In a previous post I introduced and discussed the importance of the Alexa Traffic Rank . Whether you value your Alexa position or not there are definite advantages to having a high ranking.
Well this morning I received a text from Neil, congratulating me at breaking out of the 200,000 level, having climbed to 185,726. This is my position as of today, on the 1,000,000 sites list, which is updated daily. When I started blogging, I didn’t really know much about what all the rankings meant. At that time it didn’t really matter to me.
When I first started blogging I had one purpose in mind. It was not getting to the summit of the blogosphere. I never set out to be one of those blogging just for money, or driving my Alexa or Technorati ranking up. Many bloggers who have those type of intention s straight from the start usually provide poor information on subjects they know very little about.
I blog about my passion – personal development and healthy lifestyles living – and if I can make a bit of money out of it, all the better!
Blogging opened the doors for me to start writing about the things I am passionate about. Blogging has become part of who I am. I still find it surreal that I can just sit at my computer one minute, and the next, the article that I have just written becomes immediately visible to the entire world.
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius
I am a long way from being at the top in the blogging world, but if I did not have a passion for what I write about, I certainly wouldn’t have got as high as I have so far. Three months ago I wouldn’t have believed it possible that I would get over 5000 unique visitors in a month.
When we want to succeed at anything it takes hard work and passion. I work, and work, and work, all the time. For me the only way I can do this is having a passion for both blogging and my subject matter.
With so much competition in the blogging world, how are you going to stand out from the crowd? Simple… be the best at what you do. There is no doubt that taking the time to write quality posts can do wonders for your search rankings among other things. By writing regularly your blog gets spidered by Google often, and increases the chances of increasing your rankings considerably. There is big potential if you do things the right way. Updating your blog multiple times per week definitely in my mind brings major benefits. The more new stuff you add, the more of an authority you make your site, and this helps to improve your overall search rankings. Only if you bring passion to blogging can you succeed at doing all this, and only with passion will your blog attract and retain visitors. If people really like your blog, they will spread the word, resulting in even more visitors. Passion is what makes or breaks a blog.
When at first starting a blog, many people have making money online as their sole purpose or at least it is one of the main reasons they enter the blogging world. In my mind, you must blog about something you’re passionate about, or you simply won’t succeed. You have to be prepared to keep blogging without being paid for it, and keep your passion alive. Without passion, if you don’t make quick money, before to long your blog will join the thousands and thousands of previously abandoned blogs.
When your passion comes across in every article, every sentence, every phrase you write, you win the hearts of the people reading your blog. Passion is something that inspires as it brings across the genuine interest that a person has in whatever field he or she is in, and engages those who want to read what is being written about.
A multitude of blogs are created every day. For your blog to stand out from the millions that are out there in the blogosphere you have to be passionate about both what you are blogging about, and the ‘art’ of blogging itself. It takes time, lots of it, there is so much to do, but with passion you just keep going. You can’t create constantly updated unique content, and fulfil your marketing requirements if you don’t have the passion. Simple! If you do have passion for blogging, readers will engage, they will keep coming back for more.
Following my passion has always been at the very top of my to-do list. I am filled with passion every single day, feeling the excitement, enjoyment and love of doing what I really want to do. It makes me keep going, no matter what problems get in my way. It gets me to put in the extra hours and be happy doing them
I’ve only been blogging just over a year. I am constantly learning about all things blogging every day. I believe wholeheartedly that if you are passionate, the money will follow. This won’t happen overnight. Already for me my coaching business has acquired new business from blogging, and I do make some money from my blog through google adsense. But I repeat, this is not the be all and end all of blogging for me. First, I am passionate about my subject matter, and secondly I have something to offer, and I am determined to do what I love. Passion is a strong motivation to keep at it before the profits start rolling in.
I believe it’s that passion that will get you out of bed in the morning when times get tough. It’s the passion that is going to motivate you to write day after day. It’s passion that will keep you from giving up and throwing in the towel.
Here is my formula for blogging success:
Passion + Purpose + Perseverance = Success
This can be applied ton anything you do in your life. Find what you are passionate about, and see your life improve day by day. Passion and purpose are your rocket fuel, while perseverance is your accelerator. So fuel up, and lift off.
Are you passionate about blogging? Please comment!
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Mate I couldn’t have said it better myself, or have I? You are right! Have the inspiration to make it happen
Been slack lately but slowly getting back into it… feel it
I’m so pleased to see the web-of-life blog up and running again. What you say is important, and always has passion together with important messsages. Keep it going, its needed
This is an excellent article. I only started blogging in March of this year and found the information to be very useful. You are so right, to keep blogging you have to be passionate about what you are writing about. Take care and my best wishes to you.
Judy from Jamaica
Judy – welcome to the blogging world. Be prepared for some ups and downs. It isn’t always plain sailing. We often face little obstacles like our broadband connection dying on us, losing a blog post before we publish it, and all sorts of crazy things. But the enjoyment we can get from blogging i think is unbeatable. You can say what you want, talking about things you care about. It leaves your legacy, and will touch many people. So keep your passion, keep that blog going, and make your mark on the blogosphere.
Thanks for the Monday morning PEP TALK! I’m not familiar with the Alexa Traffic Rank so this is interesting and informative. I noticed you didn’t mention writing skills in your formula for successful blogging and I’m curious about that …
I’m glad to report, you do not need any writing skills to make a good blog. Larry and me (or should that be I?) have a healthy competition on our blog rankings. He is a great writer and well, I’m bad to put it politely. However, I have a follower of readers who read my blog for the information in it and they forgive my lack of writing skills. I’m hot on his heels and keep him looking over his shoulder every morning so if I can do it, anyone can!
Neil – you know that your SEO knowledge and skills are of utmost importance to my blogs health and ranking, BUT ‘Content is King’ and being a sociable marketing type helps. I have no doubts you could exceed my ranking the minute you adopt both, and once your spell checker behaves better.But i look forward to us both blogging, helping others, and see where it takes us.
Linda – without the passion i believe our words are empty and our writing will have no impact. I want to believe, and do, that content is king. Other factors are also very important, which my friend and business partner Neil always points out, but always in my mind my blog is there to empower others and only through my writings can i do that.
Larry, you just keep outdoing yourself 🙂 Passion seems to be the key ingredient to blogging. I find that sometimes I can sit for hours at my computer with a 1000 topics to write about but just can’t seem to get it onto the keyboard. Other times, the flow of writing comes so easily that I could post twice a day for a week or two. It would be nice to find a common median within myself. But, I believe that my ‘passion’ comes from the experiences I have or have had and my timing for writing has to be just right 🙂 Thanks for sharing this post, as always, it was great!
Mary – thank you. Im blushing with that compliment. I also have to say thank you for your link below to your current post, it has given me the nudge to get on with something i need to write. So today you are my inspiration.
Great Larry! I’m so glad to know that I inspired someone today LOL.
Brilliant! Well done on your rankings – your ‘little’ sister is proud of you x
Su – WOW welcome to my blog, and thank you. Reading this has really touched me mind, body and soul and reached my heart. Love You!
Hey Larry great points being made by you today. I looked at alexa after reading your previous posting. I am about 1,149,000 so I have a way to go. Although in India Im at 146,000, Im from US so Im not sure why lol?? I’ll keep following you, your pretty positive and have good information to share>
http://jpweddingphotograpy.blogspot.com/2011/06/from-revere-beach-to-florida-keys.html
Jim – thats a challenge to me, ‘pretty positive’ you say, i’m going to have to step up to immensely positive. Don’t forget Alexa is just a guide, and i am just an addict to it, not good for a healthy lifestyle blogger. Back in January i was something like 24 million, so anything is possible, just keep going, enjoy the journey, and you will reach ther destination you want.
Well done you sir Larry, i looked into Alexa but have no idea how to do the technical stuff to prove the website is mine lol. You passion comes through every time and i think thats the main reason your blog is so successful.
Charles – Thank You kind sir … if i ever stop writing with passion, i hope you will come and tell me. If you need someone to get you sorted on Alexa just let me know, and i mean that
Hi Larry:
As always you come up with learning tools for all of us to take advantage of. I knew about Google ranking. Heard about Alexa, but didn’t really and don’t really know as much about Alexa. Now you gave something else to explore.
Thank you for that!
—
Chris
Chris – Thank you for your kind words. I hope to keep providing you with learning tools and information to help you on your journey.
Great post!
I’m just a newbe in blogging. A very very very newbe from less than 2 months. All I have now is my passion for the subject I’m writing about and a purpose to share share my knowledge and experience this with the world. I even have no Alexa Ranking yet and I have no idea how to get one, but after reading your post I realised that I have to start thinking about it 🙂
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and ideas!
Marc
Marc welcome to both my blog and blogging. You have everything you need with your passion for your subject. The rest will fall in place over time. Visit the Alexa site, download the toolbar, and a badge for your blog. It’s great every day to see how your blog is ranking and becomes a driving force for you.
I was going to do Larry’s work for him and reply to all these comments but I dont want to help him on his Alexa ranking… hehe
The BEST tip I can the give any new starter in blogging (and even existing bloggers) is ask yourself, what information do you want to give to people? In Larry’s case he is a life coach. He specialises in healthy living. He came to me for technical help and my advice was simple. Target what people are searching for no matter how much competition exists (I’m talking about the search engines here). From this he figured the most competative searching words or ‘key words’ for his blog were Healthy, Lifestyle, Stress, Personal Development (and there were a few more). He can write about these words all day, everyday until he’s blue in the face. His site will always have exellent, well written content and in the background, his blog will slowly rise up the search engine rankins for these words. Who knows, maybe 1 day if you type in the word Healthy into google, Healthy Lifestyles Blog could be number 1!
This advice worked almost straight away. His blog is on the 1st page of google for the term ‘healthy lifestyle’. He will over time naturally rank for the others.
This can apply to any blog so give some thought about what your ‘key words’ are.
Neil – Is this because i don’t give you enough credit. Well my SEO genius i am forever in your debt, your knowledge and talents are undisputable, and we are developing a growing, positive partnership and i’m proud of your own personal entry into the blogging world. This comment is worth its weight in gold for other bloggers, and i think you should blog on this subject at your blog, i mean ours.
Hehe, no not at all, you just blogged about something I know about. It’s good to know I’m appreciated though! 🙂
Wow this you have written with a lot of passion! With hard work anything is achievable. I love blogging but some days I am not motivated at all. I cannot find the right photos and the subject sounds boring. Have you ever experienced something like this?
Well, I am definitely following your advice in your blog. I try to be passionate about everything that I do. You get so much more enjoyment from life that way 🙂
You do write with a lot of passion and all your posts reflect that. Congratulations Larry!
Hi Larry
Couldn’t agree more! I really enjoy blogging too and encouraging other bloggers. It is hard to find time as I have young family so end up staying up way too late! There’s always blog tinkering to do as well as writing and promoting posts… Great to see yours is doing so well. Good on you!
Amanda – the life of a blogger is never quiet. Great to know i’m not alone in the North East as a blogger
I only wanted to say that I love your blog and keep doing what you doing.Your passion spreads like a virus and every time when I visit your blog and read about things you put on it, I want to do more and more in my life. Isn’t it a purpose of this blog?:)Well done Larry.
Magda it is people like your goodself that make blogging one of the most wonderful things a person can do. I have a passion for both personal development and healthy lifestyles, and a love for blogging. My purpose is to inspire people to make a difference in their lives, to help them gow and make progress. Thank you so much for your wonderful kind words