If you wanted to qualify for one of the major ad networks in about 12 months what would your focus be for the next year?

Lets say you already have an established food blog. Not looking for a road map just interested in hearing peoples thoughts and how they would focus their time and content.

Hey, Adam,

First, I’d say that we all need to be wondering how Ad Networks will evolve inside a year as AI takes hold. (Bjork laid on a great kinda-emergency podcast this week on AI and it’s essential listening.)

BUT, as it happens, I think that on the whole the same strategy is true whether Ad Networks change or not – it’s all about pageviews. I don’t think it’s worth contemplating Ad Networks until you’ve got at least ten thousand pageviews a month. I think MediaVine is currently asking for about 60,000 pageviews/month but it’s possible to break into ads before that.

If you can start to hit those numbers, then you need to be monitoring the loyalty level of your visitors. If you can get a majority of visitors coming back to your site at least twice a month – ideally weekly – then you’re pretty well cushioned from the internet changes and you can start to really get serious about monetizing.

So, the trick is to determine your offering first before you really start trying to attract visitors in volume. You need to decide what you’re giving to your loyal audience. It can be recipes, or creative ideas, or entertainment, or nutritional advice … we have lots to give, but it’s important to work out what you’re giving and how you’re handing it out. You need to decide how you’re differentiating between public give-aways and member goodies. Also, try to give away as little as possible via email because (a) you want people coming back to your site, not reading a recipe offline and (b) the world suffers dreadfully from email fatigue. SMS links are currently working well to ‘gift’ your members a link to a page that has value.

Step One: Decide what you’re giving and to whom

Step Two: Decide how you’re giving it out and automate as much of that as you can

Step Three: Build enough content for your early adopters to be delighted

Step Four: Determine your strategy for attracting visitors (this should be a combo of email-list/SEO/links/social-media)

Step Five: Go after volume but don’t forget to keep adding fresh content. Google will reward you for staying current.

Step Six: Never stop analyzing your visitor metrics and refining your strategies to match what you learn from your visitors.

I might have completely missed the mark with my reply. If you wanted more in-depth stuff, then don’t hesitate to bounce it back and someone on this marvelous forum always seems to bring their genius.

(PS – I took a sneak peek at your website and I would urge you to reconsider your sitemap – by which I mean, break up your valuable information into lots of smaller pages, each one optimized for very targeted keywords. There’s lots you can do to make this work for you more successfully, but I’d do that first.)

Jo

Disclaimer: I only took up blogging three and a half weeks ago, so my site is still very much work-in-progress, but before that I spent 16 years helping people monetize their online presence, so I’m a little more qualified than my site would have you think. I should probably shut up until I put more polish on my own stuff.

Hi Jo,

Thanks for the reply, lots to think about for sure.

Can you elaborate a bit more on what you mean about my site map, what changes you are talking about specifically and the benefits a change like that could bring?

Thanks,

Adam

Hey, Adam,

I think that the biggest mistake, by miles, that most website owners make, is to think about what they want to say, instead of thinking about what people want to hear.

Forgive me, but here’s a really great example. You have a top menu item called “Work with Me”. The people you REALLY want to attract on that page (where you are selling your photography services) aren’t looking to “work with you”. They’re looking to hire a photographer. You’re trying to be subtle about what YOU want (which is to hook them in to your services) instead of thinking about what THEY want. A far better link in the header would be “Hire Food Photographer”. Also, when you get to that page you fill it with a ‘bragging board’ and make it really difficult, including a jump to a different web site, to get a quote. What your targeted visitors want is to know, early on, what you charge. You don’t want to tell them, so you’ve got to decide who wins and if you’re not willing to state your prices, then give your visitors more reason to ask for a quote. Cite the number of people you’ve helped, or the number of years you’ve been in business – you need to establish your authority.

Look at your “About” page, too. Count the number of times you use the word “I”! You have headings like “How I Eat” and “What I buy for groceries”. I implore you to think about your readers. Instead of having a list of “Things I buy seasonally” consider having a whole separate page, optimized (SEO) for terms like ‘low carb seasonal ingredients’ and call the page “Low Carb ingredients you should buy seasonally”. (Notice, Adam, I’ve turned your “I” into a “You”.)

Instead of having a paragraph on a long page called “How I Eat” – break out a different page optimized for a term like “low carb eating habits” and call it “Low Carb living – how you can change your diet”. (Notice again, Adam, I’ve turned your “I” into a “You”.)

Have lots more pages, all well optimized (please note, I haven’t done the work for you on keywords – the ones I suggest above are not researched) and all with the READER in mind. It will make you much more popular and much more successful in terms of attracting and keeping visitors.

I hope that helps. I’ve been a bit brutal, so please forgive me. Trust me, you’re not alone – it’s a really easy mistake to make, but if you want to succeed, you absolutely must THINK LIKE YOUR VISITOR.

Jo

Thank you for your feedback Jo. Even if it was for Adam, I really appreciate it, as it helps me make my content better.

Alina

Health and Yum

Thanks for saying so, Alina. I’m going to try your Mushroom Soup today!

Jo

I hope you’ll love it Jo! 🙏

Alina

Health and Yum