Can You Make Money Blogging With No SEO Traffic?
To earn money blogging you need traffic and lots of it. Nobody will raise any argument with that statement.
One way to get free traffic is to enable search engines to find your blog through search engine optimization.
Why is it then that so many bloggers refuse to pay at least some attention to it?
In several of my previous posts I’ve mentioned seo. For example in Get Blog Traffic.
In my post describing how bloggers help fellow blogger with the title starting Blogging Seo Strategy I’ve even given a concrete example how SEO can help.
There are zillions of articles to be found on search engine optimization in Google and other search engines.
I was going to give the subject of seo some rest but I feel compelled to write about it again.
The reason is primarily to help my readers realize the importance of learning about this subject since it’s somehow tempting for many to ignore it.
I’m continuing to learn as well. It would be easier if it wasn’t necessary.(I do intend to write about it more in the future since I’ve barely scratched the surface).
But I’m also incensed by what I witnessed within the last few days.
It started mildly.
Recently while visiting other blogs I came across a post that speaks of writing for humans first and then, if at all, for the computers i.e. search engines.
I commented on that blog saying something to this effect :
” The search engines’ job is to find the best and most relevant content to what humans are searching for.
The days of keyword stuffing are long gone. The search engines are way too smart for that.
But without keywords, no matter how smart Google, Yahoo and Bing may be, there will be no search results.
If you are famous, people will just type in your name and your blog will be found. So no need for seo if you’re a mega star.
If you just want to keep in touch with your friends through your blog, forget about seo.
But if you want new people to find your blog and what you write about you can bet that without seo it won’t happen.”
I made my comment and felt at peace.
At least I had contributed to making the comment area a discussion which until then was really a good example of consensus.
But today I was stunned to have come across another blog under -blogging for cash- search entry and the contents of it.
It was somewhere on the first page in search results and what I found when reading it floored me.
Since this bloggers comments are conveniently closed the only way to voice my opinion is to mention it here.
At first I was intrigued since the first post I read was 3 or 4 years old. The length of it was over 7000 words.
I read through most of it and noticed there was a heading on traffic less than half way through.
But it said that traffic was covered in a previous post and there was a link to it.
As I continued reading I remembered the word traffic. So I came back to it (since I’m really interested in traffic) and clicked on the link which led to another overly long post, also quite old.
What is wrong with that? You might say. Don’t you like long posts?
Well, inside that post there were many things written out of which very few if any will help anyone get more traffic.
Aside from this blogger talking about himself endlessly and how he wants to help everybody to stop operating from fear and many of his views, there was absolutely nothing about SEO.
This person mentioned in one of his posts that he’s getting 36,666 blog visits per day. (A number of visits per month was given but it spoke to me more clearly when I converted it to a per day number).
This blogger asserts that he only blogs to serve and severely frowns on those who blog for money.
Stuart (not this person’s real name but I’m tired of he, this person etc.) says that he gets less than 1.5% of traffic through search engines.
One of his key points on getting traffic in fact is to write for people and not for computers or search engines.
That mantra almost seems to want to try to make everyone guilty if they do a keyword research.
For Stuart’s information I would add that Google themselves have a mighty good keyword research tool and I’d be willing to bet that Stuart actually uses it.
Why do I say this?
As of today, according to Alexa, Stuart’s blog has been getting around 17% of all traffic from search traffic over the last 3 months. He gets more search traffic (from SEO) than most bloggers.
Is he trying to discourage people from doing seo while he himself takes advantage of it?
I’ve also checked the keywords Stuart gets his search traffic from. The first keyword phrase is his name which is also in the domain name.
The second keyword phrase according to the largest amount of traffic that it brings has money in it.
There are two more keyword phrases on the list that have money in them.
When combined, the keyword phrases with money in them which he gets traffic from bring him roughly as much traffic as that he gets from his name.
Yet, he says his primary goal and motivation is to help people change and improve and not to make money from his blog.
How praiseworthy.
Then why ask for donations?
He takes donations on his blog and has a page devoted to collecting them.
He also monetizes his blog and in addition to links (many) and banners (only two but large) there is a whole paragraph at the bottom of each post promoting the virtues of SBI.
Let’s be honest here.
Even those who aren’t primarily blogging for money enjoy it when it comes.
Those bloggers who don’t care about money won’t try to monetize.
If you have Adsense, banners or any monetization on your site, please, cut out the hypocrisy.
Stop attacking people who are honest about trying to monetize their blog no matter how awkward they may be in doing it.
Stuart not only monetizes quite nicely for himself at $95 or so per head which is a repeat commission coming from annual subscription to SBI.
He also takes donations like a real preacher.
Yet, he hardly helps anybody to get traffic by at least making people aware of SEO.
In my opinion he shouldn’t write on the topic of how to get blog traffic.
Or making money from blogging for that matter, without giving basic information or any mention of optimization.
But how could he then promote SBI? He says basically that SBI will help you make money online.
Ah, so here we are. Stuart is after money after all and in a big way not withstanding his preachy posts.
By the way, I read somewhere that SBI has a kind of police monitoring the internet and reading everything that mentions SBI.
And then they allegedly attack and threaten with lawsuits if it’s not singing praises about them.
Some people even accuse them of being a cult.
That would almost fit together with our preacher Stuart.
But this is not about them, may they rest in peace.
All I wanted to do in this post is to make a point about the importance of search engine optimization.
Nobody should omit at least a mention of it in their post on traffic especially if it’s several thousands of words.
Back to the title of this post.
Earn Money Blogging, Get Traffic Without SEO, True Or False?
Do you think you can get enough traffic to your blog to earn money blogging without seo?
I mean enough free traffic to make enough money to support you so that you don’t have to have a job?
True or false?
Let me know what you think – leave a comment.
Bookmark the post and tweet it just below here.
.
Authored by Vance Sova
Filed under: Earn Money Blogging, SEO Traffic
Vance I think that even with SEO you would be hard put to make enough money blogging to leave your job. I know that there are those that have been able to do it but I believe it’s because most of them started when there blogging was still virtually young and they didn’t have to compete with the massive influx of bloggers that we have today.
.-= Sire´s last blog ..Why The The Struggle For PR Is A Waste Of Time =-.
Vance Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 10:42 am
Hi Sire,
I think that while it’s much harder to get to that point of making enough money from blogging to be able to quit your job than it was 4 or 5 years ago and while it may take longer than it used to, it is still possible.
That’s why using everything that helps to get traffic is so important. And it definitely should include SEO.
Most highly successful bloggers use it and don’t try to hide the fact but openly blog about it and some even teach it.
Even if some blogger were highly successful without doing seo (which I doubt) I believe that while blogging about how to get traffic he or she should still at least mention it as something that can be helpful.
Thanks for commenting.
Vance
Sire Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 7:10 pm
I’m not arguing that SEO isn’t important Vance, it is. I don’t worry about it too much because it doesn’t interest me and would take the fun out of blogging.
.-= Sire´s last blog ..The Honest Truth About Blogging For Money =-.
Vance Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
OK Sire, I get what you are thinking as far as seo goes.
You realize it’s importance but don’t want to worry about it too much because it would take fun out of blogging for you.
That’s a legitimate reason. I certainly want you to keep blogging. You’ll still do very well.
I know that for me there are other things which it would be better for me to do and yet I don’t do them much for similar reasons that you don’t do seo.
Because I know you are aware of what seo is and choose not to do it it’s more than OK with me. I don’t want to force anyone to do anything.
What bugs me is when people who are telling others about getting traffic just don’t cover it at all or even belittle it.
The guy that I mentioned in the post especially is misinforming his readers. He has comments closed so that he can shut out any other views.
I know full well that people who don’t like seo will not change their mind and that’s perfectly fine.
In fact I invite them to voice their opinion here which is what commenting is all about.
There are many ways to build traffic and I for one want to know of all of them and use as many as I possibly can.
For me seo doesn’t present any problem and it’s one of the easiest things for me to do.
If a person is an expert on a particular method (and I’m really not on any) they may be able to milk it for great results without worrying about using all the methods.
Thanks for your input.
Vance
Robert Benson Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Hi Vance,
I have to say I agree with Sire on this one – making a full time living from even the most optimised of blogs is very difficult these days.
I used to blog a lot about three years ago and my earnings were fantastic but in the last year or so the plague of “Google Blindness” has spread and people just aren’t click on ads or syndicating blogs like they used to.
It’s a shame really…
Great post though.
Vance Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Hi Robert,
I’m puzzled. You had a blog with fantastic earnings and due to supposed blindness of #1 search engine you are trying to get a link to a sales page selling a product which (the e-book part of it) sells on ebay for $1?
It’s a PLR product and it’s all over the internet. I’m sure you’re aware of it.
Furthermore the product is about seo and getting traffic which you seem to think doesn’t work anymore.
Where is your real blog you speak about?
Or is it fictitious?
On your next visit please leave a link to your blog that produced fantastic earnings a year ago.
What did you really think of my post?
Please don’t link with a sales page anymore here (this applies to everybody) this is the first and last time that I’ll approve a comment with that kind of link.
I may even trash this one later.
Vance
Hi Vance
Nice rant – I would have named the blog if I had written this post, do as I say not as I do…………
.-= Peter Davies´s last blog ..The Self Improvement Giveaway Event =-.
Vance Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 10:50 am
Hi Peter,
I didn’t mean to rant but at least you consider it a nice rant.
Do as I say and not as I do might be a good title but a bit too general. I think when saying that you really meant to summarize your thoughts about the guy.
But you forgot to answer my question that I posed at the end of the post.
What do you think about SEO etc.?
Vance
Hi Vance,
Happy New Year!
It’s entirely possible to make a very good living withour SEO and sucking up to Google.
I know several people making six figures a year that do so without applying SEO methodoly.
There’s other, effective, methods that will drive traffic to your site that don’t involve keywords and other SEO stuff and, especially, living and dying by what Google does or doesn’t do.
Am I saying SEO is a bad thing to do? No.
I am saying there is other methods that don;t involve SEO.
Cheers,
Rod
.-= Rod Macbeth´s last blog ..The Awakening =-.
Vance Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 10:20 pm
Hi Rod, Happy New Year to you and a prosperous 2010.
I’m glad to see you here again after a pause. I hope all is well with you.
Sucking up to Google? And the other engines too perhaps. I don’t view it as sucking up to them. I think you are saying it tongue in cheek, aren’t you?
You are right that there are other methods that don’t involve seo.
You could perhaps have twitter in mind. The traffic won’t be targeted enough from twitter and in fact recently I saw a method using twitter that uses keywords too which as you know are part of seo.
If you also meant video, then I’m afraid you need seo there too, only perhaps slightly modified.
Those six figure people if they don’t apply any seo in any form whatsoever probably have very large lists I’d imagine and a lot of Joint Venture Partners.
If you don’t mind I’d like you to name some of the methods that you know they use that I missed.
As always you don’t disappoint when it comes to expressing challenging views.
Thanks for doing that.
Vance
Rod Macbeth Reply:
January 14th, 2010 at 7:56 am
I’ve been dropping by…just haven’t had anything meaningful to add to your posts. 🙂
My comment on sucking up to Google may be partially tongue in cheek but it’s also based in truth. After all, is not Search Engine Optimization just that? Optimizing your site to appease the search engine “Gods”.
Something that is forgotten in all the talk of SEO is that traffic occurs naturally. It not only occurs naturally but is also what catches the eye of the search engines and is less likely to get you sand boxed.
The people I refer to don’t have lists nor are they using video. They do not have JV partners.
Essentially, they promote their sites, and I am doing the same with some of mine, by just being themselves. By being part of the community that the site’s niche is part of.
I may also have a different definition of “Search Engine Optimization” then you…perhaps more finite.
I don’t consider Twitter or Blog commenting to be part of SEO, although I suppose it could be in a sense. Traffic building…certainly…I just don’t see it as part of the “optimization” of search engine groveling.
The overall problem I have with SEO is the reliance it has on the search engines. If you rely solely on it to drive your business you are potentially one “Google Slap” away from starting all over.
Which is why I’m moving away from that sort of thing with some of my sites and relying on natural traffic generation. So far, the sites I’ve built following this method compare favourably with ones I’ve built following more traditional methods.
What do I mean by “natural”?
Just that.
How would you behave if you were passionate about a subject, built a site because of that passion and not necessarily for monetary reasons?
Would you worry about SEO? Most people doing something of this sort would very likely have no idea what SEO even is.
They’d be Tweeting and commenting on blogs. Visiting and participating in forums and other social media. By doing so they’re building a stature for themselves and leaving a trail leading to their sites.
Adding natural, relevant, fresh content…which Google eats up.
All just because of their passion for a subject.
To give the traffic a boost, as “we” ARE doing this for monetization reasons, throw in some free tools like ping.fm and Twitterfeed…to name a couple.
I don’t even ping sites from WordPress using this method…I essentially ignore Google but Google doesn’t ignore me because I’m supplying what it’s looking for.
It takes time but so does everything in the MMO field. However, once it’s established it’s there to stay as there’s nothing artificial about it.
Cheers,
Rod
.-= Rod Macbeth´s last blog ..The Awakening =-.
Vance Reply:
January 14th, 2010 at 11:46 am
Rod,
I’m glad to hear that you’ve been dropping by and that this post prompted you to say something.
I know that you have a lot to say and your perspective is always valued.
I disagree with your point that optimizing your site (SEO) is trying to appease the “Search Engine Gods”.
The search engines are there to help people find what they’re looking for.
When I speak of SEO I speak of above board methods and not something sneaky. SEO lets the search engines know what your site and posts are all about.
Sure they can figure it out without your help. But it helps to be clear.
What I mean is this: For example if you receive an email with no subject, how does it appear in your mail box? You can’t really tell what it’s about, can you?
In the search result pages there is a very limited amount of space. That’s why you need a good title and a good description.
It’s like a notice board, an article in a newspaper. It needs a good headline and a brief blurb about what’s inside.
That to me is natural. Would you rather put something up on a notice board that at first sight lets you know what it’s all about or something that you’d have hard time to figure it out?
I don’t understand why so many people think that SEO is not natural. There is more to SEO but on page seo is essentially similar to what I just said above.
So Rod, I think that you have a more finite definition of SEO because that’s likely the only reason why you’d look at it as being unnatural.
When you write about something you’re passionate about you still want it to be orderly with headlines, subtitles etc.
You want it to make sense. You want your readers to be able to tell, by just quickly scanning what you write, what they’ll find when they read it more thoroughly.
Or will you write without any thought of how clear your article appears, being completely disorganized?
I think that everything you do it is what should be done but somehow you think that optimization is manipulation or apeasement of search engines.
It’s fascinating to read what people have to say on this subject.
Feel free to add more to it.
Vance
Thanks for the post. I am new here at the blog. I enjoyed reading all of the comments. Blogging and SEO must work hand in hand. Using the Google Adwords tool is helpful, and anyone who is blogging to earn money needs to know about keyword research.
I have about 6 blogs. These are all free standing worpdress.org blog. I am not looking to leave my full time job… my goal now is to earn 100 dollars per day which includes adsense, affiliate marketing, and my own ebooks.
Thanks again!!
Vance Reply:
January 14th, 2010 at 10:39 am
Hi Michelle,
Welcome to my blog. I’m glad that you enjoyed reading all the comments. There’s a good variety of opinions and I suspect a lot more will be coming.
I’m glad that you are doing SEO and that you agree with the view that it is part of what needs to be done if one blogs to make money and wants to be found by search engines. The Google Adwords tool is great for keyword research and it’s free too.
With 6 blogs you should be doing well as you build them up. You have a clearly defined goal which helps a lot.
Thank you for visiting and commenting.
I look forward to your next visit.
Vance
Hey Vance,
I love the conversation you started here. It looks like there are many opinions on SEO and it appears to get a litle personal. I try to do SEO for my blog but don’t stress over it. I find the best way to do SEO is to have a series of posts about the same topic and make sure to link them somehow.
I do agree with you though that SEO – organinc search traffic is the best last much longer that social media traffic can
.-= Luca Di Nicola´s last blog ..How to Create Effective Goals for 2010 and Beyond =-.
Vance Reply:
January 14th, 2010 at 10:51 am
Hi Luca,
I’m glad you love the conversation. The opinions are a legion and people feel quite strongly about them. Opinions are personal but nobody is attacking anybody personally, I hope.
People feel passionate about what they do which is great.
Stressing about SEO is not necessary and linking posts that are related is a natural thing to do and it also is part of seo. Perhaps even people who claim not to do seo are doing it.
Organic search traffic through SEO is not only lasting it is also much more targeted than social media traffic.
People who put words in the search box are looking for something definite.
Nice to see you here again, thanks for joining the conversation.
Vance
Let’s put at it this way, SEO are vital but it will always depend on quality. Without quality, any effort is just a temporary spark. 🙂
Vance Reply:
January 14th, 2010 at 10:59 am
Hi Walter,
I really appreciate you saying that SEO is vital. That puts a smile on my face.
When you say it will always depend on quality I have to agree. I don’t know if you mean the quality of SEO or quality of content but both of course are necessary.
Without quality nothing lasts.
We could start another conversation about quality, but I’ll leave that for another time.
Glad to see you,
Vance
Hi Vance,
Really great article! You have definitely stirred up a few emotions and a few opinions on the subject.
Re SEO I don’t really think I am qualified to comment as I still don’t have a huge understanding of it. However I have really enjoyed reading the conversation and how people perceive the search engines and their standing.
I hope all is great. See you back here soon! 😎
Jacinta 😀
.-= Jacinta Dean´s last blog ..John Thornhill’s Internet Marketing Master Class Coaching Program Week 20! =-.
Vance Reply:
January 15th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Hi Jacinta,
I’m glad you liked the article and enjoyed reading the comments.
People are passionate about their views on SEO and that makes a great discussion.
I think you are qualified more than enough to comment on seo. Everybody can share their views, no qualifications are needed, just honest opinion. There are no real experts here.
Nice of you to pay a visit and I look forward to hear from you soon.
I’m doing fine and hope that you are doing great.
Vance
Vance, you’ve got a great discussion going!
The only thing I could add is that it is most convenient to have SEO working for you.
If the intent of getting traffic to a blog or site is to increase the conversion rate (and make money), you’d need to reach the widest audience possible, beyond your community of frequent visitors or commentators. SEO can greatly help you reach that far.
Not that you can’t get results by doing your own promotion or that you can forget about blending in quality. But it’s still a numbers game!
Regards,
Jose
Vance Reply:
January 20th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
Hi Jose,
I hope the discussion will continue.
Your comment makes a perfect sense. SEO is not everything but it’s very useful and the best way to increase your traffic that doesn’t cost anything.
Most major bloggers that I looked at, you know the A bloggers or whatever they call them, use SEO.
And they are the last ones that really need it. I mean an additional 10 to 20% of traffic helps them but they would make enough money without it.
For lesser bloggers who aren’t famous SEO is more important. In my case some days I get up to 70% of traffic from search engines.
I wouldn’t want to give that up.
I’m not sure if we’re going to change anybody’s mind but it’s still good to discuss the subject.
Thanks for the comment.
Talk soon,
Vance
Jose@Notes on Blogging Reply:
January 20th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
Yes, there are people who are just naturals… I once read that at his peak, John McEnroe did not train as hard as the other players. He had the gift and could beat anyone.
Most of us do have to work hard!
Jose
Vance Reply:
January 20th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
I think that everybody has to work hard to become outstanding, regardless of their natural abilities.
Anybody that has achieved the top spot in anything and remained there for a considerable time had to work very hard at it.
Look at the current tennis players like Roger Federer, Nadal, etc. They practice a lot and have to keep fit.
Roger took it easy for a while and ended up crying in public when he lost. Talent alone is never enough.
And the professional musicians like violin soloists practice 7 to 9 hours a day.
I was amazed to hear one outstanding violinist say that he practices every day for hours the whole year before he performs his solo piece at a concert.
No wonder he seems so natural and plays effortlessly and every note coming out of the violin is an art in itself.
John McEnroe or anyone at their peak can relax for a while and still maintain top performance but they didn’t get there just by being naturals. It took hard work to get to the top.
Then it’s possible to take it easy for a short while like a glider plane.
Working hard at SEO will make it possible to glide later for much longer than for the tennis players, golfers and other sports geniuses.
Vance
Hi Vance:
Interesting discussion to say the least. Since I’m so new at blogging I don’t really worry too much about SEO but I do try to fit in my keywords, etc. naturally.
I was doing some research with SEOMoz recently and was surprised that it “thought” I was attempting to rank for some keywords that couldn’t have possibly been further from the truth.
On the note of clicking on AdSense – I’ve never clicked on one and while I know why people have them on their site they aren’t for me on my business site. Of course it’s known that people make money off of them but one would have to ask how often are they blogging, what are their topics, what type of traffic, etc. etc.
PS: Did you get your CL issue figured out?
.-= Michelle Mangen´s last blog ..DoFollow, Keyword Luv & CommentLuv =-.
Vance Reply:
January 22nd, 2010 at 4:51 pm
Hi Michelle,
You are too modest or unusually smart because your blog is great. And I’m not just saying that. I don’t like to flatter plus this is my blog so I can be myself.
Since you try to fit your keywords in naturally you are doing at least some SEO.
I just can’t stand it when people say they just write naturally and pay no attention to keywords (when they do) and advise others to do the same (what they say).
Most people are honest but the guy I refer to in the post only pretends to be so.
Or he has someone else who does seo for him to which he doesn’t admit.
Nobody gets a long term 17% search traffic without any SEO whatsoever. The people that I know that don’t do any SEO get 3% or 4% of search traffic if they are lucky.
As for Adsense I think that on IM blogs hardly anybody ever clicks on it. I know I haven’t.
There are some blogs which pull in, really steal content from the web and use it for Adsense ads.
One such site stole the content from this very blog. I placed a comment there asking them to either remove the content or at least link to my blog. They of course didn’t approve my comment and still use my content.
I don’t know why Google supports thieves like that. I think their robots aren’t that smart yet to detect it right away but I hope that that site will get deindexed sooner or later. I checked and it has had about six different owners in about last 2 years. Or perhaps the same con owner who keeps changing his/her name.
On some niche blogs Adsense works quite well I’m told. It also depends on the demographics of the visitors.
For regular bloggers there are other monetization tools that apparently work better than Adsense. Most big or A bloggers don’t seem to be using Adsense.
So you are right about it I think.
My CL issue is still not resolved. I’ll go back to their site and check all the settings even though I think the 10 options should be automatic. If I can’t figure it out I’ll ask in the forum and perhaps email the creator.
Thanks for the comment and I look forward to your next one.
Vance
Michelle Mangen Reply:
January 23rd, 2010 at 7:14 am
Vance – was just looking at CL – you signed up in 2009 right? If so, you should def have 10 links. It appears that ppl who joined in 2010 get less. (though I can’t find that exact number)
LOL you are so flattering – how nice of you!
I would agree – does not seem it’s even remotely possibly that you get 17% of traffic w/out some SEO. Eventually this year I’m going to look more into monetizing my site – not with Adsense – probably more with affiliates. One of the many things on my to do list!
.-= Michelle Mangen´s last blog ..DoFollow, Keyword Luv & CommentLuv =-.
Vance Reply:
January 28th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
Hi Michelle,
Sorry for the delay in replying to your comment. I was away for 5 days and didn’t have access, nor did I want it, to the internet.
I signed up with CL close to the New Year but I forget whether it was still in 2009 or already in 2010. I’ll find out soon and also why they’d change it from 10 to 5.
Thank you for your opinion, based no doubt on experience, that getting 17% of all traffic from search engines with no SEO is not even remotely possible.
As for monetizing your blog I think it’s smart of you to think of other ways than using Adsense.
I’m interested in what you’ll be doing. I’m sure I can learn good things from you.
Once the traffic is there it’s a good thing to start to monetize.
Vance
Hi Vance,
My blog gets 22% of it’s traffic from Google, and for most of my sites the figure is higher – for one it’s 74% but that isn’t a blog.
Different people get their traffic in different ways, so maybe some can make a living from blogging without SEO, but I can’t.
So my answer to ‘Can You Earn Money Blogging
Without SEO Traffic?’ is no.
If the question is ‘Can some people Earn Money Blogging
Without SEO Traffic?’ then I’d say yes probably a few can.
My blog is only part of my online presence, an increasingly important part, but they money I’ve earned so far has come almost entirely from other sites.
.-= Keith Purkiss´s last blog ..Do You Need Coaching? =-.
Vance Reply:
January 28th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Hi Keith,
Your comment is so far one of the best and to the point on this subject. Great to have you visit and comment here.
Thank you.
I do realize that there are people who use different methods to get traffic and they obviously do make money. But their traffic is usually a paid traffic or reciprocal traffic like JV partners promotions, ad swaps etc.
I really respect your comment because you’ve been online for a considerable length of time and speak from experience.
I look forward to your future contributory comments which are not just opinions but have facts behind them.
Vance
This is interesting. I don’t care if people have moral objections to “blogging for money” but if you’re monetizing your site (Stuart that is) how can you possibly look down on someone that’s doing the same thing.
.-= Dwippy´s last blog ..Comment Surfing =-.
Vance Reply:
January 28th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Hi Dwippy,
I share your opinion that everybody can object to anything as long as they do as they say others should be doing and as long as they object without forcing others to do what they say they (the objectors) believe in.
Stuart is obviously considering himself above everybody else and has apparently his own exclusive rules for his conduct.
Let’s not get too focused on him though since this would only enhance his self elevating and dictatorial ambitions.
He states in his blog basically that most people are stupid and only those that follow him and his weird philosophy are smart enough.
What do you think about making money blogging without SEO?
Vance
Hi Vance, long time not seen 😉 I am deeply convinced that as soon you hit “publish” on the internet you have done SEO to some extent. What you wrote about contains keywords, where you published it influences how fast the content is indexed and how it ranks. Blogging / Online publishing without SEO is like bringing children up “religion free”, even when you don’t do something, you make a statement.
As for making money online, yes, I agree, the only thing you need is buying traffic, no matter where it comes from, search engine or word of mouth 😉 SY
.-= hospitalera@Inetglobal´s last blog ..Inetglobal wants to sue me =-.
Vance Reply:
February 28th, 2010 at 9:07 pm
Hi SY,
Nice to hear from you and I’m glad to know that you are back and kicking. Thanks for this comment which speaks volumes.
I both do and don’t agree that just by publishing something you’ve done some SEO.
There will likely be some keywords in any text but will they be targeted? Leaving things to chance is probably not the best SEO strategy.
Traffic is of course the key for having any chance to make money online.
It helps for traffic to be targeted in order for it to convert.
Talk soon,
Vance
Hi Vance,
I believe SEO is ESSENTIAL to making money with a Blog, unless you have the budget and know-how to Adwords. Of course there are many traffic generating techniques, but if you want to pull in lots of free traffic on a consistent basis then SEO is the method to use.
I am now building niche blogs and rely solely on SEO to get traffic to my sites. These are blogs I just set up, use plugins to automate posting content, do some backlinking, then leave them and move onto the next Blog. Once you get them ranking high in the search engines the traffic just keeps coming in day after day.
I think anyone who doesn’t use SEO techniques on their blogs is missing out on a lot of free traffic, and therefore money.
Thanks for another great post Vance, hope all is well.
Cheers,
Paul
.-= Paul Hooper´s last blog ..How to do your Market, Product and Keyword Research =-.
Vance Reply:
March 21st, 2010 at 12:14 pm
Hi Paul,
I couldn’t have said it better. Thanks for the great comment.
Out of so many traffic generating techniques SEO is the foundational one. All the other traffic techniques will work better and will be complemented by SEO.
Those who argue against it are missing out on free traffic and some basic knowledge.
Rather than argue bitterly to the point of ridiculing those who advocate SEO they would do better to put that energy into educating themselves.
Thanks for visiting Paul. it’s always a treat to read your comments.
Vance
Vance, it is difficult to say without clearly defining the meaning of the term “SEO traffic”. Traffic will flow from search engines with or without SEO efforts, as evidenced by your story about the so-called preacher.
A key element of all traffic is not how much you get but how much of it is targeted to what is actually on your site. Good SEO brings highly-targeted traffic. Poor SEO will get you some traffic but may end in disaster. Again, as evidenced by your experience at the no-comment blog selling SB-eye. They wont find that reference to their company name 🙂
So, in answer to your question, it is unlikely a person will make a stable, long-term income by blogging with little regard to SEO. Decent, informative, keyword based articles mixed with your own communication style is only part of the picture.
If you want to retire from the 9-5 routine, SEO needs to be an essential component of the business plan. – Michael.
.-= Michael Pedzotti´s last blog ..10 Steps to Internet Business Success =-.
Vance Reply:
May 6th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Hi Michael,
Thank you for the comment. I agree with it.
I find it interesting that even the A bloggers who try to hammer down the message that you should write for people and not the search engines, which is self evident to any intelligent person, do their SEO very diligently but don’t seem to talk that strongly and often about that.
On Sphinn there seems to be a post almost once a week bashing SEO and the people who talk or write about it. It is a total mystery to me why.
Perhaps they are mad at people who make money doing it SEO for others and don’t always succeed in getting them to the first page of Google.
Vance
In my experience organic search engine traffic is the best traffic that make most benefits to blog or website.The key here is that other traffic lost after a period of time but search engine traffic increase as time goes
Anyway informative article,Thanks
Vance Reply:
September 11th, 2010 at 6:03 pm
Hi Don,
I agree that search engine traffic is great and it is worth trying to optimize your blog or site for it. Not all bloggers would agree though which was one of the reasons I wrote this post.
Thanks for the visit and comment.
Vance
Bill@Orange County Personal Injury Attorney Reply:
March 18th, 2012 at 10:05 pm
In most cases, organic traffic will generally be the main source of your traffic/revenue to your blog. You need to pump our great content and get a following. However, this alone usually isn’t going to make you a 100K/yr.
Beyond selling ad space, you need to interact with your readership outside the blog on social media outlets, and (this is the big one) build a list and continue the conversation through email. From here, there are a million ways to monetize your readership.