Want to start an auto blog? The automotive industry is easily one of the most popular for bloggers to take part in. Not only is there always new information to share on an auto blog, but there are also plenty of auto enthusiasts who are ready to digest all of the information out there about their favorite makes and models.
That eagerness allows you to start a successful blog in the auto niche that can make you money with affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, advertisements, and even selling products online. These six steps will show you how to start an auto blog today:
Step 1: Research Your Niche
Screenshot via ClassicCars.com
Most successful blogs have a defined niche within their industry. If you’re just getting started with blogging and want to start an auto blog, look at other car blogs as examples. Rarely do you see one that talks about all things auto. Instead, you might find blogs about a specific make or model, a vehicle generation, or how to customize a car. The ClassicCars.com Journal, for instance, focuses on – you guessed it – classic cars.
Your niche can be as broad or narrow as you’d like, but it needs to be defined and refined. Your niche will help you stand out from your competition and draw in a highly targeted audience to build a strong readership that turns to you for your auto knowledge.
Step 2: Find Your Voice
Now that you’ve chosen a niche, your next task is to focus on your voice. Do you want to be more of a storyteller, informer, or humorist? Leaning in one direction for your tone can further narrow your niche and target the audience you want to attract.
The best way to decide how to shape your voice is to look at competing sites. What style are you generally drawn to? Do you prefer more informational, well-researched content? Or do you lean toward witty and comical blog posts that are quick and easy to read? Your audience will find you more relatable when your tone comes across as natural rather than forced, so pick a voice that is most like your personality.
Step 3: Build Your Audience
Screenshot via @cargurus on Instagram
Your audience is who you should focus all your blog posts on – and that includes the audience you currently have and the one you want to build – but an audience includes more than just blog readers. In the modern world of blogging, you have to also think about your social media presence and email marketing techniques. CarGurus.com, for example, shares photos and videos of vehicle comparisons, awards, and more on Instagram, where they’ve grown their audience to more than 100,000 followers.
Create social media profiles that are specific to your blog to share your posts and other niche news. Use an email list building tool to grow your email list and market to those who want to keep hearing from you beyond your blog.
Step 4: Create a Monetization Strategy
Your audience becomes a key advantage when you begin to monetize your blog, which you can do after you have a good foundation of content published and a growing audience. An auto blog can use several monetization strategies, including:
- Relevant advertising
- Sponsored posts
- Digital products, like make or model information sheets, e-books, or premium access to your auto message boards
- Affiliate marketing for related products, like car washing supplies and auto parts
- Sponsored social media posts and links
Although you can choose multiple avenues for monetization, you might try to stick with just one or two to start with. Creating digital products, for example, might be a better option for a larger, more loyal audience than when you’re just starting out.
Step 5: Source Industry News
Screenshot via Feedspot
Curation tools are a blogger’s best friend. You can use tools like Pocket and Feedly to find auto-related articles on the web that you can use for inspiration or sources for your content or shareable content for your social media channels.
Check out rankings like Feedspot’s top 100 auto blogs list, where you’ll find social media stats and valuable SEO insights such as Domain Authority and Alexa Rank. Not only is it a useful content curation tool, but it’s also an excellent resource for identifying authority blogs for guest posting opportunities and partnerships. The more connected you are to the industry, the higher your authority rank within the industry.
Step 6: Keep Growing
Your auto blog is off the ground and is turning into a successful content creation machine. Great! Now, keep growing. Building out your blog and boosting your online presence gives you more ground to monetize your blog in whatever ways work best for you.
It takes effort on your part to keep moving upward, but you can also enlist the help of your readers and network with a quick addition to your site. Add social sharing buttons and social media follow buttons to your blog with a simple-to-install plugin that lets readers follow you and promote the content they love on their favorite social media channels.
You can also:
- Visit relevant blogs and leave substantial comments
- Network with other auto bloggers on LinkedIn and Facebook groups
- Keep optimizing posts with current SEO practices
- Make sure your site is mobile-friendly
- Write guest blog posts for other authoritative sites
- Dabble in paid advertising
Setting Your Auto Blog Up for Success
Getting your blog set up for success from the beginning is necessary to grow it in the future. These steps cover the basics of creating a winning auto blog for the car enthusiast that wants to monetize their passion through excellent content. Installing social media share buttons is one of the easiest ways to start growing your auto blog audience effortlessly. They take just minutes to install and allow your visitors to share your content across all their favorite social channels with a single click. Best of all, they’re totally free to use!
