Do you want to start a professional, popular and profitable blog? Do you want to know everything there is to do to get your blog optimized for SEO? Would you like to learn how to improve a blog for more traffic and money? Rest assured, I intend to give you some leads in this article.

So today, I would like to suggest an exercise that will improve your blog in depth, if and only if you integrate it into your daily routine.

But before, if you have never installed WordPress discover How to Install a WordPress Blog in 7 Steps et How to search, install and activate a WordPress theme on your blog 

Then back to why we are here. 

Analyze other popular blogs

Most bloggers read dozens of blogs every day without paying attention to details that could take their site to the next level. And if that's the case for you, then stick around while I explain HOW to do it in the most efficient way.

Here's what you need to do every day

I choose a blog, and I spend 5-10 minutes going through it. My goal is not to consume it as a reader, but rather to visit it with the desire to learn more about blogging.

What I discovered is that spending 5 to 10 minutes a day browsing another blog allows me to really learn a lot! In fact, I've learned so much over the past few months that I've incorporated this idea into my team's work. It will be for us to do it as a group, and to review a blog each week, so that we can discover instructive things.

Discover How to Plan Your Team's Content Creation in WordPress

The objective of this work is not to copy what others do, but rather to find inspiration for my own blogs. What we learn covers a very wide scale, from design to product ideas, from content to ways to increase reader engagement, to the use of social networks for internet promotion, etc.

Let's try to go a little deeper on how to do it.

Choose a blog to review

I review a blog every day of the week. In fact, I have no particular criterion in the choice of the blog that I will review.

When I started doing it, I mainly focused on the popular blogs of my niche. But over time, I came out. While it's good to know what your competitors are doing in your niche, you'll really learn a lot more by going beyond your niche. What matters is to understand what makes the success of a blog, not that of a niche.

Read also: The key points to know that a WordPress theme is quality

There is a lot to be learned from blogs which have thousands of visitors every day. But you can also learn from medium to small sized blogs. Just avoid using newbie blogs or those that aren't even in your country's 4000 most visited blogs on Alexa.com.

Also keep an eye out for those blogs which seem to be growing at an incredibly fast rate., because these usually do something new or innovative.

I also like to mix styles of blogging. While my primary focus is on creating “how-to” content, I also review blogs geared towards news, opinion, reviews, personal blogs, entertainment and more.

So, if you are just just starting out, start blogging in your own niche, but also make a good mix and you will discover a lot of things that you can apply to your own blog.

Tips on how to analyze a blog

I do not have a pre-set routine to guide when it comes to analyzing a blog. However, there are a number of things that I tend to do and redo.

I usually start by opening the blog on my desktop screen "rather large I must say". I then open it on my tablet, and then on my phone, which is usually a source of inspiration when it comes to design.

I usually start by reviewing the homepage, paying special attention to my first impressions and feelings about the blog (first impressions are usually the ones that stick). However, I will always try to dig deeper into the site and review posts (both recent ones and those in the archives) and also any page ("about", ad pages, contact pages, etc.)

The questions to ask yourself when you analyze a blog

To analyze effectively a blog is to go through all these aspects.

Ps: I don't ask myself absolutely all these questions every time I analyze a blog, but I hope that by presenting them, you will have some valuable guidance.

On content

Community

Find readers

  • Where do they seem to put more energy into driving readership (social media, Guest articles, media, etc.)
  • Which social networks do they use as a priority to raise awareness, and what are they doing on these networks?
  • What type of content seems most shared on their blog?
  • How do they go about hooking new readers once they get to their blog? (newsletter, RSS, social networks, etc.)
  • What type of readers does the blog attract?
  • What is the blog's rank on Alexa? What does Alexa say about the blog's traffic sources and reader type?

Monetization

  • How do they monetize their blog?
  • How do they advertise on their blog?
  • Are they using an advertising network like Google AdSense?
  • How many advertisements do they display in their articles?
  • Where do they place advertisements on their blog?
  • What is the size of the displayed banner ads?
  • Do they have an affiliate program ?
  • What products are selling the most on their site?
  • What can you expect from the way they promote their products?
  • What affiliate programs / products do they promote?
  • Do they sell training through spaces strictly reserved for members?
  • What types of products do they offer? Coaching? Creating a blog or online stores?
  • Do they have a legal / privacy page? How can you leverage these pages to increase your conversion rate and sell more products and services?
  • Do they use e-commerce plugins? If so, what are their names? Where to find them?

Design

  • How are the different elements arranged?
  • What pages make up their menu?
  • What is the first impression their design gives?
  • What's the first thing they seem to ask people to do when they arrive?
  • Did they use a web designer or a predefined template (theme) for their blog?
  • How do they use their home page? Is it a traditional blog format, a landing page, or something else?
  • What do they have at their Sidebar?
  • Do they have a welcome message at the top of the page? What is it for them?
  • What do they put in "hot spots" of their blog, below posts, etc. ?
  • What kind of plugins do they use to make it easier for readers to navigate?
  • What can you say about their SEO approach? How do they optimize their blog for SEO?
  • What kind of options do they use in comments?
  • What widgets do they use to improve article reading?
  • How do they use the images in their articles?
  • What does their logo look like? How do you explain these choices?
  • What colors do they use in their design?
  • How do they put their social proof forward through their design?
  • Do they have a dedicated application for their blog?
  • Does their design adapt to mobile devices and tablets?
  • Are there any techniques they use to improve the number of views on their pages?

Email / Newsletter

  • Do they have a newsletter?
  • If yes, how do they get people to sign up? Pop ups? Registration forms? Etc
  • Are they giving away freebies or are they just asking to subscribe to their newsletter?
  • Sign up for the newsletter and see what kind of messages they send.
  • Social networks
  • What social accounts do they advertise on their blog?
  • How do they promote their social accounts?
  • Are there any social networks they ignore or should be using?
  • What type of social network seems more active / important to them?
  • Where do they get more engagement?
  • How often do they update these accounts? What time of day seems to have more engagement?
  • What techniques do they use on social media that seem to generate more engagement and build their community?
  • What techniques do they use on social media that generate the most traffic?
  • What techniques do they use to monetize their blog on social media?
  • What feedback does the blog get from social media? Why are they famous? (both positive and negative)

Other issues to consider

  • Are there any opportunities to connect to or develop a partnership with this blog / blogger?
  • Does he accept Guest articles ?
  • Are there any products that you could promote as an affiliate?
  • Do you have any products that he could promote as an affiliate?
  • If it's in your niche, what gaps in their content could you fill on your own blog?
  • What is he doing poorly that would give you a competitive advantage over him?
  • What does he do well that you can learn from?

How could you answer these questions?

I don't always ask myself these questions every time I visit a new blog. However, I often find myself asking myself these when I review a blog, and which could be of great help to you in building a popular and highly profitable blog.

And if you have others, know that I really like to read your suggestions in the comments below.

Learn from the actions of others ...

Let me end this article with some helpful tips. Don't review blogs just to copy what they're doing or steal their content. Just try to be inspired by their work. Use your findings to improve your blog.

It's also good to learn something other than theory, by observing how others practice their art.

The web is full of excellent bloggers, people whose immense knowledge will bring you a lot, far beyond their own will, or even the impact they already do not know they have. Observe them and learn from them.

To read : My WordPress blog no longer sends emails: how to fix this error.

Let me challenge you

For the coming week, review a blog each day. This doesn't require including all of the questions posed above, but set aside about 10 minutes a day to do this, and see what you can learn.

I bet you, this could be the most valuable 70 minutes of blogging learning you'll ever have! It's 100 times better than just theoretical training.

If you accept the challenge, I look forward to reading you in a week, or why not earlier in the comments section.

Discover also some premium WordPress plugins  

You can use other WordPress plugins to give a modern appearance and to optimize the handling of your blog or website.

We offer you here some premium WordPress plugins that will help you do that.

1. Ebayomatic

Ebayomatic is a WordPress Plugin auto-blogging company dedicated to creating a referral affiliate program. It uses Ebay's API to turn your website into a money-making machine. You will be able to automatically generate articles with referral links based on a set of predefined rules.

Ebayomatic wordpress plugins affiliate earn money blog website

These rules can generate publications from: import elements according to a custom query or to define restrictions, such as posting a single user from a specific category, and more.

Other features include: redirection to a custom URL or automatic removal of expired product publications, configuration custom fields for self-generated publications, le support of Google Translate, excellent SEO, customization of status of generated publications, automatic generation of publication categories from online store items  and many others. 

Download Demo | Web hosting

2. Mailster

Mailster is a WordPress Plugin easy-to-use premium that will help you integrate a newsletter into your website. With the latter, you will be able to create, send, and track your campaigns without too much hassle.Mailster email newsletter plugin for wordpress

Its main features are: the ability to track open emails, clicks, subscriptions and bounce rates, the ability to target your campaigns, campaign management and planning, support for 6 types of auto-responders, unlimited creation registration forms, a user-friendly interface, customization of the background, support for multilingual, and more.

Download | Demo | Web hosting

3.HT Script Pro

HT Script is a WordPress Plugin premium which allows you to add things like: Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, Custom CSS, Custom HTML, JavaScript code to your website headers and footers without having to switch WordPress themes.Ht script pro wordpress plugins footer booster

This WordPress plugin has the ability to add any custom code to your WordPress theme, so you won't need to modify the theme's code. This will allow you to save time and remove the hassle that occurs when updating your WordPress theme.

See also How to install WordPress locally on a PC / Windows with XAMPP

Its main features are: tvery easy to use, unlimited addition of scripts, inserting scripts on header or footer, adding the Custom CSS / js in any WordPress theme, adding the code Google Analyticsthe addition of the Facebook Pixel code, and much more.

Download | DemoWeb hosting

Recommended Resources

Find out about other recommended resources to help you build and manage your website.

Conclusion

Here ! That's it for this tutorial. We hope this article has helped you improve your blog, generate more traffic and money on the internet. Do not hesitate to share with your friends on your favorite social networks

However, you can also consult our resources, if you need more elements to carry out your projects of creation of Internet sites, by consulting our guide on WordPress blog creation.

If you have suggestions or remarks, leave them in our section Comments.

...