These days, anyone can be an online publisher. That is not to say, however, that anyone can be successful as an online publisher. The tools are there. The costs are (relatively) low. The path to success, however, is not open to everyone.
That’s a dose of reality for you. Now, for a bit of good news: while success is not inherent in online publishing, with a little hard work and application of knowledge, you can still get where you want to go in this realm.
If you’re new to the world of online publishing, here are three essential considerations that will propel you on the road to success.
Site Design
Don’t be overwhelmed. This does not mean you’re supposed to be a web design expert. What it does mean is that it will do you good to know the basics of design. At the very least, know how to choose a the appropriate theme for your site.
Browse resources such as WP Themes. Read up on basic design principles. Play around with colors, fonts, and themes. Test different designs. Test even more. Don’t worry about doing a lot of testing – that’s better than not caring about the design at all!
Content Plan
Looks are important, but you also need to make sure people actually have something to read! You can wing it, sure, but wouldn’t it be better if you had an idea of what you want to serve your readers?
You don’t have to have an entire year’s worth of blog posts or articles ready at the outset, but having a rough idea of the kind of content you want to publish will definitely help you in reaching your goals.
Promotion
So you’ve got a great looking site. You even have quite a good amount of content – published and in the works. What’s next?
If you’re lucky, someone influential will discover you and spread the word.
Back to reality…it doesn’t always happen that way. The stark truth is that, often, you will have to do a little more work to get the word out about your site. Even viral sites – especially those viral sites, perhaps – pay quite a lot of attention to promotion.
How can you promote your site?
- Make sure you have social sharing buttons easily accessible. That means you also establish your presence on the usual platforms – Facebook, Google+, Twitter, etc.
- Don’t be afraid to hit up other bloggers/site owners in the same niche to see if they’re interested in reading/sharing your content.
- At the same time, share the content of others – but only if you actually find them worthwhile for your readers!
Originally posted on December 11, 2014 @ 5:05 am