You know buddy, today I am very happy while I am writing the starting part of this post. It is such like a dream come true. I became succeed to get the interview of world’s one of the most renowned blogger, who is my true inspiration for blogging . Yes, It is Harsh Agarwal- the blogging giant. I want to say a big thanks to him for taking some time and getting answers to this interview questions.
I have compiled a list of questions containing questions which are concerning for both beginners and professional bloggers.
I won’t take more time here. As I know you are excited to know the insights of this interview. Harsh has given straightforward answers to the questions.
Let’s start with it.
1. Tell us Something About you and your Blog.
Hey Nikhil, It’s good to be on your web space & speaking to your audience. I’m one of those passionate guys who believe in doing the right thing. By education, I’m an engineer & by profession a Blogger. I started blogging in 2008 with my blog ShoutMeLoud.com, and in last 13 years, it has become a blog which has changed the life of numerous individuals & entrepreneurs. ShoutMeLoud is about learning everything about digital marketing & making a career online. Apart from ShoutMeLoud, we have other niche blogs such as ShoutMeTech.com, Wpfreesetup.com to name a few. I also run a domain selling service called as ShoutMyDomain.
I’m based in Delhi & I love travelling. I’m fascinated with the concept of Digital Nomad & I have been travelling all around the world & working at the same time. My last visit was to Krabi where I stayed for 2 weeks & enjoyed the true meaning of the blogging lifestyle.
2. What do You Recommend for an Indian Blog- A US server Hosting or An Indian Server Hosting of the same Company?
It depends upon the target audience of a blog. Technically, if a blog target audience is in India, one should host their blog on Indian server. This actually helps to load the blog faster. In case, if somebody prefers U.S. based hosting due to server quality, one can use CDN network like Cloudflare, MaxCDN or any other to give the similar experience.
3. What is the Future of SEO? Is it going to die in Next 3 to 5 Years?
SEO is not going to die, but it will shift to a completely new dimension. More than search, a blogger needs to focus on mobile SEO, App SEO. In fact, I’m afraid that the web we know of may die in few years, & mobile phones like Android & iPhone along with social networking site like Facebook will become the major chunk of the web. Those who are interested in the technical part of it should read about App indexing &iOS spotlight in-app search.
4. What things do you Follow while Writing a Blog Post?
The first thing which I keep in mind is the value of the post. One can write a post to drive any traffic & earn money. My goal is slightly different, as I focus on writing those post which is meaningful for me & for ShoutMeLoud readers. Along with that, my strategy is to work on evergreen content so that we can enjoy the true benefits of blogging. Rest, I love making conversation & being simple in my writing & life.
5. You are a Renowned Professional blogger in the World. What are Your Future Plans? What have you decided to bring your Blogging Journey to the Next Level?
Thanks for the kind words. Recently I did an All India road trip (ShoutMeet) & conducted numerous bloggers meet in various states of India. It was a grand success & I realized the need of a blogger across the country. I plan to continue this in coming years & help the blogging community in India to grow.
One challenge which I’m facing is scaling up at this moment. Since I work from home, hiring more people is not convenient. I plan to move to an office soon & hire 2-3 like-minded people who can manage our virtual team. I’m not a big fan of 9-6 work style, but having an office with flexible working hours sounds more productive & a good step towards doing something bigger.
6. What Tools Do You Use To Make Blogging Easier?
I use numerous blogging tools. Here are few which I can think of right now:
- iMac 27”: Can’t think of blogging without it.
- Blue Yeti mic: For sound recording
- iPhone 6: For blogging from mobile
- Snagit: For image capture & editing
- Camtasia: For video recording
- SEMRUSH: My fav. SEO tool
- BufferApp & SocialPilot: for Social Media marketing
- PostPlanner: For Facebook Page management & automation
- Kinsta Hosting: Where ShoutMeLoud is hosted (November 2015)
- Slack: For team communication
- FileZilla: For FTP
- Focusbooster: An app for mac to help me stay productive
- Selfcontrol app: To block access to sites like Facebook when I’m working
- Wunderlist: For task management
- Evernote: For note taking
7. How to Get More Productive As a Blogger?
One needs to be productive in every part of their life. You can’t be just as productive as a blogger when your personal or life outside blogging is not productive. There are few things which work best for me:
- Don’t check your email all the time. If you are a busy blogger, have someone manage your email.
- Make a To-Do list (Wunderlist) & learn to delegate work. The more you delegate, you will get more done.
- Don’t work on many things at one time. If you are one of those who keep more than 5 tabs opened every time, change this habit. To get things done, focus on one & finish it before moving to other work. Also, read about Pomodoro time management technique.
- When writing, get rid of all the distraction. Disable internet on your Phone & ensure you don’t’ lose focus while researching stuff for your article. If you happened to bump into an interesting topic which is different than what you are working on, bookmark it using Pocket app. You can work on it later, but focus on completing your task first.
- This is the last but most important tip for all the newbies & pro-bloggers. Don’t thrive for perfection, as this is one reason your 80% of work is never completed. It’s a hard thing to do, but with time if you learn to do it, you will know that even the work which you thought is mediocre is useful for many.
8. How Has It Helped To Your Blog? What Things A Blogger Should Consider Before Developing A Mobile App For A Blog?
Mobile app is the future & think of it as important as email marketing. Hire a developer to develop your app. Push notification is must have feature for your app. Along with that, a great UI & UX is important. Treat your mobile app users as the new generation of readers. Most important, if you don’t have an app for now, get one right now. You can always update your app over the time to add new features & functionalities.
9. Which Yields The Most Qualified Traffic for Shoutmeloud: SEO Or SMM?
Of our 1 million page views a month, 80% of traffic is from the Search engine. The 2nd best traffic driving source is direct traffic where people come from bookmarks or typing the URL. It’s shocking & sad to say that only 5% of our traffic comes from Social-media & hopefully we will fix this gap in coming months. If you know of a good social media manager who wants to work full-time for us, feel free to recommend.
10. Do You Believe That Paid Traffic Is Worth For A Blog?
It all depends upon the kind of blog you are running. Paid traffic is definitely good & a successful model for many million dollar blogs. The key here is, if you spend $1 on buying traffic, you should be earning at least $2. This requires a lot of optimization & targeting which can be achieved with practice & A/B testing. In short, yes, paid traffic can do wonder for those who know what they are doing.
11. Now After Huge Work, Shoutmeloud has Become A Popular Blogging Brand. Suggest Some Tips To Create A Brand For A Blog.
Any name becomes a brand when others are talking about it. To become a brand, one need to give a reason for others to talk about it. Social media has empowered us to achieve this at minimal cost & even as a solopreneur. For bloggers, here are few tips:
- Logo &Favico: Your logo is the first thing you want to focus on. Spend a lot of time thinking about the design of the logo.
- Domain Name & tag line: Your domain name is what people would call your brand as. Make sure your domain name is easy to remember, easy to type & easy to pronounce. Along with it, have a catchy tagline. I’m sure many of you know this tagline “ I’m the CEO-Bitch”
- For personal branding use same image (Profile picture) on all social-media sites including Gravatar. Don’t underestimate the power of cover image on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ as they are the most visible space.
- Last but most important is the consistency. If you are not consistent, forget about branding.
- Trigger: Try to have some trigger point for your brand. For example, When we think about Noodles, we say Maggi. When we talk about Cold-drink, we talk about Coco-Cola. For ShoutMeLoud, it’s blogging.
12. You are Making Huge Money through Shoutmeloud as You Publish Your Blog Income Report Each Month. What Do You Suggest For Newbie Through Which They Can Make Money?
When you start blogging, your focus should be on great content & your audience. Convert your traffic into loyal readers & monetize it using Affiliate marketing. Recommend products which you use & which are useful for others. If you are on a multi-niche, you can monetize using AdSense, VigLink or direct ad sales.
Product review & native advertising is going to earn you a great deal of money though this will only work once you have established a quality brand name for your blog. In today’s date, one can establish a branded blog in 3-4 months with hard work & a good strategy.
This was one of Harsh’s fabulous interview in which he talked about the SEO, blogging tools, his future plans, traffic source to Shoutmeloud, making money via blogging and some other stuff. If you want to read similar kind of posts in future, stay tuned and subscribe to my blog. Share this amazing interview on your favorite social media platforms, and show your love.
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Hey Reader, Welcome to MyQuickIdea. I am Nikhil Saini, started MyquickIdea as a passion and now it’s now covering different topics like Blogging, SEO, Marketing, Technology, Finance, Stock Market, Fintech, etc. I always prefer pushing quality content for my readers. I hope you would be liking it.
Hi Nikhil,
Great joy to see Harsh on your page!
He is an amazing person indeed.
In his recent visit to our city i had the opportunity to meet him personality. That personal encounter was very cherishable, and worth mentioning. He shared a lot of things in relation to blogging, and I could see some of them in his answers here too!
Indeed you squeezed out very valuable tips from his knowledge bank!
I am glad that he shared so much information here to your readers.
Thank you so much Harsh for sharing your knowledge with your fellow bloggers. And ha thanks Nikhil for bringing Harsh Aggarwal to your page. 🙂
Wish you both a great and
profitable November!
Best Regards.
Keep sharing
~Philip Ariel Secunderabad
Hey Nikhil,
Great interview. I became a big fan of Harsh’s when I started making changes to my blog. Harsh’s quality information on you tube has been priceless to me.
So when I came across this interview I immediately tapped the button to check it out. You asked some great questions. And I loved the advice. I agree with using the one gavatar across all social media sites. I know this is how I identify with those I have already established connections with.
At the moment I am focusing on the audience and turning readers into subscribers. So I am gradually learning about affiliate marketing, which will be my next step. Thanks for this information.
Rachel.
Hi Nikhil
I am landing on your website for the first time. I like the theme of your site. Congrats for having Harsh on your blog. When I stepped in the field of blogging, I didn’t know anything about the WordPress platform. Fortunately, I landed on Harsh’s blog. It gave me the chance to build my digital journey. The best thing about blogging is that we have the liberty to set our own time.
I always give priority to things:
Make valuable post for the readers.
Create an online brand.
Both of the strategies take time and patience. These two barriers don’t stop me because every big thing requires some quality time. And, ShoutMeLoud is the living proof.
Thanks Harsh for sharing the useful information. I am going to implement these strategies for framing a solid blogging background.
Great Interview Nikhil! Your Collection of Asking Question is to good! i think evey indian bloggers motivate by Harsh Agrawal i also learn lots of new thinhs by Harsh blog! Thanks for sharing this great interview for us?
Hey, it is a great one!
You’ve done a wonderful job in interviewing Harsh, the most inspiring personality of the blogosphere.
Good questions asked and the reactions of Harsh are precise. I love his saying about branding!
Yes, consistency matters a lot in getting a remarkable brand name.
He mentioned helpful blogging tools, enjoyed reading his answers and have learned a lot to work without distraction.
Thank you Nikhil 🙂
Nikhil,Hi , great list! Changed the Face of Blogging in Asia
Great interview. I became a big fan of Harsh’s – making changes to my blog.
Interview with #Harsh #Agrawal
Thank you so much Harsh for sharing your knowledge with your fellow bloggers.
Thanks for this information.
Hello Nikhil,
Damn cool man. Thanks for asking the golden questions to him. I just love this interview. I also want to meet with this guy as “He Changed the Face of Blogging in Asia”. I do visit his blog weekly at least twice or more .
Hello Nikhil,
Good to see Harash in your blog. In fact, he is an inspiration to every blogger. I used to read almost all article from his blog.
and one thing i want to tell you there is a total of 53 shares of this interview post but all in Facebook. You should consider other platforms too.
Thanks
Shirley
Hi Nikhil ,
I am happy for you to have The Famous Indian Blogger as your guest.
I can see from his answers her really know what he is talking about
and gives great advice 🙂 Often the little things get forgotten and I too
while commenting and sharing have difficulty with the gravatars,which
are not the same for social media Most of the younger bloggers focus
on themes and changing the appearance of the blog, But people want
to know who they are commenting to and the blog is your home. be there,
be you on your blog.
Thank you for this great interview and helpful information.
Erika
This part is amazing
Camtasia and snagit is not a FREE ware.
so it would have been better if you recommend any FREE tool.
and the most interesting one is self control. facebook is highly prohibited while working. I am now following this schedule.
will buy these tools if my pocket allows me to do so,
Thanks a lot of interviewing him and letting up to know about these secrets.
Really i enjoyed.
Thanks a lot niks.
Have a nice day
Nice interview. It is very effective for all the people who are willing to know about SEO. It will help me a lot.I used to read all article from his blog.
Learnt a lot from this interview in blogging thank you for sharing this..
Well Done! 😀
Whata great interview, I have learn some new things!
Thanks for publishing it!
Keep doing, keep writing…
All the best!
Hi Nikhil,
He is the pride of India in blogging, very happy to know more information about him, from last one year I am following his and even participated in Shoutmeet Hyderabad, because of him so many young people stepping into this career in India.
Thanks for sharing this interview with us, see you soon with another article.
Thanks Nikhil for sharing this great interview of Harsh Agrawal on your blog. Its very inspirational for new bloggers and informational too.
Thanks 🙂
Great one bro.. He is an inspiration for many bloggers and at the last, he advised to with Affiliate marketing. That’s the best but unfortunately many newbies go mad for earning via Adsense.. Hope they would see this and start affiliate marketing 🙂
Hi Nikhil, I really love this post and inspired to this article. I think will be better for me that you write some more article like this.
Hi Nikil,
This is one of the best creative interviews I have seen. I love the selection of pictures for each question and as usual Harsh rocks with his answers and thanks a lot for you in framing some good probing questions. I loved this article and as Yatin Khulbe said above, I loved the theme of your blog.
Following harsh from last year.. He is a true inspiration for all the bloggers..
Good information and nice interview. Thanks for sharing this great interview for us. I am trying to optimize my travel blog accordingly!
For me Harsh Agrawal Changed my life, after watching his website earning, which he normally published after every month. It force me to do something like that.
And finally October 2015 i start blogging and it has been only 1 month since i start blogging and i am getting so many positive response.
Now looking forward start earning money via own blog.
Hi, Thank you for publishing this interview. I am reading SML from last one year and try to read their every single blog posts. SML really known good platform for learning blogging stuff. Harsh is one of my Fav. blogger.
Regards,
M Imran
Hi Nikhil,
Your interview with Harsh (super name) proves that blogging skills extend across geographical borders. His experience & advice was equally relevant to me, a U.S. citizen, as it was to you.
Good questions, good answers.
Thank you,
Edward
It’s the best interview I ever read on the interview series on the various blog.
Harsh is a good guy with openness.
Amazing interview!! Congrats to get one of your dream project done. The interview is really great lots of information in such a short time!! that’s a great time management!!!
Extraordinary! Thanks for the tips! Waiting for your up coming posts!
Hi Nikhil,
This is my first visit here.
A great interview. Unlike many interviews you have pointed out some uncommon questions.
And the list of tools harsh uses is a good resource for most of us to choose. But sadly most of them are paid.
Thanks for the interview
Susheel karam
What a fabulous interview!!
Many things to learn from this post.. Thanks for sharing
Listen to the full audio interview with Harsh Agrawal and many other inspiring Indian entrepreneurs ‘Entrepreneurs India’ Podcast http://bit.ly/Harsh_AskJai
excellent interview of Harsh Agrawal, he is definitely an inspiration for many bloggers for sure. will keep all the advice and tips that he has mentioned in the above answers. worth time and reading.
Harsh is areal Giant in Blogging. I am following him from last 3 Years and he fabulous guy. He is best from his professionalism as well as his Life Skills.
Thanks Nikhil ji for sharing this great interview with us.
Liked the interview as it was loaded with inspirational content. This is one of the those blog post that must be read by new bloggers or struggling bloggers.
Thanks Nikhil for sharing this awesome interview with Harsh Agrawal. Very inspirational and informative interview.
I am an avid reader of his blog, shoutmeloud. bloggers motivate by Harsh Agrawal. He is one of the most popular and leading bloggers in India. I truly admire him.
One thing with him is he’s very open to help and that makes the secret of success in blogging.
Waiting for your up coming posts! Happy Blogging 🙂
Great Interview Nikhil!
You have shared a good information to us. Your way of describing the things so good. It is a good effort made by you.
Hello Nikhil, Very nice interview with very successfull person. Harsh is motivation for many newbie bloggers. Keep Doing such good interviews and inspire us in blogging more and more.
wow very inspiring interview…
The simply WOW is Mr. Harsh, I love his blogging way & regularly follow his blog, and thanks to you Nikhil for a great interview. Keep it up bro!
Indeed, it’s a great share! Very motive and it will be inspiring many newbies too! Thanks again for the share ?
Thank you Nikhil for sharing this amazing interview with us. Harsh sir is a true inspiration. Many youngsters like me started blogging after reading his journey.
Thank you for the coolest interview of harsh agrwal loved it and looking forward to it….
Thanks a lot for sharing ..
In starting I think I can’t not earn money from Blogging.But after reading Harsh Sir,interview & many other blogger interview from your site I am excited to start blogging.
Presently,am writing blog,article for a travel company but now I would like to blogging in my own way ..my thoughts..my imagination …All !
This is absolutely great. First off I did not know that You did get a chance to do an interview with Harsh. Great inspiration and lot of things learned from the interview. Liked the part where he breaks down but then fights back up. Everybody has their passion and following the passion is never a bad thing. Awesome interview mate. Keep going!