How to Make a Website on WordPress and Indesign
WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems used around the world, with over 500 million active monthly users. Although WordPress is an open-source platform, it can be accessed and utilized by anyone, which makes it extremely popular. It is currently the 15th most visited website globally, and it’s very popular in the United States (it’s currently the 4th most visited website).
The reason why WordPress is so popular is because it’s an extremely user-friendly system that’s extremely easy to utilize and doesn’t require any knowledge of coding or design. Because of this, even users without a formal design education can easily build a functional website using WordPress. The platform also offers amazing SEO (search engine optimization) features which allow you to effortlessly rank your website or blog for incredibly popular keywords such as “mortgage”, “loan”, or “lease”. You can even choose specific phrases or keywords you want your site to rank for.
What is WordPress SEO?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is an umbrella term for the various techniques used to increase the “organic’” (non-paid or “natural’”) traffic to a website or blog, via the search engines. (Think of organic traffic as the visitor traffic generated from your website or blog without you using any paid tools or techniques to get it.) Your specific goals for SEO will depend on what you are trying to accomplish, but typically, the more organic traffic you can get the better because this is the type of visitor you want to keep attracting. Paid traffic, on the other hand, is the kind of visitor you want to avoid because they are typically much less engaged with your content than an organic visitor.
Why Should You Consider Using WordPress SEO?
Although there are a variety of CMS (content management systems) available for creating a website, not all of them are created equal. WordPress is a CMS that was specifically designed for SEO purposes; as a result, it offers some amazing SEO features that make it extremely flexible for SEO marketers or webmasters who are looking to optimize their site for search engines.
WordPress also has a large and vibrant community of people who use it daily, which provides invaluable support and resourcefulness. The more you know, the better you can utilize WordPress to create the perfect website for your needs.
How Do I Start With WordPress SEO?
The first step in creating a successful WordPress SEO strategy is to pick the right niche.
What is a niche?
A niche is a “small market or segment” within the big market for online marketing. Essentially, you become the expert on a topic or area that is relatively small in size but incredibly popular. For example, “mortgage advice’” is a niche within the broader category of “home mortgages”. When you choose a niche, you are narrowing your target audience and tailoring your content to appeal to a certain group of people. For example, if you are specialized in home mortgages and choose the “mortgage advice’” niche, you can decide who you want to serve and what you want to offer them. You can also find affiliate products within this niche to sell and generate revenue. (You can learn more about affiliate marketing in our other blog post.)
There are three important things you need to keep in mind when picking a niche.
- Identify a need or a gap in the marketplace
- Choose a popular niche that is still underserved
- Make sure the niche is one you can actually profit from
Popular Niches That Are Still Underserved
If you choose a niche that is already well-served by existing websites, you are limiting your growth and potentially harming your SEO. Although it is extremely tempting to choose something that already popular because you think it will increase your chances of success, this is rarely the case. Instead, you can end up with a mediocre site that doesn’t even reach its potential audience, while a more qualified competitor may rise to the top.
To avoid this situation, make sure you choose a niche that isn’t already well-served by existing websites. The more unique your niche, the better because it will be hard for someone else to jump in and take your place. Even better, make sure the niche you choose is still growing, as these are the types of markets that can continue to provide high growth and profitability for you as an affiliate marketer.
The Importance of Research
In addition to choosing a niche that is still growing, it is important to research similar popular niches before deciding on a course of action. There are several different strategies you can use to find the best performing affiliate products within a niche, including search engine optimization, review sites, and monitoring competitors’ performance. (You can read all our tips and tricks for affiliate marketing in our other blog post.)
By conducting research, you can determine how effective certain affiliate marketing strategies are within a given niche. Once you know this, you can choose the best performing strategy for your needs and the one which is most suited to your affiliate account.
Where Do I Find Popular Topics To Settle On?
Fortunately, there are numerous online tools that can help you find a profitable niche almost effortlessly. For example, if you are looking for a home mortgage tool, you can enter your zip code and get a list of the top performing lenders in your area. (Or, if you want to be a bit more sophisticated, you can narrow your search to specific loan products, such as “government loans” or “student loans”.) By entering your search term, you will get a list of websites and blogs which are about your subject matter (in this case, home mortgages). From here, you can find out more about each website, including the type of content and experience of the bloggers who write there.
To find a profitable niche, you don’t need to be limited to Googling keywords and coming up with the first few results. Instead, you can use tools like Competitive Analysis tools, which allow you to enter your niche and select the competitors you wish to review. Using these types of tools can help you find blogs, websites, and even forums which are already performing well in your chosen niche and can provide you with ideas and inspiration for your own content.
Become A Full-time Affiliate Marketer
If you are looking to make a living off of your blog or website, you can opt to take this route and become a full-time affiliate marketer. As an affiliate marketer, you will be paid a commission when someone clicks a product or service that you promote, whether they buy the product or service directly or go on to purchase a product from a different website. You can learn more about this exciting opportunity here.
How Do I Make My Blog or Website More Visually Appealing?
Although having a good sense of design and being able to code your way around a WordPress template are valuable skills, you don’t need to have these talents to succeed as an affiliate marketer. Designers and developers can create templates that are highly optimized for search engines so that a visitor can’t help but land on your site when they are searching for related products or services. Even if you don’t code or design, you can still make your blog or website more appealing to potential customers by using plugins, a variety of free fonts, and customizable layouts.
Creating a successful SEO strategy for your blog or website can be challenging, but with a little bit of research and planning, it’s definitely achievable.