Perfect Ways To Gain New Subscribers For Your Blog

I remember the very first day I started off as a new blogger, I had no plans of growing my email list at all.

All I had in mind was how to drive more traffic to my blog.  Back then all I did was spam the shit out of most social bookmarking and networking sites with loads of my blog links and posts thinking that was one of the best marketing strategies to promote my blog

This is one mistake every newbie blogger makes.
 
Instead of focusing on how to get more subscribers to their blog, all they do is spam active blog forums, groups, comments with their blog link and still expect people to click on it. At the end of the day,  they end up getting little or no traffic coming into their blog

Why?

Because they spend more time promoting their links on social medias the wrong way rather than focusing on how to build their email list.

When you post too many blog links often, many would consider it to be spam and would never want to click on it.

This is why you should be more focused on how to get new subscribers for your blog rather than posting on social media sites

Why building an email list is so important 

I said in a post earlier that "if you are not growing  your email subscribers, you are not willing to make money."

• Read: 10 Tested Ways To Make Money From Your Blog Asides Google AdSense

Emails are very good means of maximizing your engagement and promoting your contents to reach a lot of users online

The money is in the list,  every blogger needs an email list.

If you wish to start a blog, you need people that would always visit it from time to time

Content is key but what's the need of coming up with an informative and quality article like this one when there is nobody to read it?

I have seen so many people who write articles that are up to 2000 words,  SEO optimized and 100% plagiarism free but still find it hard to pull up 500-800 daily page views on their blog.

Why?

Because they never paid much attention to their email list!

Here are some of the reasons why you should start building an email list for your website:

• You could rebuild your business using your email list

Running a blog is like having a business, you suffer a lot of setbacks and losses.  If you eventually lose your website, blog or social media community, you can still be able to revive your website and get in contact with your followers via an email list.

• Read: Easiest Way To Apply For Google AdSense And Get Fast Approval

• You own your email list

Your email list is private, it is your very own asset,  not even Google or any other authoritative website out there can take it away from you.

• Easiest Means of Communication 

Emails are the easiest ways of communicating with your blog readers.   Not everyone would care to visit your Blog but they go through their email inbox every single day.  I personally have a list of all my favorite blogs and websites that I cherish and fancy a lot but I find it hard to visit them every day,  rather I go through my email messages.

If you are looking for the best way to pass an information across to your blog readers, then it is through an email.

• Source of Traffic 

SEO is a complex process and is one of the best ways to drive organic traffic to your blog although so many people still find it hard to implement SEO  on their blogs.

See the simplest SEO practices for blogger blogs.

I have seen a lot of bloggers whose blogs are not indexed by Google but they still end up getting a lot of traffic to their blogs.

How?

Because they had an email list!

If only you had grown an email list for your blog, you would not have been worried about Seo optimizing your site for search engines.

• Email subscribers are more likely to be product buyers

If you ever intend on selling a product on your blog, then you should have an email list.  A person's email box is scared if any one would ever want to subscribe to your email list that is because they have a vast interest in what you are doing.

If you are keen on making huge sales for your blog products,  why shouldn't you start growing an email list for your blog?

Perfect Ways to get new subscribers for your blog

So now that you know how important it is for you to have an email list,  how do you grow your email lists with new subscribers?

• Make it obvious

Don't just assume your blog readers know what to do.  Yes, I agree they are humans, they have a sense of humor but if you really want your readers to subscribe to your blog then you have to state it clearly to them.

How do I do that?

By making your subscription forms, buttons visible and adding them to your home page.

You cannot expect to get new subscribers for your blog when a visitor lands on your homepage and can't find any subscription option

• Offer Incentives

You can also increase your blog subscribers by giving out something valuable in exchange for their email addresses. It mustn't be your own products or something you created, you can also give out premium themes, e-book, plugins or possibly anything that would be valuable to your customers.

Do you have a high bounce rate? These 7 tips can help you reduce a high bounce rate on your blog.

Be sure of what ever you promise, you cannot give what you do not have,  offer something you know you can give out so they do not end up unsubscribing from your blog

• Write Guest Posts

Guest blogging on other blogs can also be a great way to increase your blog subscribers if done effectively.

When ever you guest post on another blog,  include your site URL before and after the post so you can be able to drive a lot of traffic to your blog.

Whenever someone visits your blog via the link you provided and goes through your blog posts,  if he or she finds them interesting and informative,  they might just end up subscribing to your email list.

• Try Different Content Formats

You have a lot of readers with different perspectives,  some prefer written contents to images,  while some prefer videos and podcasts.  Don't just stick to one format, try alternating your content format so as to carry everyone along.

• Make it easy

Most of the people who visit your website are doing so for the first time.   If you are really keen on getting new subscribers for your blog, then you should work on your blog design, ensure it is easy to navigate and do not ask for too many details whenever someone wishes to subscribe.

• Ask for it

Your blog posts might be unique and 100% plagiarism free but you might still end up not getting enough subscribers for your blog why? Because you didn't ask for it.

Even the Bible said,  'Ask and it shall be given to you '

Your readers might not know you want them to subscribe to your blog , if you really wish to get more subscribers for your blog then you should ask for it.   A great way to do this is to ask your readers to subscribe to your email list below every blog post

• Write Viral Contents

There are some blog posts that pull a lot of traffic and tends to go viral when posted.  Write about such topics,  promote and share them on other social networking sites, get a lot of people to come visit your Blog and ask them to subscribe to your email list.  If they are interested in what you are doing, there is no way they wouldn't want to subscribe to your blog email list.

• Work on your CTA

CTA stands for Call To Action. If you really wish to get more blog readers to subscribe to your email list, then you should make it look like it is mandatory and compulsory for them to do so. You would loose a lot of blog subscribers if you make your call to action look asif it is not that necessary to sign up.

These are some of the perfect ways to get more subscribers to your blog.

While you are still at it,  can you help me grow my email list by subscribing to my email list? I offer my ebook - the complete blogging  guide for beginners - to my new subscribers.

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What Blog Platform Should You Go For? The Newbie's Guide

Are you looking forward to owning a blog someday, then you should be considering whether to make use of a free or self-hosted platform for your blog?


Choosing the right blog platform is crucial, and of utmost importance to your online success so we are giving out all you need to know about it.


I have seen so many people ask, 'what host platform is best for my blog.'
Some say free hosted as it requires less or no fees to get started, others say self-hosted as it gives your blog a professional look and a head-start over other blogs in the same niche as yours.


Everyone has his or her beliefs as to which blog platform is the best.


In this post, we are going to be looking at the definition of free and self-hosted blog platforms, together with some of the cons and pros so you would be able to choose that which is best for your business.

Free Blogging Platform

Many small business owners wish to own a blog and intend spending little or no money to keep it running.

A free blog platform is one which allows you own a blog online without having to spend too much.
You can start off a blog for free.  All you have to do is just open an account with them, register a domain, and you are ready to go!

Examples of some popular free blog platforms include:

1. Wordpress - Wordpress is one of the most popular blogging platforms for bloggers. It is easy to use and provides you with a collection of blog themes which can be used to customize your blog

2. Blogger - Blogger is one of those host platforms that allows you start up a blog for free.

• Easy to use.
• Provides you with lots of free templates and
• Requires little or no cost to get started

3. Tumblr - Tumblr is one of those blog platforms that makes your blogging life easy.

• Easy to set up
• Gives a custom domain and
• Allows your blog directly from your mobile phone or desktop

What are some of the advantages of a free blogging platform?

• Better exposure to search engines

Blogger is a free blog platform and is owned by Google.
Google supports her very own sites. Hosting your blog on a free blog platform like Blogger would get more exposure and organic traffic from search engines to your blog.
Being a newbie to blogging,  I would recommend you go for a free hosted blog platform like Blogger to gain more favor in the eyes of Google Search engine.

• Easy to use interface

You do not need to able to write in different coding languages. Free blog platforms come with interface/designs that are easy to use for all newbies and doesn't require the formal knowledge of some programming languages.

• Free and easy to use

Most free blog platforms are easy to use and don't require little or no initial costs to get started. All you have to do is to register an account with them.
Even If you have little or no funds to get started, you can still be able to own a blog of your own.

Disadvantages of a free blogging platform

• Less control over your blog

One disadvantage of having to host your blog on a free platform is that you lack control over your blog.  One day the site might decide to change a few things in their policy, and you may end up losing everything.

• No one might want to take you serious

If you actually plan on making blogging a full-time business, then you should be thinking of hosting your blog on a self-hosted platform.

No one might want to take you seriously if you blog on a free blogging platform. It also makes your blog look childish and unprofessional.

You would have to make do with a Blogspot or WordPress.com domain unless you wish to go for a custom domain.

Who should go for free blog platforms

Free blog platforms are best for all those who blog for fun or as a hobby and doesn't take it as a full-time business.

What is a self-hosted platform?

A self-hosted blog platform is one that allows you host your blog on a platform other than Blogger and  Wordpress.Gives you control over your blog and lets you edit, install custom themes and implement proper SEO techniques on your site.

What are some of the advantages of a self-hosted platform?

• Gives you full control over your blog and access to back up files.

• Install custom themes and gives your blog a professional look.

• Provides you with some "add-on" called PLUGINS which makes your blogging life easy

Disadvantages of a self-hosted platform

• Most self-hosted platforms are quite expensive and require a lot of cash to maintain

• Its user interface can be quite confusing and intimidate for new bloggers.

Who should go to a self-hosted platform

Self-hosted platforms look more professional and are best for all those who wish to take blogging as a full-time business and not just for fun.

What category do you fall in?

How far do you intend to go to your blog and which type do you think suits you best?

Feel free to add a comment below.

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8 Easy Practices For Beginners To Generate High-Quality Backlinks

When we talk about SEO, high-quality backlinks are one of the most important aspects. It is a word every serious blogger is supposed to be familiar with. Many SEO experts give many regards to backlinks.

According to this source, "backlinks" are links that point directly to your blog from another blog/website. If a website links to your blog, you earn what is called a 'backlink.'

A blog with a lot of websites linking back to it tends to rank high in search engines than one who has low backlinks. This is why smart bloggers don't joke with backlinks.

As a blogger, you should be focusing on how to build quality backlinks to your website and not just writing and posting articles on your blog.

In this post, we are going to be looking at some of the terms associated with backlinks and the effective ways of generating quality back links to your website 

When a website links to another article of a page on another website, it is called a Link juice.

It helps in the ranking of that particular article and makes it visible to your readers via search engines.

Terms to be familiar with

• No-Follow Link: When you link to an article or page that is spammy or to an affiliate program that you do not have full knowledge of, and you would like to keep it hidden from search engines, you make use of a No- Follow link. 

How Do I Add A No- Follow Tag To A Link?

Nofollow tag can simply be added to a link by adding rel="nofollow" to the property the link structure. Here is a typical example:

<a href="https://www.easymadeblog.com" rel = "nofollow">Advantages of building backlinks</a>

• Do Follow Links: These are links that pass link juice and is made visible to all search engines.

• Linking root domain: These are the number of backlinks generated in a particular domain that is linking to your site.  If a particular website links directly to your blog 2 or 3 times,  it is regarded as One linked root domain and not 2 or 3 domains 

• Internal linking: These are links that link one page to another on the same domain.  It is always advised to link to at least 2 -3 pages that are relevant to the topic discussed and are on the same website. It boosts your site ranking on search engines and also helps to reduce bounce rate

• Anchor Text: An Anchor text is a clickable text in a hyperlink that leads you to a web page when clicked on. In the example below the anchor text is 'Advantage of building backlinks'

<a href="https://www.easymadeblog.com" ref = "nofollow">Advantages of building backlinks</a>

An Anchor text gives readers an idea of what to see in the website given

 Benefits of Building Backlinks

You have been told by many SEO experts that you should build backlinks. Do you even know why you it is always emphasized? Well, here are some benefits that you derive from building high-quality backlinks:

Boosts Google ranking 

If a particular post or page on your blog is linked to from another website, the page (or post) tends to rank higher on Search engines.

Always do well to build quality backlinks as it boosts your ranking and draws quality traffic to your blog 

Organic Traffic 

One good thing about generating quality backlinks for your blog is that it gives you quality traffic.  If you are one of those that are new to blogging and are faced with low traffic issues, I suggest you go start building quality backlinks for your blog.

Faster and Quicker Indexing 

Just like I earlier said, when you build quality backlinks to your blog, you make your blog visible on Search engines and boosts your ranking. 

When you have a lot of different websites linking to your site, it makes it easy for Google bots to crawl your site effectively.

Things to consider when building backlinks

Before you go ahead to build quality backlinks to your blog,  here are some of the things to consider 

Blog's design - Ensure you have a cool design on your blog. What's the essence of you linking your blog from other websites when your website sucks? No one would like to stay for long on your blog if it is not catchy and appealing to the eyes.  They would exit at the very moment they land on your page. And this will result in a high bounce rate.

• Read: 4 Ways Blog Post Images Reduce My Bounce Rate by 50%

Work on your blog design or probably hire a web designer to do that for you so you do not stand a chance to lose your potential readers.

Blog Niche - If you wish to generate backlinks to your blog,  always do so from other websites that are far more better than you and are of higher authority/rank also on the same niche. It is of no use linking to your blog from an 'Entertainment' niche when you are on a 'Tutorial' niche.

Linking to sites with bad or poor reputation 

Never link to a site that is full of spams or are filled with duplicate contents. It is of no use, and you might end up being penalized by Google for that. Always link to sites that are of good reputation and are not of low quality 

Having said much,  let's now get back to our main discussion,

The best ways to generate high-quality backlinks.

1. Write quality contents 

This is one of the best and easiest ways of building backlinks for your website.  You would not want to build quality backlinks to your blog when all you do is copy and paste duplicated contents or someone else's post.  

It just can't work! Write quality contents, avoid copying and pasting and always come up with interactive and useful posts of your own. If you find it hard to write a quality blog post yourself, get a freelance writer to write for you. Build up your self and also write consistently. It builds your online reputation and is best for your blog's SEO.

Recommended for you:

• Writing High-quality Blog Post; The Complete Secret That Works
• Writing For Search Engines That Also Goes Well With Readers

2. Comment on other blogs 

Comments are very good ways of generating backlinks to your blog too. Don't just spam, leave reasonable and helpful comments on other blogs, give solutions to people's problems and watch how you 'd rank high on Search engines.  It has been tested and proven to be working 

3. Submit your blog to web directories 

Submitting your blog to various web directories is one way of generating quality back links to your blog. It makes it easy for readers to find you on Search engines and boosts your ranking. Here is a list of 131+ manually verified free blog directories that you can submit your blog link.

4. Be active on social media sites 

Social media networks like Facebook,  Twitter are places you can get to meet a lot of people and also get to promote your brand,  products for free. 

When you are active on such social networks, you would know what is trending and that which people are constantly after, work on them and provide relevant solutions to problems and in the end link them to your blog. This would go a long way in generating backlinks to your blog from social media networks.

5. Write reviews

This has been one of the effective ways that have been used for long by most bloggers to generate backlinks to their website. 

Write articles on newly launched products, most searched goods and services that are needed, and that matters to your niche.

When you do, publish the post and ask for a back link to your site.  If your work is good,  you might just end up getting a backlink from such websites to your site.

6. Editing Wikipedia

Wikipedia is one of the biggest source of information online. Editing blog posts on Wikipedia that are relevant to your niche can help generate back links to your blog. 

You should be careful when doing that so as not to get banned or penalized. Wikipedia has a lot of rules, and you should always try to abide by them if you do not want to be banned 

7. Guest blogging 

When you Guest blog on other websites, not only do you get to widen your scope and reach to as many readers as possible, you also build your online personality and build quality backlinks to your website.  When you guest post on other blogs,  include a link to your site.

Need a perfect guide for guest posting? Read this advance guide to link building through guest blogging by Neil Patel.

8. Get Interviewed or Interview others 

Interviewing someone who is more knowledgeable in your niche does not only reveal what you don't know, but it also helps to generate quality backlinks to your website.

Make yourself available, in terms of value, to be interviewed by bloggers in your niche. There is no way you will be interviewed and won't be introduced as the "founder," "writer," "editor" of your blog. You will get a backlink when the interviewer mentions your blog link in his post.

Honestly, there are several other ways to get high-quality backlinks to your blog. But here are the less stressful and effective ways for beginners. You can also start with these.

What way do you consider the least-stressful way to get high-quality backlinks? Which methods do you use? Share it with me in the comment.

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Easiest Way To Apply For Nigeria Google AdSense And Get Fast Approval

Google Adsense is one, and in fact, the top leading way to make money from blogging. Google Adsense pays its publishers an enormous monthly payment depending on how the blog viewers interact with the ads (advertisements) published. This post discusses how you can apply for a Nigeria Google AdSense account easily.

You are not left out too, to make huge dollars from Google Adsense as long as you are approved, and keep to Google AdSense rules and regulations.

But before you start displaying ads (advertisements) on your blog, you need to first apply for Google AdSense and be fully approved. And that's why I've come with the easiest method to apply for Nigeria Google Adsense either through your blogger dashboard or the official Google AdSense website.

{Endevour to read the “10 things to ensure before applying for Google Adsense” before you proceed to read this tutorial}

Note that new blogs will not be allowed to apply for Adsense until it is ripped.

If you are a Blogspot blog user, you can simply apply for Google AdSense through your blogger dashboard using the steps below, followed by the method I described in the next section:

Step 1:

Log in to your blogger dashboard and click on the "Earnings" tab.

Step 2:

Click on the "Sign up for Adsense" button

Step 3:

Then, click on the "Sign in" button. Then, continue with step 4 below.

If you are not a Blogspot user or you would like to apply for a Nigeria Google AdSense through the official Google AdSense website, simply go adsense.google.com and click on the sign-up button.

Step 4:

Enter your blog URL starting the "www", and ick on the "Select a language" or "content language" tab to select "English" as your preferred language. Then click the "Save and continue" button. It takes you to the next step where you fill your contact information.

Step 5:

Change the time zone to "London"

Step 6:

Your "Postal code" is a 6-digit number of your the nearest post office to your number. This is where your verification pin can be sent to you alternatively. You can find the postal code for your location on this website.

Step 7:

Then, click on "Submit my application" popup window will appear where you have to read and accept Adsense agreements.

Step 8:

Check the small box, and then finally click on "Accept"

Step 9:

Press the continue button.

And you are done!

Conclusion:

You will receive notification in your email within 3 - 10 working days. So stay calm if you already ensured the 10 things suggested in this post, although they can't guarantee you 100% approval.

In case you do not like to apply for a Nigeria Google AdSense, you can read this post by Prosper Noah that discusses how you can apply for a UK or USA Google AdSense account.

Do let me know if you would like me to help you review your blog and help you apply for a Nigeria Google AdSense account. Cheers!

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10 Things I Ensured Before Applying For Google Adsense That Got Me Approved

One of the dreams of most bloggers is to get Adsense approved for their blogs. Meanwhile, it is not as easy as you may think.

In fact, so many bloggers have confessed the hardship they faced before they got their AdSense approved. Many applications were declined. Many have lost interest in AdSense and had already lost the hope for AdSense.

The truth is that AdSense is very strict when it comes to approving new applications. Everyone is trying to trick AdSense to get approved so; they have made the process very hard.

But don't worry; following the tips in this post will make it easy for you the same way it did for me.

When I was new to blogging, I applied a few times and got declined too. It was after I found some useful tips and I learned a few things that I stopped to apply and focus on the tips you are about to read.

What are these tips? How effective can they be?

I can not guarantee you 100% effectiveness. Why? Because I am not a partner to the Google AdSense company.

Just a few tips that Google AdSense asks every other blogger who wish to participate in the program, plus the facts gathered by some pro bloggers as per what they think it got their AdSense approved that are used in writing this post.

So sit back and relax while I break down each of the tips to get fast AdSense approval.

1.            Write quality contents

The first thing you should make sure you are doing is “writing quality contents.”

It is not a lie if you have heard it from a thousand people that “content is the king.” Google loves websites with great and quality content because they believe they are the kind of websites that can serve their customers (advertisers) well by displaying their ads on such websites.

If you don’t have quality content on your blog, sorry; Google AdSense might not approve you.

Wonder what a quality content looks like, or how to write quality contents? Check out this post about writing quality contents.

2.            Create and publish the important pages on your blog

Seriously, Google needs to know you are serious to be their publishers. Having these important pages on your can show your level of seriousness.

Create these pages and publish them at the right place in your blog:

• About page – tells users about yourself and/or your blog. It could tell Google AdSense moderators what your blog is all about, and why you need the AdSense on your blog

• Contact page – ways that your visitors can get in touch with you. This can serve as a means of trust to Google AdSense moderators and also make them believe that you are real.

• Privacy Policy – It shows the relationship you would be having with your visitors’ privacy information like cookies and email. Since Google Ads are served to these visitors, Google AdSense needs to care about their private information.

• Disclaimer – for websites that provide information on certain fields, disclaimer page is used to disclaim legal association or affiliation with something or someone on your blog. It protects your blog from legal liabilities. Although this page is not as important as the privacy policy page for all websites, I still advise you have it on your blog if you provide information on particular things.

When you apply for Google AdSense, and your site is being reviewed, these important pages are also look out for. Don’t be surprised that you might be disapproved when these pages are missing on your blog.

You can read this post for more on the important pages you should have on your blog.

3.            Publish many quality posts

When I said the first thing you should take care of is “writing quality contents,” you might want to ask,

 “how many is the ideal post to have on your blog before you apply for Google AdSense?” or “how long should each of my posts be?”

Unfortunately, Google does not specify a certain amount of blog posts or word count each of your blog posts should have . But I will judge based on my experience and some experts’.

Some bloggers got their AdSense approved with a few numbers of posts (as low as 10) with each post not less than 1,500 words in length, while some published a large number of posts (as many as 100) and still got disapproved.

The truth behind this is that you need to publish as many posts as possible with each of the posts as long as possible. I, myself published more than 60 posts with 700 words minimum and 3 thousand words maximum for each post.

I am not really asking you to do the same. But publish as many posts as possible and as long as possible before you apply for Google AdSense. Just make sure you are publishing original posts that are not copied.

4.            Make sure your blog is indexed by Google search engine

When you search for your domain on Google, and your blog does not show up, it simply means your blog is not yet indexed by Google search engine.

In other words, your blog is blocked on Google search engine. And this way will get your application disapproved.

Make sure your Google search engine indexes your blog. Otherwise, do the manual indexing using the Google search console before you apply for Google Adsense.

5.            Use a responsive theme design.

Also, your blog needs to look pretty cool enough for advertisers. The theme you are using should be:

• Simple and professional

• Easy to navigate

• Search engine friendly

• Loads fast

6.            Don't post illegal contents like.

Avoid posting of content that is prohibited by Google such as:

• Adult or pornography content

• Hacking and cracking tutorials

• Illegal drugs

7.            Delete unwanted widgets at sidebars and footer of your blog

Asides from the fact that irrelevant widgets slow your blog page load, they also distract visitors, and it could be annoying to Google advertisers.

Minimize the numbers of widgets you are displaying on your blog to only the important widgets before you apply for Google AdSense.

Remember, you should make your blog look as simple as possible.

8.            Remove all ad networks on your blog (if you have any)

You can not apply for Google AdSense while you have an ad network being displayed on your blog, and get AdSense approval. You can’t also dash your cloth to someone who sells clothes.

Disconnect any type of ad that is being displayed on your blog first before you apply for Google AdSense.

9.            Remove all pop-ups that are on your blog

Recently, Google announces that blogs that show pop-ups on mobile mightget their AdSense banned. This could be due to users preference, but that is the fact.

Pop-ups are mini advertisements that show up when your blog page is loaded. They can be used to advertise a product, send users to another page or collect emails from subscribers.

Since Google AdSense frowns his face at existing users, who are the new users to get approved. That is why I recommend you remove pop-ups on mobile and even desktop.

10.          Get a custom domain (top level domain) for your blog

There is no justification that Google AdSense doesn’t approve blogs with sub level domains like “yourblog.blogspot.com” and “yourblog.wordpress.com.” But it is always advised by experts to switch to a top level domain like "yourblog.com" before applying for Google AdSense.

Bonus tips:

• Add Google analytic code to your blog

• Check your blog page load, and make sure it loads faster before you apply for Google AdSense.

Conclusion:

Getting AdSense approved seems not to be easy. But with these tips I gave above, I can guarantee you AdSense approval within few days you apply.

Ready to apply for an AdSense account? Read the easiest way to apply for Google AdSense account here.

However, you would need to wait for some days after your application for your site to be reviewed.

Google doesn’t also specify the numbers of days you need to wait before you get a response from them. Some get a response few hours after their application while some get a reply after some months. I got approved exactly 15 days after I applied. So, it depends.

For your information, there is more to getting AdSense approval than this post. You can get banned any moment your application is approved if you violate any of the Google AdSense rules and regulations.

Tired of waiting for Google AdSense approval? These are 10 tested ways to makemoney with your blog asides Google Adsense.

Still, like to get Google AdSense approved for your blog? Let me know few challenges you are facing getting AdSense approved in the comment, and let’s see if I can solve them.

Over to you;

Are there any other things you did before you applied for Google AdSense? Let us know that in the comment.

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20 Most Common Blogging Terms You should Be Familiar With

For easier understanding of blogging, I have selected some common terms that are used in blogging and their meaning. So, you don't have to worry about some terms when .you come across them.

This post is the chapter 2 of "The Complete Blogging Guide For beginners. Click here to download the blogging guide in pdf

Read the previous chapter:

• Chapter 1: Complete Introduction To Blogging (All You Need To Know About Blogging) 

Here are the lists of the most common blogging terms you should be familiar with:

#1. Niche

When we talk about blog niche, it's a particular subject that is being treated on a blog. When a student talks about Mathematics, we all know the subject is bound about everything calculations.

Examples of niches include Technology (Tech), Entertainment, and Health, etc.

#2. Domain

A domain name is an identification link that people type into the address bar that takes them to your website. For example, the domain name for my blog is “easymadeblog.com.”

#3. URL

URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. It is an address of a web page or network identification for any resource connected to the web.

Every web page has different and unique URL attached, that can be used to locate the web pages. For now, I want you to believe that a URL is also called a “Link” or an “address” although several web pages state the little difference between “URLs” and “Links.”

An example of a URL or link is www.easymadeblog.com/p/contact-us. Anywhere I use “address”, “link”, or “URL” in this book; I want you to term them as the same.

#4. Spam

A spam is a content about anything, posted where it is not supposed to be. The content might be a post link, a piece of information, an advert or any kind of content.

Even if the content is useful but is posted where it's not supposed to be, it will be marked as spam.

The act of posting a spam is called "Spamming". Spamming is an awful habit that destroys blogs, and Google hates posting spam comments too.

#5. Adsense

Adsense or Google Adsense is an advertising placement by Google. The program is designed for blog and website publishers who want to display targeted text, video or image advertisements on web pages and earn money when the site visitors click the ads (advertisement).

Ads are shown on websites that participate in the Google Adsense program. These people are called “Adsense Publishers.”

Adsense is the primary reasons why most people come to the blogosphere. We all want to earn from our passion. You can also make thousands of dollars from Adsense when you do it right. I discuss how you can apply for Adsense later in this book.

#6. Gadget/Widget

A gadget or widget is an application that is added and embedded to blogs, that has its own particular function it does on the blog.

A gadget is added to blog's layout with the sole aim of adding a feature to blogs or performing a particular function on the blog.

Examples of gadgets are the "Contact form" gadget that lets users send you to message directly from your blog and the "HTML" gadget that enables you to add any script or code to your blog.

#7. Templates/Themes

According to wisegeek.net, a blog template is a theme that can be used to manipulate the physical presentation of a blog, with settings which apply to every page on the blog so that bloggers can establish a single template, and then focus on content, instead of having to customise each and every single entry.

Because blogging also involves complex activities like maintaining archives, creating dynamic pages, etc., blog template automates these functions, reducing the risk of errors across the blog and allowing bloggers to focus on creating content instead of building a website.

Different kinds of the template can be applied to the blog to see how each looks like. You can download templates from template creator websites or stores like gooyaabitemplates.com.

#8. HTML

HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. It is the standard markup language used for creating Web or blog pages.

HTML elements are represented by tags which consist of pieces of content such as “heading”, “paragraph”, “table”, and so on.

Browsers do not display the HTML tags but use them to render the content of the page

#9. CSS

According to tutorialspoint.com, Cascading Style Sheets, fondly referred to as CSS, is a simple design language intended to simplify the process of making web pages (created with HTML) presentable.

CSS handles the look and feel part of a web page. Using CSS, you can control the colour of the text, the style of fonts, the spacing between paragraphs, how columns are sized and laid out, what background images or colours are used, layout designs variations in the display for different devices and screen sizes as well as a variety of other effects.

CSS provides powerful control over the presentation of an HTML document. Most commonly, CSS is combined with the markup languages HTML or XHTML.

#10. Keyword

A keyword is a phrase/word that is used to search for relevant information or web pages on search engines. A keyword could be 2-3-4 or more words.

Keywords are also used in blog posts for maximum optimization by search engines.

Search engines focus on keywords to serve their users better, and this makes it vital to understand how to use keyword better in blog posts.

#11. Search engine

Search engine refers to a program that searches for and identifies items in a database that correspond to keywords or characters used by the user, used especially for finding particular sites on the World Wide Web.

The commonest and the leading search engine is Google where users go to find information related to the keyword used.

Other examples of search engine include "Bing", "Yandex", "Yahoo" etc

• Read >> Submit Your Blog's Sitemap to 3 Search Engines For More Traffic

#12. SEO

SEO simply stands for Search Engine Optimisation. It is the process and strategy you apply that gives you natural visitors from search engines (known as organic traffic).

When a user searches for a keyword on search engines, thousands of results are brought to him based on what the search engine consider as the most relevant to him. When he now clicks on a link that takes him to your website (for instance), you have organic traffic. This is the work of search engine optimisation.

In other words, SEO is the methods you apply that make your blog appear on the first page of search engines as relevant to particular keywords by users. I believe you understand what SEO means now, let us check the central importance of SEO.

The main reason why many people are focused on SEO is to get much traffic by appearing first when a user searches for a keyword on search engines.

• Read also >> 5 Simplest SEO Practices For Blogger Blog Posts

#13. Tag/Label

I mean to explain "Post tag or label" here. Post tag is simply a label or a keyword you assign to your post. It provides a useful way to group related posts together and to quickly tell readers what a post is about.

Depending on the theme and widgets you have activated, tags can be displayed at the top or bottom of posts, on the individual post view, and/or in the sidebar. You can assign multiple tags per post.

For example, a post may display that it has been tagged with "baseball" and "tickets." Each of those tags is usually a link that can be clicked on to see all the posts that have the particular tag. 

#14. Crawl & Index

When your blog is crawled by an internet robot (bot), usually called “Spider” or “Crawler”, it is said that your blog pages are being checked for the presence of content.

Search engines and some other websites use “Web Crawling” or “Spidering” software to update their blog content or indices (stored content) of other sites’ web content. Web crawlers can copy all the pages they visit for later processing by a search engine which indexes the downloaded pages so the users can search more conveniently.

“Indexing” happens when spiders (or bots) download the web (blog) content and store them for search engines in order to allow users search conveniently.

#15. Traffic

Traffic is what is used to measure a number of page views that you have on your blog. “Page views” means the total number of times any of your blog posts (or any other page) is opened or reloaded. If I open 2 blog posts on your blog and I reload each of them 2 times, you will have 4 page views from me.

#16. Dashboard

A dashboard page is what you will see when you log in to access your blog, and is available anytime. The dashboard lists all of your blogs and includes several icon buttons to the right of each blog’s name.

Below is a screen shot of a blogger dashboard:

#17. Script/Code

A computer script is a list of commands that are interpreted by a certain program or scripting engine, like "a blog." Scripts may be used to generate Web pages on the Web.

Apparently, it is agreed that blog templates are made of scripts (set of commands).

"Script" and "Code" are two different words with a slight difference, but are often used to define each other. Here's an example of a script that I copied from my blog's template below:

#18. XML

XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language. XML is a markup language much like HTML. XML was designed to store and transport data.

XML can also serve as a file extension much like jpg used for pictures and mp3 for music. Files that are saved in XML format consist of codes/scripts (set of commands).

Examples of such files are the "Blog content" and the "Blog Template".

#19. Permalink

A permalink or permanent link is a URL (or link) to an individual blog post or page. An example is easymadeblog.com/2017/

#20. Hyperlinks

The hyperlink is a word, phrase, or image that you can click on to jump to a new document or a new section within the current document.

Hyperlinks are found in nearly all Web pages, allowing users to click their way from page to page.

Text hyperlinks are often blue and underlined. An example of the hyperlink is "this post" - when you click on it; it takes you to a web page.

The terminologies are not limited to these. In fact, they are many. These list just brief the most common terms that are used in blogging.

Read the next chapter:

• Chapter 3: Guidelines to choosing a blog niche and domain name for a new blog

Remember: You can get the the complete guide for beginners in pdf.

Are there any common blogging terms you would like to add? Let's hear from you in the comment.

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Complete Introduction To Blogging (All You Need To Know About Blogging)

I have always talked about having a blog, and now, you're curious to know what a blog is; why you should own one; what you would benefit from having a blog; and what steps you need to create your own blog; and particularly how to make money from your blog.

I will give you brief overviews of everything you need to know about blogging in this post.

So, get yourself a cup of tea as you read this fascinating post. 

What is blogging?

Blogging is the act of updating a web log or simply, website. - Just exactly like updating your diary frequently. Although a blog has slight differences from a website, I would like to call a “blog” a “website” because that's what you might be familiar with.

Let me now tell you the real meaning of a blog.

What is a blog?

Several experts give different definitions to the word "blog", but all is pointing to the same meaning.

Here are some definitions:

A blog (also called a weblog or web log) is a website consisting of entries (also called posts) appearing in reverse chronological order with the most recent entry appearing first (similar in format to a daily journal)

• "Blog" is an abbreviated version of "weblog," which is a term used to describe websites that maintain an ongoing chronicle of information.

• A "blog" is a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, which is written in an informal or conversational style.

• A blog (a truncation of the expression web log ) is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary - style text entries ("posts") - Wikipedia

• A blog (short for weblog) is a personal online journal that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. – searchwindevelopment.com

Let's stop there.

With these different definitions, we can conclude that

A "blog" is a logbook (or diary) on the World Wide Web that is always updated by posts (or articles).

Here, we understand that there are 2 major things concerned with a blog:

• A logbook on the Internet (web), and

• Posts (or articles) that are frequently updated.

Hence, to have a blog, you need to have a device that makes use of the Internet web (either smartphone or PC) and must also have "posts" to publish frequently.

That is exactly my point. But you cannot go ahead to call yourself a blogger, if after you have a device that makes use of the Internet web and also has posts ideas to publish frequently until you know what being "a blogger" takes. Let's take a look at this:

Who is a blogger?

A blogger is someone who blogs or writes content for a blog. You cannot become a blogger until you know and understand the kind of content you write for a blog.

The word "Blogger" doesn't only mean someone who blogs. It is also a platform for blogging. This is fully discussed in another topic

So, why blogging? Why am I telling you to blog? Is there anything you gain from blogging? Find out the answers to these questions in the next topic.

What can you profit from blogging?

Like I do tell people; do not do what will not profit you in one way or the other. It's a waste of time and resources. But blogging has several ways it can profit you.

Do me a quick favor, search for these names on Google to know who they are, and what they worth:

• Jide Ogunsanya
• Linda Ikeji
• Bamidele Onibalusi
• Don Caprio
• Makinde Azeez
• Seun Osewa

To mention few; they are all bloggers in Nigeria!

Apart from the fact that blogging makes you self-employed, here are some other benefits you can derive from blogging:

• Blogging makes you become a better writer

• It gets you more customers to your existing business

• It helps you gain more influence and makes you popular

• You become expert in your field and helps you stay knowledgeable

• You can sell your online and offline products through blogging

• It helps you build trust for yourself and your business.

And several other benefits you would find out when you are fully into it. Honestly, blogging is sweet.

I guess now, you like blogging and would like to star it in no time. But did you know there are some categories of people I would not advise they do blogging? Learn that on this next topic.

Who can't do blogging?

What works for Tom might actually not work for Jerry, you should know that. That your friend is doing well in blogging doesn't guarantee you success in blogging.

Despite the benefits you can derive from blogging (that I discussed above), I will advise you not to do blogging if you fall within these categories:

• You're lazy

• You can't write content and yet, can't make research

• You are not patient

• You are not consistent

• You are not creative and yet, can't learn new things

• The worst part I don’t like to hear: You are looking for quick cash. Of course, blogging is NOT a get rich quick scheme. So, if you are looking for a quick rich business, blogging is NOT for you. Sorry, I did not intend to sound harsh.

But I bet, if you don't fall within those categories, you're pretty good to go.

So let's dive into the blogging platforms where you can build your blog.

Blogging platforms

A blogging platform is a software or system where you create, manage and update your blog.

There are many blogging platforms, but only a few are popular and known. Among the popular platforms are:

• Wordpress

• Blogger

• Joomla

• Tumblr

• Wix... And others.

Which of these platforms are we now going to use in this book? It's Blogger! Blogger was developed by Pyra Labs and was bought by Google in 2003.

Why choose "Blogger" platform?

It is observed in the charts below that blogger is not the most common blogging platform. Then, why don't we go for the most common platform?

Well, I asked the same question when I was about to start blogging. Here are few reasons that convinced me too:

• Blogger is the second most common and popular platform in the whole word - which isn't that bad - and it keeps increasing in percentage every year.

• As it was confirmed by some people, blogger is very easy to use for beginners in terms of setup and coding.

• Setting up a blog on Blogger is FREE, unlike the platform that takes the first position.

• All Google product blogs and other top blogs like Shoutmeloud were run on blogger before some were moved to the self-hosted platform (paid platform).

• These 50 top blogs, including Easymadeblog and Ogbongeblog, are being run on Blogger platform - meaning it isn't bad if a newbie can use it too.

These are just a few reasons why we are choosing blogger.

<--!adsense--> Next Chapters:

• Chapter 2: 20 Most Common Blogging Terms You Should Be Familiar With
• Chapter 3: Choosing a niche and domain name for your blog

Why stress yourself while you can get the Complete Blogging Guide For Beginners in PDF format?

Click here to download the e-book.

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