Running a successful blog in Kenya isn’t a walk in the park. I have been in business for 8 years and witnessed several blogs come and go. Success means having being influential in your niche and generating enough income to keep you going.
A blogger is not necessarily that person that keeps updating you on Facebook and Twitter, it’s that individual that runs a blog that’s independent on social media, one can stand even when Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are shut completely. A blogger is an individual who makes a living out of his blog—the income should also sustain him.
For newbies and experienced bloggers who are struggling to remain afloat, here are hints on how to become a successful blogger.
- Passion
Without passion, regardless of how influential you are, you’ll one day quit blogging. The first thing you should have as a blog is passion, that regardless of the amount of money your blog generates, you’ll still have the energy to keep pushing.
- Unique content
What amazes me with majority of Kenyan bloggers is that they think because one has succeeded as a blogger, they will also succeed. They go ahead and copy everything a popular blogger does.
One thing you should know as a blogger is that no matter how hard to work if your work isn’t unique enough to keep readers glued to your blog, you will terribly fail.
It’s a fact that many bloggers have imitated Venas News, Ghafla, Kenyans and other top blogs in the past but there are nowhere to be seen now. The owners of that blog lack passion, determination and innovativeness needed in the blogosphere.
What you should have is unique content, which does not exist in other blogs. If readers see your posts shared elsewhere, they will automatically know that that’s your content.
- Hosting
Hosting is one of the major problems bloggers in Kenya face. While there are several hosting companies in Kenya,none among them can host a website receiving more than 30,000 visitors per day. A website like Venas News receives 70,000 to 200,000 visits per day and we are hosted by Kinsta.Check Kinsta plans here.We have actually referred many Kenyan bloggers to kinsta and they are happy.
When you start a blog, there are things you must have in mind: hosting budget, malware or virus attack, how to generate income,source of traffic etc.
- How to generate income
Before you start blogging, try to search online the best ways to generate income. You can generate income through Googla AdSense,Google AdSense alternatives, Sponsored content ,direct adverts or through affiliate marketing. Venas News started with AdSense and after we realized it wasn’t generating enough money,we moved to direct advertising, AdSense alternatives,MGID and Sponsored content.
We have all along referred many bloggers to MGID,which is not as strict as AdSense. If you wish to join,follow this link and register for free
There is now way your blogging career can be sustainable without generating income.
- Source of traffic
Traffic is directly correlated to the uniqueness of your blog.A blog like Venas News does not share content on social media but readers come looking for information we post on the website. It doesn’t matter whether you own popular social media accounts, what matters most is how relevant and unique your content is.
The single most useful traffic source is organic. You should target Yahoo, Ask, Google and Opera mini traffic.But as a blogger you can’t force those search engines to give you the traffic,you must have good content.
- Fresh content
No blog can grow without generating fresh content each and every day. If you wish to succeed make sure your content is always fresh such that when a reader visits the site, he must get content which wasn’t available yesterday.
- Niche
Finally, know which niche has more readers and which one will terribly fail your blog. Entertainment, news, fashion, gossip and politics can generate more traffic than any other niche but they are overly controversial.