Interview With Santanu Debnath- A Software Engineer & a Pro Blogger [BGIS-3]

Hello Guys, I am here again with my Interview Series. Today, My guest is Santanu Debnath. He is a Software Engineer and a Pro blogger. In this post, I am going to interview Santanu Debnath.

After reading this interview, I am sure you will learn a lot that how a Software Engineer makes a side hustle with Blogging and is so much Successful. I am also a big fan of him and an avid reader of his Blog. So, Without wasting the time, Let’s get started with the interview.

Interview With Santanu Debnath

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Q1. Hello Santanu, Please introduce yourself to our audience?

Thank you Vishwajeet for inviting me to your blog.

Hello Friends, I am Santanu Debnath. I am a software engineer by profession and besides that, I blog in my free time. I have been blogging for more than 10 years and running a few blogs (Bloggingjoy.com, WPCrows.com, etc) and a couple of YouTube channels (BloggingGyaan in Hindi and BloggingJOY in English). 

Q2. Please tell us about your blogging journey, How you got started?

I started my blogging journey back in 2007-08 when I was looking for a passive income source besides my regular job. At that time I explored various online money making options and found them as scams. Then one day discovered the Google AdSense program and found people were making money from that program by creating websites.

From that day I started reading more about AdSense and gradually got involved with blogging. I started my first blog on the Google blogger platform for free. I didn’t have much knowledge of what to do and what not to. At that time with a few articles on that blog, I applied for an AdSense account and got that approved immediately. That was a different time, but now it’s not that easy.

However, it took almost 2 years for me to get my first $100 with AdSense. The reason behind that is I was not working full-time. Whenever I got some time, I used to work on that blog and it was not that serious. I was focusing more on my job responsibilities. I have never given up blogging.

Q3. What are the top 3 proven blogging strategies that you recommend to a new blogger to build a profitable blog in 2020?

Well, I wish such proven ways existed! Yes, we can suggest many strategies, but nothing can be guaranteed. It is different from one blogger to another as it’s based on the individual’s experience. So, here I can share some of the tips that worked for me in blogging so far. And I am sure a beginner can easily find it useful as well.

1. The first thing is to make your mind for a long term game. Yes, blogging takes time to give results and for that one has to be patient enough to stick to that path. As a beginner, you will find various tips and tricks from pro-bloggers. But they will not give you quick results. Generally, you have to be ready to give 1-2 years depending on your blogging niche, the amount of time you can spend regularly, and how fast you can learn and implement things.
2. Only quality matters. Yes, as a beginner one has to understand the importance of quality. The more quality content you can create, the more people will find your blog useful and it will grow with time. Remember, there are tons of blogs available on every topic, then why another similar blog? That’s why find out why someone would like to read your website, are you solving any problem for people that is not available, etc. This way you can create something unique and make your place automatically.
3. To create a profitable blog, you need to pick the right profitable niche. Although nowadays any niche can be profitable if you know how to grow it. But still, make sure to do your homework properly before starting a blog.

Q4. How to create a blog sales funnel that makes money?

Creating a sales funnel is one of the most effective ways to generate long term profits in online business these days. However, I have never worked on that. 

Q5. If you were going to start over again, how do you choose a niche?

Well, I always prefer to start a blog on evergreen niches even if they are competitive. But I would love to narrow down those niches and may start a blog focusing on any micro-niche rather than a broad niche. 

Q6. How do you come up with blog post ideas for your blog?

I always keep myself focused on a topic on my blog and try to cover as much content as I can. Generally, you should write about the topics that people are searching for. And the best way to find out those are from people’s comments. 

Yes, I generally read more comments, YouTube video comments on a topic and try to collect the questions people have on that topic and then start analyzing them. Besides that any trending and burning topic which can be worth targeting. Other than that I always keep a track of my competitors to find out what to write next.

Q7. What are the 3 WordPress tools you can’t live without?

On a day-to-day basis, I use Google Docs (to write content), Grammarly Free Extension, Website analytic tools (Ahrefs Webmaster, Google Search Console, etc). Besides that, I use Thrive Themes membership for many of my blogs which is an all-in-one toolset to create a highly conversion-optimized website.

Q8. What’s your #1 way to increase traffic to a new blog?

I think the best way is by targeting the long tail keywords with less competition. As I mostly focus on affiliate marketing, I know that a little organic traffic to a buyer search term can make a difference. In that case, when I talk about traffic, very little but targeted traffic makes me happy. Other than that, sharing on social media, curating that content on different platforms is good for a new blog post to get some referral traffic.

Q9. What are the golden rules of blogging according to you?

If you have a genuine interest to learn something and then share the same in your way with others. Then only you can feel the passion or interest towards that topic. And blogging is all about that only. 

People who are blogging for a long time, they are doing that process regularly, they enjoy the process, they are thinking something new in their area and trying to get better every day. Be consistent, create a network with like-minded people, and keep hustling are the few golden rules to get success in any field and blogging is no exception.

Q10. In your blogging journey, what blogging mistakes cost you a lot?

This list is very big, but I would like to share a few of the key mistakes that a new blogger must avoid in 2020.

1. Starting a blog without focusing on any particular topic. Yes, in my initial years I used to run a blog where I used to write on many topics. But that’s the worst mistake I made. You must keep your blog content around one topic and try to share almost every single piece of information about that topic.
2. I never made any blogging friends until the end of 2018 (the first 10 years of blogging). Blogging is not only writing content on your website. You have to make friends and engage with them so that you can stay focused on blogging. Try to help others and get connected to that community. This is how exactly we live in our society.
3. I spent too much time exploring free materials available online. E.g. Free hosting, Free themes, etc. There is nothing wrong, but this way I lost a good amount of time on initial days. One can easily invest in blogging and then focus more on creating good content, networking with other bloggers, etc. In blogging, time is more precious than saving a few bucks using free products.

Q11. What’s the #1 link building strategy you suggest for our readers?

Link building is tricky. In my blogging experience, I tried various types of link building techniques depending upon the purpose of that blog. If you can create very good content then people will link to your article automatically, this is undoubtedly the best way to get backlinks. But this is not possible all the time, so we must create backlinks. I use almost every possible ways to create backlinks and I have shared a detailed guide on this topic on my blog. I am sure the readers will find that useful.

Q12. Please share your tips to Increase affiliate sales? 

Affiliate marketing is simply awesome and from my experience, I can say that organic traffic converts very well in affiliate marketing. So, focus on finding buyer search terms in various forms and try to write good content on those topics. That’s the best way to increase your affiliate sales.

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Final Note

I hope you found this interview with Santanu Debnath useful and motivational too. I am again thankful to Santanu Da for accepting my interview request and answer the questions thoroughly.

You will definitely implement his strategies to start and grow your blog. There is no doubt that he has immense knowledge and experience in Blogging. Don’t forget to share this interview on your social networks.