What are the Important Questions for Your Topic?
I’m sure the most powerful tool in life is the simple question.
A question is just the expression of a problem and people who solve problems make money. I’ve shown you how I use Keyword Elite to generate lists of questions people are actually typing into search engines, but you can also brainstorm your own list, or visit forums related to your topic and read the questions that are being asked.
The cornerstone of a profitable blog will be content that provides answers to the key questions around your topic.
Don’t be afraid to think big in this area. These articles are meant to serve as ultra-valuable resources for the community the is being built around your blog.
Here’s an example of an article that I could create from my list:
“The Ultimate Skills Guide for an Affiliate Marketer” – this article would list all the skills needed to create a successful affiliate site and provide links to related resources for each skill.
Below is a quick list of some of the questions I’ll ponder as the basis for my foundational content for my “make money online” blog.
Making Money Online Important Questions
What technical skills are required?
What other skills are required?
How much money can I make blogging?
What’s the best domain name registrar?
What do I look for in a hosting company?
What’s better: drop shipping, affiliate marketing or creating my own products?
What is an online business?
What are all the possible ways I can make money online?
What’s the quickest/easiest way to make money online?
How can I get more traffic to my website?
From there I can move from the broad into finer questions with my day to day posts, but answering the big and foundational questions is a crucial starting point for the content of a blog.
I’m as guilty of it as anyone, but not covering the basics is a big mistake. It is a great chance to convert readers and build incoming links.
If you scan the front pages of Digg or other social sites you’ll see that “ultimate guide” is a very common format for popular article topics.
Call it link bait if you will, but I prefer to think of it as the “ultimate guide to _______.” Follow through and make it really ultimate and it will set the tone for a very successful site. Yes it takes a lot of time to create this type of content and that’s precisely why most bloggers don’t do it and why if you do, it can provide a competitive advantage.
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Comments ( 2 )
Tyler added these pithy words on May 31 07 at 7:07 am“Follow through and make it really ultimate and it will set the tone for a very successful site. Yes it takes a lot of time to create this type of content and that’s precisely why most bloggers don’t do it and why if you do, it can provide a competitive advantage.”
Quite possibly the best tip yet for bloggers wanting to make money!
Keep up the great work Jon!
Jon added these pithy words on May 31 07 at 7:57 amThanks Tyler. It’s so true, the way to make money is to be outstanding, what’s funny is that it seems like so much more work, but actually it is more efficient since this type of “outstanding content” can draw in many many times more readers than a months worth of average posts.