When it comes to finding ways to improve a website and learn about the latest and greatest trends in the online publishing world, I have 
quickly learnt that nothing comes close to an event in person. You can read as many articles online about a topic, and I’m sure you will learn a lot about it – but, what you learn from a day of networking and listening to high-profile speakers can truly be incredible.
Pubtelligence is a Google certified event, hosted by Ezoic and Google, that allows online publishers and content creators to come together to learn from others, network and hear from high-profile speakers. After attending the London event, here are 3 things I learned that I’ll take with my content creation and online publisher career moving forward.
User Experience is Everything
A lot of emphasis is stuck on SEO as the be-all-end-all to getting traffic to articles. This is partly truly, but not strictly true.
For example, you could have an article that is keyword dense, and on a certain niche. However, if people don’t like to read it, then it doesn’t really matter how search engine optimized it is! Think of SEO as the catalyst to traffic generation, not the sole reason behind it.
Making content readable and enjoyable for web users to read is key. If web users read your articles, it will only improve your user experience, the SEO of the article, the amount of money you make from advertising and much more.
Don’t Waste Time – Hire Experts
For the vast majority of people, when they start a website, they will be starting it as a one man/woman band. This is fine to keep the costs down. However, there are some areas where you are simple going to want to hire an expert, to save you time and effort, as well as to simply get the job done correctly.
Such examples I have found/learnt include:
- Website theme
- Logos/images
- Security
- Speeding up a website
- Fixing issues/errors
For example, you could spend a full blown week learning how to optimize the speed of a website and have no results at the end of it….or hire a professional to do it for you in a day, with guaranteed results.
There are Many Ways to Monetize
Most online publishers will be looking at PPC or sponsored advertising as the ways to make money from traffic. However, think outside the box – there are many ways you can make money from traffic:
- You could perform a Q&A article with a sponsor – they can answer the questions, helping them look like SMEs, whilst you gain an article with good SEO
- You could have a competition, to giveaway a product from a sponsor
- Paid subscription services
- Lockable content upon completion of a conversion
The key to this is finding the right revenue stream for your website that promotes the best user experience for your audience.
