How Darren Rowse Turned His Photography Hobby Into The ProBlogger Success Story

ProBlogger is a popular website dedicated to helping bloggers improve their skills, share their experiences, and promote the blogging medium. Since the site was started in 2004 by Darren Rowse, it has since grown to include over 8000 articles, tips, tutorials, and case studies.

For anyone looking for information on how to start or improve a blog, ProBlogger is a great resource. They help their readers stay up-to-date on the latest blogging news and tips with their newsletter and their social media.

They have a community of 300,000+ bloggers who they help connect with each other and learn from each other. And for bloggers in Australia, they even hold regular training events.

Whether you're a beginner blogger or a seasoned pro, ProBlogger has something to offer everyone.

Rowse started his first blog, Digital Photography School, to share his photography knowledge with others. What started as a hobby soon turned into a full-time business, and today, Darren is a well-known and respected figure in the blogging world.

Darren's success story is an inspiring one for anyone looking to turn their passion into a successful career. If you're thinking about starting a blog, or are already blogging but looking to take things to the next level, Darren's story is a must-read.

How ProBlogger Gets Its Traffic

ProBlogger attracts around 30k visits per month from search according to Ahrefs.

That’s a significant amount of traffic, but it’s not the only way they get visitors to the site.

They have a very engaged social media following, with over 222k followers on Twitter and 116k likes on Facebook. This allows them to share their content with a much larger audience and helps bring new readers to the site.

ProBlogger also have a popular email newsletter that goes out to over 300k subscribers. This helps keep their existing readers engaged and coming back to the site, as well as introducing new readers to the content.

All of these different channels work together to bring a steady stream of traffic to ProBlogger, which is essential for any successful blog.

WHAT TYPES OF KEYWORDS DOES ProBlogger TARGET?

ProBlogger is in the top 3 positions for over 19,000 keywords. That’s a lot of keywords! And it’s not just because they have a large website.

They do an excellent job of targeting long-tail keywords, which are often easier to rank for and can bring in more targeted traffic.

For example, they rank in the top 3 for keywords such as:

• "How to create email with domain name"
• "What is RSS"
• "Freelance blog jobs"

Many of their top keywords also feature the ProBlogger brand name, which shows that they have built a strong brand identity in the blogging community.

When people think of blogging advice or tips, ProBlogger is often one of the first websites that comes to mind. And that’s thanks to their targeted keyword strategy.

WHAT DOES ProBlogger DO WELL At?

• Their branding is on point - the colours are consistent and the brand identity is strong.
• They have a clear navigation so users can easily find what they're looking for.
• The site is well designed and looks professional.
• The content is high quality and well researched.
• They have a good mix of articles, tips, tutorials, and case studies.

WHAT'S THEIR LINK PROFILE LIKE?

Unsurprisingly for a site of this calibre and age, ProBlogger has an excellent link profile. They have over 1.5 million backlinks from over 37,000 referring domains.

The vast majority of their links are from high-quality websites, such as Washington Post, Huffington Post, and Business Insider. This shows that they are considered an authoritative source of information on blogging.

They also have a good mix of link types, with around 22% of their links being nofollow. This shows that they are not only focused on building links for SEO purposes, but also on building relationships and providing value to their readers.

Overall, ProBlogger has an exceptional link profile, and it's no wonder they rank so well in Google.

HOW DOES ProBlogger MAKE ITS MONEY?

There do not appear to be ads on the site at the time of writing, but the presence of affiliate links in many of their top articles shows they are probably making a fair chunk of money through referral schemes.

On one of their most popular posts - "How to start a blog", I actually lost count of the number of Bluehost affiliate links contained within the text!

They are also selling their own products, such as courses, at a range of prices up to $99, and ebooks. Many of their blog posts contain links to these products, which help to drive sales.

They also have a paid community and a job board. The jobs board is their second highest traffic page after the homepage, and accounts for nearly a quarter of their traffic, so it's clear that it's a very popular feature.

This is a breakdown of the last income report Darren Rowse published in 2016 for ProBlogger and his digital photography blog site.

Overall, there are several ways that ProBlogger makes money, and they are all fairly passive income streams. This allows them to focus on creating high-quality content, without having to worry too much about monetization.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM ProBlogger?

ProBlogger is a well-established site that has built a strong brand identity and reputation in the blogging community. They have an excellent link profile and target long-tail keywords effectively.

While they do make money from affiliate links and selling their own products, it doesn't appear that they are excessively monetizing the site. This helps to keep the focus on providing quality content, which is probably the reason they are so successful.