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How to Start a Blog That Makes Money (And Gets Free Traffic)

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How to Start a Blog That Makes Money (And Gets Free Traffic)

Reality check: Not all bloggers earn money.

Of those who make money, not all make a living. And not even all make a decent side income. 

But what’s also true is that a lot of bloggers succeed. 

The opportunity you’re looking at is: 

  • Joining 31% of bloggers who make a decent side income of $6K a year.
  • Joining the 15% who make at least $30K a year. 
  • Joining the 6%–10% of bloggers who make over $10K a month. 
  • $100K a month? That’s also possible with blogging, but only the most hardworking and patient bloggers get there.

Without further ado, let’s get you started in creating a profitable blog. We’ll also look at some ways to attract free traffic from search engines.

1. Find a profitable niche 

Here are some niches proven to be profitable: 

NicheTypical contentBlog exampleLast monthly income reportPageviews (from last income report)
Food and cookingRecipes categorized by type of meal and diet, cookware reviews, tips and tricks, listiclesPinch of Yum$95,196 (source)4.245M
Health and wellnessFood, relationships, fitness, beauty, psychologyHot Beauty Health$9,655 (source)208.6K
ParentingPregnancy, child-raising advice, product reviews, food recipes, stay-at-home parent jobs, kid activities, household tipsThe Soccer Mom Blog $11,288 (source)500K
NewsAnything newsworthy in one niche or multiple niches (also gossip)HuffPostAcquired by AOL in 2011 for $315M, then acquired by BuzzFeed (source). According to this source, it generates $14M/mo.5.8M (monthly organic traffic March 2023, via Ahrefs)
TechSoftware and hardware reviews, exclusive deals, how to use software tools, comparisons, listicles, making money online, tech news, buying guides, gaming99signals$5,242 (source)18K (monthly organic traffic on the date of the report, via Ahrefs)
Personal developmentLife hacks, financial freedom, wellness, psychology, motivation, spirituality, fitnessLet’s Reach Success$6,652 (source)115.5K
PetsPet health, product reviews, activities for pets, traveling with pets, pet adoption, training, tips, listiclesYou Did What With Your Weiner$7,720 (includes income outside of the content, source)40K (monthly organic traffic on the date of the report, via Ahrefs)
EntrepreneurshipMaking money online, starting a business, interviews, complete courses, how-tos, inspirationSmart Passive Income$166,559 (source)68K (monthly organic traffic on the date of the report, all blogs, via Ahrefs)
FinanceInvesting, saving money, retirement, financial product reviews, buying guides, family finance, mortgages, gig economy, debt, career advice, entrepreneurship, financial freedomMillennial Money$33,473 on average (source)1.5M visits in 2017
FashionOutfit ideas, home decor, beauty, style tips, gift ideas, listicles, buyer guidesChic Pursuit$11,376 (source)135.3K
LifestyleAnything related to solving life’s problems and living a happier lifeAbby Organizes$41.7K (source)Over 400K
TravelCity guides, listicles, traveling tips, gear and location reviews, life on the road, digital nomadismLocal Adventurer$41K (source)541.8K
DIY/craftsDIY decorations, DIY weekend projects, handcraft tutorials, life hacks, product reviews, food recipes, DIY repairs, renovationsJennifer Maker$15,158 (source)125.4K

Is your ideal niche not on the list? Check these things:

  • Search for affiliate programs in your niche. A simple search like “board games affiliate program” should do it.
  • See if there are enough products on Amazon you could recommend through an affiliate program (that are not excluded by the program).
  • Look at other blogs in the niche and see if they run ads. If they do, check their organic traffic with our free website traffic checker. That blog’s income will range from $0.1 to $0.5 per pageview from organic traffic per month. If they’re active on other marketing channels, then the total sum will be higher. 
  • Go to a similar product in your preferred niche and use a tool like Ahrefs’ Site Explorer to see sponsored links—these will be the deals you could potentially get as well. 
How to look up sponsored links in Ahrefs
You can look for affiliate programs used on any site with these four steps.

But what about blogging about something you’re actually passionate about? 

Obviously, the best scenario is that your interests or hobbies match a profitable niche. Otherwise, it’s easy to lose interest in your blog. 

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But you can also look at it in a different way. If you treat your blog merely as a business, you don’t need to be passionate about the niche in order to succeed. You can, for example, set up blogs in all of those niches and hire someone to create content. 

There are more than 600 million blogs out there (Web Tribunal). There is likely a lot of competition for what you want to create, so a good idea is to find a way to differentiate. 

Here are some ideas:

  • Write from your personal experience – For example, people could be interested in parenting product reviews from a parent with formal medical education. 
  • Cater to a specific segment – People with tight budgets, left-handed people, people with food allergies, etc. 
  • Cover complex topics in simple words Oversimplified is a good example. 
  • Offer more thorough knowledge than others – For example, you can go really in-depth with your product reviews. 
  • Use a lot of custom visuals – Most people skim content. Infographics, videos, and original graphics can help catch readers’ attention. 
  • Fill the gap in the blogosphere – For instance, if a food blog in the no-waste spirit is what you think is missing, that could be your ticket to success. 

Think of the angle of your blog as a long-term investment. It will help you to establish a brand that people will want to come back to and recommend to others. 

3. Choose a monetization method 

Below are nine ways to monetize a blog. Depending on your chosen niche, there may be additional opportunities (for instance, food blogs can develop recipes for other companies). 

Usually, bloggers use several methods at the same time. Keep in mind that some methods (or advertising platforms) will be available only for eligible blogs (usually, it’s about having enough traffic), and some are reserved for bloggers who have already made their name in the industry (speaking, coaching). 

MethodHow it worksTypical rate
AdvertisingYou display ads on your blog and get paid based on the number of clicks or impressions the ads receive.$0.1–$0.5 per pageview.
Affiliate programsYou promote products on your blog and receive a commission for any sales made through your unique affiliate link.5%–50% (up to 90%) per sale.
Sponsored contentYou receive payment for publishing content that promotes a specific brand or product on your blog.$25–$1K per article.
Selling productsYou sell physical or digital products on your blog and keep the revenue generated from sales.Depends. For example, if you’re selling books, that could be $9–$30.
Online coursesYou create and sell online courses on your blog, and students pay to access your course content.Usually $400–$1K per sale. Depends on the market. If there is a lot of competition and your blog is not yet popular, you should consider a lower price tag.
Subscriber-based membershipsYou offer premium content or services to subscribers who pay a monthly or annual fee to access it.Usually $20–$100 per subscription.
Events and speakingYou generate income by speaking at events, conferences, or workshops related to your niche.Usually starts at around $10K and goes up to $100K for high-profile speakers.
Coaching and mentoringYou offer one-on-one coaching or mentoring services to readers.The usual rate in the U.S. for an hour of coaching is between $50 and $250. Running a blog can contribute to your popularity and allow you to raise the stake.
Selling the blogYou sell your blog to a buyer who is interested in acquiring your content, audience, and monetization methods.The average price of a content site is $101.4K, according to Empire Flippers.

This is the part where you need to get creative. My advice: It’s just like choosing a name for a business, i.e., the same rules apply:

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  • Make it simple
  • Make it easy to remember 
  • Make it relevant 
  • Make it unique
  • Think for the long term; avoid trends 

Now for the big question: Should you choose a “search engine optimized” name and domain? Does that even exist? 

Google says that there is no SEO boost for exact or “partial match” domains, so it discourages doing this (source). 

What this means is that you should choose a domain name for reasons other than SEO. 

You can use a domain with a relevant keyword, such as “bike blog,” if the content of the blog is relevant to bikes. But you can also choose a more abstract name. Google will still mostly evaluate the content quality and links. 

5. Choose a blogging platform and set up the domain 

You basically have two choices here: 

  • Self-hosted platform – You get the hosting (a piece of your own server) and the platform separately.
  • Hosted platform – Get everything you need to start publishing in one place. 

While the second option may sound like the best, there are many good reasons to go with the first option. 

The most popular self-hosting option is WordPress, which is run by some 40%-45% of websites globally. You get this platform for free, but you need a server, a domain, and an SSL certificate to run it. 

Sounds a tad technical, but it’s quite easy to set up, and you can be ready to go in less than an hour. What’s more, some hosting companies have solutions tailored for WordPress, which makes the process even easier. 

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In my opinion, the main reasons why so many people go with WordPress are that it’s easy to use, free, customizable, and has plugins for everything, including SEO which is important if you want free traffic. 

Hosted platforms like Wix or Weebly offer everything under one roof, but you won’t have the same degree of customization (fewer plugins and probably fewer templates to choose from).

As for the cost, I was able to get the full package needed to run WordPress for a whole year for approximately $18 with a local hosting provider. 

Invoice from a local hosting provider
Total: $18.

This includes:

  • A server where I can have up to 50 different WordPress blogs (or any type of site as long as it is based on WordPress).
  • No transfer limit (unlimited visits). 
  • A super easy way to set up WordPress.
  • A domain for a year.
  • An SSL certificate for a year (SSL is important for safety, credibility, and ranking).

And I set everything up in minutes. Of course, once my visitor count reaches the threshold, I’ll need to get a more expensive plan. 

Let’s compare that with hosted solutions. All of them have free tiers, but let’s assume we don’t want their branding and we want our own domain. 

Here are the prices:

  • Wix – Starts from $264 per year (for a comparable package).
  • Weebly – $144 per year. 
  • WordPress – Has a hosted option too at $38.5 per year. 

Pro Tip

If you’re going with the self-hosting option, choose a provider with servers located in the country you want the most traffic from. This will give your site a speed boost for that country.

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Two choices: You can either have a custom-designed template or get a generic one for free (or a couple of bucks for a premium one). 

If you go with a custom template, you’ll get something original and tailored to your needs. On the downside, you’ll need to wait to get it done, and it’ll cost you more. You’ll also need to make sure you’ll get the support for at least a year. 

So what most bloggers do when starting out is use a free template or pick one from a marketplace like Envato. As long as your blog doesn’t look exactly like your competitors, you’re going to be fine. With time, you can invest in something custom to make your blog look unique. 

In web design, usability trumps aesthetics. So try to keep these things in mind when choosing the look of your blog: 

  • Clarity – Avoid flashy and distracting designs.
  • Speed – Nobody likes slow websites. 
  • Architecture – For example, some templates start with a big intro header, while others go right into the latest blog posts. 
  • Responsive design – Needs to look good and work well on all devices. 
  • A place for ads – Browsing through different templates, think about where your ads can go (if you choose this monetization method). 

Most content management systems (CMS), such as WordPress, allow you to jump between templates with a few clicks. So do try a couple of looks and see what fits best. 

Trying out templates in WordPress is quick and easy

7. Find topics with search potential 

By this time, everything is set up to start creating content. But we won’t simply start writing post after post on random topics—our approach will be strategic. 

We will do two things here: 

  1. Find topics that can bring you free traffic from search engines like Google 
  2. Find enough topics to fill an editorial calendar for months ahead 

Naturally, since it’s your blog, you can write about anything you want. But if you want your content to be profitable, content designed to rank is your best bet. Basically, it’s the kind of content that people are looking for in search engines. 

So instead of just “brainstorming” ideas, we’ll do keyword research to see what people search for, how much traffic we could get, and how hard it would be to rank. 

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For this, you’ll need a tool like Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer. And since our blog is new and we want to rank relatively quickly, we’ll try to find easy keywords to target. Here’s how the process works. You can: 

  1. Enter seed keywords related to your niche. For a food blog, that could be as simple as “recipe” or include more ideas like “paste, pita, recipe, sauce, soup, taco, wrap, etc.”
  2. Go to the Matching terms report.
  3. Set filters: KD max. 20; Lowest DR up to 20 in top 10; Traffic Potential and volume min. 200. This way, we’ll filter out tougher keywords that may be out of our league for now but still get keywords that can bring considerable traffic. 
How to find low-competition keywords in Ahrefs

Since there are over 8K keyword ideas in that list, there’ll be plenty to fill up your editorial calendar for months. You can also make the list more manageable by increasing the minimum volume, further decreasing KD, or excluding unwanted keyword patterns (like keywords related to brands). 

And here are some examples of relatively easy keywords from that list:

Example keywords
TP refers to the Traffic Potential of a keyword.

You can also get keyword ideas from competitors. It’s a great technique to find the less obvious keywords. In our case, those are food and cooking-related keywords that don’t contain the word “recipe.” Here’s the process in Ahrefs. 

  1. Go to Site Explorer
  2. Enter the URL of the blog (make sure it’s set to Subdomains)
  3. Open the Organic keywords report
  4. Set filters: position 1–20, KD max. 20, volume min. 200, Keyword doesn’t contain “recipe”
How to do competitive keyword research in Ahrefs

Doing that research on the Pinch of Yum blog resulted in nearly 2.5K keywords. Let’s look at some examples and their Traffic Potential: 

Keyword examples

An important thing to check when choosing keywords is the dominating content type. This is the key part in identifying search intent: what users expect when they search for something. 

If you see that the first page on Google is dominated by a content type you can’t create or one that doesn’t make sense for your website (for instance, a product page), skip that keyword because your chances of ranking will likely be low. 

Keyword comparison in Ahrefs
A food blog that doesn’t offer salad bowls as a product probably shouldn’t target the keyword “salad bowl”—top results are dominated by product pages. “Salad bowl recipes” is a whole different story.

Check out our in-depth guides to master keyword research: 

Note

What about non-SEO content? Is it worth it if it likely won’t bring organic traffic? I think the answer is yes, but the decision is up to you. If you think that a given topic will be interesting to your readers, you can still distribute it on other channels (email, social). That kind of content can still generate pageviews and increase engagement on your blog.

What’s more, non-search-based content can still help you with SEO. If it gets links, it can help your site increase authority and make it easier for you to rank for all your keywords.

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8. Create an editorial calendar 

A content calendar (aka editorial calendar) is a system used to organize, manage, and schedule content production.

Why do you need one? 

  • By doing keyword research, you’ll come up with a lot of topic ideas. This keeps them all in one place. 
  • It helps you to stay on track of hitting your content quota goal (you should have one). 
  • It helps to organize work with contractors and guest bloggers (once you have them). 

As a beginner blogger, you likely won’t need a complex calendar. You can get everything organized using a free tool like Notion, Asana, Trello, or even a Google Calendar. So here are some ideas for logging in useful information in your calendar: 

  • Keyword
  • Due date
  • Progress status
  • Category 
  • Author (if there are multiple authors)
  • Any tags you find useful in your workflow like “sponsored” or “outsourcing”
  • Traffic potential

While we’re at it, I think Notion offers great (and free) functionality for creating content calendars. You can create a database of topics and switch between views to get the perspective you need at any given moment. 

Example content calendar made in Notion

9. Create optimized blog posts 

Google wants to serve relevant and helpful content for any search query. So our job as bloggers is to understand what a searcher is really looking for and how to make that content stand out from the rest while still serving what is expected. That’s what content optimization is all about. 

We’ll look at four things here:

  1. Content format and angle, i.e., remaining parts of aligning to search intent
  2. What SEO can tell us about the points we could make in content 
  3. What quality content means for Google
  4. On-page SEO technicals: titles, meta descriptions, alt text, and more

Content format and angle 

Choosing the content format is basically about deciding whether any given blog post is going to be a:

  • Listicle
  • Recipe
  • Guide 
  • Definition post 
  • Tutorial 

As for the content angle, it’s the unique selling point of a page. It should catch the attention of the searcher and indicate what is special about the page. For example: “best, free, in 2023, top, etc.”

How do you come up with both of them? Just like we did with content format during content research—turn to the search engine results pages (SERPs). 

For example, for the keyword “how to make money online,” we can see that listicles dominate the SERPs, and some of the interesting angles already used are “at home, realistically, quickly, easy, for beginners.”

SERP analysis—content format and angle

What this SERP shows us is the kind of content that best serves the search intent. So if we align with search intent but still offer something unique and compelling, we likely stand a good chance of ranking. In other words, we need a listicle and an angle that hasn’t been used yet—something like “5 Tried and Tested Ways to Make Money Online.” 

What to include in your post

The talking points and the assets you include in a post matter not only for the reader but also for search engines. 

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They can help make your content more relevant for the target keyword, rank for secondary keywords, and attract more links. 

First comes the structure of your post. You can get a good understanding of how the top content is structured by using our free SEO Toolbar. Just go to any top-ranking article for your keyword, open up the toolbar, and go to the Content report. 

For example, here we can see that one of the articles on “how to make money online” mentions a number of ideas that we could cover. Moreover, it offers an interesting way to categorize money-making ideas, which is something we can work with too. 

Content report from Ahrefs' SEO Toolbar

This is already enough to get a sense of what relevant content looks like. To go a level deeper, you can check secondary keywords the top content ranks for and the words used frequently. 

  1. Open Keywords Explorer
  2. Enter your keyword
  3. Go to the Related terms report 
  4. Also rank for tab will show you secondary keywords, and Also talk about will show you frequently mentioned words (you can also set it to All to combine the tabs); make sure to set the report to Top 10 too
Related terms report in Ahrefs

Here are a few examples from that list that could make good points or subtopics for an article on making money online: 

Example talking points for an article based on research in Ahrefs

Naturally, this doesn’t mean you should copy articles you see ranking on Google. 

Despite the outcomes, Google is constantly trying to reward the best-quality, most original content and demote the copycats. So treat these reports as inspiration for creating a unique piece that brings something new to the SERPs.

Besides common points, it’s a good idea to include link-worthy content (aka link bait): original research, infographics, free resources, original thoughts, inspiring stories, etc. 

Not only will they make your content more interesting, but they can also entice people to link to it. Links amplify the reach of your content and improve your link profile (if they’re quality backlinks). 

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Tip

If there’s a featured snippet showing for your keyword, it’s usually a good idea to optimize for it. This could be your shortcut to the #1 result on the SERP. 

For example, a featured snippet might be a hint to include a definition of the target keyword or to structure your post in a certain way. 

Example featured snippet
Our article on standard operating procedures (SOPs) for SEO ranks with a featured snippet because we included a definition of the general term of SOPs.

To learn more, check out our full guide on how to optimize for featured snippets.

Create quality content

Producing quality content is the best way to engage readers and make them come back. 

If you have an idea of how to create better content than the competition, you should definitely try it. 

But besides that, you need to know what Google deems as “quality content.” After all, your content should bring you traffic from that search engine. 

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So according to Google’s guidelines, quality content is interesting and useful, and that means it’s:

  • Easy to read.
  • Clearly organized.
  • Unique and fresh.
  • Providing essential information to solve a searcher’s problem. We already touched on that in the previous chapter. 
  • Aligned with Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines. In short, you should clearly demonstrate what makes you qualified to serve helpful content on a given topic, i.e., why should readers trust you. To learn more, check out our guide on E-A-T and the latest update to the concept

Technicals 

Let’s not forget about the “boring but necessary” technicals of optimizing for search engines. 

Here are some easy best practices worth following: 

  • Include the target keyword in the title – The easiest way to make your title relevant to the topic but still fit within 60 characters. 
  • Write a compelling meta description – Probably won’t help you rank higher but can help you attract clicks from SERPs. 
  • Use short, descriptive URLs – It’s enough to use your topic as the slug (as you can see in this very article). You’re optimizing this with the user in mind to help them understand where they’re located on the website (plus, URLs are visible on the SERPs). 
  • Add alt text to your images – Be concise and accurate. Google uses alt text (and the surrounding content) to understand images.
  • Link to internal and external resources – Cite other pages where relevant and when you want to direct people to helpful content. 
  • Optimize for rich results – They are the special content formats found on the SERPs beyond standard blue links. For example, recipes can be displayed on top of blue links as a carousel with a large image, ratings, and prep time. Check out Google’s rich results guide to see eligible rich results for your type of content. 

In this section, I want to show you a few ways you can effectively promote your blog for free. 

Obviously, none of the ways are about investing in ads. 

The reason for this is that unless you sell some high-ticket product through your blog, like a course, physical product, or community membership, you likely won’t get a positive ROI with ads. Simple math: If the average cost of the ad is higher than what you get paid for displaying ads on your blog, you lose money. 

Let’s dig in. 

Build an email list

Building an email list sounds like a set-and-forget cliche tactic, but don’t underestimate it. Let’s hear from Abby Lawson of Abby Organizes

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Our email list has become one of the biggest if not THE biggest contributor to our business’s success, and if I had started growing it earlier, it would be even bigger than it is today. Our email list allows us to keep in touch with our followers more easily and get to know them better. It has helped us to sell more products and grow our traffic. Without it, I don’t know that we would have been able to make the leap to both Donnie and I blogging full time, and we are so grateful to our subscribers for following along on our journey.

Email is going to be your direct line to readers. You pay next to nothing to reach an audience that you know is interested in your blog (or actually nothing if you get a free email tool), and you can use the list to offer products or services. 

Do you need to reach for some hacks to get people to sign up? I doubt it; it’s a surefire way to get unengaged subscribers. The best way to get people to subscribe is to set up a sign-up form next to really good content. 

Sure, you can offer some kind of special deal for your subscribers, such as exclusive content. But make sure to make it relevant. 

Simple sign-up form on a blog

By the way, let me mention an important yet counterintuitive practice. Once you get your list growing, delete contacts that haven’t opened your emails for the past couple of months. It will help you achieve better email deliverability and keep your email app costs lower.

Since you want free traffic from Google, you’re going to need links. The more competitive the keywords you go after, the more quality links you’ll need. 

Why links? Links are one of the most impactful ranking factors for Google

Backlinks help pages rank higher in Google SERPs

There are two ways to build links to your content: 

  1. Organic way – People link to your content because they think it’s useful and/or they link to a specific part of your blog post that carries information they want to refer to (such as data from your research). It’s why you should include link bait in the first place (as explained in the previous section). 
  2. Outreach – You reach out to other websites and ask for a link. It makes sense to do so when you’re confident your link will make that piece of content more helpful. 

It’s actually best if you combine both tactics. This is so that when you contact people and pitch your content, you’ve got something compelling to link to. 

There are quite a few techniques for outreach link building. Let me show you an example: broken link building. It’s where you find broken links pointing to your competitors, then you contact a referring website and ask to include your link to relevant content instead. 

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  1. Open Site Explorer
  2. Input your competitor’s URL (this can be the entire site or a particular page)
  3. Go to the Broken backlinks report and see the broken pages along with the sites that link to them 
How to find broken backlinks in Ahrefs

To do this at scale, use Ahrefs’ Content Explorer

  1. Type in your topic and set the mode to In title
  2. Set filters: Only broken, preferred language, and DR min. 20 (optional, to filter out websites with lower authority)
  3. Choose a broken page from the results and click on Backlinks to learn which pages have linked and why (look at the anchor and surrounding text)
  4. Contact these websites and see if they can link to your content instead
Finding broken pages for link building with Ahrefs' Content Explorer

That’s the basics. Since we live in times when links are the currency of the web, it can be tough to earn a link. Check out our guides on link building and outreach to increase your chances (without spamming people): 

Repurpose your content 

Your target audience is dispersed across multiple channels, each with distinct outreach potential. So by repurposing, you can extend the reach of your content: 

  • Blog posts can become Twitter threads.
  • Blog posts can become videos (and vice versa). 
  • Individual articles or videos can be put together and turned into a free course or ebook.
  • Ebooks can become email drip campaigns. 
  • Ebook excerpts can become guest posts. 
  • Blog posts can become Quora answers.

And so on. 

For example, you can find some of our content from the blog repurposed on our YouTube channel, and vice versa. 

Number of views generated by a video
Blog post templates—a video that got over 50K views on YouTube.
Estimated monthly organic traffic to a blog post
Blog post templates—an article that generates an estimated 1.4K organic visits monthly.

You can do that with all your content. But if you’re a team of one, you’ll likely want to prioritize. Head over to our guide on content repurposing, where we show how to estimate if your time investment will be worth it.

Follow your audience 

Think other blogs, newsletters, podcasts—these are the places where your audience likely hangs out. And before they come to you, you need to go to them. If you are featured in those places: 

  • Your blog can earn more awareness.
  • You can get direct traffic to your blog.
  • You can earn a link that can help to boost your SEO (except for email-only newsletters; they can only get you links indirectly). 

Finding these places isn’t hard. You probably already know some good ones, and you can use Google to find more.

To know which of them can give you the best link, use Ahrefs’ SEO Toolbar while searching on Google and look at the Domain Rating of the website (the higher, the better). Keep in mind: The ones with DR >80 may be harder to get into. 

Ahrefs' SEO Toolbar showing DR (Domain Rating)
DR is a 100-point scale.

One neat hack to do in Ahrefs is to look up articles by a prolific author and exclude that author’s websites from the results. This way, you can find sites where the author has written as a guest and pitch those sites too. 

  1. Open Content Explorer
  2. Use search operators; example: author:"Grant Sabatier" (-site:millennialmoney.com AND -site:bankbonus.com)
  3. Sort the list by DR to get the most authoritative pages first 
A method for finding guest posting opportunities using Ahrefs' Content Explorer

Other tactics 

Here are more free and effective blog promotion tactics you should consider: 

  • Share in communities – Communities always welcome the really good stuff, i.e., original and helpful to others in the community. 
  • Ping the people or brands you’ve mentioned – Not to be confused with ego baiting. If you found someone or some site interesting enough to mention, tell them about it. Mention them on Twitter or just write to them. This tactic will likely get more effective as your blog’s reputation grows. 
  • Answer journalist requests – By providing a quote on a topic you’re an expert on, you can get featured in relevant (or just big) media and earn a link. New to this stuff? Check out our full guide on how to use HARO for link building.    
  • Amplify your content on social media – Just like you, your audience will divide their attention among different social media platforms. Tip: cater to the platform; don’t just share links to your blog posts.
  • Accept guest posts and do interviews – May not be the best tactic for beginners (since guest authors usually choose more seasoned blogs), but this is something you can do later on as you grow your reputation. Benefits: free pageviews, backlinks (see below) and, of course, great content for your readers. 
Some of the most linked content on the popular blog makingsenseofcents.com are interviews
Some of the most linked content on the popular blog makingsenseofcents.com are interviews.

11. Keep your blog in shape

There are other things you need to do besides pushing new content. 

Monitor SEO health 

Ideally, you’ll want your site to be free of any SEO issues. However, it’s enough to stay away from the critical ones that can seriously impact your rankings or even prevent you from ranking.

For this, you’ll need SEO tools that will monitor your site automatically, report issues, and suggest solutions. These two should be more than enough: 

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Check out this short post on how to use these tools to spot and fix technical SEO issues that really matter. 

Update posts regularly for SEO

Updating posts can help you reclaim lost rankings and improve pages that never ranked high enough.

Organic traffic surge as a result of a content update

Underperforming content can be divided into two categories:

  • Ranking in the top 10 – These articles will likely need a smaller update, such as refreshing outdated information. 
  • Ranking below the top 10 – These articles will likely need a bigger redo. You may need to rewrite most of the content to get a higher chance of ranking. 

To find articles worth updating, you can use two types of tools. 

The first one is our free WordPress plugin. If you’re going to go with WordPress for your blog, this tool will monitor the rankings for the target keyword and, based on that, suggest the appropriate action. 

Ahrefs' WordPress plugin suggesting updating certain articles

You can also use a rank tracking tool like Ahrefs’ Rank Tracker. Track your main keyword targets, then use the position filter to find pages ranking from 1 to 10 (for updating) and from 11 (for rewriting). 

How to find content updating prospects using Ahrefs' Rank Tracker

Once you find your underperforming blog posts, there are a few things you can do, depending on the case: 

  • Changing the format (for example, from a listicle to a guide) 
  • Adding a missing subtopic
  • Updating old statistics, facts, etc 
  • Adding internal links from other pages 
  • Adding more helpful resources: quotes, visuals, statistics, etc 
  • Demonstrating more first-hand experience on the topic

… and more. Read our full guide to republishing old content for SEO for more tips on the topic.

Frequently asked questions about starting a profitable blog. 

How do bloggers get paid? 

Here are the most popular ways of monetizing a blog: 

  • Advertisements 
  • Affiliate marketing
  • Sponsored posts
  • Freelance writing 
  • Selling products, services, or memberships 

Depending on the monetization method, payment rules also differ. For example, for affiliate marketing, you can get paid even after 30 days from the purchase and only if the product hasn’t been returned. Whereas for sponsored posts, you can expect advance payment. 

In this article, you will find nine ways to monetize a blog (as seen in the table earlier). But depending on the niche, this number can vary (for example, there can be up to 18 ways to monetize a food blog).

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How to start a blog with no money? 

It’s possible to start a blog with absolutely no money using free blogging tools and free hosting. However, it’s not necessarily the best way to start. Blogging is competitive, and the best blogs use paid services and tools to gain an edge. 

Instead, try to keep your costs low if you’re tight on budget. For example, use a free blog template instead of a custom one, find cheap WordPress hosting, and use free tools where possible. Pay for tools only if you see them as a good investment. 

Last but not least, if you’re low on cash and you want to use blogging as your main income, this may be hard to achieve. Blogging can take time to return a considerable profit, so it’s best if you prepare to have other sources of income before that happens (don’t leave your day job just yet). 

How to start a blog as a beginner? 

If you want to start a blog that makes money, it all comes down to: 

  1. Choosing a profitable niche, unique angle, and name.
  2. Planning how you’re going to monetize.
  3. Choosing a blogging platform and registering your domain.
  4. Creating content based on traffic potential and your audience’s interests.
  5. Promoting your content.

You can start blogging on the very same day, and it doesn’t require any special skills such as coding. Although, you’ll need to fill in some “blanks,” such as your niche, name, and the topics you’ll write about. 

What kinds of blogs make money? 

There are essentially five types of blogs that make money:

  1. Niche blogs – Take a deep dive into a particular niche or theme. Examples of profitable niches: food and cooking, health and fitness, parenting, news, tech, entrepreneurship, finance, travel. 
  2. Affiliate/review blogs – Blogs created with the purpose of recommending products and earning money via commissions from affiliate programs. 
  3. Personal blogs – Blogs without any particular theme or niche other than the personal experiences and opinions of the author. 
  4. Personal brand blogs – Their primary aim is to establish the author’s name in a particular industry. These blogs differ from personal blogs in that the content is more specifically targeted toward the author’s area of expertise.
  5. Business/corporate blogs – Promote products, services, and brands owned by the business.

Why do most bloggers fail?

Most common reasons why bloggers fail:

  • Giving up too soon
  • Lack of consistency in publishing 
  • Writing for themselves, not taking their audience and demand for the topics into account 
  • Never monetizing their blog 
  • Failing to provide unique value 
  • Not investing in their blog 
  • Ignoring SEO
  • Not promoting their content

Do people still read blogs?

In all, 77% of internet users read blogs (Social Media Today) and nearly 26% of people in the U.K. aged 5–18 are reading blogs (Statista).

How many times a week should I post on my blog?

Bloggers who publish two to six times per week are 50% more likely to report strong results (Orbit Media).

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But you can publish less and be successful. For example, Financial Samurai, one of the most prominent blogs in the financial niche, has been publishing three posts per week.

Final thoughts 

Taking a blog into profitability can be a tedious job. But if you’re serious about committing your time to it and you like writing, blogging can turn your life around—just like it did for these people: 

  • Carrie Forest started the Clean Eating Kitchen blog to help women recovering from chronic health issues after struggling with health issues herself. Her blog started to generate revenue when she started to do SEO. The blog makes $20K a month now—you can read her founder’s story here.  
  • Jennifer Marx from Jennifer Maker started her blog when she was broke. She turned it into a business that earns six figures a month in a few years. Listen to her story.
  • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner started Making Sense of Cents in 2011 to keep track of her financial progress. Now her blog earns $40K a month, and she works just a few hours every week off of her sailboat (or wherever she’s currently at). Read her story and get some of her blogging tips.
  • Abby and her husband made blogging a full-time family business. She explains how it happened and shares a few blogging tips in her last income report

Got questions or comments? Let me know on Twitter or Mastodon.

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7 Easy SEO Tips for Small Businesses

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7 Easy SEO Tips for Small Businesses

If you’re a small business owner, people are searching for what you do on Google. Unless you show up, you’re missing out on customers or clients.

SEO is how you do that, and the basics are quick and easy.

Follow these tips to rank your small business higher in no time.

If you only do one thing as a small business owner, make it to claim and optimize your GBP.

A Google Business Profile helps users find and learn about your business in Google search and maps. It’s free to set up and lets you share important details about your business with customers, like its phone number, opening times, and offerings.

But here’s the real beauty of Business Profiles: People don’t have to search for your business to see your profile. They can appear for broader searches like “pizza restaurant near me.”

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Example of a Google Business Profile in the 'map pack ' resultsExample of a Google Business Profile in the 'map pack ' results

This makes them a powerful way to attract new customers searching for what you do.

Here are the basics of optimizing your profile:

  • Set the right business category and type
  • Add opening hours (and keep them up to date!)
  • Add contact details
  • Add photos
  • Add your products or services

Learn more in our 30-minute Business Profile optimization guide.

People don’t always turn to Google to find small businesses. They also search popular business directories and trusted review websites.

Even if they do search Google, they’ll often end up browsing a popular directory anyway because that’s often what ranks.

For example, I was recently searching for a cat sitter for an upcoming vacation. I started my search by typing “cat sitter near me” into Google. But I soon ended up browsing a niche directory because that’s what all the top results were.

Local directories and niche sites rank for "cat sitter near me"Local directories and niche sites rank for "cat sitter near me"

In fact, I even ended up booking a cat sitter through one of these websites:

Booking I made on a local niche site after finding it in GoogleBooking I made on a local niche site after finding it in Google

Long story short, if you’re not listed on popular niche or local directories, you’re losing out on second-hand search traffic and customers.

Let’s look at a couple of ways to find the best directories to get listed on.

Search Google

Head over to Google and search for “[what your business does] in [location]”, then add your business to directories that rank on the first page.

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For example, if you’re a cat sitter in Seattle, you’ll probably want to get listed on:

  • Meowtel
  • Rover.com
  • Yelp
  • Care.com
Local niche sites and directories ranking in Google searchLocal niche sites and directories ranking in Google search

Find the directories your competitors are listed on

Most directory listings also link to your website, which means you can use your competitors’ backlink profile to find relevant directories.

Here’s how to do it in Ahrefs:

  1. Go to our Competitive Analysis tool
  2. Select the “referring domains” mode
  3. Enter your site in the “Not linking to target” field
  4. Enter the sites of a few competing businesses in the “But linking to these competitors” fields
  5. Hit “Show link opportunities”
Finding local and niche directories in AhrefsFinding local and niche directories in Ahrefs

You should see a list of domains that link to your competitors but not you. Eyeball this list for sites that look like relevant directories and add your business to them.

Examples of local directories linking to competitorsExamples of local directories linking to competitors

Not sure who your competitors are?

Search Google for “[what your business does] in [location]” and go to Maps. Follow the website links on their profiles to find their domains, then copy and paste them into Ahrefs.

How to find competitorsHow to find competitors

Having technical SEO issues can hurt your rankings, so it’s worth checking that your website is technically sound and fixing any major issues.

The easiest way to do this is with an SEO audit tool like Ahrefs’ Site Audit. You can use this free of charge with an Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (AWT) account. Just sign up, follow the steps to crawl your site, then filter the All issues report for Errors:

How to find website errors in Ahrefs' Site AuditHow to find website errors in Ahrefs' Site Audit

For advice on what the issues mean and how to fix them, hit the tooltip:

How to find advice on fixing the issuesHow to find advice on fixing the issues

For example, Site Audit found eight 404 pages on our blog during a recent crawl:

Example of a 404 page issueExample of a 404 page issue

To fix this issue, we can either reinstate, redirect, or remove internal links to the pages.

If you also schedule regular crawls in Site Audit, you’ll get alerts about new SEO issues so you can fix them before they cause problems.

Email alert from Ahrefs' Site AuditEmail alert from Ahrefs' Site Audit

People often search for specific products or services rather than what your business does. For example, they might search for “bathroom remodel near me” instead of “plumber near me.”

If they do this, Google tends to show pages about that service, not plumbers’ homepages.

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Google tends to service pages rather than homepages when searching for specific servicesGoogle tends to service pages rather than homepages when searching for specific services

You might struggle to rank for these terms unless you have these pages.

But you might be thinking, “I offer lots of services. I don’t have enough time to create pages for all of them.”

Keyword research is the answer. This is the process of discovering what words and phrases your customers are typing into Google. You can use it to find the products or services they’re searching for the most and then prioritize creating pages about them.

Here’s how to do it:

  1. Brainstorm all the products or services you offer
  2. Paste them into Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer (make sure to select the country you’re in)

You’ll see the keywords sorted by their estimated monthly search volumes from high to low:

Plumbing keywords sorted by popularity, via Ahrefs' Keywords ExplorerPlumbing keywords sorted by popularity, via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

This should give you a good idea of relative interest in the products or services you offer and the pages you should prioritize creating.

Sidenote. These are national volumes, but that shouldn’t really matter. If a service is more popular than another nationally, it’s probably more popular in the local area where your business operates, too. The only caveat is if you offer something like HVAC services and the climate in your country differs greatly from region to region.

For example, it would make sense to have a page for boiler servicing if it’s something you offer.

Having pages about your products and services is one thing, but you also need to make sure they tell searchers what they want to know. If you know your customers well, you can probably get halfway there easily. But it’s always best to do a bit of research.

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For example, I was recently searching for someone to repair our boiler…

My process went a little like this:

  • Searched Google for “boiler repair near me”
  • Had a quick look at the reviews and websites of the top-ranked businesses
  • Called the most promising ones

I knew that our boiler brand isn’t very common, so I was specifically looking for engineers who mentioned working with our brand on their websites. Out of a dozen sites I checked, only one mentioned this:

Example of a site giving searchers what they wantExample of a site giving searchers what they want

As a result, this was the first company I called.

If the other engineers had only done a bit of keyword research, they’d have known this is something customers care about and included it on their pages.

Here’s how you can do that in Ahrefs:

  1. Go to Keywords Explorer
  2. Search for your product or service (e.g., “boiler repair”)
  3. Go to the Matching Terms report
  4. Go to the “Cluster by terms” tab
Use term clustering in Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer to find what customers care aboutUse term clustering in Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer to find what customers care about

From here, skim the list for similar terms that might indicate the kind of information searchers are looking for.

For example, the highlighted terms below are all boiler brands:

Customers searching for boiler repair care about boiler brandsCustomers searching for boiler repair care about boiler brands

I also see mentions of different types of boilers, like oil, gas, and electric:

Customers searching for boiler repair care about boiler typesCustomers searching for boiler repair care about boiler types

From this quick skim alone, it’s clear that searchers are looking for engineers who can repair their type and brand of boiler.

If you’re a local boiler engineer, having this information not only helps searchers but also saves wasted time answering the phone to give your “Oh… I don’t work with that brand of boiler, sorry!” response.

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Can this also help you rank higher?

In all likelihood, yes.

For example, had I searched Google for local engineers who work with our brand of boiler, the engineer’s website that actually mentions the brand ranks in position #3:

Giving searchers what they want seems to pay offGiving searchers what they want seems to pay off

Backlinks are a known ranking factor. The only problem is that high-quality backlinks are far from easy to get. (This is what makes them such a good ranking factor.)

For small businesses, taking advantage of existing relationships is a good starting point.

Here are a few ideas:

  • Give suppliers testimonials. These often get featured on their sites along with a link.
  • Publish client spotlights. For example, if you’re a plumber who recently helped renovate your local church, write it up and ping them about it. They might feature it on their website.
  • Pitch stockist pages. For example, if your store stocks a local craft beer, see if the brewery lists its stockists on its website. If its does, you can usually get featured just by asking.

I would also recommend trying to replicate your competitors’ best backlinks. To find these, plug their site into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer and check the Backlinks report.

How to find your competitors' backlinks in Ahrefs' Site ExplorerHow to find your competitors' backlinks in Ahrefs' Site Explorer

Sidenote. If there is a lot to go through, toggle the “Best links” filter to narrow things down.

For example, this local plumber has two links from sites listing small businesses that offer discounts to health and other key workers:

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Example of easy-to-replicate backlinks to a plumber's websiteExample of easy-to-replicate backlinks to a plumber's website

Both of these would be pretty easy links to replicate (assuming you’re happy to offer this discount!)

Google itself advises small business owners to remind customers to leave reviews and reply to them to build trust:

Google's advice on reviews for small businessesGoogle's advice on reviews for small businesses

As Google says, the easiest way to do this is to create and share a link to your Business Profile with customers. You can do this in “thank you” emails, at the end of customer support interactions, or simply by including a link or QR code on receipts.

This is also likely to help with your “map pack” rankings, at least according to BrightLocal’s survey. It states that 17% of SEOs deem reviews to be the most important ranking factor.

17% of SEOs think reviews is the most important ranking factor for the 'map pack'17% of SEOs think reviews is the most important ranking factor for the 'map pack'

But don’t limit yourself to asking for and replying to reviews on your Google Business Profile. Many customers also trust other websites. If you’re wondering which review sites matter most for your small business, Google its name and look for other review sites in the results.

For example, reviews on TripAdvisor are clearly important for my favorite pizzeria:

TripAdvisor is an important place to get reviews for restaurantsTripAdvisor is an important place to get reviews for restaurants

For my favorite local craft bottle shop, niche review sites like RateBeer and Untapped seem more important:

Untappd is an important place to get reviews for bottle shopsUntappd is an important place to get reviews for bottle shops

FAQs

What is small business SEO?

Small business SEO is the process of improving your online presence to get more customers from Google and other search engines. It almost always revolves heavily around optimizing for local searches.

What are the benefits of small business SEO?

There are three main benefits of doing SEO for your small business:

  • More brand awareness. Showing up in more places online means more people will become familiar with your business.
  • More traffic. Ranking higher in Google and other search engines leads to more traffic.
  • More customers. As long as your traffic is targeted, it’ll bring in more customers or clients.

What’s the difference between small business SEO and local SEO?

Unless you sell products or services beyond your local area, not much.

If your small business sells products nationally or internationally, check out our guide to ecommerce SEO or our guide to international SEO.

If your small business sells services in multiple locations (e.g., car hire), read our guide to local keyword research to learn how to optimize for that.

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A Comprehensive On-Page SEO Checklist for 2024

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A Comprehensive On-Page SEO Checklist for 2024

If you’ve invested time and effort writing an epic piece of content, don’t forget about on-page SEO. It helps google to understand what your page is about and show it to as many people as possible in the search results.

Even better, many on-page improvements are super quick and easy to do.

Follow this checklist for perfect on-page SEO every time:

If you’re looking for a reusable interactive checklist to use time and time again, here are a few other formats

Let’s run through everything real quick.

Google says it’s best to use words that are relevant to your content in page URLs, so you don’t want random gobbledygook urls like domain.com/734/834753956756 if you can avoid it. It’s better to use something short and descriptive like domain.com/mens/shirts.

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Short, descriptive URLs are best for SEOShort, descriptive URLs are best for SEO

It only takes a few seconds to change this in most content management systems:

You can change URL structures in most CMS's in secondsYou can change URL structures in most CMS's in seconds

If you’re not sure what words or phrases to use, the main keyword you’re targeting is usually a good bet. That’s what we do on the Ahrefs blog 90% of the time.

For example, our target keyword for this post is “on page SEO checklist,” so that’s what the post’s URL is:

Using the target keyword is never a bad idea for a URL slugUsing the target keyword is never a bad idea for a URL slug

Few best practices to keep in mind:

  • Avoid repeating words. If your page is about mens shirts and it’s nested in the /mens/ subfolder, you don’t need to repeat the word “mens.” domain.com/mens/shirts/ is better than domain.com/mens/mens-shirts/
  • Avoid dates. If a searcher comes across domain.com/blog/2020/fashion-tips/ in 2024, they’re going to assume it’s out-of-date even if you updated the content yesterday. So domain.com/blog/fashion-tips/ would be better.
  • Avoid being too specific. If your URL is domain.com/blog/20-best-fashion-tips/, it’s going to look weird if you add more tips to your post later on. Using the less specific domain.com/blog/best-fashion-tips/ gives you more future freedom.

Google says that title tags are often the main piece of information searchers use to decide which result to click on. If yours is boring and dull, you’re probably not going to get as many clicks as you could—even if you rank.

It’s the same story for meta descriptions, which Google often uses for the descriptive snippet.

Pages with compelling title tags and meta descriptions get more clicksPages with compelling title tags and meta descriptions get more clicks

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach for title tags, but the ABC formula is a decent starting point for blog posts:

Use the ABC formula to craft more compelling title tagsUse the ABC formula to craft more compelling title tags

For your meta description, my best advice is to try to expand on your title tag to give searchers more detail and context.

If you’re struggling or just want a fast solution, give our free AI title tag generator and meta description generator a shot. Tell the tools what your page is about and your desired writing tone and they’ll generate a few options.

Use Ahrefs' free AI and meta description generators to craft compelling copy in secondsUse Ahrefs' free AI and meta description generators to craft compelling copy in seconds

Remember to keep them both short and swee, too. If they’re too long, they’ll get cut-off in search. This looks odd and makes them less compelling. You can use a free tool like this one to check for truncation before publishing, or Ahrefs’ Site Audit to find all the issues on your site.

Google recommends using one H1 tag per page. It makes sense to use this for your page title as H1 is the highest level heading there is.

Most content management systems do this automatically, but you can double-check your title is indeed a H1 for free using Ahrefs SEO toolbar. Just click the Content tab:

Use the Ahrefs SEO Toolbar to check the structure of your contentUse the Ahrefs SEO Toolbar to check the structure of your content

If the copy you’d expect to be wrapped in a H1 tag isn’t, hit up your developer!

People want what you promised them in your title and meta description, so don’t kick things off with a load of fluff. Get straight to the point and give the reader what they came for in the first sentence.

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There’s no one-size-fits-all way to do this. It all depends on what searchers are looking for.

For example, when people search for “toxic backlinks,” they’re overwhelmingly looking for a definition above all else. That’s why I made the very first paragraph of my article the definition:

People have short attention spans; get to the point fastPeople have short attention spans; get to the point fast

But when people search for “best snow blower,” they just want a recommendation—so that’s what Wirecutter gives them in the first paragraph:

Wirecutter is great at getting to the point in their introsWirecutter is great at getting to the point in their intros

Sidenote. I think Wirecutter’s opening paragraph could be even better because there’s no point in that first sentence. If you’re searching for “best snow blower,” you already know the benefits of the product. You just want to know which one is best!

Google’s John Mueller said that the search giant uses headings to help better understand the content on a page. This is why you need to make sure they’re clear and descriptive.

It’s easy to miss the mark here. We’ve even been guilty of it ourselves.

For example, look at these two subheadings from our list of blogging tips:

Some of our rather cryptic subheadings from our list of blogging tipsSome of our rather cryptic subheadings from our list of blogging tips

Do you have any idea what those mean at first glance?

Me neither. And many of the other subheadings in our post were also unclear.

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If you suspect the same might be true for your subheadings, try this: ask ChatGPT to rewrite them for clarity.

Asking ChatGPT to rewrite subheadings for clarityAsking ChatGPT to rewrite subheadings for clarity

This is exactly what Sam did for our post, and it made them much clearer in seconds.

For example, “Create a ‘Do 100’ project” became “Start a ‘write 100 blog posts’ project”:

Example of a subheading rewritten by ChatGPTExample of a subheading rewritten by ChatGPT

Make sure your subheadings have proper hierarchy, too. It helps Google to understand the structure and makes it easier to skim for readers.

Headings improve user experience by creating hierarchyHeadings improve user experience by creating hierarchy

Search intent is the reason behind the search. Unless your page aligns with intent and gives searchers what they’re looking for, your chances of ranking high are slim to none.

To show just how important this is, look at this graph:

Our rankings for "backlink checker" shot up after we matched search intentOur rankings for "backlink checker" shot up after we matched search intent

This shows our ranking position for the keyword “backlink checker” over time. You can see that in late 2018, we suddenly went from struggling to rank higher than position #5 to consistently ranking #1.

How? By optimizing our page for search intent.

Here’s what the page looked like before:

Our original "backlink checker" landing pageOur original "backlink checker" landing page

Here’s what it looks like now:

Our current "backlink checker" landing pageOur current "backlink checker" landing page

Minor design tweaks aside, there’s one important difference: there’s now a free backlink checker embedded. Before it just asked visitors to start a trial of our SEO software.

By catering to what searchers actually wanted, we improved the page’s rankings and its estimated search traffic from ~18K to ~215K monthly visits. That’s a 12X improvement!

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Traffic increased by 12X when we improved search intent. That's huge!Traffic increased by 12X when we improved search intent. That's huge!

But how did we know what searchers wanted?

Back then, we had to do a manual analysis of the top search results. While you can still do that, it’s much easier just to click the “Identify intents” button in Keywords Explorer:

Use the "Identify intents" button in Keywords Explorer to quickly understand what searchers are looking forUse the "Identify intents" button in Keywords Explorer to quickly understand what searchers are looking for

This uses the power of AI to analyze the top search results and tell you what searchers are looking for.

Broadly aligning your content with search intent isn’t enough. It should also cover the topic in full to tell searchers everything they want to know. This can help it rank for more keywords and bring more traffic as a result, too.

To find what searchers are looking for, look for common subtopics among top-ranking pages.

There are a few ways you can do this.

Manually check the top-ranking pages

Search for your target keyword in Google, open a few top-ranking pages, and eyeball them for commonalities.

For example, many top results for “best running shoes for flat feet” give a budget option:

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Many first-page results for "best running shoes for flat feet" talk about the best budget option
Many first-page results for "best running shoes for flat feet" talk about the best budget option

Check the keyword rankings of top-ranking pages

Pages often rank for keywords related to the subtopics they cover. If you see many top pages ranking for these keywords, it’s probably an important subtopic to cover.

Here’s how to find these keywords:

  1. Go to the Competitive Analysis tool in Ahrefs
  2. Enter your page’s URL in the “This target doesn’t rank for” field. (If you haven’t published your page yet, enter the URL you plan to use.)
  3. Enter the URLs of a few similar top-ranking pages in the “But these competitors do” fields
  4. Look for keywords that represent subtopics

For example, the top three results for “best running shoes for flat feet” also rank in the top 10 for many keywords related to men and women’s shoes:

Keyword rankings for top-ranking pages often reveal important subtopicsKeyword rankings for top-ranking pages often reveal important subtopics

This tells you that the best picks for men and women is an important subtopic to include.

Find subtopics with the help of AI

It’s currently in beta, but the new AI Content Grader in Ahrefs finds “missing” subtopics. It does this by comparing the content of the three top-ranking pages for your target keyword to your content.

To use it, just enter your target keyword and your page’s URL. (If you haven’t published your page yet, enter the URL you plan to use).

For example, here’s one of its suggestions for the keyword “best running shoes for flat feet”:

AI suggestions for subtopics to include, via Ahrefs' Content GraderAI suggestions for subtopics to include, via Ahrefs' Content Grader

Information gain is a measure of how unique your content is. Google describes a mechanism for scoring this in a patent granted in June 2022.

Two months later, in August 2022, Google launched the helpful content update, which they described as “part of a broader effort to ensure people see more original, helpful content written by people, for people, in search results.”

Are these two things related? Nobody knows. But what we do know is that Google cares about the originality of your content, and almost certainly has mechanisms in place for identifying it. 

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This means that covering what other top-ranking pages cover isn’t enough for a well-optimized page. It also needs to bring something new and valuable to the table.

For example, my colleague Chris collected data on how folks deal with low-quality backlinks for his post on removing backlinks:

Research Chris did for his post on removing backlinksResearch Chris did for his post on removing backlinks

Ryan interviewed three B2B marketers for unique insights for his post on B2B content marketing:

Research Ryan did for his post on B2B content marketingResearch Ryan did for his post on B2B content marketing

And I worked with Patrick Stox to create an interactive workflow and template for my content audit guide:

Template I made for my post on how to do a content auditTemplate I made for my post on how to do a content audit

None of these posts are completely unique. They contain plenty of information that you can probably find elsewhere—and that’s fine. What matters is that we’re bringing at least something new to the table.

Google’s algorithms are designed to surface content that demonstrates E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust.

If you’re an expert in your field or crafted your content from personal experience, your page already has E-E-A-T. But searchers aren’t going to know that without reading it, so you should try to showcase it as obviously as you can on the page. Let’s look at two ways to do this.

Flash your credentials

Healthline does this extremely well. The very first thing you see on their page about rheumatoid arthritis is that the content was reviewed by a rheumatologist:

Healthline flashes author's credentials right in the introHealthline flashes author's credentials right in the intro

Put your uniqueness front and center

If you’ve put time and effort into adding “information gain” to your content, don’t bury it. Make sure searchers see it right away so they know they can trust you.

For example, to curate our list of the best Facebook groups for SEOs, we asked the 12K+ members of our customer-only group to vote for their favorites. Instead of burying this fact deep in the post, we highlighted it in the very first paragraph.

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Always put your uniqueness front and centerAlways put your uniqueness front and center

For a page to earn backlinks (which are a strong ranking factor) and shares, people have to actually consume the content. This isn’t going to happen if the copy is hard to read.

You can use free tools like Hemingway and Grammarly to fix this.

For example, Hemingway gives my recent guide to toxic backlinks a reading grade level of 7:

Use tools like Hemingway and Grammarly to improve readabilityUse tools like Hemingway and Grammarly to improve readability

Given that 54% of Americans lack literary proficiency (essentially reading below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level), this means we’re alienating at least 46% of readers. If we could bring the reading grade level down, more people would be able to read it.

Sidenote. This isn’t absolutely necessary for every topic. It depends on who your audience is. If they’re technical folks, don’t worry about it. But if you’re publishing content for the masses, accessibility matters.

Here are a few more tips to improve readability:

  • Use short sentences and paragraphs
  • Use bulleted lists
  • Use images

Featured snippets give searchers a short answer right in the search results.

Featured snippets in search resultsFeatured snippets in search results

But here’s the cool thing: Google pulls the snippet from one of the top-ranking pages. This means that if your page already ranks in the top 10 for keywords where Google shows a featured snippet, there might be an opportunity to steal it without much effort.

This is exactly what I managed to do a couple of months ago, which led to a ~38.9% jump in estimated search traffic to our page:

Traffic improvement of 38.9% by optimizing for featured snippetsTraffic improvement of 38.9% by optimizing for featured snippets

Here’s what happened:

In Ahrefs’ Site Explorer, I used the Organic Keywords report to find the page’s top 10 keyword rankings with featured snippets we didn’t own.

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How to find featured snippet opportunitiesHow to find featured snippet opportunities

Right away, I noticed a trend: many of the keywords were people searching for the most searched thing in Google (singular) rather than a list of top searches (plural):

Example of an obvious opportunity to optimize for featured snippetsExample of an obvious opportunity to optimize for featured snippets

After searching for a few of these keywords in Google, I saw that the snippet was pretty much always pulled from this very short paragraph in a competing post:

Example of copy Google was using for a featured snippetExample of copy Google was using for a featured snippet

So… I added a similar paragraph to our post (using our data instead):

The copy I added to our page to optimize for featured snippetsThe copy I added to our page to optimize for featured snippets

This quick big of on-page SEO won our page 163 more featured snippets:

Results of optimizing - 163 more featured snippetsResults of optimizing - 163 more featured snippets

Images on your page can rank in Google Images and send you more traffic. There are three things you need to do to optimize them.

Filenames are descriptive

Google says that these give clues about the subject matter, so avoid random file names like IMG_5497.jpg in favor of something short and descriptive like brown-dog.jpg.

How to name image files for SEOHow to name image files for SEO

Alt text is present and descriptive

Google also says that image alt text helps them understand subject matter, so the same rules apply as filenames: keep them short and descriptive.

How to write alt text for SEOHow to write alt text for SEO

Most content management systems have a place to add alt text in the UI, so there’s no need to mess around with HTML:

Most CMS's make it easy to add alt textMost CMS's make it easy to add alt text

Images are compressed

Compressed images are smaller and faster to load. Some platforms like Shopify claim to do this automatically, but the results aren’t always great. It’s generally better to employ the help of a plugin like TinyIMG or Shortpixel.

Internal links are links from one page on your site to another. They help Google understand what a page is about and boost its authority, which can lead to higher rankings.

For this reason, when you publish a new page, it pays to internally link from there to other relevant pages. This won’t help the new page’s rankings, but it might help the rankings of the pages you internally link to.

To find relevant opportuntities, use Ahrefs’ Site Audit:

  1. Go to the Internal Link Opportunities tool
  2. Enter the URL of your newly-published page in the search box
  3. Choose “Source page” from the dropdown
How to find internal linking opportunitiesHow to find internal linking opportunities

Sidenote. Site Audit needs to have crawled your site since you published the new page, otherwise this won’t work.

Pay attention to these columns:

  • Source page → your newly-published page, where you will add the link
  • Keyword context → where on the page to add the link
  • Target page → where to link to

For example, here the report is suggesting that I link from my post on toxic backlinks to our bad links guide:

Example of an internal linking opportunityExample of an internal linking opportunity

Citing valuable resources is helpful for readers. Even Google says so.

Does that mean it’s a “ranking factor?” No. But it does improve your content’s credibility with readers, and that can impact things that do matter like links and shares.

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This is something we regularly do on the Ahrefs blog:

Example of us linking to sources on the Ahrefs blogExample of us linking to sources on the Ahrefs blog

If you’re trying to boost the rankings of the page you’re optimizing, you’ll want to add internal links to it from other pages on your site.

To find relevant opportunities, use Ahrefs’ Site Audit:

  1. Go to the Page Explorer tool
  2. Enter your target keyword (or part of it) in the search box
  3. Choose “Page text” from the dropdown
How to find internal linking opportunities on other pagesHow to find internal linking opportunities on other pages

This will find pages on your site that mention your target keyword, which may be good places to add internal links.

For example, it tells us that our guide to removing backlinks mentions the word “toxic”:

Example internal linking opportunityExample internal linking opportunity

If we search that page, this is the mention:

Perfect place to add an internal linkPerfect place to add an internal link

That looks like the perfect place to internally link to our guide to toxic backlinks.

Schema markup is code that helps search engines understand the information on a page. It also powers many rich snippets you see in Google, which can lead to more clicks.

What rich results look likeWhat rich results look like

If you’re not sure whether schema markup is worth prioritizing for your page, search for your main target keyword in Google and look at the top results. If all or many are rich results, it’s probably worth adding it.

Most of the results for this term show rich snippets, so it's probably worth optimizing for themMost of the results for this term show rich snippets, so it's probably worth optimizing for them

If you use WordPress, you can easily add schema with a plugin like Yoast or RankMath. Alternatively, use a tool like Merkle’s Schema Markup Generator to generate the JSON-LD code yourself and add it manually.

Keep learning

Check out even more of our on-page SEO resources:

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Marketing Calendar 2024 With Template To Plan Your Content

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Marketing Calendar 2024 With Template To Plan Your Content

Setting yourself and your organization up for successful marketing means understanding the interesting dates, holidays, and events throughout the year that you can leverage for your brand.

Pulling that information together takes time and effort, so we’ve done the legwork for you.

Our complete marketing calendar for 2024 with a template gives you all the information you need to plan your content.

You can customize this easily referenceable table and pull out the relevant dates for your business to create your own 2024 marketing calendar.

For planning content and social media campaigns, using a marketing calendar gives you insights and opportunities to tie your content into well-known events in engaging ways.

These range from big sporting events to awareness months that you can plan content around, to public holidays so you can leverage them for engagement.

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Free Marketing Calendar And Template For 2024

Below, we have listed some of the major holiday highlights for 2024. We have also compiled a free spreadsheet that lists many obscure awareness days to help you plan content in any niche.

The full 2024 marketing calendar and template are available at the end of the article, with a breakdown of each month.

This calendar focuses mainly on the U.S. and Canada, with some major international and religious holidays included.

Your 2024 Holiday Marketing Calendar

January

January is a time of resolutions and fresh starts, with many picking a goal for the year or looking to make a change.

It can be a slow start, given that many people are still recovering from the end of last year, but that gives you time to plan your calendar and ease into a new year of content.

There are plenty of broad activities to lean into, like Veganuary and National Hobby Month, to connect with audience lifestyles.

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Events in January always have all eyes on them, too, like the Golden Globes and Winter X Games, so content around them can kickstart your 2024 engagement.

Monthly Observances

  • International Creativity Month
  • National Blood Donor Month
  • National Braille Literacy Month
  • National Hobby Month
  • Dry January
  • Veganuary

Weekly Observances

  • January 1-7 – New Year’s Resolutions Week
  • January 1-7 – Celebration of Life Week
  • January 1-7 – Diet Resolution Week
  • January 8-14 – Home Office and Security Week

Days

  • January 1 – New Year’s Day
  • January 1 – Mexican Independence Day
  • January 1 – Global Family Day
  • January 2 – National Science Fiction Day
  • January 4 – World Braille Day
  • January 6 – Epiphany
  • January 7 – Orthodox Christmas
  • January 10 – Golden Globes
  • January 13 – Korean American Day
  • January 13 – Stephen Foster Memorial Day
  • January 14 – Orthodox New Year
  • January 14 – Ratification Day
  • January 15 – Martin Luther King Jr. Day
  • January 15 – Civil Rights Day
  • January 17 – Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day
  • January 17 – Benjamin Franklin Day
  • January 18-28 – Sundance Film Festival
  • January 20 – World Religion Day
  • January 24 – Tu BiShvat
  • January 26-29 – Winter X Games
  • January 27 – International Holocaust Remembrance Day
  • January 28 – Data Privacy Day

Popular Hashtags for January:

  • #NewYearsDay
  • #ScienceFictionDay
  • #NationalTriviaDay
  • #NationalBirdDay
  • #NationalStickerDay
  • #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
  • #CheeseLoversDay
  • #MLKDay
  • #NationalHuggingDay
  • #PieDay
  • #NationalComplimentDay
  • #PrivacyAware

February

Despite being the shortest month, February is full of interesting events you can leverage for your marketing campaigns.

The colder days can leave people looking for things to get involved with from the comfort of their homes. So, make sure your content is working in line with popular days to attract people to your organization’s content.

Spread the love on Valentine’s Day, celebrate the Lunar New Year, and embrace Black History Month as we enjoy a slightly longer February with 2024’s Leap Year.

Monthly Observances

  • Black History Month
  • American Heart Month
  • National Heart Month
  • National Weddings Month
  • National Cancer Prevention Month
  • National Library Lovers Month
  • Celebration of Chocolate Month

Weekly Observances

  • February 7-13 – African Heritage and Health Week
  • February 9-14 – New York Fashion Week
  • February 11-17 – Freelance Writers Appreciation Week
  • February 11-17 – International Flirting Week
  • February 11-17 – Random Acts of Kindness Week
  • February 18-24 – Engineers’ Week
  • February 19-25 – National Pancake Week
  • February 28-March 5 – National Eating Disorders Awareness Week

Days

  • February 1 – First Day of Black History Month
  • February 1 – National Freedom Day
  • February 1 – National Change Your Password Day
  • February 2 – Groundhog Day
  • February 4 – Rosa Parks Day
  • February 4 – World Cancer Day
  • February 4 – The Grammy Awards
  • February 7 – National Girls and Women in Sports Day
  • February 10 – Lunar New Year
  • February 11 – Super Bowl Sunday
  • February 11 – International Day of Women and Girls in Science
  • February 12 – Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday
  • February 12 – Red Hand Day
  • February 12 – Georgia Day
  • February 12 – Darwin Day
  • February 13 – Mardi Gras
  • February 13 – International Pancake Day
  • February 14 – Valentine’s Day
  • February 14 – Ash Wednesday
  • February 14 – Arizona State Day
  • February 15 – Susan B. Anthony’s Birthday
  • February 18 – NBA All-Stars
  • February 18 – Daytona 500
  • February 19 – Presidents’ Day
  • February 22 – George Washington’s Birthday
  • February 29 – Leap Day

Popular Hashtags for February

  • #GroundhogDay
  • #WorldCancerDay
  • #NationalWeatherpersonsDay
  • #SendACardToAFriendDay
  • #BoyScoutsDay
  • #NationalPizzaDay
  • #ValentinesDay
  • #RandomActsOfKindnessDay
  • #PresidentsDay
  • #LoveYourPetDay

March

March marks the beginning of spring, and the days start to get longer. Whether March Madness turns up the heat or Easter is on its way, there are plenty of exciting events to get your content involved with.

Some of the monthly observances, such as Women’s History Month or The Great American Cleanup, can serve as great causes for regular engagement this month.

Monthly Observances

  • Women’s History Month
  • Nutrition Month
  • Music in Our Schools Month
  • Craft Month
  • American Red Cross Month
  • The Great American Cleanup
  • Ramadan begins on March 10

Weekly Observances

  • March 10-16 – Girl Scout Week
  • March 10-16 – National Sleep Awareness Week
  • March 17-23 – National Agriculture Week
  • March 24-30 – National Cleaning Week

Days

  • March 1 – Employee Appreciation Day
  • March 1 – Zero Discrimination Day
  • March 1 – Global Unplugging Day
  • March 3 – World Wildlife Day
  • March 3 – National Anthem Day
  • March 4 – International HPV Awareness Day
  • March 8 – International Women’s Day
  • March 10 – Daylight Savings
  • March 10 – Ramadan
  • March 12 – 96th Academy Awards Ceremony
  • March 14 – Pi Day
  • March 15 – The Ides of March
  • March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day
  • March 17 – NCAA March Madness
  • March 17 – World Sleep Day
  • March 18 – Global Recycling Day
  • March 19 – Nowruz
  • March 19 – Spring Equinox
  • March 22 – World Water Day
  • March 24 – Palm Sunday
  • March 24 – Purim
  • March 26 – Epilepsy Awareness Day
  • March 27 – World Theatre Day
  • March 28 – MLB Opening Day
  • March 28 – Maundy Thursday
  • March 29 – Good Friday
  • March 30 – Holy Saturday
  • March 31 – Easter Sunday

Popular Hashtags for March

  • #PeanutButterLoversDay
  • #EmployeeAppreciationDay
  • #ReadAcrossAmerica
  • #DrSeuss
  • #WorldWildlifeDay
  • #NationalGrammarDay
  • #BeBoldForChange
  • #DaylightSavings
  • #PiDay
  • #StPatricksDay
  • #FirstDayofSpring
  • #WorldWaterDay
  • #NationalPuppyDay
  • #PurpleDay
  • #NationalDoctorsDay
  • #EarthHour

April

April is probably best known for April Fools’ Day, and a chance to get creative with parody and spoof content for your calendar that can make your customers smile.

Earth Month also means you can make more eco-friendly posts about your organization’s commitment to reducing its impact on the planet.

You also might want to get your cape out of storage on April 28th for National Superhero Day.

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Monthly Observances

  • Earth Month
  • National Autism Awareness Month
  • Parkinson’s Awareness Month
  • Celebrate Diversity Month
  • Stress Awareness Month
  • Ramadan ends on April 8

Weekly Observances

  • April 15-21 – Animal Cruelty/Human Violence Awareness Week
  • April 21-27 – National Volunteer Week
  • April 21-27 – Administrative Professionals Week
  • April 22-26 – Every Kid Healthy Week

Days

  • April 1 – April Fool’s Day
  • April 1 – Easter Monday
  • April 2 – World Autism Awareness Day
  • April 2 – International Children’s Book Day
  • April 5 – Lailat al-Qadr
  • April 6 – National Walking Day
  • April 7 – National Beer Day
  • April 7 – World Health Day
  • April 8 – Total Solar Eclipse
  • April 10 – Eid-Al-Fitr
  • April 11-14 – Masters Tournament PGA
  • April 11 – National Pet Day
  • April 12-21 – Coachella Music Festival
  • April 13 – Thomas Jefferson’s Birthday
  • April 13-15 – Songkran
  • April 15 – American Sign Language Day
  • April 15 – Tax Day
  • April 15 – Boston Marathon
  • April 15 – Patriots’ Day
  • April 16 – Emancipation Day
  • April 21 – World Creativity and Innovation Day
  • April 22 – Earth Day
  • April 22 – Passover starts
  • April 26 – Arbor Day
  • April 27 – World Design Day
  • April 28 – National Superhero Day
  • April 30 – National Honesty Day
  • April 30 – Passover ends

Popular Hashtags For April:

  • #AprilFools
  • #WAAD
  • #FindARainbowDay
  • #NationalWalkingDay
  • #LetsTalk
  • #EqualPayDay
  • #TaxDay
  • #NH5D
  • #NationalLookAlikeDay
  • #AdministrativeProfessionalsDay
  • #DenimDay
  • #EndMalariaForGood
  • #COUNTONME
  • #ArborDay
  • #NationalHonestyDay
  • #AdoptAShelterPetDay

May

May brings a lot of variety with it as there are plenty of good causes to raise awareness for, plus major sporting events and unique celebrations you can join in with.

Cinco de Mayo, the Kentucky Derby, and Memorial Day are just a few examples of events that will have lots of people paying attention and can make for great marketing themes.

Monthly Observances

  • ALS Awareness
  • Asthma Awareness
  • Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
  • Jewish American Heritage Month
  • National Celiac Disease Awareness Month
  • Clean Air Month
  • Better Sleep Month
  • Lupus Awareness Month

Weekly Observances

  • May 5-11 – National Pet Week
  • May 19-25 – National Travel & Tourism Week
  • May 5-11 – Drinking Water Week
  • May 6-12 – Nurse’s Week
  • May 12-18 – Food Allergy Awareness Week

Days

  • May 1 – May Day
  • May 1 – Law Day
  • May 1 – Lei Day
  • May 2 – World Password Day
  • May 4 – Star Wars Day
  • May 4 – International Firefighters Day
  • May 4 – Kentucky Derby
  • May 5 – Cinco De Mayo
  • May 5-10 – French Open
  • May 6 – National Nurses Day
  • May 6 – Yom HaShoah
  • May 8 – World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day
  • May 10 – World Lupus Day
  • May 11 – World Fair Trade Day
  • May 12 – Mother’s Day
  • May 13-19 – PGA Championship
  • May 14 – Yom Ha’atzmaut
  • May 15 – International Day of Families
  • May 17 – NASCAR Day
  • May 17 – Malcolm X Day
  • May 17 – Internet Day
  • May 19 – HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
  • May 20 – World Bee Day
  • May 20 – Victoria Day (Canada)
  • May 21 – World Meditation Day
  • May 25 – Geek Pride Day
  • May 26 – Trinity Sunday
  • May 26 – Indianapolis 500
  • May 27 – Memorial Day
  • May 28 – World Hunger Day
  • May 29 – Memorial Day

Popular Hashtags For May:

  • #RedNoseDay
  • #MayDay
  • #WorldPasswordDay
  • #StarWarsDay & #Maythe4thBeWithYou
  • #InternationalFirefightersDay
  • #CincoDeMayo
  • #MothersDay
  • #BTWD
  • #MemorialDay & #MDW

June

Once June has arrived, it’s finally starting to feel like summer. Everyone wants to make the most of the sunshine, and the positive energies are flowing.

Given that June also marks Great Outdoors Month, this is a great opportunity to make your brand a must-have companion for planning a beachside vacation or hosting a cookout.

You can also show your support for LGBTQ+ Pride, Flag Day, and Father’s Day, along with all the other events listed here.

Monthly Observances

  • LGBTQ Pride Month
  • Caribbean-American Heritage Month
  • Great Outdoors Month
  • Men’s Health Month
  • National Safety Month
  • National Zoo and Aquarium Month

Weekly Observances

  • June 2-8 – National Garden Week
  • June 2-8 – National Headache Awareness Week
  • June 10-16 – National Men’s Health Week
  • June 16-22 – National Roller Coaster Week

Days

  • June 1 – Global Parents Day
  • June 5 – Hot Air Balloon Day
  • June 5 – World Environment Day
  • June 6 – D-Day
  • June 8 – Belmont Stakes
  • June 8 – World Oceans Day
  • June 8 – National Best Friends Day
  • June 9 – Donald Duck Day
  • June 10 – Chinese Dragon Boat Festival
  • June 11 – Kamehameha Day
  • June 12 – Shavuot
  • June 13-16 – Bonnaroo Music Festival
  • June 14 – Flag Day
  • June 14 – Flag Day
  • June 16 – Father’s Day
  • June 16 – Tony Awards
  • June 13-16 – U.S. Open PGA
  • June 19 – Juneteenth
  • June 20 – Summer Solstice
  • June 23 – International Widows Day
  • June 29 – July 21 – Tour de France
  • June 30 – International Asteroid Day

Popular Hashtags For June:

  • #NationalDonutDay
  • #FathersDay
  • #NationalSelfieDay
  • #TakeYourDogToWorkDay
  • #HandshakeDay
  • #SMDay

July

July presents lots of opportunities for savvy marketers, from the 4th of July to the International Day of Friendship.

As we enter the summer slow-down period, there’s lots to celebrate that can help to feed your social media content to keep customers engaged.

So celebrate your independence, indulge in a little ice cream, and bring people together with one of the many events in July.

Monthly Observances

  • Family Golf Month
  • Ice Cream Month
  • National Parks and Recreation Month
  • National Picnic Month
  • National Independent Retailer Month
  • National Blueberry Month

Weekly Observances

  • July 15-21 – Capture the Sunset Week

Days

  • July 1 – International Joke Day
  • July 1-11 – Wimbledon
  • July 2 – World UFO Day
  • July 4 – Independence Day
  • July 6 – International Kissing Day
  • July 7 – World Chocolate Day
  • July 8 – National Video Games Day
  • July 11 – World Population Day
  • July 12 – Pecan Pie Day
  • July 16 – Moon Landing Anniversary
  • July 16 – MLB All-Star Game
  • July 17 – World Emoji Day
  • July 17 – Ashura
  • July 18 – Nelson Mandela International Day
  • July 20 – International Chess Day
  • July 20 – National Moon Day
  • July 21 – National Junk Food Day
  • July 24 – Amelia Earhart Day
  • July 26 – Aunt and Uncle Day
  • July 26 – August 11 – Summer Olympics
  • July 28-30 – Summer X Games
  • July 28 – Parents’ Day
  • July 28 – World Hepatitis Day
  • July 30 – International Day of Friendship
  • July 31 – World Ranger Day

Popular Hashtags For July:

  • #NationalPostalWorkerDay
  • #WorldUFODay
  • #WorldEmojiDay
  • #DayOfFriendship

August

We’ve hit the hottest days by August as back-to-school looms, and we welcome the return of football.

While many are topping up their tans and making the most of the final Summer days, August still provides lots of opportunities to align your content with wider events.

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Make sure you’re using your marketing calendar to the fullest extent to post any sunny seasonal content promptly before fall arrives.

Monthly Observances

  • Back to School Month
  • National Breastfeeding Month
  • Family Fun Month
  • Peach Month

Weekly Observances

  • August 1-7 – International Clown Week
  • August 4-10 – National Farmers’ Market Week
  • August 25-31 – Be Kind to Humankind Week

Days

  • August 1 – National Girlfriends Day
  • August 1 – NFL Hall of Fame Game & Preseason
  • August 2 – International Beer Day
  • August 4 – National Friendship Day
  • August 7 – Purple Heart Day
  • August 8 – International Cat Day
  • August 9 – Book Lover’s Day
  • August 11 – National Son and Daughter Day
  • August 12 – Victory Day
  • August 13 – Left Hander’s Day
  • August 15 – Assumption of Mary
  • August 17 – National Honey Bee Day
  • August 19 – World Humanitarian Day
  • August 19 – Raksha Bandhan
  • August 20 – National Radio Day
  • August 21 – Senior Citizens Day
  • August 26 – Women’s Equality Day
  • August 30 – Frankenstein Day
  • August 30 – National Beach Day

Popular Hashtags For August:

  • #InternationalCatDay
  • #NationalBookLoversDay
  • #WorldElephantDay
  • #LefthandersDay
  • #WorldPhotoDay
  • #WorldHumanitarianDay
  • #NationalLemonadeDay
  • #NationalDogDay
  • #WomensEqualityDay

September

As fall begins, some of the bigger events happening in September are Hispanic Heritage Month, Grandparents Day, and, of course, Labor Day.

There are also plenty of other events to inspire you, from Oktoberfest to National Yoga Month. Plus, a National Coffee Day for those who struggle to start their day without a caffeine fix.

Monthly Observances

  • Wilderness Month
  • National Food Safety Education Month
  • National Yoga Month
  • Whole Grains Month
  • Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 – October 15)

Weekly Observances

  • September 8-14 – National Suicide Prevention Week
  • September 15-21 – National Indoor Plant Week
  • September 16-22 – Pollution Prevention Week
  • September 24-30 – National Dog Week

Days

  • September 2 – VJ Day
  • September 2 – Labor Day
  • September 4 – National Wildlife Day
  • September 5 – International Day of Charity
  • September 6 – National Fight Procrastination Day
  • September 8 – Pardon Day
  • September 8 – National Grandparents Day
  • September 11 – 9/11
  • September 11 – Patriot Day
  • September 12 – Video Games Day
  • September 13 – Uncle Sam Day
  • September 15 – Greenpeace Day
  • September 17 – Constitution Day
  • September 21 – Oktoberfest Begins
  • September 21 – International Day of Peace
  • September 22 – World Car-Free Day
  • September 22 – September Equinox
  • September 24 – World Bollywood Day
  • September 24–29 – Presidents Cup PGA
  • September 27 – Native American Day
  • September 27 – World Tourism Day
  • September 29 – National Coffee Day (US)
  • September 29 – Confucius Day
  • September 29 – World Heart Day

Popular Hashtags For September:

  • #LaborDay
  • #NationalWildlifeDay
  • #CharityDay
  • #ReadABookDay
  • #911Day
  • #NationalVideoGamesDay
  • #TalkLikeAPirateDay
  • #PeaceDay
  • #CarFreeDay
  • #WorldRabiesDay
  • #GoodNeighborDay
  • #InternationalPodcastDay

October

It’s that time of year when pumpkin spice lattes roll around again.

While October is known as the spooky season to many, there’s much more to this month than just Halloween – there’s Teacher’s Day, World Mental Health Day, and Spirit Day, to name a few, around which your organization can look to create content.

Monthly Observances

  • Breast Cancer Awareness Month
  • Bully Prevention Month
  • Halloween Safety Month
  • Financial Planning Month
  • National Pizza Month

Weekly Observances

  • October 8-14 – Fire Prevention Week
  • October 13-19 – Earth Science Week
  • October 20-26 – National Business Women’s Week

Days

  • October 1 – International Coffee Day
  • October 1 – World Vegetarian Day
  • October 3 – National Techies Day
  • October 5 – World Teacher’s Day
  • October 6 – Oktoberfest Ends
  • October 7 – Child Health Day
  • October 10 – World Mental Health Day
  • October 11 – National Coming Out Day
  • October 12 – Yom Kippur
  • October 14 – Indigenous Peoples’ Day
  • October 14 – Columbus Day
  • October 14 – Thanksgiving Day (Canada)
  • October 16 – World Food Day
  • October 19 – Sweetest Day
  • October 20 – Spirit Day (Anti-bullying)
  • October 22 – Make a Difference Day
  • October 24 – United Nations Day
  • October 30 – Mischief Night
  • October 31 – Halloween

Popular Hashtags For October:

  • #InternationalCoffeeDay
  • #TechiesDay
  • #NationalTacoDay
  • #WorldSmileDay
  • #WorldTeachersDay
  • #WorldHabitatDay
  • #WorldMentalHealthDay
  • #BossesDay
  • #UNDay
  • #ChecklistDay
  • #Halloween

November

During the month in which we all give thanks, there is also a wide range of causes you can help out with or raise awareness for, like Movember and America Recycles Day.

You should also mark your marketing calendar for arguably the biggest sales events of the year – Black Friday and Cyber Monday (Dec. 2) – which are sure to be on everyone’s radar.

Monthly Observances

  • Native American Heritage Month
  • Movember
  • World Vegan Month
  • Novel Writing Month
  • National Gratitude Month

Weekly Observances

  • November 11-16 – World Kindness Week (second week: Monday – Sunday)
  • November 18-22 – American Education Week
  • November 18-24 – Game and Puzzle Week

Days

  • November 1 – Day of the Dead/Día de los Muertos
  • November 1 – All Saint’s Day
  • November 1 – World Vegan Day
  • November 2 – Melbourne Cup
  • November 3 – Daylight Savings Time Ends
  • November 5 – Election Day
  • November 8 – STEM Day
  • November 9 – World Freedom Day
  • November 10 – Marine Corps Birthday
  • November 11 – Veterans Day
  • November 13 – World Kindness Day
  • November 14 – World Diabetes Day
  • November 15 – National Entrepreneurs Day
  • November 24 – Evolution Day
  • November 28 – Thanksgiving Day
  • November 29 – Native American Heritage Day
  • November 29 – Black Friday

Popular Hashtags For November:

  • #WorldVeganDay
  • #NationalSandwichDay
  • #DaylightSavings
  • #CappuccinoDay
  • #STEMDay
  • #VeteransDay
  • #WKD
  • #WDD
  • #BeRecycled
  • #EntrepreneursDay
  • #Thanksgiving
  • #ShopSmall

December

December is here, and the end of the year is in sight.

Although 2025 is right around the corner, and you might want to start planning your content calendar for next year, don’t neglect your content in the run-up to the holidays.

Send your year off in style with marketing campaigns dedicated to events like Nobel Prize Day, Rosa Parks Day, Green Monday, and more.

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You can even do a content wrap-up of your best moments from the year – and make sure to get your 2025 marketing calendar sorted early before the post-Christmas wind-down.

Monthly Observances

  • Human Rights Month
  • Operation Santa Paws
  • Safe Toys and Gifts Month
  • World Food Service Safety Month

Weekly Observances

  • December 9-15 – Human Rights Week
  • December 25 – January 2 – Hanukkah (Chanukah)
  • December 26 – January 1 – Kwanzaa

Days

  • December 1 – World AIDS Day
  • December 1 – Rosa Parks Day
  • December 2 – Cyber Monday
  • December 3 – International Day of Persons with Disabilities
  • December 6 – St. Nicholas Day
  • December 7 – Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
  • December 7 – National Letter Writing Day
  • December 8 – Feast of the Immaculate Conception
  • December 9 – Green Monday
  • December 10 – Nobel Prize Day
  • December 10 – Human Rights Day
  • December 11 – UNICEF Anniversary
  • December 15 – Bill of Rights Day
  • December 18 – National Twin Day
  • December 21 – Winter Solstice
  • December 22 – Forefathers Day
  • December 23 – Festivus
  • December 24 – Christmas Eve
  • December 25 – Christmas Day
  • December 25 – Hanukkah
  • December 26 – Kwanzaa
  • December 26 – Boxing Day
  • December 31 – New Year’s Eve

Popular Hashtags For December:

  • #IDPWD
  • #NationalCookieDay
  • #NobelPrize
  • #WinterSolstice
  • #NYE

The Complete Marketing Calendar And Template To Plan 2024

You can find the link to our complete marketing calendar and template for 2024 right here.

By having a content plan set out months in advance, you can rest assured that you’ll have great ideas to work with throughout the year.

And just because you have a plan doesn’t mean you can’t adapt if something interesting happens later in the year.

Simply rearrange your calendar and work your trending content around key dates.

Keep track of what ideas work throughout the year and use them to help guide your marketing calendar for 2025, so you can double down on successful content ideas.


Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal

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