How My Love For Blogging Helped Me Build a $1000/Month SEO Business

Somnath

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Published: April 22nd, 2023

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Somnath

Founder, Content Spotlight

$1K

revenue/mo

Founders

Employees

Content Spotlight

contentspotlight.org

from Kolkata, West Bengal, India

started November 2021

$1,000

revenue/mo

Founders

Employees

Discover what tools recommends to grow your business!

MailChimp

G Suite

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Pixabay

freelance

FreeeUp

seo

Ahrefs

Yoast

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Rankmath

Discover what books Somnath recommends to grow your business!

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Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?

I am Somnath, founder of Content Spotlight. Content Spotlight is a keyword research SEO Company based out of Kolkata, India.

Content Spotlight started its operations in Nov 2021. Our main services include SEO, Copywriting, Website audits and analysis, Link Building, and Search Engine Marketing. Our customers include CashBasic, Telepresence, and TheDreamHoppers to name a few. Our customers are from all verticals and domains.

We make an average of $1,000 per month at present and are expanding our business.

What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?

I started blogging way back in 2016. It all started with a travel blog that I created where I learned about writing and SEO techniques. In 2021, I mastered the concept of SEO and started ‘Content Spotlight’.

I became obsessed with SEO, Search Engine algorithms, and Google Updates and decided to make a career in the digital space. I always had other business ideas but starting something in the digital world was my first priority. I learned SEO and started seeing results in my travel blog which inspired me a lot to become an SEO consultant and start my venture.

The services you provide should be the best in the industry and must require versatile and talented people.

I have been in the IT sector since 2011 and I had a job to back up my dreams. I did not take the risk of leaving my job at that time as I felt this could be done along with my present job.

Take us through the process of building the first version of your product.

I started thinking of a name that would suit the company’s nature of business. Since this was related to writing and SEO, I chose ‘Content Spotlight’ as the company name and ‘A Keyword Research SEO Company’ as the tagline.

I started making new designs using Canva and listed out the services that we would provide to our customers. The website design was a big thing to consider and we finished and completed our initial development work related to the website. We built the website on WordPress but had a lot of challenges discovering the right theme and layout for the website. It took nearly 2 months to get the website ready with the right content.

We had to work a lot to increase our Domain Authority and Page Authority so that our website could stand up in the crowd and make a real difference. I spent a lot of time in design, creating appropriate posts, building backlinks, and increasing our website's worth.

Describe the process of launching the business.

After designing our website, we worked very hard to promote it via press releases and creating links in directories and hot bookmarking sites. We started seeing customers in the last 4 months and they came from different sectors including travel, finance, IT, and education.

We got clients from organic search and platforms like FREEUP. We had an initial discussion about the project and closed the deal with the client once they were happy and satisfied with our proposal.

We worked hard in finding relevant keywords specific to our niche and geography. We did a lot of hard work to promote it through social media, channels, and other media. We used platforms like Pinterest and Linkedin to generate clients.

We got a lot of help and support from platforms like DesignRush and Clutch which helped to publish reviews from clients and we started getting a lot of visitors to our website from these platforms.

We did not have to earn revenue from Day 1 since I started this along with my full-time job. It was tough and time taking.

Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?

Our choice of company name and tagline was our lucky mascot. Our company goals are very clear to the audience and customers who would sign up because of the brand name and services.

We focused on organic traffic and keyword research and used long tail keywords to write appropriate blog posts targetting those keywords. We did a lot of promotions on social media and used paid marketing opportunities. We also asked our clients to put reviews on sites like Clutch, Design Rush, Agency Spotter, and Trust Pilot so that customers trust us with the services we provide. We also did email marketing and implemented strategies like getting clients from FREEUP and UPWORK and growing our visibility. .

We have been spot on, on delivery and helping customers since inception. We have managed to retain most of our clients, and in the case of one-time projects, we had great client satisfaction.”

How are you doing today and what does the future look like?

We are doing pretty well and are hopeful that we have a bright future. Since we are into both writing and SEO, We generate leads from Linkedin, Facebook, and Google and we have a 70% success rate in closing deals. Our revenue depends upon the length of each project and target fulfillment. We are hopeful that it will not fall completely even if SEO becomes dead.

We are into all forms of writing (copywriting, creative writing, blog writing, newsletters, and press releases) and will continue to help companies who would require writers as a part of their promotions. Clients come from all verticals including education, leisure and tourism, finance, and AI and specifically look for writing and SEO services.

We have also kept the option of correcting errors related to website bugs and suggestions for fixes and enhancements.

Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?

I learned proper ways of diagnosing issues and finding solutions required by each business. I also mastered the right tools to use for different scenarios as required by the business.

Neil Patel’s blog helped me in discovering the right tools to succeed in this business. I also learned new ways of mastering SEO and increasing organic traffic to our website. I learned about email marketing, local SEO, and voice search and started optimizing my GMB profile and writing content specific to the audience.

I also learned new ways of increasing organic traffic and improving the online presence of business websites.

I have also learned the act of self-discipline and time management to stand out and bring a lot of value to the company.

What platform/tools do you use for your business?

I use SEMRUSH to do most tasks along with tools like SEOPTIMER, and SITECHECKER. These tools provide accurate results and information regarding websites and can be thought of as a reference to collect important information.

I also use AHREFS at times to compare results that may not be true otherwise. I also use Moz and other tools to regularly check metrics like DA, DR PA, Alexa Rank, TF, CF< TQ, BQ, Spam Score, etc.

What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?

Neil Patel has been my influential guide throughout. I have been following his podcasts, videos, and blog posts to learn more about SEO and the digital world. I have mostly learned about content marketing and SEO strategies required to excel in the industry. His blog posts are very helpful and educational and give everyone a strong desire to conquer this industry.

Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?

Your company name and tagline should be prominent and attractive. The services you provide should be the best in the industry and must require versatile and talented people.

Aspirants should work hard and make a proper plan before doing something. They should have proper goals and a business plan to do things smoothly and timely. Aspirants should be focused and proactive and should have a single thought in mind to make it a success. They should focus and work hard to secure the top spot in that specific industry by hiring the best team required to perform the job.

Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?

We would start hiring from June/July of 2023 once we meet our targets. We would hire full-time/part-time writers, and SEO professionals to provide support to our clients. They would deliver basic tasks like writing, SEO, social media work, and SEM.

Interested applicants can apply at [email protected]