your site is for should begin giving you ideas for the kind of topics you will cover.
You should never have to ask someone what should you write about. If you are passionate and knowledgeable enough about the subject and understand how your information will appeal to a specific group… that’s half the battle and your content will begin writing itself.
Remember, don’t write for yourself. Write for your audience. Make sure the goals for your site are beyond “I want to make money.”
Don’t we all.
Your first order of business, however, is to appeal to a specific group. Focus on what will interest them, and the content generation won’t be a chore.
And the real scary thing is you may actually enjoy yourself and make a little money in the process. 😉
I see. I had seen this tip being circulated by popular bloggers. Having a specific audience in mind can make writing more focused and easy.
Yes, Lisa, I agree that you can never overemphasize the necessity of clarity and focus for a blog. Providing useful or entertaining content for a specific audience is crucial. Though I have not been blogging long and I’m discovering that the need to feed the blog can be tiring for even a born writer, I can’t see how anyone can expect to have much success if the love of money is their primary motivator.
wow lisa, thanks for the great tips , writing content was indeed a boring thing , i am now impressed and inspired that how exactly it works:) am sure i am gonna implement them on my site:) thanks once again!!
cheers:)
Nice post! The contents are very inspiring and I learned something. I admit that sometimes I ask my friend to give me some topic in my blog but then I realize that even I’m the one who make the content, it can be considered as there post since im not the root of the topic. PASSION
Writing is definitely not a chore for me. It is a passion. It is one thing to have thoughts and ideas in your head. It is another to put it down on paper. I honestly believe writing is theraputic for me. I get a great feeling to know that I am helping someone and that I am giving back to society, rather than just taking. Sometimes ideas will just flood into my head. When this happens I write them down immediately. So always keep a pen and paper around.
I agree. Just observing from day to day activities and problems, I see things to write about pertaining to my passion. Also, because God gives me creativity in my spirit I will always have something to say and something to give. Just think about it.
I agree Lisa,
If I don’t have direction I found that I will just ramble.
When I drill down a niche I have an easier time writing. Also the more I write the easier it gets.
Thanks for your advice.
John
whole house water filter
Write about something you love and you will never have a problem. I just finished writing a post about being a master in your chosen field and the same principle apllies to blogging. When you focus on an area of passion and learn as much as you can about that field you will become a master in that field and when you master something you never run out of things to say and knowledge to share about the area of your specialization. Successful people are those that have mastered an area and thats why I love Lisa’s site, she is a master in the area of teaching people how to develop successful websites and blogs.
yeah, I always find myself spaced out. Although I have lots of things in my mind, I just can’t seem to make a good story out of it.
Maybe I should learn to organize. Thanks!
I find writing is not a chore. I am passionate about what I write about. I write about what I know as well as experiences that I have had. I give the credit to God. I thank God for Lisa, because you have been very inspirational as well as motivational for me to persist at what I do. I also give credit to my pastor, who apparently saw something in me that I did not see at the time. I am constantly learning new things everyday.
.-= Betty´s last blog … How To Promote A Good Father Figure For Your Child =-.
Its so important really to know your target audience well while writing. Most websites suffer from too much content that may not be relevant at all.
Thanks for your observations that we writers can identify with…
Thank you for addressing the audience aspect of content writing. As a writer and writing instructor, I constantly remind my students that you have to consider your audience – your language use and style should all be geared specifically for your audience. More importantly, you must know what they care about. Another aspect of content writing to consider when writing for you blog should be “Purpose”. Every writer should ask themself, “What is the purpose or goal of writing this piece? If you don’t have a clear goal, chances are you’re going to ramble aimlessly. Thanks for your informative site!
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Thanks Lisa for the inspiration! This has one of my main concerns as I get into this business.
Edgar …
Hi Lisa. I am a newbie to search engine marketing and find your articles very helpful and to the point. I look forward to your future articles. Keep up the good work, thanks, John
I love writing my own content for my website, It gives me great joy in sharing my experience with other.
I know what am writing about, so it will be hard for someone else to write for me. I write about home decorating ideas. I have been in the home interior decorating business for 10 years, and have a passion for it.
Hi Lisa! Your site is very inspiring and it just made me pushed me more to focus on learning how to build my website. I actually have mine now but it’s design is a default in ‘multiply.’ I wanted to have my own website in blogspot but I really find it hard to create even a simple banner hahaha. so i made myself contented in blogging in the blog portion of multiply. I wanted to somehow earn money from blogging but to no avail coz multiply seemed not to support adsense.
You think blogspot.com is ok for me to start a website or would you recommend wordpress (but i cant get through signing up coz of some url problem).
Thanks alot, Lisa. More power.
writing content is very fun for me, it just takes up all my time.
I think it is important to write your own content and rely very little on other people content.
Great website and articles. I’ve found that writing can be a chore from time to time. I run a handful of sites and have sometimes found that I need to use outside help to create content.
Jeff
http://www.webposter.com/blog