Level Up - Be a Freelance Blogger

SEO for Bloggers: 5 Keys to Catchy Headlines

Are you sad that no one seems to read your blog posts?

It could be because of the lack of catchy headlines – more specifically, headlines that are both creatively written and contain a useful keyword phrase to help the search engines find you readers.

In short, you need to rank well in search engines for the phrases your audience uses to find your type of content.

You’d think that at this point, everyone understands Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and the need to have a strong keyword phrase in the headline of their blog post. But that’s not my experience.

I’ve reviewed hundreds of blog-post headlines in the decade I’ve run my Freelance Writers Den community. And time after time, I see headlines with no keyword phrase at all. Generic headlines that have zero chance of helping you gain readers from online search. Such as:

Watch Out for the Red Flags
Head High or Body High (for a legal cannabis blog)
How a Marathon Can Heal your Soul

What’s wrong with these headlines?

In that first one, we can’t even tell who the post is for, or what we’ll learn if we click and read it.

In all three cases, there is no strong keyword phrase that would help search engines deliver you some readers. At this point in the busy blogosphere, if you don’t take the time to weave a keyphrase into your headline, your post is basically doomed.

So how do you figure out what keyword phrase to use for your blog headline? And more importantly, how do you artfully weave it into your headline so it doesn’t seem spammy?

Let’s walk through five key steps to creating a winning, SEO-focused, catchy headline for your next blog post: [Read more…]

By Sophie Lizard 29 Comments

Business Skills for Freelance Bloggers (How to Survive and Grow Your Income)

When you decided to become a freelance blogger, did you immediately write up a 5-year business development plan? Calculate a full financial forecast?

If you did, you have everyone’s permission to skip this blog post and order more champagne while you wait for the rest of us to catch up.

But most freelance bloggers start with a talent for writing and then pick up a bit of business sense along the way. If that sounds more like you, don’t worry — you can still grow your blogging into a lucrative business. We just need to fill some of the gaps in your understanding of how your business works.

Here’s the important part, though: you need to fill the knowledge gaps in your business now, because every month they go unfilled is another month you go without the money you deserve. [Read more…]

By Philipp Meier 13 Comments

Freelancing in Thailand: How to Cut Through Red Tape for Your Visa & Work Permit

Do you dream of making a living as a freelance blogger in Thailand?

Let’s get this straight off the bat: Thailand is not only the Land of Smiles, but also the Land of Silk and Money. Getting the relevant visa AND a work permit (and making it as hassle-free as possible) will cost you a tidy sum.

This is a pain, particularly for writers who are just starting out.

I’m guilty of not playing safe. Holding a valid business visa but not a work permit, I took my first freelance actions in a grey area.

As time was marching on and the expiry date of my visa coming dangerously close, the prospect of ending up in the notorious Bangkok Hilton felt throat-tightening. It was about time I arranged for a new visa, and this time a work permit as well.

If you’re moving to Thailand or are blogging here already, why take the risk of the grey area becoming black-and-white?

I know an ironclad way to cut through Thailand’s red tape. Hang on, I’ll pass you the scissors in a moment.

[Read more…]

By Tari Davis 11 Comments

Blog Audience Engagement: How to Live Happily Ever After With Your Readers

Have you ever watched longingly as other bloggers flaunt their engagement with their audience, while you cry alone in an empty comments corner?

Ever wonder what you’ve been doing so wrong when you try to boost blog audience engagement for your clients (or for yourself)? Chances are, what you’re doing isn’t wrong, but it may just not be enough.

Maybe you’ve been admiring your audience from afar. Pull them close.

Perhaps you’ve been flirting coyly for a while from your blogging balcony. Take them by the hand.

But you just haven’t mustered the right energy to compel your readers to take the plunge. Kneel down and put a ring on it.

Keeping an audience engaged with your writing is a key skill that all clients need you to possess. It’s also the foundation upon which a deeper writer-reader relationship is built, which can be particularly important with ongoing projects and retainer clients.

It takes consistent commitment to deliver on your promise of engaging content, ensuring that your readers can comprehend it, relate to it, learn from it, feel something about it, and do something with it.

If you’re ready to hear your audience shout, “We’re engaged!” then you need these five tips:

[Read more…]

By Carol Tice 9 Comments

5 Simple Ways Freelance Bloggers Can Move Up to Well-Paid Article Writing

Tired of earning small money for paid blogging? If you’re looking to move up, article writing can be a great next step in your freelance career.

After all, you already know how important headlines are online. And you know how to focus an idea into an article-sized slice, organizing it into subheads or a bulleted/numbered list.

All great fundamentals for article writing.

How can you cross over from the world of $50 blog posts to earning $1 a word and more for articles?

Here are five proven paths for moving up to writing articles:

[Read more…]