Blogs are one of the great ways to make money online. Today’s famous bloggers make a full-time income from their blogs while educating and inspiring people. We’ll give you a quick guide on how to start a blog and make money.
How You Can Make Money From Blogging
Revenue depends on generating web traffic or the users who visit your website or blog. And that does not happen overnight. Gaining and growing an audience may take a lot of time and effort. But with the right strategy, you might sooner see the results of your hard work.
It is important to create and build a solid social media presence consistently. Here are a few ways to start making money from your blog:
1. Display Ads
Displaying or selling ad space is a simple way to earn revenue from your blog. Allowing brands to advertise on your page has many benefits since it doesn’t need a big-ticket investment from you.
There are two ways to earn from selling ads. First is the Cost per Click (CPC). Also called pay-per-click (PPC), this method means you get paid each time users click on an ad shown on your website. The second method is Cost per Thousands (CPM) or Cost per mile. This allows you to negotiate a set price for every 1,000 impressions or views the ad gets.
Tip: Use ads wisely. Filling up your website with so many ads can affect its ranking, load time, credibility, and user experience.
2. Join Affiliate Programs
Brands tap many bloggers to review products or services on their sites using affiliate links that redirect readers to the sellers’ websites. Known as affiliate marketing, it enables the blogger to earn a commission for every sale, click, lead, or transaction the content generates for a seller.
These are the affiliate networks you can join, including popular stores or e-commerce sites.
- Amazon Associates
- Apple
- Walmart
- eBay Partner Network
- ShareASale
- Commission Junction
3. Sell Products
Selling your products or services is another way to monetize your blog. Devote time to creating products that add value to your readers and site visitors, preferably stuff that’s connected with your blog. For example, you can sell books, paintings, or photographic prints, which can also be in downloadable digital formats like PDFs or audio files.
4. Post Sponsored Content
Many famous bloggers seek out sponsorships. They get a company to pay them to write sponsored posts that promote or talk about its products. You occasionally upload tutorial videos to your photography blog showing how you edit photos in a particular app or software. You could then approach the app manufacturer and ask whether they’d be interested in sponsoring that post.
Generally, you have to reach out to a brand and make a pitch to get a sponsorship. Your pitch should include a brief explanation of who you are and what you do and details on your blog’s performance, such as audience demographics and traffic statistics.
As an alternative, you can try writing paid reviews. This works like a sponsorship with one difference: you’re sent a product for free or given early access to the software so that you can test it and write a review about it.
Tip: Think of your readers when you seek out sponsorships. Make sure to review products or partner with companies relevant to your blog’s theme or content so that they will find it helpful.
5. Create A Membership
Some readers may be willing to pay for a membership plan to access exclusive content, such as downloadable in-depth articles, forums, podcasts, online courses, PDFs, or subscription boxes.
6. Create A Newsletter
With the right email marketing strategy and a large enough email list, you could also create a profitable newsletter. Creating a worthwhile newsletter involves the same system that monetizing your blog entails. For example, you could reach out to a brand your readers would be interested in and offer advertising space in your newsletter.
Tip: Add a newsletter signup to your blog to get readers’ emails, and consider using email marketing software, such as Constant Contact and Mailchimp, to manage and automate your newsletter.
5 Steps on How to Start a Blog
Step 1. Pick the right topic.
It could be the most frequently cited piece of writing advice: write what you know. This is especially true when it comes to starting a blog.
When starting your site, focus on issues you’re both passionate about and knowledgeable about.
This will help you stay motivated to create new content frequently, which is essential to your blog’s popularity. You’ll also be more likely to develop engaging, beneficial content that readers will share on social media.
Additionally, writing about topics you have established expertise in increases your credibility and authority — which can help you both grow an audience and improve your ranking in search engine results.
Step 2. Buy a domain name.
A domain name is the name of your website, or what comes after the “www” in a web address.
To purchase a domain name, look for a domain registrar — a company that sells and registers website domains accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). ICANN is a nonprofit organization that coordinates IP addresses and namespaces on the internet. You can also do it directly with a web hosting company, which typically offers a free domain name with a hosting plan subscription for a year.
You can choose your new domain name before building your website or later if you decide to start with a free blog domain. However, it’s good to buy it as soon as you have an official brand or blog name.
Step 3. Select a hosting service.
To get your blog online, you’ll need a web hosting service. A web host is a company that can store, maintain, and manages access and traffic to your website. A web hosting service is necessary because it gives your website a home. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to publish your site on the internet.
Most web-hosting providers include popular options such as Bluehost, Dreamhost, and GoDaddy. There are three web hosting options: shared hosting, virtual private service hosting, and dedicated hosting.
When choosing a web hosting provider, check whether it offers the type of service you need at a price you can afford for at least a couple of years. In addition, consider factors such as the server’s uptime, response time, scalability, ease of use, and customer support.
Step 4. Choose a blogging platform.
A blogging platform is a web-based service that allows users to create, manage and publish blog posts. Most blogging platforms also include tools for optimizing your website with metadata, title descriptions, and keywords that make it easy for search engines to identify what the page is about.
Many popular blogging platforms offer free and paid options, including some of the most widely used sites like WordPress, Medium, Weebly, and Blogger. There are also website builders like Wix and Squarespace, which require less tech-savviness. Most platforms have already come with pre-made themes that you can customize. An article typically includes templates, layouts, colors, images, and other features you need to format the website and its content.
Step 5. Publish your first blog post
Once you’ve picked a web hosting service, a blogging platform, and a theme for your website, you’re ready to start your blogging journey. Note that the key to generating page traffic is creating original, high-quality content and regularly publishing new blog posts.
Keyword research through Google Analytics (or simply Google Search) is key to finding relevant content ideas. Learning from search engine optimization (SEO) best practices is also essential to increase traffic to your site and rank higher on the results page.
Lastly, it’s important to stay authentic to your voice and be mindful of your grammar. Mistakes and typos can be off-putting to many readers and harm your site’s credibility. If grammar isn’t your top skill, it’s a good idea to invest in one of the many writing assistance apps designed to spot and correct spelling and grammar mistakes.
FAQs On Blogging
How to make a living from blogging
There are several ways to earn a passive income through blogging nowadays. You can earn commissions by displaying ads and partnering with brands to affiliate marketing or write sponsored content. You can also sell products or create paid membership plans. The key is to build a solid social media presence and create compelling content that adds value to the readers.
How to start a successful blog
If you want to start a successful blog, follow a few essential steps:
- Buy a domain name.
- Get to know your potential audience and their needs.
- Create a content strategy around topics they want.
- Write compelling, high-quality content.
- Follow search engine optimization (SEO) best practices.
How much can you make blogging?
It all depends on your website’s traffic and monetization strategy. New bloggers could make between $500 and $2,000 per month in their first year with the right approach — but don’t expect to make much money. Give yourself time to increase your traffic, leading to increased revenue. The more traffic you have, the more money you can make.
Conclusion
Now that you’ve learned how to start a blog and make money, you can put these guidelines into action. With the right tools and strategies, it’s highly possible to make a full-time income from a successful blog. Decide on the topic that you’re passionate about and knowledgeable about. From there, implement the remaining procedures in setting up a blog. Once you’re done with that part, start working on maximizing your blog’s revenue potential.
