Most people start a blog in South Africa to make money or turn it into a business. The blogging practices adopted actually play a big role in whether the blog will be successful or not.
In today’s article, we are focusing on best blogging practices in South Africa. If this is what you are looking for, then this article is definitely for you.
If you are new to blogging, then we should start with a brief introduction to how to start a blog.
Here are the steps to starting a blog.
- Choose a small niche that you may be interested in or a hobby to blog about.
- Get your blog started by registering a domain name and installing WordPress.
- Research on article ideas
- Start writing
- Once your blog gets traffic monetize
Note that the best way to make money in South Africa is to monetize your blog with CPC or CPM Ads.
The most common ways to make money as a blogger is through the following:
- Placing ads on your sites
- Including Affiliate Links in your Content
- Sell Private Ads
- Sell Digital Products.
You now have the basics of monetizing your blog in South Africa. Let’s discuss the best practices you need to develop to become a successful blogger in South Africa.
Table of Contents
Best Blogging Practices in South Africa
#1.Use of SEO Keywords.
#2.Use of Click-Worthy Titles
#3. Choose a Niche and stick to that.
#4. Make sure your Meta Descriptions are Accurate
#5. Your content should be what your Audience want.
#6. Make sure you add blog tags.
#7.Include internal and external links
#8. Be consistent with your posting.
#9. Make sure your content is great.
#10. Promote your blog and encourage engagement.
Blogging goes beyond putting pen to paper since optimization is inevitable. As a blogger, you should make sure your content is SEO-friendly and it gets in front of your target audience.
I know you are here because you want to know the best blogging practices in South Africa but wait a minute. How do we make you a successful blogger?
Let me take you through some key aspects briefly.
- Your blogs should be informative
- Focus on quality
- Have clearly defined objectives for your blog.
- Ensure sure you are consistent
Since you know the key aspects, let’s look at the best practices for a successful blog.
#1. Use of SEO Keywords
Keywords are key to getting traffic from search engines here in South Africa. If you want to attract people from a certain target group you need to use words they use or search.
Depending on your title you can always brainstorm keywords. Using sites can also help you choose a keyword based on considerations like monthly search volumes, difficulty, and organic click-through rate.
Long-tail keywords give you a chance of getting traffic from google searches. Long-tail keywords are keyphrases or a combination of keywords with other words.
These keywords have a smaller amount of searches and lower competition.
Even though your competitors are ranking for some keywords, your chances of getting traffic are high from some of the other long-tail keywords.
Note that you should include the main keyword on your blog title, URL, and meta description.
Your main keyword can appear as many times as you want throughout your post not unless instructed otherwise by your client. If no instructions are given make sure your keyword appears at least five times in your post.
In addition to the main keyword, you can use other keywords which relate to the topic at hand.
#2. Use of Click-Worthy Titles
To drive traffic, shares, and search results, make sure your blog title has common, uncommon, powerful, and emotional words.
Your title should score above 70, that is, if you are using analyzing tools such as MonsterInsights, for it to be good enough.
Note that your title characters should not exceed 70 characters.
#3. Pick a Niche and Stick to it.
The topic you choose to write about in a certain way is guided by your blog’s purpose. Sticking to that niche helps gain experience and become an expert in your field.
It is so important to be so careful when picking a niche. Choose a blog niche you are so good in.
When you stick to your blog niche your audience knows what to expect when they visit your blog.
If you ever feel like you are running out of ideas, check your competitor content to get ideas or search for the ranking keywords and topics.
#4. Writing Accurate Meta Descriptions.
Meta descriptions are important because they appear on google search results pages in which they act as a description of what a specific page has to offer.
When writing your meta description, you should consider the following: they should be accurate, and they should have a solution-based representation of what to expect when someone clicks on the link.
Note that you should strategically include your keyword in the meta description and also avoid keyword stuffing.
#5. Write what your Audience want.
I know there are topics you want to write about but remember it’s not about you but your audience. Understand what your audience wants, their problems, and how you can help them through your content.
Your audience won’t care about what you do. Write about what your audience wants to know.
For instance, if you are a blogger and you write about the luxuries vehicles, apartments, and clothes your blog has enabled you to buy, nobody will be interested in such.
Instead, write on ways that enabled you to succeed as a blogger. That’s what your audience wants to read.
With such content, they might find their way back to your blog for more tips or even share your blog with friends.
#6. Add Blog Tags.
This is one of the most underrated best blogging practices in South Africa.
Blog tags or categories help readers find the topic they are looking for easily.
Tags are like themes, and one tag should relate to a variety of keywords and topics that you have posted about.
Note that you should not assign more than three tags to one post.
#7. Include internal and External Links
When appropriate, make sure to include internal links and external links throughout your post.
As a blogger, you publish posts regularly, and with time you will have many blog posts on various topics. These topics are often related and this is where linking internally comes in.
With internal links, you can revive your old content, help readers find what they are looking for, and highlight the validity of your website.
External links help enhance the credibility of your content since you are providing readers with other helpful educational resources by linking them to other reputable sources and authoritative bodies.
#8. Be consistent with your posting
it’s important to be consistent with your posting and do it on a schedule. Posting one blog a week is not enough since people want new content as soon as possible.
A schedule will help stick to blogging. For instance, If your next post is due on a Thursday you will go out of your way to make sure the post is ready by Wednesday evening.
Remember that posting often and adding updates to old content is good for SEO. Updating your old content helps refresh your blog.
#9. Write great content
This is one of the most ignored best blogging practices in South Africa.
Even though you need to be consistent with publishing, your content should also be great.
Do not focus so much on #8 forgetting that your content should be high-quality. Creating high-quality blog content will get you further than a handful of posts that have no real value for your audience.
Create a post that’s, informative, well researched, and with some helpful images.
If your content is great, there is a high chance your audiences will want to see more of your work.
Great content should be:
- Well written
- Well organized
- Entertaining
- Relevant
- Consistent
#10.Promote Your Blog and Encourage Engagement
This is one thing most bloggers don’t know when they are starting. The time spent on building and growing your blog should be used to promote it.
Promoting your blog should be as often as you create content.
Before thinking of promoting your content, you need to know where your audience hangs out on the internet. With this knowledge, you will be able to know where to promote your blog.
Get to know which channels work best for your audience and promote your blog posts there.
It is important to also be present and encourage engagement. Ask questions, leave comments, and also start conversations with your community. Ask for their feedback on the post.
By doing so you are creating a relationship with your audience. this also makes them trust your authority over certain subjects.
Best Blogging Practices in South Africa: Conclusion
These 10 best blogging practices in South Africa when applied can make you a successful blogger.
Starting a blog can be overwhelming but the above tips will help you become better at blogging and goal-oriented.
Whatever point you are at today always remember any great successful blogger you see today was once in your position. All you need is time to learn and grow.
From this end, we wish you all the best in your life as a blogger, and if you found this blog post helpful kindly help us reach more people by sharing.
If you don’t have a blog yet, go ahead and get hosting here.
