How To Start A Music Blog In 11 Easy Steps: A Step-By-Step Guide

Starting a music blog is a great way to capitalize on you passion for music whether you’re a musician yourself, a producer, or just a die-hard fan.

Music bloggers share their opinions and expert insights in many different ways such as by writing about their favorite artists, sharing tips and tricks that will help other musicians improve their craft, or even creating tutorials and guides to help people learn how to play an instrument. The possibilities are endless!

Just a quick note before we get started here – I wanted to make sure you had everything you need so this post is long and detailed. You can use the links above to jump to each of the individual sections. If you get stuck or need help at any point join me over in my free private Facebook group Home Office Hacks so you can get the help you need.

Choose the niche you want to focus on for your music blog

Choosing the niche you want to focus on for your music blog is probably the most important part of all of this according to many experts in the field.

You need to choose something that will be easy and fun for you to write about because if it isn’t then why would anyone else care?

If you are passionate about one particular genre like hip hop, rock, country etc., then make sure that you pick an area within those genres that interests you as well.

The niche you choose for your music blog is also important because it will determine what kind of content you’ll be able to create and where you can get that content from.

If you choose something too broad like “country music” then you won’t have much luck getting any traffic at all unless you do some serious SEO work which even then is going to be ridiculously difficult.

But If you pick a niche topic that’s too deep such as “first generation country fiddle players”, it’s likely that you aren’t going to have much of an audience.

The best thing to do here would be to think about what type of audience you’d like to attract with your site.

Do they listen to jazz? Do they play guitar? Are they fans of hip hop? What makes them tick?

Here are some examples of music niche blogs you could start:

Start a music blog about your favorite genre of music – If your affinity is for a specific genre of music then you could start a blog centered on your favorite type of music like Hip Hop, Rock, Country, Jazz, Blues, Funk, Metal, Pop…etc.

Start a music blog focused around a single artist/band – Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Jay Z, Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Adele, Coldplay, U2, Foo Fighters, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, ACDC, Black Sabbath, Queen, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, etc.

Live show reviews

Live shows are always exciting events so why not review them online instead of waiting until after the fact? People are always wanting to know what the experience is like seeing their favorite artists live, so creating a bunch of content on the topic of live show reviews could be very cool.

New music reviews

New releases are always exciting times for new bands and albums so why not give your readers a chance to hear these songs before everyone else does? Creating content dedicated to reviewing new music and let your followers decide whether or not they should buy the album based off of your opinion.

Up & coming artist reviews

One of the things I wish I would have had access to as a young musician would have been to have our material to be featured on a reviewer’s blog! It would have been great to have someone who knew about us to tell people about us and help promote our music early on.

Walk-through instructional content

This could be a music blog that includes some video content showing people playing instruments, explaining chords, techniques, tips, tricks, and more. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know anything about these topics yet but by creating walk through tutorials you can build up a following over time while teaching others along the way.

Music theory lessons

These include video courses covering everything from scales to chord progressions. They teach students how to read sheet music and understand musical notation. Yes – there are those of us out there that are actually interested in learning music theory!

How-to tutorials

This is a very popular category right now since everyone wants to learn how to use the tools that are essential parts of the music industry

A good example of a music tutorial post could be “How to record songs using GarageBand “. It doesn’t matter if you don’t own Garageband or not, people still love learning new stuff.

Music Lessons

Another big trend right now is teaching others how to play instruments. People who teach lessons often use online platforms such as Skype or Zoom to connect with students around the world. These kinds of articles tend to be really interesting because they allow readers to see behind the scenes into someone else’s life while they practice.

People want to know how to play the songs they love – I know I’m one of them myself! I spend tons of time watching how-to video tutorials and reading tablature to figure out how they pulled of the the song they created.

Music production tips

A lot of musicians struggle when trying to produce their own tracks. They either lack the skills needed to pull off certain sounds or they simply aren’t confident enough to try anything different than what they’ve been working with up until now. This is another hot topic right now.

Music news & updates

You should definitely include this on your list of categories. The reason being is that most bloggers focus solely on music reviews and interviews. However, many other sites cover news stories related to music. For instance, LoudWire is one of my favorite YouTube channels that covers metal news and updates and it’s a fantastic resource.

Cover a specific genre

Some genres just lend themselves better to blogging than others. Jazz has become extremely popular over the past few years and there are plenty of great resources available for those interested in covering this style of music.

Create a “reaction” video channel – Right now on YouTube, reaction videos are all the rage. YouTubers create videos where they react to music that they don’t normally listen to. One of my favorite band right now went viral when YouTubers started creating reaction videos reacting to the vocalist’s performance in one particular song called, “Pisces“.

Music Business

Aspiring musicians are always looking for the inside scoop of the music business. You can cover topics like promotion & marketing strategies, how to deal with record labels, the business stuff like contracts & copyright laws, etc.

Behind the scenes of a musician’s life

If you’re an aspiring artist yourself then you’ll probably enjoy hearing about “life on the road” with all its reward, challenges & struggles. If you’re someone who has achieved some level of success already, it’s probably quite true that your journey was far from easy. We all face challenges along the way so sharing those experiences will help inspire others.

How to make money as a musician

The music industry has changed enormously over the last several years and with platforms like Spotify, iTunes Pandora and more, no doubt there are challenges that musicians face when it comes to earning an income from their skills (which took years of hard work and practice to develop!)

You could cover stuff like selling merchandise, doing gigs, songwriting, playing live shows, recording albums, producing records, licensing music, publishing music, merchandising products, etc.

Start by finding topics for your music blog that you can rank for

Regardless of the niche you want to cover, you want readers for your new blog, right?

So it’s vital to start your new music blog choosing topics that you can rank in search engine results for. This means finding keywords that people use to find information online. It also means making sure that these terms have high competition because if not, you won’t be able to get traffic to your site.

The best place to do keyword research is Google Trends. Here you can see which searches are trending at any given time.

So let’s say you wanted to write about guitar lessons. Go into Google trends and type in: “guitar lesson.” Then look through the top 10 pages listed under the trend chart.

These are the most searched-for words related to learning guitar. Now go back to Google and enter each word individually. Which ones come up first? Those are the keywords you should focus on writing content around.

If you were going to build a website or blog about guitar lessons, what would you include? Would you talk about different types of guitars? How much does it cost to learn guitar? What kind of teachers teach guitar? Do students need special equipment?

Search engines are going to be a source of a lot of your traffic at the beginning, so you want to find the right kinds of phrases to target on your music blog.

This means that within your niche topic you want to research keywords or phrases that have high search volume but low competition. You should also make sure that those terms aren’t too competitive because otherwise, no one will ever click through to your site.

There are 4 general rules you want to follow when it comes to find tech topics you will be able to rank for:

1. Relevance – The keywords associated with your topic must be relevant. I know that should go without saying, however, you don’t want to pick an obscure phrase that no one will ever be searching for.
2. Traffic -There has to be a reasonable amount of traffic for the term. It may be great to optimize and create content for a keyword phrase that doesn’t have a lot of competition, but if it doesn’t get any traffic, then it’s not going to help you achieve your goals.
3. Competition – There must be reasonable levels of competition. Choosing a keyword phrase that has a lot of established competition will be more frustrating than successful. Find opportunities where the level of competition is acceptable.
4. Commercial Opportunity – There needs to be a commercial opportunity for your keywords if you ever plan to monetize your tech blog. Even if you get the other three points down, if there isn’t a market for your keyword then all your other efforts will be fruitless.

You want to have a topic that you can create lots of content on so make sure it’s broad enough to get lots of variety.

And while yes, it’s true that you want to have a clearly defined niche, and you don’t want to be in the “mainstream” where there’s so much competition (we’ll talk more on that in a just a minute)…

…you also don’t want to get so niched down that the opportunity isn’t more than 20, 30 or even 50 total posts. You want to be able to build up a library of 100 or more posts at the very least.

What makes a good music blog?

Now that we’ve covered choosing the right niche for our music blog let’s talk about what makes a good music blog.

There are two main things I look for when deciding if a website is worth visiting or subscribing to:

1) Content Quality – Is the author providing quality information?

2) Publishing Frequency – How often they post new articles?

Content Quality

I’m looking for websites that provide high quality content. This means that the writer should know his subject matter inside and out and use proper grammar and spelling throughout their posts. They shouldn’t simply regurgitate press releases either but instead offer unique insights into topics related to their chosen niche.

I don’t mind seeing sites that occasionally publish low quality content but I definitely prefer reading more frequent higher quality pieces over less frequent lower quality ones.

Publishing Frequency

When I visit a website I expect to see fresh content being published regularly. It doesn’t really matter whether these posts are written by someone who has been blogging for years or just started yesterday. As long as they’re publishing new material every day, I’m happy!

Getting your dream reader is super important, that’s why we’re going to talk about that next.

Figure out who your dream reader is

Getting the audience you are creating your content for is vital because without them nothing really matters.

So who are these people? Well, first off, let’s define our terms:

Audience – A group of individuals who share common characteristics and/or values ​​and beliefs.

Dream Reader – Someone who’s interests are the same as yours and you can deliver insightful and valuable content for them. They could be someone you know personally or maybe someone you’ve never met but whose taste in music matches up perfectly with yours.

Now, when thinking about your ideal readership, try to figure out their age range, gender, location, income level, education levels, hobbies, personality traits, and more.

Once you’ve got a good idea of who your target market is, you should be able to narrow down your list pretty easily.

Figuring out who your audience is not without challenges though.

It take serious thought and brain power. It takes time and effort to build relationships with potential audiences. And it requires patience and persistence. But once you’ve done all that hard work, you’ll finally reach your goal!

When starting a new website, building relationships with potential audiences is critical. This means reaching out to influencers in your industry and asking them to review your product or service.

So many people dismiss the importance of defining your dream reader though.

They either think that it’s not relevant to them, or they simply don’t know how to do it the right way, and they struggle with it because it’s hard.

There are lots of different ways to go about figuring this stuff out.

Take the time to figure this out at the beginning and your new music blog will be SO much more successful.

Choose how you are going to create content

Are you going to start a text-based blog? What about a vlog? A podcast? There are plenty of options available to you depending on what kind of content you want to create.

You need to decide if you want to focus on one particular medium over another.

For example, in addition to this blog, I’m currently working on my own personal YouTube channel where I post videos every week talking about topics related to digital marketing and content creation that are then the audio is ripped and syndicated for my podcast.

The most important part here is to decide what you’re most comfortable with so you can get started.

Pick a really good domain name

Picking a great domain name is important because it helps set the tone for your entire site.

If you pick something generic like “musicblogger123” chances are you won’t have any luck getting traffic from search engines.

Instead, choose something catchy and memorable. Something that makes sense within your niche.

This makes it easier for visitors to remember and find your site again later.

Picking a good domain is also an opportunity to make sure you use keywords throughout your web address.

Here are a few ideas to help you find the best domain for your new music blog.

Find something fresh and original

Consider some fresh possibilities when you pick your domain name. Discover something clever, entertaining or appealing.

Find some relevant words or phrases that fit your project. Brainstorm all kinds of ideas to see what you can come up with.

Combine words together and use terms like “my”, “the”, “blog”, or “reviews” to combine with your primary term to find something great!

Make your domain name memorable

One of the most important factors is you want to have a memorable domain, so approaching it from a unique perspective can give you some additional ideas to choose from.

Don’t be boring. When you’re talking to someone about your website, make sure it sticks with them.

Consider branding with your domain name choice

If you have a memorable domain, you will want it to also be brandable. People want to remember who you are and what you stand for when they hear your name.

The best domain names for music blogs are ones that include your band name, artist name, genre, etc.

It should be easy to understand and spell as well. If you can’t easily tell what your domain stands for, people might forget about it entirely.

It should be easy to communicate

One of the principles here is to be creative, but be careful about being carried away. One of the things you want to think about when it comes to your new domain is that you want it to be pronounceable. Think about using easy-to-use words in your name so that it rolls off your tongue and people know what you’re talking about.

If they can’t pronounce it, it’s not really as memorable as it could be, is it? They may just remember that it was that crazy domain name they couldn’t pronounce and will have a hard time getting it into their web browser.

Choose a domain name that’s easy to spell

Keeping things uncomplicated is the rule here. Your domain name needs to be memorable, and creative, but it also needs to be easy to spell.

It’s important that your domain name is easy to spell, but also memorable.

Keep your domain name short as possible

It is difficult to get a short domain these days, but being easy to remember is one of the keys. It’s better to keep it short.

Make sure it describes your blog

You want everything you do to add value to the brand when you build a new music blog. It can be difficult to get one that fits well, but it is worth the time and effort.

You will know that you’ve found the right domain name when it fits like a glove and is descriptive. It’s important to think about the benefit you are giving your visitors.

We have already talked about short, easy to spell and pronounceable words. Put it through the filter of how well it describes your site after you’ve nailed those.

When it fits like a glove and is descriptive, you can be sure that you have found the right domain name.

Don’t forget about the social media handles

You will want to check to see if the social handles are available for your domain name. This will make it easier for you to show a consistent brand.

If the social handles are available for your name, you need to check them out.

Before you click that “buy now” link, take some time to consider where you plan to build your following on social media and see if that username is available.

If that usernames is available, take some time to think about where you’re going to build your following on social media.

It may be a challenge to find something that’s cohesive across all channels, but it’s worth thinking through so you can create a consistent brand for your project.

You should check to see if the social handles are available for your name.

Take some time to consider where you want to build your following on social media and see if that usernames is available, before you click the “buy now” link.

You can create a consistent brand for your project if you think through and find something that is cohesive across all channels.

Choose your blogging platform

There are many blogging platforms out there, and each has its own pros and cons. You’ll want to choose carefully because this choice will affect every aspect of your website from design to SEO.

The best way to decide which platform is right for you is by considering your goals and preferences. There are several different types of blogs: personal, business or corporate, news, opinion, etc. Each type requires a slightly different approach.

There are a lot of choices when it comes to the platform you want to use for your new music blog, but I’m only going to recommend one: WordPress.

WordPress is an open source content management system with over 60 million active sites around the world. The CMS offers powerful features such as drag-n-drop page builders, unlimited pages, custom fields, plugins, themes, and more.

Purchase your domain name & hosting service

Once you have chosen your domain name, to buy it and it’s also time to pick your hosting service.

Here’s something to keep in mind about buying your domain name and your hosting service: you want to have no single point of failure.

What does “no single point of failure” mean? It means that if anything goes wrong with either part of your web presence, then everything else stops working too.

The best practice is to keep your domain registrar separate from your hosting service, having two separate providers rather than just one.

Your domain name provider gives you access to your domain name registration information, including whois data, DNS records, WHOIS privacy options, email addresses, billing details, and much more.

A good domain name registrar provides 24/7 customer support via phone, chat, ticket submission form, live chat, and even email.

But how do you know how to choose a good hosting service?

A good hosting company is going to make the entire process easy for you.

So choosing a hosting company for your website doesn’t have to be hard or complicated.

There are a few key things you need to look at when you’re looking to choose the best hosting company for your new blog.

1. Great support
2. Great performance
3. Great security
4. Scalability

I’ve got my own recommendations that I’ll make, but first let’s have a little honest discussion about something you’re likely to encounter if you haven’t already.

A lot of people are recommending a very specific hosting service for beginners and those starting a blog for the first time, and I don’t think that’s either fair or entirely honest.

While Bluehost is a legit service, the reason many people recommend it is because of its generous affiliate program.

Don’t get me wrong, a lot of people use Bluehost.

But there are thousands and thousands who’ve left Bluehost for better services.

So I’m recommending that you be very careful.

here are two services I recommend:

1 – Siteground

I’ve worked with Siteground on numerous occasions and I’ve always found their service to be solid across the board. The support is generous and helpful, and they can scale with you regardless of your business size. So if you’re new to this whole thing, Siteground is a great option.

2 – WPLaunch

WPLaunch is my own service I’ve created that takes all the guesswork and tech details out of the equation so you can focus on creating instead of trying to become a tech wiz. WPLaunch provides everything you need to get your own self-hosted WordPress service up and running – and fast.

If you want to learn more about how to host a website, or you’re looking for an in-depth guide how to host a website this guide will help you figure it all out.

Choose a theme for your music blog

How do you choose the best WordPress theme for your music blog?

Let’s start by saying this: The main point is to get started with something that looks good.

You want to set it and forget it so you can focus on publishing.

Here are few things to consider when you’re evaluating themes:

• Is it known for being fast?
• Does it look good?
• Is it responsive so that it looks good on mobile devices?

I advise to stay away from themes that have lots of customizable functions, at least at the beginning because, as I mentioned previously, people get way too hung up on the look & feel of their new tech blog and lose focus on the reason they’re starting the blog to begin with.

Find something that you like that looks good, that you can use to get started then, in time, when the need for greater customization comes, you’ll have a better idea of what you need.

Keep this in mind:

You’re getting into this not to become a web designer, but to become a blogger. Things that get in the way of that should be minimized so you can keep the main thing the main thing.

My service at WPLaunch.com we provide a theme for you.

That way you won’t end up spending hours tweaking colors and font sizes later down the road.

Now for your logo, you want something professional looking but again – don’t waste a lot of time here.

What most new bloggers forget about when they hit this stage of their journey is that these things can – and most likely will – be changed at some point in the future.

Create your logo & essential pages

The first step towards building any kind of online presence is having a strong brand identity.

This means coming up with a logo design that represents your blog well while also conveying the message you want to send through your site.

A simple yet effective logo design can go a long way toward establishing brand credibility and building trust among visitors and potential customers.

When designing your logo, think about the following points:

• What does your logo represent? Is it a company name? A product line? An event? Or maybe even just a person?

• How would someone recognize your logo instantly? Would they know right off the bat who you are? If yes, why?

• Does your logo convey a clear message? Do you see yourself using it every day?

You want something professional looking but don’t waste too much time here.

Once you’ve designed your logo, make sure to create a favicon too.

(btw -a favicon is the small image that appears in the browser tab/window title bar when a website is loaded.)

Here are the pages that you need to create for your new tech blog.

Your new tech blog’s home page

When you’re learning how to start a blog there are two main questions you need to answer on your home page that your visitor is asking:

1. What do you do?
2. Can you answer my question or solve my problem?

On your homepage you want to establish why your site visitors should trust you and encourage them to dig deeper.

Your homepage is the jumping-off point for exploration in to what your site has to offer so make your content enticing and give them the opportunity to dig in deeper with an opt-in opportunity and deliver a great resource you’ve created to establish the connection.

Include a display of some of your most popular and/or latest posts so visitors can get a quick glimpse in to what your site is about.

Your new blog’s about me page

The best about me pages are part bio, part personal story, part what you’re up to and a whole lot of ‘how I can help’.

Stuffy, third-person, corporate-speak “about” pages are bounce inducing, sleep-promoting, naps waiting to happen.

These pages are not so much about “you”, but about your visitors.

They need answer these questions:

• How can you help?
• Who are you?
• What do you do?
• What are you doing/working on?
• What can they expect if they work with me?

Include testimonials and photographs while telling your own story and make sure you provide an opt-in opportunity from those ready to get on your list.

Your blog page

For bloggers, it’s important to have a way for visitors to dive deeper in to your content so I encourage you to have a blog page where your categories are listed with a short description of each category along with a collection of your latest or most popular posts on your blog page.

Your contact page

Don’t dismiss the potential of this page. Make this page personal and inviting by using some intro copy on how visitors can get in touch with you.

Use a form instead of an email address here. If you simply use a linked mailto email address, you’re asking for trouble. Since this is a contact page, include ways people can connect with you on social media by linking up Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.

If your blog accepts guest posts, then this would be a good place to include information about what the guidelines and requirements are for submitting theirs.

The resources page

This is the page that you use to collect all the links to the resources and tools you use and recommend.

Highlight your best posts and content on your site. Break it up in to categories that cover tips, tools, techniques, assets, and all the things that you use that help you and that you use.

This can be not only the tools you use in your business but also the tools you used to build your website and do your marketing. It can be the browser plugins you use and the things you use to be productive.

It’s the tech stuff you use to do webinars. It can be books you’ve read that have influenced and inspired you.

People want to see the behind-the-scenes stuff when it comes to how you do what you do so make sure to collect all these tools in to a page to provide your audience with the info they need to help get the most out of your content.

The start here page

A “start here” page is a great way to introduce your visitors to what your site contains so they can have a great experience on your site and catch a glimpse of great stuff on your site that they may not have otherwise known about.

It tells them about the purpose of your site and greets your guests letting them know how to get the most out of their visit.

This page can be similar to a resources page, but this page serves more as an introduction to who you are and what you do, and how a visitor can make the most out of their visit.

It’s like getting a guide at Disney World when you walk through the gate that shows you where everything is, and where you can find all the different things your site has to offer.

Those pages are enough to get you started.

That doesn’t mean they’re the only pages you’re going to need though.

Once you’re ready to monetize your blog you will need to develop lead generation pages, sales pages for tripwire products, lead magnet pages, and entire sets of pages for your online sales funnels.

But for now, let’s get these foundational pages up and in place.

If you need some additional help you can download my free Website Content Blueprint here.

Start blogging

Start creating content by answering questions or writing articles related to topics that interest you. You don’t even have to write anything if you just want to answer other bloggers’ questions.

You could create a series of videos showing step-by-step instructions on how to complete certain tasks. Or maybe you could share your favorite recipes. Whatever you decide to focus on, keep it consistent throughout your blog.

“Listicles”

A listicle is an article that presents a list of items

They work well because people love reading lists and there are many ways to present information in a funny manner.

Here are a couple examples:

• 5 Steps To Starting Your Own Successful Internet Based Business
• 10 Ways To Make Money From Home Fast And Easy!
• How To Start A Music Blog In 5 Minutes Flat

These types of articles tend to perform very well online because they give readers something new and interesting to look forward to every time they come back to your site.

Instructional how-to posts

An instructional how-to article provides detailed steps for completing a specific activity. It includes clear directions and illustrations to show exactly how to accomplish each part of the process.

How-to articles are concise, and practical guides on how to do something. They include step-by-step instructions for performing a task, but they may also provide information about tools, materials, techniques, and skills required to complete the task.

For example, a tutorial on how to install WordPress might explain how to navigate around the dashboard, add plugins, set up themes, etc., while providing screenshots along the way.

The goal of an instructional how-to article is to teach someone else how to use software or hardware effectively. The author should clearly state any limitations of the product being used.

Instructions should always be written using plain language so that anyone can understand them without having to read between the lines. If possible, avoid jargon and technical terms whenever possible.

Response posts

Response articles are created in response to a specific question. Lots of search queries are people looking for answers to questions; response articles are answers to those questions.

People often ask “What does X cost?” or “Is Y good/bad?” These kinds of questions are perfect candidates for response articles.

When responding to a query like this, make sure to address all aspects of the topic at hand. For instance, if someone asks whether or not a particular brand of headphones is worth buying, then you would respond with a thorough review of the pros and cons of the product.

Another type of response article is similar to how-to articles except that instead of teaching others how to do things, response articles describe what happened after someone tried out a particular method.

This type of article works best when the writer has first hand experience with the topic at hand.

Interviews with influencers

Everyone is looking to get access to their favorite artists and influencers in the space. Crafting interviews with these folks is a great way to gain exposure and increase traffic to your website.

You don’t have to pay big bucks to land some high profile guests either. You just need to find creative ways to connect with them.

One thing I’ve found really effective is reaching out via social media and asking them directly if they’d be interested in doing an interview. This approach tends to yield better results than cold emailing them through other channels.

Promote your new music blog

It’s great to have fun building out all this stuff – and it is fun – but once you’ve got it all in place you want people reading your content.

Promoting your blog content is important because it helps drive more visitors to your site. It gets people excited about your work and encourages them to share it with friends and family.

There are several different methods available to promote your new blog.

Friends & family

Bryan Harris calls them the “eager sneezers”. These are the people you already have relationships with who will be happy to share your content.

This could be your parents, your spouse, or your friends.

Getting these people on board to help you share your content will accelerate everything. They’ll spread the word for you and bring in lots of fresh eyes.

Your own social media

If you’re lucky enough to have a large following online, then promoting yourself there is another option. Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., allow you to create pages where you can post links to your own content.

These platforms also provide analytics tools that show exactly how many times each link was shared by whom.

Social media marketing

Social media marketing is essential because it allows you to reach thousands of potential readers without paying any money upfront. The key here is finding the right audience.

The most successful blogs tend to focus on topics that interest their target market. If you write about something that doesn’t resonate well with your followers, no amount of promotion will change that.

So before starting anything else, figure out what kind of content resonates with your audience. Then use paid advertising to attract those users.

Facebook groups

Getting involved in communities related to your niche is a good idea too. There are plenty of groups on Facebook dedicated to specific subjects like photography, blogging, video editing, etc.

Joining these groups gives you instant credibility within the community. People trust fellow members over random strangers so being active in these groups makes you look trustworthy.

Once again though, make sure you only join groups relevant to your subject matter.

The point here is to participate and join the community – not to spam. Become a resource so that the group owner will take notice of you as someone who’s always delivering value and the traffic will come.

Search Engine Optimization

SEO is critical when trying to get noticed by search engines like Google. You need to optimize your website so that it ranks highly in organic searches.

You do this by using keywords strategically and naturally throughout your content.

Make sure your keyword phrases appear frequently throughout your posts. There are some best practices you want to follow when you create your blog posts, don’t just throw your keywords in anywhere.

Public forums

Public message boards are a great source of potential traffic when you’re a valuable contributing member. This means participating regularly and providing useful information.

There are several forums available including Reddit, Quora, Yahoo Answers, etc. Each has its pros and cons but they all offer free exposure if you contribute quality material.

Email marketing campaigns

Another way to drive targeted traffic to your site is through email marketing. Email lists are an excellent tool for building relationships with customers or clients.

This type of list tends to be more focused than social media sites since it requires subscribers to opt-in rather than simply visit a page. It’s important to remember that emails aren’t read immediately after sending them so you should try to send at least three messages per week.

The most important thing about building your own email list it’s a source of traffic that you OWN.

You aren’t at the mercy of forum owners, or social media platforms and their policies – you can always email your list even if you’ve been banned from Facebook.

Content promotion

Promoting other people’s work is another effective method of driving traffic to your site. The key is finding high-quality websites that have similar audiences to yours.

For example, if you run a fitness blog then promoting articles written by top athletes would help increase your reach. Or if you sell clothing online then promote fashion bloggers whose style matches your brand.

If you find yourself struggling to think up ideas for content promotion then there are many tools available to help. One such tool is Buzzsumo where you enter your niche and see what kind of backlinks others have built around certain topics.

If you click on any of those links you’ll see what types of content each blogger wrote about. From there you can use the same strategy to write unique content that appeals to the audience of the person writing the original post.

Influencer outreach

One final tip I’d like to share is influencer outreach. Influencers are individuals within your industry who have large networks of followers. They often provide good advice because they know exactly what works and doesn’t work.

They also tend to be very active on social media so reaching out to them could result in huge amounts of new readers.

I recommend starting small and working your way up until you feel comfortable enough to approach bigger names.

This method requires relationships so don’t start spamming influencers. Find your way onto their radar the right way. Russell Brunson describes the way to do this in a highly effective way in Traffic Secrets.

Monetize your music blog

Once you’ve got some visitors coming into your website you need to make sure you monetize it properly. There are two main ways to go about doing this: affiliate programs and advertising.

Affiliate programs

An affiliate program allows you to earn money every time someone buys something using your link. You get paid based on sales generated by your referrals.

It’s not as easy as just creating a product and hoping people buy it. To succeed you need to create an offer that solves a problem for your target market. For instance, if you’re selling clothes then maybe you want to focus on women over 30 years old. This means offering discounts to older customers.

Another option is to partner with brands that already have existing products. If you were running a shoe store then partnering with Nike might allow you to put their logo on your shirts without having to pay upfront.

Advertising

The second most popular form of monetization is through ads.

Google AdSense is the most popular ad network that beginner blogs use to earn money. It is easy to set up, and you can monetize your blog even when it’s new. You can check out the eligibility criteria here.

When you monetize your music blog with ads, readers will see relevant ads because Google has thousands of advertisers on board. Your AdSense earnings will vary depending on the competition and CPC (cost-per-click) in your niche.

Other ad networks pay better than Google AdSense, but their eligibility criteria doesn’t usually fit for  beginner blogs. MediaVine, Ezoic, Media.Net, Adversal, PopAds, and InfoLinks are some of the alternatives.

And if you don’t like the idea of an ad network, you can sell ad spots on your blog directly to advertisers.

There are pros and cons to both methods. Affiliates require more effort than simply placing an ad but they generate higher commissions per sale. Ads are easier to set up but less targeted meaning fewer conversions.

But there are other methods too.

Sell digital products and online courses

Are you a subject expert? Can you offer something truly unique that people will pay for instantly? Why not sell your own digital products?

They don’t have to be huge creations that take months to develop.

Some of my favorites that I’ve bought over the years are ones I spent less than $100 on, and most times, less than $50.

Create your own workshop or challenge

If you know what you’re talking about, why not create your own workshop or challenge?

You could host a live event where you teach others how to achieve certain goals. Or perhaps you could give away all sorts of prizes to those who complete tasks within a specific timeframe.

One of the best challenges I’ve ever participated in is called “The One Funnel Away Challenge”. It’s only $100 and it was an incredibly valuable resource for me and was instrumental in helping Russell Brunson grow his ClickFunnels business substantially.

Next Steps

So now you understand the basics of starting a music blog. Hopefully, these tips help you get started!

I’d love to hear any questions you may have below so feel free to ask them in the comments section.

If you need help getting started with the tech stuff, check out my service at wplaunch.com and we’ll handle all of that for you so you can focus on creating your content.

The methods and strategies I’ve covered here are tested and proven. It’s now up to you to put it all into practice and get started!

I hope you found this helpful. If so, please share it with someone who could use it.

If you want to learn more about digital marketing and this whole online business thing I want you to come join me in my own free private Facebook group, Digital Marketing Mastery. This is a new, small group of other business owners and entrepreneurs of all kinds, who are working hard to build their businesses online.

Join me in Home Office Hacks here.