by Rahimah Sultan

Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links on this website. There is no expense to you.

While AI (artificial intelligence) may be faster at producing content than humans, it’s not necessarily more accurate or even more efficient than human-generated content. Overall, human content performs better.

Faster doesn’t equal better. Even though human-generated content takes longer to create… Read Article Here

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by Rahimah Sultan

Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links on this website. There is no expense to you.

Blogs are evolving even as video content is gaining more attention. They’re not stagnating, just adapting by offering a fuller experience that may now include:

Podcasts
Videos

Infographics


This keeps readers engaged and offers different content preferences. Offering a media mix helps people find the detailed information they want.

Blogs have a continuing place in the digital world. Millions of people still read blogs every day, including younger generations. Even with the advancement of AI and other technologies, they aren’t going away. They’re adapting and staying relevant.

Some benefits of blogging are:

Boosting Your Visibility with Google

Blogging is essential to get noticed. Google holds over 90% of the search engine market where most people start their online journey. You can rank in top positions with a blog and receive more organic traffic, as blogs sit in the top five spots about 23% of the time, according to Search Engine Land. This means more eyes on your brand and more organic traffic.

Building Trust with Your Audience

A blog is a powerful way to show your expertise by sharing well-researched and insightful content that positions you or your company as an authority. This is essential in a digital environment where people can’t see or touch products before buying. Blogs clear confusion, answer customers’ questions, and build trust.

Creating Community Loyalty

Although community engagement is key, as companies with solid communities see more customer loyalty, social sharing and encouraging comments turn your blog into a place where readers can connect with you, your brand, and each other.

As loyal customers are worth more over their lifetime, it’s vital to keep them engaged.

You can extend your reach and deepen relationships by sharing blog content on social media.

Leveraging Networking and Collaboration

A trustworthy blog can provide new opportunities. Influencers, industry experts, and like-minded professionals often want to collaborate with authoritative businesses and a compelling audience.

This can lead to:

Guest posts
Joint ventures
Interviews

Expanding Your Reach and Building Relationships

To diversify and bring new voices into the mix, you can collaborate with others, which broadens your reach and creates more growth opportunities. Your blog can become a hub for industry knowledge and thought leadership which makes it a valuable tool for building lasting professional relationships.

Establishing Thought Leadership


Blogging is a unique opportunity to show your expertise. Your blog is your place to share your knowledge and perspective on business advice, product insights, or DIY tips.

Publishing relevant and valuable content helps you become a go-to source for information in your niche. This authority turns into higher sales, stronger customer loyalty, and better engagement.

Customers are more likely to buy from brands they trust, and a blog that consistently provides value can build that trust without being too focused on sales.

Enhancing User Engagement

Blogs offer an in-depth method of engaging with your audience, while short videos and social media posts grab attention quickly. Blogs allow you to showcase your personality, explore topics more deeply, and create meaningful connections.

Readers can have a more immersive experience with blogs than video or social media alone. They can engage with your content at their own pace, explore related articles, and re-read sections that interest them.

Building Lasting Impact

This degree of engagement makes blogging especially valuable for businesses looking to create a lasting impact with their content. A well-written blog can resonate with readers on a deeper level, fostering long-term loyalty and trust in your brand.



Do people still read blogs?


Although AI like ChatGPT is surging, blogs remain important players in the digital world. They’re not out of the picture but are thriving. Blogs are assets for building brand awareness and connecting with consumers. They offer a way to put out content that feels genuine, unlike the polished nature of news articles.



Why do people still prefer reading blogs?


Blogs are efficient, user-friendly, and accessible, which keeps them popular. When people need information, reading is sometimes quicker than watching a video. Users can skim through headings and skip to what they need, which is how people naturally use information. It’s easier to click around for more details or to go back to certain sections. This keeps them popular.

Blogging is profitable although it’s not a shortcut to success. When launching any business, you must have dedication, planning, and consistent effort.


Your blog can be a powerful platform for promoting products or services, developing a stream of revenue, and building an audience. Making money through blogging takes time and commitment. You have to invest hours writing high-quality content, optimizing for SEO, and building an engaged community. But, blogs are still relevant.


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by Rahimah Sultan

Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links on this website. There is no expense to you.

While doing my research, I found that although AI is faster at producing content than humans, it’s not necessarily more accurate or even more efficient than human-generated content. Overall, human content performs better.

Faster doesn’t equal better. Even though human-generated content takes longer to create, it gets more visitors.


So, what is this advantage that humans have over AI chatbots?

It basically comes down to context and emotion.

AI isn’t capable of always understanding the context of content. Although it can write 2,000-word articles on any number of complex topics, it can’t often fit this information into the context of larger concepts. So, AI-generated content can miss out on nuance and important related and relevant insights.

In order to help readers understand and digest the subject matter easily, human content writers are better able to make big-picture connections.

Another area where AI falls short is emotion and empathy. You can ask a chatbot to write a blog article with a certain tone, but the results can be unnatural and ineffective. People are emotional creatures.

Content writers have life experiences they draw upon to write content that inspires sadness, fear, happiness, or anger because they’ve felt these emotions. They can also be subtle with their delivery, another area where AI-generated content frequently fails.

All of this is not to say that you should avoid using AI. You just need to know when to use it strategically and how to effectively leverage it.


Following are a few tips for using AI in your content creation activities:


Data Collection and Analysis

Although you can’t always trust the data and citations provided by AI, you can trust them with the data you provide yourself. Chatbots are great for summarizing and analyzing data so you can provide more insights to your readers.

Use it to brainstorm. ChatGPT, AnswerThePublic, and other chatbots are able to deliver dozens of blog topic ideas in a few minutes. You can be as specific or general with what you want in your request.

Use it to write a first draft. Although you need to spend time humanizing AI content, you can ask chatbots to create articles by using prompts like the one above. This means adding context, removing redundancies and inaccuracies, and adding to your brand’s voice.

Use it to conduct consumer research. For digital ad testing, content testing, and more you can use tools like Poll the People to conduct surveys and then analyze them.

You can and should use AI freely, but don’t become over-reliant on it. You should view it like any other tool in your digital marketing cache.



Is AI good for keyword research?

If you’ve ever spent hours analyzing spreadsheets, digging through search volume numbers, or trying to predict the best-performing keywords, you’re probably looking for a smarter, faster way to handle keyword research.

AI-powered keyword research can be your definitive SEO partner, helping you to predict trends,  discover hidden keyword opportunities, and better understand user intent.

AI isn’t about replacing your expertise—it’s about expanding it. AI now becomes your SEO assistant. It’s about making your SEO strategies more effective and efficient.

You can use AI tools to save time and effort, speed up keyword research, provide smart keyword suggestions, and analyze large datasets quickly.

Among other tasks, you can use AI for search engine results page (SERP) analysis, for searching competitor strategies, and for searching sentiment insights.

AI can automate tasks, but, as stated earlier in this article, it can’t replace your expertise. For best results, combine AI data with your knowledge.

Relying too much on AI tools, without oversight, can lead to errors. Plus, AI tools for keyword research can be costly and they require a learning curve.

From Semrush to ChatGPT, select tools that fit your strategy needs—whether that’s creative brainstorming or deep analysis.


AI is transforming keyword research, making it more accurate, faster, and more insightful than ever before. By using AI keyword research tools to help create your SEO strategies, you can uncover hidden opportunities, stay ahead of the competition, and save time. Just remember, the most powerful approach combines AI’s data-crunching abilities with your unique industry expertise and creativity. Leaverage this technology when and where it makes the most sense for you.

The future of SEO is here. Take your online journey to the next level by using AI in your small business. Continue your online journey and start experimenting with AI tools today— Don’t get left behind.



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by Rahimah Sultan

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According to MarketWatch, about 54% of working Americans focus on side hustles or small businesses and freelancing to plan for savings and emergencies and create passive income for normal expenses and planning for the future. The majority of this number is comprised of 71% of Gen Z and 68% of Millennials.

Although launching a business can be exciting, you can easily become overwhelmed without proper planning. Starting a business from your home is like starting any business with one exception. You won’t need to lease commercial space.

If you’re thinking about starting a home-based business, you probably already know the type of business you plan to launch. If not, the first step is to identify your concept. If you have an idea, fine-tune it before launching your home-based business.


What does it take to start an HBB?


Here’s how you should proceed to get your freelance venture or small business up and running:

1. Choose a business concept that aligns with your interests, career background, or newly developed skills.

2. Outline your strategy and create a business plan.

3. Be disciplined and set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) goals toward achieving your long-term goal.

4. Set up a dedicated workspace and prepare all your essential remote working tools, software, etc.

5. Build your brand identity and expand it through your online presence across social media platforms, and visibility on Google using your website, and through email marketing channels.

6. Before fully launching, prepare to track your finances and business banking.

7. Test your idea on a small group of people, gather feedback, and fine-tune your business model, service, or product offering.

8. Running a business all on your own can be isolating, and mentally and emotionally challenging. Focus on ways to maintain work-life balance and a network with others while operating your business from home.

9. Constantly learn and improve, and as your business picks up find methods to work smarter instead of harder and to shorten hours.


In a nutshell, this is what it takes to start a home-based business.

Starting a home-based business can be exciting and rewarding, although there will be challenges as with anything new.



What are the advantages of owning a home-based business?


Some advantages of owning a home-based business:

No Commuting

No Commuting is the most obvious one, as it saves time and bus fare or car expenses unless you have to travel to visit customers.

Lower Overhead

Since you won’t have to buy or rent business space elsewhere or maintain a separate office, you’ll probably only have the cost of business licenses and taxes.

Tax Advantages

Check with your Chamber of Commerce for tax advantages.

Operating a home-based business can be a way to recover your business expenses and sometimes reduce the amount of income tax you have to pay. To qualify for a reduction in income taxes, your office space area needs to pass the “exclusive use” test, meaning you must be able to show that a part of your home is your primary place of business and is used regularly and exclusively for conducting business.

Family Time

If you have children, operating a home-based business can allow you more flexibility with child care and more time to spend with family.

When your children are old enough, you can legally employ them in your business, as long as you follow the rules. There are certain restrictions, especially for children under the age of 18.

Always consult with an attorney before taking steps to employ your children in your business so that you can ensure compliance with all federal, state, and local regulations, which may vary greatly depending on locality.



What are the disadvantages of owning a home-based business?



An HBB is not for everyone; there are some disadvantages:

Municipalities regulate home-based businesses, and particular neighborhoods may have agreements against them. If you’re renting, landlords tend not to be home-based business-friendly.

Might Not Work for You

A home-based business might not work for you, even if allowed where you live. Signage, parking, and the need for home-based insurance might make running a home-based business a bad idea. Conflict can be created between other tenants and your landlord who may be irritated at the non-resident traffic.

Isolation

Countless people, who run home-based businesses, suffer from feelings of isolation and being out of the loop. This can be particularly intense for people who have spent much of their career in highly collaborative office areas and suddenly have no one to talk to when they switch to an entirely home-based business career.

Interferes with Family life

Some people find that running a home-based business causes a conflict in their family life. They may find that running a business out of the home means that business needs are regularly taking away family time. This blurring of the lines between home and business means they never feel off the clock even after hours.



Starting a home-based business provides you with a unique opportunity to grow at your own pace, achieve the seemingly impossible in your career, and work flexibly at the same time. It allows strong potential for significant professional growth.

If after performing due diligence and research you decide you have what it takes to start a home-based business, use this information to get started today.


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by Rahimah Sultan

Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.

You shouldn’t be overly concerned about word count when writing content. The quality is what really matters.

Due to recent algorithm updates, shorter articles are ranking better. But this is also related to changes in the way we consume content. The ideal length also changes significantly across industries.


Tech websites use fairly short articles that are commentaries on a product, technology development, or an event.


Fashion is another industry that uses short posts. These readers don’t care about the history of a trend or how garments are made. What you’re going to see are thousands of articles about which looks are hot and how to recreate them.


Job recruitment topics usually range from 900 – 1,000 words. Job hunters don’t have the time to read thousands of words. They want to find new employment quickly.


Food Bloggers can use around 1,200 words to cover an introduction and an in-depth recipe.


Finance, sales, and healthcare are some industries that still benefit from the comprehensiveness and depth of long-form content. As these industries cover fairly complex topics, it’s almost always necessary to go beyond 2,000 words in order to satisfy readers’ interest.


Retail, manufacturing, marketing, food, and travel use mid-length articles of 1,000 – 2,000 words to cover information. This remains the most common article length.



Keep your target audience in mind at all times, as you choose your blog topics and how much content to write for each. If you know their needs can be met with less than 1,000 words, don’t waste their time with fluff.


While doing research for this article, I came across this quote from Ryan Velez, freelance writer and editor:

Ideal blog length has always evolved over time. As a response to the wave of 750-word content, things expanded to be a lot more comprehensive, 2,500 words-plus. Now, with the wave of AI-generated content flooding the internet, word count doesn’t guarantee quality to the same degree. Combine that with the ‘TikTok Effect,’ and ideal content size is smaller now and quicker to get to the point. Think 1,500 to 2,000 words.



What is content marketing?

Content marketing is a long-term strategy used with the goal of building relationships with your target audience by methodically delivering high-quality, relevant content that educates and ultimately makes sales.



Long-Form Content vs. Short-Form

Web users are becoming smarter. Searches using long-tailed keywords increase daily. These users want specific answers to specific questions. So, your content strategy needs to match their increasing knowledge.

Creating content with a high word count allows the you to feel a sense of achievement you don’t get when writing 500-word articles. Marketers are feeling like they have to create long-form content to get a toehold in the SERPs.

But the times are changing. Users are falling in love with short-form content. It’s part of the reason U.S. adults spend up to an hour on TikTok.

Over 50 percent of business videos are less than two minutes long.

Combine these statistics with the fact that more and more adults believe attention spans are getting shorter, and it’s easy to see why consumers are placing greater emphasis and trust in concise articles that quickly answer their questions.



So, back to the question, how long should your blog articles be?


Two decades ago, the average article length was between 500-800 words. By the mid-2010s, articles were in excess of 2,000 words.

There are multiple reasons for this which include the way readers scan articles online and the psychology of equating length with quality.

Now, more concise articles are the trend. Although these aren’t quite as short as 800 words, they are short enough to quickly answer readers’ questions.


As you can see, longer is not necessarily better, neither is shorter. There is no one correct answer for blog article length. It’s dependent upon the industry. Your focus should be on quality not quantity or rankings.

Focus on top-quality content and promote it effectively rather than on how much to write.

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by Rahimah Sultan

Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.

It can be embarrassing when somebody else finds a grammar mistake in your work, but don’t let it get to you. We all make grammar mistakes.


What is a grammar mistake?


A grammar mistake is any incorrect usage of a word or a deviation from established grammatical rules.

As language continually evolves, a phrase or word choice that’s used today may have been a grammar mistake in the past.

We’ll view 13 common grammar mistakes to avoid in writing so you’ll know how to identify, fix, and steer clear of them.

Your goal is to have clear, polished, mistake-free writing. So, we’ll look at 13 common grammar mistakes and show you how to fix them.


1.   Who vs. that


Use who when referring to a person. That is used for inanimate objects.

Example          My brother is the one who wrote the book.

Example          I bought a purse that is light to carry.

Example          They’re part of an organization that promotes organic farming.


2.   Affect vs. effect

Affect is a verb that means to cause something to happen. Effect is a noun that indicates a result.

Example          How will the continuous rain affect construction?

Example          The increasing layoffs will have a major effect on the economy.


3.   Who’s vs. whose

Who’s is a contraction of who is. Whose is a relative pronoun; a possessive form of who.

Example          Who’s ready to go?

Example          Whose bookbag is this?

4.   Who vs. whom

Who is the subject in a sentence, while whom is the object.

Example          Who will be going to the banquet this weekend?

Example          To whom shall I address the package?


5.   Less vs. fewer

Less is used to describe an abstract or otherwise uncountable amounts of items. Fewer is used for countable numbers of items.

Example          The students had less time to practice today.

Example          If fewer people used disposable water bottles, there would be less plastic in landfills.


6.   I.e. vs. e.g.

I.e. which is short for, id est, is used to clarify statements. E.g., short for exempli gratia, is used to provide examples.

Example          I’ll be off again tomorrow, (i.e., I’m still very sick).

Example          I’ve read lots of books over the past year (e.g., Undaunted, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and How Green was my Valley).

Always add a comma following these abbreviations, and enclose them in parentheses.


7.   Then vs. than

Then indicates when something will happen. Than is used to compare things or people.

Example          First we’ll have lunch; then go to a movie.

Example          All my brothers are taller than me.


8.   Each and every

Each refers to two items or the individual items in a group. Every refers to three or more items or to the group as a whole.

Example          Each of my children came to visit me this year.

Example          Every one of my coworkers is going to the restaurant.


9.   May vs. might

May is generally used in the present tense to ask for permission and to indicate something that is likely to happen. Might is used with the past tense and to describe things that either didn’t happen or are unlikely to happen.

Example          May I bring a guest to the party?

Example          There might have been time for review, but the fire alarm went off.


10. Farther vs. further

Farther refers to literal distance. Further means “more.”

The mountain looked farther away than ever.

We’ll have no further communication.


11. Past vs. passed

Past can be a noun, an adjective, a preposition, or an adverb. It refers to something that has already happened. Passed is a verb.

Example          My cousin told us stories about the past.

Example          The bus passed on our right side.


12. Passive voice

While not inherently incorrect, many writers use the passive voice when the active voice would be a more correct, clearer choice.

Passive voice: The layout was prepared by me.

Active voice: I prepared the layout.


13. Possessive nouns

Possessive nouns are versions of nouns that show ownership. They often use apostrophes.

Example          That’s John’s letter opener.


For a plural possessive noun, the apostrophe goes after the s.

Example          The marchers’ instruments.

There are different schools of thought about what to do when a singular possessive noun ends in the letter s. Some say the apostrophe goes at the end, without adding an s.

Example          That’s Jonas’ car.

The Chicago style requires that when a name ending in s becomes possessive, you add an apostrophe and an s.

Example          That’s Jonas’s car.


These are just 13 common grammar mistakes to avoid in writing, but there are many others that people make. Practice, reading extensively, and using grammar-checking tools will help you spot mistakes and make corrections. With time, practice, and patience, you’ll be able to improve your grammar skills and become a more confident writer.

I recommend Grammarly as a checking tool. It’s free.


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by Rahimah Sultan

Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.

When it comes to content writing, finding the right topic and angle can seem almost impossible.


If you’re balancing a lot on your plate and facing tight deadlines, you can feel stumped and uninspired. Here are some trending content writing topics to keep your writing rhythm going.

Why is having content writing topics important?


Having content writing ideas is important because it:

Saves time – if you pre-plan your content there’s time to research and write more effectively, thus, saving time and effort.

Avoids writer’s block – To avoid last-minute decisions, have a list of topics beforehand which eliminates stress and keeps your mind clear to focus on creating quality content.

Ensures variety – To meet various preferences and needs and to create diverse fresh content, keep sample topics for content writing ready.

Boosts productivity – When you have a clear map of topics, you can work more effectively promptly produce high-quality content.

Builds topical authority – You can build trust and authority in your niche by planning your content around specific topics that allow you to dive deep and showcase your expertise.

Improves scheduling – If you have content topics in advance, you can create a content calendar, which makes it easier to consistently schedule, write, and publish.


Content writing includes a large blend of niche-based topics that offer you many options to explore.


What are some niche content writing topics?


Here are seven creative writing content niches:

Science and Technology

Cybersecurity Trends And Tips

Breakthroughs In Space Exploration

Machine Learning Algorithms

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in Gaming

How Robotics is Changing Industries

Latest Renewable Energy Innovations

How Blockchain Works

Advancements In Medical Technology

The Possibility of Achieving Immortality Through Science

Future Transport: Electric Vehicles, Self-Driving Cars, And Hyperloop

Fashion and Lifestyle

How to Find Your Signature Look

The Evolution of Streetwear Culture

How Clothing Impacts Our Mood and Confidence

Tips For Mixing And Matching Patterns In Fashion

Must-Know DIY Fashion Hacks

Beauty Routines For Every Skin Type

Fashion Icons of The Decade

How To Build A Capsule Wardrobe

Seasonal Wardrobe Essentials

How To Make Mindful Purchasing Decisions

Budgeting Tips And Strategies For Financial Wellness

Ways To Design A Cozy And Functional Home Office Space


Health and Wellness

Tips For Reducing Screen Time

How To Maintain A Balanced Diet

The Science Behind Intermittent Fasting

Healthy Meal Prep Ideas For The Week

The Importance Of Sleep Hygiene

Healing Herbs For Everyday Use

The Power Of Positive Thinking

Home Workouts For All Fitness Levels

The Benefits Of Yoga For Stress Management

Natural Healing Through Ayurvedic Practices

Mindfulness Practices For Busy Lives


Travel and photography

The Impact Of Travel On Personal Growth

How To Travel on A Budget

Traveling With Kids: Family-Friendly Destinations

Packing Essentials For Different Climates

Top Destinations For Adventure Seekers

Tips For Solo Travelers

Astrophotography For Beginners

Drone Photography Essentials

The Beauty Of Capturing Culture Through Photography

Landscape Photography Tips


Food and Recipes

Healthy Snacks For Busy Days

The Role Of Nutrition In Healthy Eating

Meal Planning And Prepping For Busy People

Seasonal Recipes For Fresh Produce

Cooking With Alternative Ingredients

Desserts You Can Make In Under 30 Minutes

Creative Plating Techniques For Home Cooks

Restaurant Recipe Hacks

Cooking For A Crowd: Tips And Tricks

Baking Tips For Beginners


Business and Finance

Steps To Start And Launch Your Own Business

Personal Finance Tips For Millennials

Emerging Trends In E-Commerce

The Future Of Remote Work And Its Impact On Businesses

How To Improve Your Credit Score

The Importance Of Networking In Business

Investment Strategies For Beginners

The Role Of Digital Marketing In Business Growth

Inspiring Stories Of Female Entrepreneurs


Sports and Entertainment

Upcoming Sports Events To Watch This Year

The Rise Of Women In Sports And Media

Unforgettable Moments In Sports History

The Best Sports Documentaries To Watch

How To Stay Fit Like Your Favorite Athletes

Celebrity Athletes And Crossover Careers

The Impact Of Streaming Services On Entertainment

Behind The Scenes: The Making Of A Movie

The Evolution Of Stand-Up Comedy


These content writing topics will help excite your readers enough to get them to open and further explore your blog.

Once you have suitable content writing topics lined up for your upcoming blog articles, it’s time to create a blog outline for logical content structure.

This outline should include:

Title – should be appealing enough to let reader know what your blog is about and why they should spend their time on it.

Intro – Follow the title with persuasive introduction ideas that paint a clear picture of what your blog topic will cover and what can be expected from it. Make sure to add ideas that make the reader stay instead of leaving.

Body and Headings – Identify main sections or key points you want to cover in your blog article. These sections form the bulk of your post and should be in logical order.

Divide them into main headings and subheadings. These sections will form the core of your blog article, each addressing a specific portion or idea related to your topic.

Conclusion

You need an engaging conclusion to nicely wrap up your content. Your outline must signal you to recap all the key takeaways from when you actually write the article.



To keep them reading use the following blog post best practices:

Create an Engaging Title

Understand Your Target Audience

Incorporate strategic Keywords

Use Tools to Proofread Your Content

Leverage Internal & External Linking


Check out the aforementioned 7 creative writing content niches trending topics and find the best one for your niche and write about it. Each topic holds its own potential. It’s your writing style that adds a distinctive touch and gets your content to the level of being top-ranked on Google’s search engine results page.

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by Rahimah Sultan

Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.

What is copywriting?

Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. Copywriting is aimed at selling products or services. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or group to take a particular action. Copywriters help to create billboards, brochures, catalogs, jingle lyrics, magazine and newspaper advertisements, sales letters and other direct mail, scripts for television or radio commercials, taglines, white papers, website and social media posts, and other marketing communications. All this aligned with the target audience’s expectations while keeping the content and copy fresh, relevant, and effective. Wikipedia

This article discusses several types of copywriting you can use in your business.

Businesses have always needed to reach prospective customers and effectively communicate what they offer.

In our modern information age, Continue


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Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.

What is the best blogging platform?

Through research, I’ve found the following list to be five of the best blogging platforms for beginning bloggers.

There are many popular options to choose from including Wix.com, Tumblr, Weebly, Blogspot, Joomla, Typepad, Ghost, Squarespace, and others.

We’ll focus on only five (FREE) platforms for beginning bloggers.

1. Medium

How to get started

Medium has several ways to register.

Go to Medium.com, and to avoid having to remember yet another password Click the “Get started” button.

Choose to sign in with Google or a social media account then click “OK.”

For $0 you get a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) minimalist blogging platform.

After you join, click the avatar (floating head) and select new story. You’ll land on an easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor.

There’s no trial and error or guessing.

Medium’s pros:

Built-in audience of over 60 million readers!
Good for all blog types
Your blog looks professional
More business-friendly than WordPress.com
Monetization is possible with the Medium Partner Program


Medium’s Cons:

Little to no customization. Your blog will look like all other Medium blogs. Medium offers stats, but you can’t link to your Google account to use Google Analytics


2. WordPress.com

How to get started

Go to WordPress.com and click the “Get Started” button.

Enter your email address, a username, and a strong password.

For step 2, enter some details about your blog.

In step 3, enter an address for your site.

Start typing and you’ll get a list of options. Select the “Free” one.
Then, pick a plan. Again, select the “Free” option.

The “free for life” plan has numerous features.

For $0 you get:


A free WordPress.com subdomain
“Jetpack” essential features
Community support
Dozens of free themes/templates


A domain is what comes after the https:// at the top of your browser.

In the case of WordPress, the domain name is wordpress.com.

So what’s a subdomain? If the domain is the parent, the subdomain is the child. Anything between the “https://” and the domain is a subdomain.

Some examples:

alumni.harvard.edu

braves.mlb.com

finance.yahoo.com


So, if I wanted to start “Marketing Success Review” on WordPress.com, my subdomain might be
marketingsuccessreview.com.

Readers would type marketingsuccessreview.com.wordpress.com in their browser to browser to view my site.

If you’re a business blog, this is not a good look. But for a sandbox blog where you’re testing ideas, it’ll be okay.

Jetpack Essential Features

Unless you upgrade to their “business” plan, WordPress.com doesn’t permit third-party plugins. So, if hear about an amazing SEO tool plugin, you’re out of luck until you upgrade to a self-hosted version.

Nevertheless, the free plan does come with many built-in WordPress plugins that offer everything from spam protection to contact forms.

Community Support

Perhaps WordPress.com’s best feature (beyond the pricing) is its extensive support system and knowledgebase.

You can find practically anything you need to know about using their free platform in WordPress.com’s Support section. To call their collection of how-to articles merely “extensive” would be an understatement.

At the WordPress.com forum, you can see if anyone else had you same question. If you can’t find the solution, post the question yourself.

Free Themes

WordPress has dozens of free themes from which to choose for design flexibility that isn’t available with Medium and the other free platforms.

Although WordPress.com offers so much for free, it is not for anyone who wants to present a professional business blog.

WordPress.com Pros:

Suitable for a variety of blog types
Solid support articles and forum
More design options than other free platforms
Shorter learning curve if you choose to transition to self-hosted WordPress later
Website builder that’s good for more than just blogs
Premium plans are available, for those interested


WordPress.com Cons:

Not ideal for businesses
You can’t install premium or free WordPress themes and plugins (or another blogging tool) from third parties
Lack of community makes it difficult to build an audience from scratch
WordPress advertising and banners may appear next to your blog content


3. LinkedIn

How to get started


Go to LinkedIn.com

Enter your name, your email, and a strong password. Then click the “Join now” button.

You’ll be asked to answer a few more questions.

For zero money you get a free-to-use publishing platform that’s focused on professionals and business contacts.

If you’re already a LinkedIn member, publishing content will be easier than WordPress.com, Medium, or any other blogging platform, because it’s built right into your LinkedIn profile.

Click the “Write an article” button and start writing.


LinkedIn Pros:

Clean, simple design
Good for professionals and business blogging
Built-in audience of like-minded professionals
Ease of use — publishing platform is built right into your LinkedIn profile


LinkedIn Cons:

Very few customization options
Only good for professionals and businesses
You can’t schedule posts for future publishing


If you want to write posts to reach professionals and business, LinkedIn is the best free blogging platform available.


4. Instagram.com

How to get started

On your personal computer, go to Instagram.com where you’ll see the log in page.

Enter your phone number or email address, your name, your desired username, and a strong password. Then click the “Sign up” button.

Or, if you have a Facebook account, skip all that and click the “Log in with Facebook” button.

You could also do the above using the Instagram app on your mobile device.

For $0 you get a very popular social media platform that’s perfect for microblogging.

An example of microblogging is:

Uploading a great image such as a photo from your camera or a Creative Commons image that fits your current mood.

Upload your image to Instagram.

Then write a short blog post stating what you want about the image.

Anyone who focuses on highly visual topics should use Instagram.

You can have great success using Instagram as a microblogging platform if you can combine impressive visuals with short posts that pack a punch.

Instagram Pros:

Great for visual topics
Ideal platform for microblogging (short posts)
Great if your target audience primarily uses mobile devices

Instagram Cons:

Limited to 2,200 characters
Limited to one hyperlink (in your bio)
If your target audience isn’t on mobile, it’s less than ideal


5. Guest Blogging


How to get started

The best platform for building your authority is guest blogging.

The first way to get started is to determine if the blogs you like to read, (that are relevant to your niche) accept guest post submissions.

Browse their “About” or “Start” pages. Try their “Contact” page. Sometimes, they’ll make it easy and have a “Contribute” or “Write for Us” link in their navigation menu or footer.


The second approach involves using Google’s and Twitter’s search capability.

You can query a topic (for example: “blogging”) together with a search phrase (“write for us”).

Not all sites are worth your effort. Click on the results that look promising, browse them, and see if they’re a good fit. Skip the ones that aren’t and bookmark the matches.

Continue with similar queries.

Do the same on Twitter.

Type “guest post”, “guest blog post”, “guest article”, etc. in the search box. Twitter will give you a list of tweets where people used those exact phrases.

For $0 you get the chance to put your words in front of already-existing, relevant audiences and a chance to acquire fans for life.

You should guest blog if you want to build credibility and boost your authority.

You should NOT if you want to build up your own blog.

Guest blogging is no longer a great way to increase traffic to your blog.


Guest Blogging Pros:

Write for interested, targeted audiences
Fastest way to build your authority and reputation


Guest Blogging Cons:


Fastest way to destroy your authority and reputation
Not an efficient method for getting traffic to your own website
Getting published on quality sites is hard work
Time-consuming — may be hard to fit into busy schedules


WordPress.org

Technically, there’s one more free option.

WordPress.org software — the same software used by WordPress.com — is also free for everyone.

However, WordPress.org’s software isn’t actually free once you add up the other expenses.

To use the software you’ll need a blog hosting provider (aka web hosting services), you’ll need to register a domain name (some hosting providers give you a free domain, but you should keep  your domain registrar and web host separate), you’ll have to install WordPress on your own web host, and you’ll also need your own domain name. All of these cost money.

This is something you’ll eventually want to do, but not right now when you’re just getting started.

So how will you know when you’re ready? One source recommends making the switch once you reach a 20% outreach success rate.

The best blogging platform depends on what you want to accomplish. There’s no one platform that fits everyone.

This article has covered Five of the Best Blogging Platforms for Beginning Bloggers.

It all boils down to what suits your needs and situation.


Try this viral mailer that pays

by Rahimah Sultan

Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.

You like most people, can spend months or years creating a blog that has no chance of succeeding, then you start another one that fails or a third and fourth.

You’re not dumb or lazy. You’re just choosing the wrong topic.

1. Choose the Right Topic

First, make a list of topics that interest you. They can be your hobbies, topics you think are highly profitable, or something random you saw in a magazine.

Now ask yourself these five questions:

1. Do any current blogs on this topic have a Facebook page with more than 10k fans?

2. Are there any blogs on this topic that have more than 50k followers on Twitter?

3. Are there any books on Amazon with more than 30 reviews on this topic?

4. When you look for words and phrases connected to this topic, are there any Google ads?

5. Do any words or phrases related to this topic have more than 100k searches in Google’s Keyword Planner tool?


By answering these questions, you’ll know if there’s an existing audience for your topic.

Don’t try to be too unique or clever by hunting for an audience that no one else is serving.

It’s counterintuitive, but the more competition you have in a blogging space, the easier it is for a new blogger to find success there.


2. Choose the Right Platform

Choose the right blogging platform

There are several free blogging platforms like Tumblr, Blogspot, Wix, or Squarespace. These are fine to test your ideas and content to be sure they’re workable before creating a full-fledged blog.

But when you’re ready to build an audience and make money online, a self-hosted WordPress blog is the way to go.

WordPress is open source and technically free, but you have to buy a hosting plan to install WordPress on your own web host and purchase a domain name.

If you’re serious about blogging, you need to set up your blog on a firm foundation.

3. Choose a Domain Name

When choosing a custom domain name for your blog, consider using these three strategies:

Name the audience. The simplest way is tocall out the audience in the domain name. (Examples: SmartShopper.com, FashionDesign.com, AFineParent.com)

Name the topic. (MakingJewelry.com, EasyCasseroles.com, PaleoHacks.com)

Name the benefit. (BeABetterWriter.com, BeABetterPainter.com, Woodworking.com)


Use these strategies to make a list of 10-20 domain names. Use a blog name generator tool like NameStation to get many ideas at once.

Once you’ve decided on a name, use Namecheap’s Beast Mode to check availability.

Give yourself a few days to a week to make a decision.

4. Get Web Hosting

You pay a small fee to keep your website online, handle all your visitors, provide customer support, back up your website, manage the security of your website, etc.

Although website hosting costs money, a good bit comes along with it.

It’s possible to get blog hosting and a registered domain from the same place, but it’s not recommended because if you ever decide to switch to a different web hosting company, the process can be complicated. You can save yourself future headaches by keeping your domain registrar and blog host separate.

You can do a Google search to compare and determine the best web hosting for your needs.

Once you have your web hosting set up, you need to use a registrar like NameCheap to register your domain.

5. Install WordPress

Now that your domain and web host are connected, it’s time to install WordPress. It’s not complicated.

These days most hosting providers offer one-click WordPress installation.

To log into your WordPress dashboard use your favorite browser and go to WordPress login URL by appending /wp-admin (or /admin or /login or /wp-login) to the end of your domain name.

Examples:

yourdomain.com/wp-admin

www.yourdomain.com/admin

yourdomain.com/login

www.yourdomain.com/wp-login

You’ll be taken to your WordPress login page.

Enter the username and password you created earlier.

Click Log In.

6. Choose a WordPress Theme to Design Your Blog

Don’t get bogged in details. Focus on making your site functional. You can always make changes later.

Content is the important thing to focus on.

Enter the username and password you created earlier.

Click Log In.

Your theme is the design of your website and dictates how your blog looks to the world.

If you want a free WordPress theme, choose Astra (https://wpastra.com/?bsf=2922&campaign=how-to-start-a-blog).

If you want a premium blog theme, choose Astra Pro which has an advanced page builder that lets you customize your design.

Choose the theme that best fits your needs and situation and download and install it.

First way: To install a free theme from WordPress.org:

Enter a theme name or a chosen feature (Example: “minimalist”) in the Search themes… field
Click the Install button


Second way: If you want to install a WordPress theme you downloaded from a third party, click the Upload Theme button and:

Click the Choose File button
Find the third-party theme you downloaded to your computer (Example: premium-theme.zip) and select it
Click the Install Now button


To activate a WordPress Theme

Immediately after installing your WordPress theme, you’ll be given the option to “Activate” or “Preview” it.

If you want to publish the theme immediately to your website, click the Activate button. If not

1. In the left-hand navigation pane, go to Appearance
2. Choose Themes


Then you’ll see every theme you’ve installed and the default “themes” that are automatically installed by WordPress. Find the theme you want to use and click the Activate button.

You’re done.

Now your new blog design is visible to the world but not yet ready.

You need to adjust its functionality by installing a few WordPress plugins.

7. Install WordPress Plugins

WordPress is filled with features, and plugins offer even more.

There are thousands of free and third-party plugins—virtually a plugin for everything. There are specific types or categories you need, but there’s no such thing as an essential plugin.

There are six types of plugins you need to install.

1. Performance Plugins
2. Security Plugins
3. Backup Plugins
4. SEO Plugins
5. Social Sharing Plugins
6. Email List Building Plugins


You need a good performance optimization plugin to “cache” your content so it loads faster. If your blog is slow, your readers will bounce and Google will rank you lower in search engine results.

For a performance plugin, WP Super Cache is simple, maintained by the company behind WordPress, Automattic, and it’s free.

You can easily protect your site with the security plugin iThemes Security which has a one-click setup wizard. The cost is free, and there’s also a pro version with extra features.

UpdraftPlus strikes a good balance between features, flexibility, and ease of use. It has a 4.8 out of 5.0 rating on the WordPress plugin repository, and it’s actively updated by its developers.

There’s a free and a $70 pro version.

For SEO Yoast SEO is the gold standard of WordPress SEO plugins. It has both free and premium versions. The free version offers everything you need.

Social Warfare doesn’t slow down your website and offers unique features like “Click to Tweet” boxes and Pinterest-specific images and infographics.

The free version has all the basics you’ll need, and the pro version is only $29 annually.

Use Convert Pro to turn blog traffic into leads so you can continue to engage with them.

You can get it for free or pay $99 annually or $399 for a lifetime license.

To activate a WordPress plugin you can click the Activate button that appears immediately after you install it or:

1. In the left-hand navigation pane, go to Plugins
2. Choose Installed Plugins
3. Find your plugin and click Activate

8. Blog Set up and SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

If you want to start a blog that brings in traffic or if you want to drive your content to page one of Google, you have to learn SEO.

To guarantee search engines like Google and Bing can find your blog, make sure the following are unchecked:

1. In the left-hand navigation pane of your WordPress dashboard, hover over Settings
2. Click Reading
3. Confirm “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” is unchecked

Create an XML Sitemap (and Submit Your Sitemap to Search Engines)

“A sitemap is a file where you provide information about the pages, videos, and other files on your site, and the relationships between them. Search engines like Google read this file to crawl your site more efficiently. A sitemap tells search engines which pages and files you think are important in your site, and also provides valuable information about these files. For example, when the page was last updated and any alternate language versions of the page.”

A sitemap helps confirm Google can discover the new content you create, when your blog is new and has few external links pointing to it.

To create an XML Sitemap using the Yoast SEO plugin recommended earlier:

1. In the left-hand navigation pane of your WordPress dashboard, hover over SEO
2. Click General
3. Click the Features tab
4. Scroll down to the XML sitemaps option and make sure the switch is toggled to On

Now you have an XML sitemap for your blog. Next give it to Google, Bing, and other search engines.

Before leaving the Yoast SEO plugin, copy the URL of your sitemap:

1. Click the question mark icon next to XML sitemaps
2. Click the See the XML sitemap link

Your sitemap will open in a new tab in your browser.

Copy the URL in the address bar and save it.

The steps for submitting your sitemap are different from search engine to search engine.

Here are the most popular ones:

To submit your sitemap to Google Search Console

1. Go to Google Search Console and sign in using your Google account
2. In the left-hand pane, select your website

If you haven’t added your website to Google Search Console, you’ll need to click “Add property” and follow the steps provided before continuing below.

3. Under Index, click the Sitemaps option
4. In the Add a new sitemap section, enter the URL you saved earlier and click Submit


Bing Webmaster Tools

1. Log into Bing Webmaster Tools. Create an account if you haven’t done so.
2. Under the My Sites section, click your website

If you haven’t added your website to Bing Webmaster Tools, enter your blog’s URL in the Add a Site section and click the ADD button.

That’s it.

You’ve submitted your sitemap successfully to Google and Bing.

Permalinks structure


WordPress sets the links on your blog to the following format by default:

yourdomain.com/?p=123

No one knows why, but you need to update this link structure before you publish ANY content.

Here’s how:

1. In the left-hand navigation pane, hover over Settings
2. Click Permalinks
3. Under Common Settings, set the option to Post name


Install an SSL Certificate so Your URL Begins with https Instead of http. Here’s why:

Readers will know your website is safe
Your website will be safe thanks to the encryption of readers’ sensitive data and personal info
Google sees it as a ranking signal, which means not having an SSL certificate will hurt your content’s rankings in search results.

How to Install an SSL Certificate

Log into your account
Click the Go to cPanel button
In the Security section, click Let’s Encrypt
Select your domain name, choose the Let’s Encrypt SSL option, and click the Install button

A few moments later, your SSL certificate will be up and running!

9. Your First Blog Post

To start your blog post in WordPress

1. In the left-hand pane of your WordPress dashboard, hover over Posts
2. Click Add New


You’ll be able to add a post title— aka headline, write your post, choose your category, tweak HTML and CSS, add free stock photos, etc.

The steps are alike for adding a new blog page in WordPress, an About page, a Contact page, etc.:

1. In the left-hand pane of your dashboard, go to Pages
2. Click Add New

For detailed instructions on how to navigate the classic content editor, WordPress offers a detailed support article.


10. Boost Traffic, Promote Blog, and Master Social Media

You should spend as much time promoting your posts as you do writing them. Preferably, you’ll spend more time promoting than writing them.

Here are 4 Tips for promoting your posts

1. Focus on one Social Platform, as There are too Many out There.
For now, pick only one. As there are only so many hours in a day.

2. Avoid These Traffic Mistakes That are a Waste for Beginners.

a. Commenting on Popular Blogs
b. Submitting Your Site to Directories
c. Trying to go Viral on Redditt, Hacker News, etc.
d. Paying for a Unique Design

3. Reach out to Influencers to Make Powerful Friends.

4. Pay for Facebook Ads

Wait until you have a solid foundation in place like reaching 1,000 email subscribers and you have traffic rolling in. Then consider supercharging your efforts by learning the ins and outs of Facebook’s ad network.

11. Build Your List

Get started now with building your email list. Start building it on day one!

Whether you’re just starting out or you’re an email marketing pro, there are numerous email marketing services available to meet your needs. You can go to Google and check and compare services and pricing.

12. Make Money

When you’re just starting out, whatever you do, DO NOT cover your blog in Google Adsense, because:

1. Blog ads pay peanuts
2. They distract your readers
3. They make your blog look sleazy and cheap

The best monetization method for bloggers is to build an audience that trusts them and then offer high-quality products or services that will genuinely help that audience.

Affiliate Marketing helps with this process by:

letting you introduce your readers to a product or service from a trusted source
Your readers looking at the product/or service, deciding if it will help them, and purchasing it
You earning a commission on the sales

With affiliate marketing you win in multiple ways. You help your audience, you earn money, and — most importantly — you learn what types of products and services your audience buys.


This article covers a lot but it’s only a beginning. Besides these twelve steps to starting a successful blog, there’s so much more you’ll learn as you go along.