With the blogosphere so big, the opportunities to start making money with blogging are numerous. Making money with your blog can take many different directions. It’s possible you already have a blog and want to know how to start making some money from it.
Alternatively, if you are thinking of starting a blog and wondering if it is possible to make money with it, this article will guide you through all the available options.
Before you start making money, you need to have a profitable blog and not just any blog. You have to be intentional from the get-go about your blogging goals. This is true because a blog about your daily activities will not be as profitable as a niche blog with a target audience.
I’ve created a quick guide for newbies on how to start a profitable blog. If you already have a profitable blog and would like to multiply its income, you can use the next steps as a checklist.
Lets get started.
How to start your blog
Before you can make money from your blog, you have to create one, or at least have one that is doing well. Below are the first steps to making money with blogging. To create a successful blog, you need to:
Choose a blogging platform
Most bloggers start off using the blogging platform they are most acquainted with but not necessarily the best for their blog.
So the first step is to select a blogging platform that is adaptable and focused on making money. A few great choices include Wix, WordPress, Weebly, Joomla, Hubpages, and so on.
For more blogging platforms, check out my detailed article about the Best Blogging Platforms That Will Help You Blog Like A Pro
Consider integrating it into your website
For those who have a website but not a blog, adding a blog to your website is not a bad idea. It’s great!
However, let’s face it. Many people surf the Internet every day and decide to become a blogger after seeing some bloggers’ income reports. Without putting much thought into it, they decide that they would like to have their own blog.
They may not realize that this action is going to require them to make some decisions regarding an online presence.
If you want your blog to be successful, you’re going to need to consider integrating it into your website.
Doing this can improve your SEO ranking. However, if you cannot afford a web developer to do this, you can open a blog via a free platform. Be sure to include links to your website, portfolio, etc.
Find a niche
If you want to start a blog that earns the big bucks, you must find a niche and stick with it. This is the very first step that you should take before even thinking about making money with blogging.
Why is this so important? You need to find a specific target audience to make a living with your blog – people whose interests are similar to yours and who would be dying for information on whatever kind of topic you want to write about.
See also: How to find your niche: let your unique self shine
Write about your passion
Creating a blog can be a difficult and costly task. It is not easy to make money with blogging unless you are writing about something you are passionate about. This may sound like an obvious choice but it is one of the most important steps in creating a successful blog.
If you are passionate about everything you write, then you will never run out of interesting topics to cover. If you have passion, eventually success will follow.
Add value
When starting your blog, the most important thing is to offer value. This could be in the form of great content, discussions, reviews, or simply giving away information for free that you’ve spent hours researching.
Offering genuine value will attract genuine readers. By genuine I mean real people who come for the quality content you are offering.
These readers will pay attention to what you have to say about making money with your website and blog.
However, this will only happen when they find out that you offer ways for them to get more out of your site. They’ll be ready and willing to sign up and listen when you start talking about how to monetize it.
Promote your blog
Take advantage of social media and even word of mouth to put your blog out there. You need to create awareness about the existence of your blog.
Without making people know about your blog, it doesn’t matter how good your content is, no one will see it.
See also: Need to Promote Your Content? Try These 11 Awesome Free (or Almost Free) Content Marketing Tools
Encourage interaction on your blog
One of the fundamental keys to creating a successful blog is encouraging interaction. Not just through comments (although that’s part of it, obviously), but by providing a way for your readers to contact you directly.
This allows you to get feedback and learn from your readers, enabling you to create better content in the future.
Make it easy for people to comment
You must make commenting on your blog dead simple. If it takes a click and some thinking for people to leave a comment, that will increase the amount of traffic you receive.
Use images
Choosing the perfect image for your blog is as important as choosing the right content. The use of images in your blog can make it more appealing to your readers. It can also improve your SEO performance.
When used appropriately, images can increase the number of social shares and comments on your blog. This tells you that an image on a particular post appeals to your target audience and is related to their needs.
See also: Best Photo Editing Software That Will Level Up Your Photos
Make room for easy reading
To have a successful blog you need to provide your visitors with an incredible experience. The best way to provide this experience is by making it easy for them to read and find what they are looking for.
When we type in a search query, we typically want to get the page that shows everything we’re looking for quickly without having to waste too much time scrolling or clicking on links.
Keep your titles catchy
It’s a fact that most people don’t bother reading the content below the post title. The title is where blogs draw your attention, and it needs to be catchy for people to click on it.
If your headline isn’t good enough to stand out amongst the thousands of other blog posts available, no one will read it.
You have to make sure that your post title is so good that people can’t help but click on it.
Update your blog regularly
One of the most important things that you should consider before starting a blog is how much time and effort you are willing to put into your blog. If you don’t have enough time to maintain it regularly, then you had better think about doing something else.
Keep the layout uncluttered
As a blogger, you want your readers to have an engaging experience every time they view your site.
One of the best ways to do this is by making sure your website is clean, concise, and easy to use. Keeping these three things in mind can make a big difference in helping attract visitors who become active members of your community – which can help boost your earnings as a blogger.
Watch your analytics
One thing you want to do is check your blog activity every day, at least for the first few months. Analyzing the data coming into your blog will help you discover who are your best readers, how they found your blog, what topics they like, etc.
You can then use this information to better attract your ideal customers. And don’t just sink a few minutes a week watching your traffic grow: set up various goals and track them regularly.
Always Spell-check and Proofread Before Publishing
If you’re the type of blogger who writes regularly, you must always proofread and spell-check before publishing. Given that there are many great grammar checkers and spell checkers among us these days; this should be a fairly self-explanatory point.
Still, we can’t deny that spelling mistakes do slip through the cracks. Your readers will appreciate your proofreading efforts and you’ll end up making money with blogging.
See also: Grammarly Review – Is It Worth Paying for This Software?
Proven Ways to Make Money With Your Blog
1. Build a business directory
Building a business directory on your blog is a great way to make money with blogging. If you have a lot of content on a relatively narrow niche, it may be the easiest way for you to monetize your blog.
Simply search Google for business directories located in your area of expertise and create an account to start submitting listings.
Often companies will pay you or give you free products or services in exchange for the exposure that comes from having their information listed. This can help you improve your traffic and also build credibility for yourself as an expert in your field.
2. Rent out ad space
One of the most popular and easiest ways to generate an income from your blog is to sell advertising spaces.
Ad spaces are a great way to diversify your income and earn an extra source of income for yourself. With this method of generating income, the potential amount you can make from advertising spaces can be limitless!
Ad-sense pays you for every click on your ad and advertisers are willing to pay for the number of visitors you send their way as well. This means that they are willing to pay you for the additional traffic you send them.
3. Publicize an affiliate product
An affiliate website is a website in which you earn credits or commissions for referrals made on the site based on sales generated.
You can make money with blogging by promoting someone else’s product or service. The key to making it profitable is to find sources that complement your area of interest and image.
See also: How To Make Money With Affiliate Marketing
4. Publish great content
It’s one of the most straightforward ways to make money with your blog, and it is something that all bloggers are expected to do.
Good content is something that will differentiate you from countless other bloggers. It will also raise questions about why you should be considered as a business blogger.
5. Publish sponsored posts
Writing sponsored posts is a great way to earn extra money from a blog.
Sponsored posts are posts on your site that you write about something related to the product or service being offered by another company.
6. Render consulting services
Set up a consulting service on your blog. You’re already an expert in your niche because you know how to run your blog well.
Others might be looking for some advice or help on running their website better and faster so why not offer to give them “bespoke advice”.
7. Offer services
If you create a product that is sought after then it is easy to make money with your blog. People will be interested in your products and the most basic way to do that is to display photos of them on your blog.
It is a good idea to give the readers less complicated and quicker recipes if you were providing food-related services. You should also provide positive pictures of your work or anyone who has given positive reviews of the services you have provided.
8. Teach an online course
Teaching—whether it’s in the classroom, online, or independently—can be a great way to make money. How? Simple. Take something you’re knowledgeable about (or something you’ve learned through experience), and share it with others who may not be so familiar with it.
See also: Effective Tips For Creating Profitable Online Courses
9. Contests are the way to go
Everyone loves a contest or giveaway. It not only creates buzz but also raises awareness of your blog which is ultimately one of the earning opportunities with your blog.
The more you post the more people view and become aware of your blog which ultimately means more subscribers.
Depending on what type of contest or giveaway it could be something as simple as hosting a “like for like” contest which comes in two forms, where you allow a person to like one of your Facebook posts to enter the contest or giveaway.
See also: Best Social Media Contest Tools To Run Viral Giveaway and Poll
10. Be a coach
This can be done in a couple of ways. You could create your online course and sell it on places like Thinkific, Teachable, TrainingPeaks, or Udemy.
You could provide the same information for free on your blog, but offer premium content for paying customers. This way you retain email lists of interested folks and make more money donating your time later.
11. Make use of webinars
One of the most effective ways to make money is by hosting webinars. You get to meet with eager entrepreneurs and learn from them what is working and what isn’t.
The best part is there are no travel expenses, which means you can continue making money from home while holding these webinars for free.
See also: A Beginner’s Guide on How to Create a Webinar [Step by Step]
12. Put up templates for sale
If you create a well-designed template, people will be searching for it. Many bloggers like to buy templates that they can use on their blogs. This means that if your blog has a specific niche, you have the option of selling templates that will help boost your revenue.
The best way to learn how to design templates is to practice and try different template styles. You can sell WordPress themes or templates on ThemeForest, Graphic River, Creative Market, and many other marketplaces.
See also: Best WordPress themes for bloggers
13. Post tutorials
Write tutorial posts that teach people specific skills. An example would be posting about how to create small business websites or how to build an email list. Posting tutorials help others and can be a valuable asset to your blog in the long run.
14. Create a job board
If you have a large audience, you can charge businesses to post jobs on your job board. You can either charge a flat fee or take a percentage of the salary. Posting jobs not only helps bring in money, it can also help attract more visitors and search engine traffic.
15. Get a company to sponsor your site
Site sponsorships are very effective at monetizing a blog. If you can get a company to sponsor your site, they will make sure people travel to your site and see their banner ads. The benefit of this is the fact that you don’t have to worry about traffic pouring in.
16. Host a private bootcamp
These can be personalized and marketed to your clients. Start small with a boot camp on just one niche.
Teach them the basics of search engine optimization and put them through a sample campaign. This should take you less than an hour to do provided that they have the technical knowledge to install WordPress and get hosting.
17. Review products of relevant businesses
One of the most important things that you can do to make money through your blog is to review products provided by relevant companies.
This will not only let you make money through your blog but also enables you to build relationships with relevant businesses and influencers within your industry.
This can allow you to bring new customers to your affiliate business as well as bring exposure to other businesses that you might work with in the future.
18. Create a resource list
A resource page is one of the easiest ways to make money with your blog. A resource page allows you to share other people’s content on your website and get a referral for every click from your website back to theirs.
19. Dropship goods
Dropshipping is where you, as the seller, don’t have to physically store or keep any inventory. You simply sell products, and then your supplier ships the products directly to your customer.
See also: Blogging versus dropshipping: which is better and why?
FAQs
1. Which platforms can I use to create a blog?
There are lots of platforms out there you can use. WordPress, Medium, Blogger, HubPages are examples of platforms successful bloggers use.
2. What should I know before starting a blog?
Before you start a blog, it is imperative that you select the right platform. Next, you choose the right domain name for your blog and backup the posts on your blog regularly.
3. What types of blogs make the most money?
It’s easy to make money off nearly any type of blog, once you get it right. However, some blogs are well-known to make lots of money e.g. fashion blogs, lifestyle blogs, food blogs, and finance blogs.
See also: Best blogging platforms that will help you blog like a pro
Final Thoughts
There you have it. Different ways you can make money blogging. It focuses on some proven methods and best practices you can apply to your blog or website.
Some of these tactics are geared towards readers and natural promotion, while others are more technical in nature.
Hopefully, you take something away from this post that helps you monetize your content better.
Blogamigo is a digital resource that has the best strategies that will help you to grow your blogging business. There are several guides and other useful resources that can help you make six figures blogging.