Daily Web Tips

Do you like reading? Do you ever wonder what’s a blog? Then you must be aware of the difference between a blog and article. An article is something that needs research (secondary or primary), whereas a blog is nothing but something that requires very less research and the language is generally very casual. Has it ever happened to you that you are not understanding anything and you google for some information? Most readers tend to read blogs to understand any concept they have no knowledge about. Blogs can be related to anything: technological- how to change Gmail password! Food-related- 5 best breakfast recipes for children! Travel related- 10 best places for one day trip near New York. blogs can be related to any topic. Literally anything! If you wonder how to be a blogger and earn handsome amount of money, follow below steps and get the easier way to start a blog.

Why Blogging is Important?

There are many reasons why blogging is important: 1. Information Sharing: Blogging is a source of information sharing. It is a way of expressing your thoughts in words. A blog can be related to anything. Bloggers spread the information on particular topics with readers. These informative blogs are not at all promotional. These are a type of inbound blogs. Here the inbound term indicates anything that is written to resolve people’s problems. 2. Promoting: These blogs are about any particular brand, company, product, event, person, etc. These blogs narrate everything good about that particular topic and also narrates uses as well as benefits of it. Such blogs are usually found on company websites. Such blogs are considered unfit for marketing purpose. Buying decisions are usually influenced after reading such blogs. 3. News Updates: These blogs cover the latest topics and trends. Writers gather all the information on trending hot topics and write an interesting blog that has A to Z details about that particular topic. Such blogs always gain a lot of traffic as the hot topic is targeted. Users can get updated knowledge on that topic after reading a single blog.

How to Start a Blog?

As they say; “The first impression is the last!” That is so true in the case of blogs. In this era of digitally savvy people, there are millions of blogs and thousands of bloggers. It is essential to decide what topic are you going to write on, what will be the title, how do you start your blog, etc. Even if you put a lot of efforts into writing a blog, it will not get good traffic if your start is not satisfactory.

Purpose of Starting Blog:

As mentioned above, there can be numerous purposes to start a blog. You can create your own blog if you want to share your knowledge/ journey/ experience. You can create your own blog to promote anything. Blogging is considered as an important factor in marketing. Especially in digital marketing.

Choosing Blog Domain Name:

Choosing a blog domain name can be tricky. Keep it related to your topic. If you are a person who understands digital marketing and Google, you must be aware of the term ‘keywords’. Always add keywords in the domain name of your blog. Also, keep it short and easy to read as well as pronounce.

Choosing a Blog Hosting Provider:

Having a website for your blogs is very important. It is required for SEO purpose. Blog hosting provider must have easy setups options with hosting providers. It should deliver high-quality features and security too. User-friendly is the quality that is mandatory for a hosting provider.

Choosing Blogging Platform:

If you are a beginner, choose a platform that offers easy customization, is cheap in cost or free, should have a high-quality server, etc. There are some hosting sites that are going great: Wordpress.org, Squarespace, Weebly, Wix, etc.

Selecting Blog Design:

Now that is a crucial and important part. A beautiful lady dressed up badly will not impress men! No matter how good the content is, if the design is poor, it will not attract readers. It is important to select design properly. If you refer any good blogger tutorial, you will find that design must be according to the blog topic. Always prefer customizable design theme. The color grids used should be eye pleasant and increase the user retention.

Finding Blog Topic:

What should be the topic? Selecting a topic is sometimes very easy and vice versa. It is recommended to select a topic that is searched by many users. The topic must bring good traffic and should add to the knowledge of readers.

How to Earn Money From a Blog:

There are many ways to make money from blogs. If you reach a certain amount of visitors on your website, you can display ads on the web pages. You will get paid for these ads. Also, freelance blogging can help you earn money. Businesses can use blogs to increase user engagement and ultimately earn new consumers with higher conversion rates. Usually, a call to action (CTA) is used for this purpose.

Conclusion:

While surfing on the internet, if you see a long text and an image that has the same content shrunk with some symbols. What would you choose to read? Maximum users will go with the image. A photograph clicked by camera or a drawing drawn on the computer has an owner always. Using images on websites, blogs, social media posts, etc. increases the chances of more readers and adds interest.

Have you heard of these terms: royalty images and copyright images?

What is Royalty Free Images? For using such images, you have to pay a certain fee decided by the owner and give the credits for the image to them. Royalty free images are not free! The word free might confuse you that you get those images free of cost. However, it is not like that. Royalty images require a license for usage. If the person wants to use such royalty images, he will have to buy a license every time he wishes to use. However, royalty free images have a license that is cheaper and once acquired, the user can use these images anywhere as many times as he wants. Freely using the images without paying additional royalties. What is the need for royalty free images? Why would anyone charge a fee on ordinary images? These images are not like what you click randomly. These are in the category of high sensitivity and confidentiality. Some places that are prohibited by the government and many times photography is also prohibited. Such images are converted into royalty images. Also, many times some companies conduct high-level primary research to gather information and sensitive data from users. This data is analyzed and represented in the form of images. Such images are also in the category of royalty images. Using such images will increase the value of your content, and these images are required to enhance the sincerity. What is Copyright Free Images? Anyone can use copyright free images without giving credits. The user need not buy any license and these images are completely free. The images clicked or created before the US government does not copyright the year 1923. What is Trademark Images? Images can be Copyrighted but cannot have a trademark. Photos and images do not fit in the criteria of the trademark. What is Reseller Images? There are some sites where you can resell the comprehensive images. Users can use certain images from these sites and can even resell those images. Let us see what the famous sites that offer you royalty free images, stock images, and Copyright free images are:

#1. Realistic Shots

Realistic shots is a site where you get a collection of free stock photography. All the images on this site are free to use anyway user wishes. They added seven new photos every week. All photos are under the CC0 license.

#2. Gratisography

Gratisography is a website where the user gets the quirkiest collection of free high-resolution pictures. These images are free of copyright restrictions.

#3. Wikimedia Commons

This is a well known public domain images resource. The site contains all types of images including free images as well as images with restrictions.

#4. Pixabay

A community of photographers creates Pixabay. These photographers upload high-quality public domain images, illustrations, videos, etc. released under CC0. A user has an option of filters too. Users can browse according to the categories also.

#5. Freepik

Images are not always used for social media, infographics, websites, etc. Sometimes you need images in the form of vector graphics. To create brochures, flyers, posters, banners, logos, etc, some vectors are needed. You will get free vector graphics every day on Freepik.

#6. Public Domain Review

Are you a history lover? For any research papers, white papers related to history, you might need public domain photos, illustrations, art, audio, films, and texts. You will get all of these on Public domain review. they release monthly curated choice and also user can browse the different unique categories. Curated choice includes special guest posts that have posted something unique and lesser known part of history.

#7. Unsplash

Unsplash is a platform where photographers post unique pics which are not “traditional”. It is a group of photographers who offer high definition images for free. Users can download images, edit them and distribute them for free. There are categories available from which you can select the images of your choice. Also, you can explore the images by clicking on “Explore” option. There are more than 250,000 images available on Unsplash.

#8. Magdeline

Magdeline is a high-quality resource for free stock images. There is a column on the right side to browse categories such as nature, people, food, etc. Some photos do require attribution; so filter down to CC0 licensed images.

Conclusion

Mobile technology is nowadays most common amongst users. Users prefer using mobiles and smartphones for every minor to the major task. Be it booking a movie ticket online, buying clothes; conducting a meeting or simply ordering food. Everything can be done in seconds with the help of smartphones. A survey conducted by OpenMarket says 74% of business feel mobile as a major priority, in terms of marketing and other business needs. On an average 85% of the time on smartphones is spent on apps by the end users (Source). According to US hotel industry 2015 statistics, the value of the hotel industry in the U.S. increased by 7.2 percent over the previous year (Source: Statista). Mobile apps are developed by almost all businesses; ranging from small to large, because it offers better consumer service and engagement. Three out of four travelers use mobile smartphones; while travelling and more likely to book hotels, restaurants, cabs, online. Since the ratio is so appealing, the hotel business is considering smartphones and apps as the important tools for user engagement and marketing.

Mobile Apps are Used by Hotel Industry for Following Benefits

Direct Marketing User Engagement Increased User Loyalty 24x7 Access to Brand Information Branding Medium of Communication If you are running a hotel; and do not have a mobile application, then you should start developing one immediately. Let us see; how mobile apps and technologies are supporting hotel industry.

1. Up to Date Sharing of Information:

The mobile app industry enable hotels and restaurants to share live updates related to hotels. A real-time information is offered with the help of Content Management Systems. Restaurants that offer some special menus every day; can display such items through these apps. Also, many restaurants, cafes, hotels organize some events, and instead of investing a lot of money on marketing and promoting these events, mobile apps are used. Users and visitors can use these apps and get to know about every latest update related to the events.

2. Customer Review:

For any successful business, customer review is very essential. Customer review includes information related to customers experience; what are they liking the most about your hotel, what things they want to be changed, whether they liked the taste of your food, whether they liked the service, etc. These reviews are extremely important since these are studied by the management and accordingly changes can be made for gaining more customers.

3. Direct Marketing:

When we talk about technology; it has become the first choice for marketers and traditional marketing is now out of fashion. As compared to it; digital marketing has captured the market in a boosted speed. TV ads, digital marketing campaigns and social media marketing are the mediums of direct marketing. These mediums are extremely efficient; since there are millions of smartphone users and almost everything is searched online. For instance, a person who is looking for Italian pasta; will simply Google it and find all the nearby options to eat Italian Pasta. The information displayed on the screen is so accurate; that it even shows the rate card, hotel timings, distance of the person to that particular hotel, etc. This is the magic of technology in terms of marketing.

4. Loyalty and Rewards:

Hotel businesses can also use the technique of rewards and loyalty points. For instance; a hotel offers its visitors a discount coupon that can be used for the next visit. Or rewards are given in the form of any free vouchers, etc. Also, users who book online through apps usually get some kind of complimentary gifts or discounts. These are nothing but marketing techniques with the help of technology.

5. Customer Engagement: