Making money blogging requires a well thought out topic. If you already have a blog with a small following base, be honest with your little heart, does your blog have a broad appeal that other bloggers haven't covered yet? If yes, great! If not, there's nothing wrong with starting a new blog that attracts more readers, advertises the blog, and makes money in the ways described in this article.
Step
Part 1 of 5: Finding Inspiration
Step 1. Write down the topics you are passionate about or really understand
You will find it easier to make money from blogs on topics you love, rather than blogging on topics that are considered "selling" but you hate. Topics to choose from include hobbies, careers, or your specific knowledge about something.
- Many successful blogs provide news on specific topics that target specific demographics. Mashable, a blog that focuses on news about social media, was created by a teenager in 2005 and is now attracting millions of dollars in investor funds.
- Many blogs post funny videos and pictures on certain topics. The File Blog is the best example of this type of blog. The Fail Blog provides stories about examples of typos, misbehavior, and other stupid acts. They get funding from advertising, and sell books which are also very successful.
- Some blogs focus on earning money for linking to news articles, shop or company pages, or other third party web pages. The most successful blogs to do this are Drudge, a blog with links to conservative news, and Smashing Magazine, which provides advice and product reviews for software developers.
- Other topics commonly raised by successful blogs include business (Business Insider), sports (SBNation), celebrity gossip (Perez Hilton) and music (Pitchfork).
Step 2. Narrow down your topic by thinking about potential benefits and other targets
To earn money, you have to look for gaps that have not been filled by others, but are still popular to attract as many visitors as possible. Also consider other factors, such as how much money you have to spend if you buy a product for review.
- Choose specific niches to write about, not general topics. Write about workouts for marathons, not regular fitness articles. Write about glass jewelry making, not ordinary art articles.
- If you want to become famous or reach a broad readership, you have to choose a slightly broad topic and work hard to create content on that topic. Sub-topics related to health, finance, and relationship advice usually reach the most people. Consider starting a blog on a specific but broadly applicable topic, such as money management on campus, or marriage counseling.
Step 3. Look for blogs with similar topics
Use the search engine and search box on the blog service provider's site to find blogs on your chosen topic or related to it. Read articles from the most popular blogs, which appear at the top of search results, have the most comments, and/or have a reader base over 20000. Find out how many people are interested in your topic, and how many are your competitors.
- If you can't find popular blogs related to your topic, you're probably entering too narrow a gap. People who are interested in a topic will often visit several related blogs, and each blogger can link their blogs to each other to get more visits to each site.
- If you find a popular blog that covers the exact same topic as yours, you may want to choose a slightly different but related topic, because your blog will have a hard time competing with the already popular blogs. Create a blog that complements the popular blog, instead of trying to shift its place.
Step 4. Test your knowledge on the topic you want to write about
If you are unsure about your knowledge to write about the topic, write as many article titles as possible before you start your blog. If you can't think of at least thirty titles, you might as well choose another topic you know more about.
Part 2 of 5: Choosing a Blog Platform
Step 1. Consider a free blogging service
Many people choose to use popular services like WordPress or Blogger. This option is great for people who are not very web design savvy, don't want to pay for 'web hosting', or want to enjoy the convenience and stability that these services offer. Of course, this free service has limitations on how you can make money using it, so make sure your blog doesn't violate those restrictions.
- WordPress.com supports limited advertising options, links to PayPal, and limited affiliate links. They will not provide services to blogs that display third party advertisements, banner ads, blogs filled with affiliate links, and ads for get-rich-quick schemes, gambling, MLM, pornography, or "unreliable advertisers".
- Blogger supports advertising via Google Adsense, links to PayPal, and limited affiliate links. If you overuse affiliate links but don't add content related to those links, or are paid to improve other people's search results, your blog will be given low marks in search results and this will make it difficult for you to get visitors.
- If you do not understand these terms, they will be explained in the "Making Money from Your Blog" section below.
Step 2. Consider creating your own host for your blog
If you buy a domain name, you'll need to purchase a hosting service that's available on a monthly or yearly basis to "give up" your site. The advantage is that you get wider options for customizing and controlling advertising on your blog, as well as direct access to blog visitor traffic information for analysis.
- If you are not familiar with web design, you should be helped by a friend who understands better. Your self-hosted blog is more vulnerable to hacker attacks or other errors because it is managed by irresponsible owners.
- Choose a memorable domain name, or use yourname.com if available if you are an author or public figure.
- WordPress. org provides WordPress software for use in the hosting service you purchased. Use WordPress if you are already comfortable with WordPress.com, the blogging service site mentioned above, but want to have its advantages on your own site.
Part 3 of 5: Create Interesting Content
Step 1. Create and design your blog
If you're using a free service, there are lots of tutorials to help you get started with your blog, as well as forums to ask questions if you're confused. If you're hosting your own blog, you may need someone with experience in web design to design your website, or you can use software like WordPress.org for the same functions as a free blogging service.
Most free blogging services provide "upgrades" that can be purchased to add certain designs and many other benefits. Use the free version until your blog is successful
Step 2. Write fresh content
Find your topic in each article, and write your own content instead of copying and changing other people's content. Readers will come to your blog if they like your writing style and the topics you write about, not to read stale content already available elsewhere.
You can attract readers by posting content that wasn't previously available on the Internet, such as scans of pre-20th-century books or artwork. Don't forget to add your comments on the content
Step 3. Update your blog regularly
None of the tricks discussed in the "Marketing Your Blog" section will work if your blog is left undeveloped. Upload a new article at least once a week, with a subject related to your topic that you haven't brought up before.
Part 4 of 5: Marketing Your Blog
Step 1. Think of the keywords of each article on the blog
Keywords are important words related to the topic of your blog, especially the sub topics that you bring up every time you write a new article. Choosing keywords that people are searching for will increase the likelihood that your blog will be found, attract more readers, and show ads that they are likely to click on.
You can use Google Keyword Research to estimate the money Google receives from advertisers for certain keywords
Step 2. Enter keywords where they matter, such as in the article title, in the "header" indicating the new article section, the first few sentences of your article, and in the link
Change your blog's software settings to use the title as the URL of the article, instead of the date you uploaded it. Try to make keywords as descriptive as possible to increase your ranking in search engines and attract the right readers.
- The words that appear in the image will not be counted as keywords.
- If your blogging software supports a "tag" feature to add keywords to each article, use this feature as much and as accurately as possible.
- If you are creating blog articles with HTML, instead of going through blogging software, be careful with "tags".
Step 3. Submit links to your articles to social networks and blog directories
Get visitors to your site with active updates to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. Find blog communities that match your target audience and post links to relevant articles in their comments, or discussion forums that match your topic. These things help bring in visitors, in addition to increasing your ranking in search engines.
Step 4. Follow related blogs and ask their owners for crosslinking
Contact other blog owners on their social networking sites and blogs, and help them advertise articles if your target audience and theirs are related. Many bloggers will be happy to post an article with a link to their Twitter account even if they don't want to directly advertise your blog.
If you use a free hosting service, excessive "crosslinking" may get you penalized. Use this option only occasionally if the content is really relevant to your target audience. Links that are more general in nature should be shared on social media, not on blogs
Step 5. Market your blog through paid advertising options if necessary
If you are serious about investing time and money in your blog to get readers, you can advertise your blog on Facebook, pay to register your blog with StumbeUpon, or become an advertiser on Google AdSense or other advertising services.
Step 6. Try to make something that will go viral
It's not easy, but trying it will be very fun even if you fail. If you promote your blog through videos or images that entice others to share, and are lucky enough to compete with others who are trying the same thing, you will get a lot of visitors.
Make something pocket friendly. Unless you run a company blog, you're unlikely to get expensive or redundant equipment. Find crazy ideas you can do with your friends
Part 5 of 5: Make Money from Your Blog
Step 1. Market your blog first
The money-making techniques described here are useless if you don't have a readership yet. Read the basics of marketing and advertising first, even if you don't plan to place ads on your blog. At a minimum, you should post your blog link to social media to attract readers.
Step 2. Use context-based advertising services
Once your blog has quality content and has a readership base, you can earn money with Google Adsense, WordAds, or other context-based advertising services. This service takes ads of the size, number, and place you choose yourself, and the content adjusts to the topics you write on the blog. The more visitors who click on your ad, the more the advertiser will pay you.
- Keep in mind that many blogging services only allow you to use their own context-based advertising services, and may close your blog if you violate it. If you're hosting your own blog, you should look for a context-based advertising service that displays appropriate ads. Some services may allow pornographic ads or ads that don't match your blog.
- Selection of keywords is very important when using third-party advertising services, because ads are selected based on the keywords that are on your blog. Insufficient or inappropriate keywords will result in ads that do not match the interests of your readers,
- If you find it difficult to get accepted by Google AdSense, you can try alternative context-based advertising services to make money from your blog, such as Media.net, BuySellAds, Chitika, Infolinks, etc.
Step 3. Create an online store if possible
If you write about art, set up a shop on Etsy or a similar service to sell your art. If you are a writer or illustrator, look for sites that will sell t-shirts with your slogan or illustration. Many types of blogs are not tied to a particular type of product. You don't have to sell anything to make money, but if you can sell something, do it.
Step 4. Allow readers to buy your products, or donate to things you think are important through your blog
If you have an online shop that sells your work, or makes t-shirt designs available on a particular site, post a link on that site. Installing a PayPal button for quick donations/buys is very common to make money with creative blogs, or blogs that give free advice to people who can't afford it.
- See the article "How to Add Paypal to a Blog" on wikiHow for more info.
- WordPress can only use certain PayPal button settings. Do not use any customization options other than your own images if necessary. Use your primary email address instead of your "secure merchant ID" if you have one. Finally, copy and paste the code below the box email, no merchant.
Step 5. Consider using an affiliate program
By finding a suitable program for your blog, you agree to link third party products on your blog, and you will be paid once a buyer purchases a product through your link. You can choose an affiliate company by searching directories such as Clickbank, or searching affiliate websites for affiliate programs. Choose an affiliate program after considering the following factors:
- If you are using a free blogging service, you should write relevant content with few affiliate links to prevent your blog from being shut down. If you're only interested in writing a short review of a product to put up an affiliate link, you'll need to buy your own domain name. This method is indeed easier to make money, but it is not always reliable.
- Understand the rules of the game for service providers to see if they pay the first or last person to send the link. If you get paid if you are the last link sender, don't post links to other pages, like other blogger reviews.
Step 6. Choose an affiliate product that you are sure your blog readers will buy
It seems obvious, but you still have to think about it. If you blog about cooking, suggest home-made kitchen products, not products for professional chefs. Think about what a fan would buy, not what practitioners in your field would wear.
Step 7. Make sure readers know you're affiliated
In the US and other countries, you are required to let readers know that you are receiving a material advantage from the manufacturer of the product. These benefits include paying for affiliate links and prizes offered for reviewing something.
Step 8. Be honest and use lots of content when linking affiliate links to your blog
Write your own content and recommend products that you have used and loved. Give an honest review including product weaknesses, like you are recommending a product to your friends. If you really don't like a product, don't mention the product or link to it.
- Linking your product to an image or mid-paragraph text is a great way to get people to see your link.
- If you use Blogger, know the rules of the game, or you will be placed at the bottom of their search results. Tags containing affiliate links must use tags that prevent your referrals from raising their search results:.
Tips
- If you want to have a domain name but don't want to bother with maintaining a site, start a blog on a free service and buy a domain name linked to your blog. Contact your hosting service if you don't know how.
- If you are interested in covering a broad topic that has been brought up by many others, create separate blogs and link them if the subjects intersect. For example, if you are a nutritionist, blog about managing your weight the healthy way, then about nutrition for children, and about growing your own vegetables.
- Write several articles a day or a week with keywords that you have researched before.
- Do some topic research with tools like Google Trends, Google Keyword Search Tool, WordTracker, etc, and see if users are searching for keywords on the same topic. If there are many similar keywords, your competition will be very tough.
- When choosing a domain name, use a name that is easy to remember and contains keywords that many people are looking for. Test your keywords before ordering a domain name to see which keywords get the most search results.
