So you don’t believe that my technical skills, how should I say this, suck! Check out one of my first websites at http://www.keywordsandcopy.com/. Although I have gained a bit more knowledge since this design, the fact of the matter is that I have not moved on much.
As you can see, there is nothing special about this site. The domain name is at the top, and a thin line separates the links to my other pages. I don’t think that anybody would call this a top notch, or even a mediocre design. And I could care less!
Do you know why I keep using this site? Simply put, it has produced results for me time and time again. Although it is not one of my biggest moneymakers, I usually get a few inquiries per week for small to medium sized jobs. Last month, I picked up a $600 contract that took me about 8 hours to complete. And right now, that rate is just about on par with many of my writing jobs; not all of my projects pay that much, but some do.Â
The point of showing this site is so you can see that you do not need to have loads of technical and design knowledge to make money online. With a basic design that shows your visitor what you offer and how much it costs, you will begin to see an increase in business. Of course, this differs from industry to industry, but a service related site need not be too complex.
It is a blogging myth that you need to pay for a custom design in order to achieve a high level of traffic and profits. Of course, a custom blog would help to give your site a unique look and feel, but this is far from being a requirement. I have had blogs that were custom designed as well as those (such as this one) that run on a simple, free theme.
As I have mentioned time and time again, I do not have the technical skills to customize my blogs. If I want this done I have to call one of my friends for a favor, or pay a freelancer to help me out; both of which I have done in the past.
As you will see by the design of chrisblogging.com, there is not much to it. It is a basic free theme that I picked up after checking out several options. The main reason that I settled on this theme is because it is widget compatible, has a nice color combination, and is nothing over the top. I am a simple guy, and this is a simple theme!
Generally speaking, the only customization that I did was to add some sidebar content, new pages, and a slight tweak to the footer code. Besides that, everything is pretty much basic. Of course, as I move along I will probably insert some ads here and there as well as a few other ideas that I have been working on.
Does a basic design hold you back from making money or increasing traffic? The simple answer to this question is no! I have had template blogs earn more money than customized blogs and vice versa. The key is not the design of the blog, but the content that you provide. As long as you are not making your readers work too hard to browse your content you should be alright.
I have always thought that a blog will make money and receive traffic if the content is something that people want to read. Despite the simplicity of your design, if you are making good posts that are relevant to your subject matter, you will eventually reach your goals.
If you want to be a great blogger, you should read other blogs. After all, this only makes sense, right? And don’t say that you cannot find other blogs that suit your needs. There are more than 70 million out there, so you should be able to find at least a few to read on a regular basis.
There are a couple of things that I always look for when reading other blogs:
1. You may be able to get information for future posts by reading other blogs. For instance, I read at least three blogs on blogging and writing each day. In fact, I may obsess over this a bit too much. But hey, there are a lot of people out there who know more about making money through blogging than me.
2. Get ideas for how you can make additional money. For instance, if you are only using Google Adsense on your blog right now you are not going to reach your fullest potential. Take a closer look at how other similar blogs are making money. This way, you can implement these revenue streams to suit your needs.
There are only two reasons that people do not read other blogs. They either think that they know everything, or they are too lazy or busy to do so. You should not let either one of these things stand in your way! There is an endless amount of information that you can learn by reading blogs from others in your industry.
