How to make money from blogging

Have you ever thought about making money by blogging? It is possible. By using the right strategy, anyone can generate income through a blog. If you’re planning to blog for money, read on to learn how to make money with blogging and find a helpful step-by-step plan to get started.

What is blogging?

Blogging is writing content on a website or platform. The term ‘blog’ originated from ‘weblog’ and was mainly used in the 1990s. 

A blog is often a personal website containing content on a particular topic. For instance, there are blogs about travel, food, fashion, technology, and plants. In addition, a blog can be used by companies for product information, insights, news and more. 

Can you make money in blogging?

Yes, you can make money by blogging. Is it easy? No. First of all, it is essential to develop a good strategy. For instance, you must write valuable content relevant to your target audience. In addition, you need to promote the content to increase your online reputation. This takes time. However, you can make money from it by blogging consistently and investing enough time in your blog.

How much money do you get with a blog?

Several factors affect the amount of money you can earn as a blogger. For example:

• The number of visitors;
• The niche in which you will blog;
• The income sources you use.

A blog with fewer visitors earns less than a blog with tens of thousands of visitors a month. You can make a couple or thousands of euros.

Can you make a living from a blog?

It is possible to make a living from a blog. However, achieving this requires time, dedication and hard work. Besides, what you have already read above, many factors come into play.

When do you start making money with a blog?

There is no exact moment to pinpoint when you start making money as a blogger. In general, you can generate income when you get enough visitors. You create this by writing valuable content in a popular niche and promoting this content. So it is essential to focus on content first, and then you can look at ways to make money.

How do you make money with blogs?

You make money with blogs in different ways. You can combine these ways to bring in more income. Below are 4 options.

1. Advertisements

First, you can place ads on your blog. Ads are often banners containing advertisements about a particular topic, also called display ads. You get paid based on impressions and clicks.

2. Affiliate marketing

In affiliate marketing, you place links in the content. The links refer to a company’s products or services. When someone clicks on the link and purchases, you receive compensation.

3. Sponsored posts

A sponsored post is content about a company’s product or service. You post this content on your blog in exchange for money. You can write the content yourself or publish a ready-made article.

4. Selling products

Finally, you can sell your products on your blog—digital products like ebooks or physical products like T-shirts.

How to make money from a blog: a step-by-step plan

Are you ready to make money with blogging? Below you will find a step-by-step plan. We will help you get started!

1. Choose a niche

The first step is to build an excellent online reputation. So you create a positive feeling among your target audience to receive more visitors. A good reputation is essential because more visitors means more money. Therefore, choose a niche. Go for a niche you and others are interested in. If you start a food blog but can’t cook, setting up a successful blog will take a lot of time and effort. Chances are you will drop out because you don’t like it.

Helpful questions for choosing a niche:

• Where do my interests lie?
• What am I good at?
• How much competition is there?
• Can I make money in this niche?

2. Select a target group

Besides choosing a niche, you need to select a target audience. A target audience will allow you to give your blog even more focus and build a loyal follower base. So suppose you will start a food blog; who will you target? Vegans or people, who like to bake sweets at home?

Create a persona

To understand your target audience, it is wise to describe them. Who are they? What interests do they have? And what are they up against? A persona will help you do this.

3. Create a blog

What niche do you want to be active in, and what is your target audience? The next step is creating a blog if you still need to. To start a blog, you need 2 things:

1. Buy a domain
2. Choose a hosting plan

1. A domain name

A domain name is a unique address by which people can reach your blog. Choose a name that suits your niche and is easy to remember. Are you going to create a food blog? Choose a name that fits it. For example, ‘biscuitfactory’ or ‘everydayrecipes’. If it’s difficult for you to come up with a domain name, a domain name generator can help you.

Besides a name, a domain name includes a top-level domain, such as .uk and .com. Choose a top-level domain that suits the region or niche in which you operate. Are you going to create a blog for the English market? Choose .com. You can also choose .blog, which makes it immediately clear you have a blog.

A good domain name is also very important if you want to set up a domain email to go along with your new blog.

2. A hosting package

Besides a domain name, you need hosting to put your blog online. WordPress is one of the most suitable platforms for creating a blog. Moreover, you can use WooCommerce, a WordPress plugin, to sell products on your blog.

At one.com, you can start your blog immediately via WordPress hosting. Do you not want to have to worry about managing WordPress? Managed WordPress hosting is for you.

4. Start writing

In the fourth step, you will start writing articles. The trick is to create valuable content that benefits your target audience. How do you create valuable content? By doing keyword research. With keyword research, you get insights into what people are looking for in Google so that you can create content for it.

Let’s retake the food blog example. Think about the main topics and search through an SEO tool like Semrush or Ahrefs for keywords people search a lot for. For example:

• Main topic: What kind of biscuits exist?
• Sub-topic: Recipe for shortbread cookies
• Sub-topic: Recipe for chocolate cookies
• Sub-topic: Recipe for chocolate chip cookies

Tip: Keep in mind you need to publish a blog regularly. A content calendar will help you give structure to publishing. Or hire freelancers or guest writers to reduce the workload for yourself.

5. Promote your articles

Have you written valuable content? Of course, you want your target audience to know about it. You can promote your articles by:

• Writing SEO-optimised content to rank high in Google;
• Send a monthly newsletter;
• Share the article via your social media channels;
• Putting the content in a different form, like YouTube or TikTok videos;
• Guest writing and linking to your articles.

6. Selling advertising space

Have you worked on your online reputation? It is time to bring in revenue. The easiest way is through ads. 

You can place ads via Google AdSense, a programme that makes space available to advertisers. Google automatically fills in this space with relevant ads. It is the easiest way to make money if you have enough visitors. Other advertising tools are:

• Mediavine
• Amazon Ads
• Athrive

Do you want to get the most out of ads? Use these tips:

• Write valuable content.
• Choose keywords with a sales intent, such as ‘the best X’.
• Make ads fit your corporate identity.
• Test ads in multiple locations using, for example, the Ad Inserter plugin.

7. Join affiliate programmes

Besides ads, you can also make money quite easily via affiliate links. In the articles you write, you can link to a relevant product or service from a company. Does someone click on the link and buy something? You get paid for it.

Examples of affiliate programmes:

• Linkpizza
• Awin
• Amazon Associates
• Daisycon

8. Sign up for influencer platforms

Companies can approach you for a sponsored post by signing up for influencer platforms. In other words, you advertise for a company in exchange for money. Often, a sponsored post is in the form of a review or demo. The advantage of this is that you also often receive free products to test.

Examples of influencer platforms:

• Collabstr
• Linkvada
• Aspire
• Popi
• Seeders
• Influentials

It is also possible for companies to approach you themselves. For example, they may ask you to write an article in exchange for money, or they may want a ready-made article published.

Tip: Start looking for collaborations yourself. Approach relevant companies and ask about the possibilities. Also indicate what you have to offer them.

9. Selling products or services

Another way to make money with blogging is by selling products or services. To do this, you can create an online shop and link it to your blog.

Suppose you write a recipe for chocolate chip cookies. You can refer in the article to a set of biscuit moulds you sell in your online shop. However, you don’t have to sell physical products. You can also sell an ebook with biscuit recipes.

Other examples of products or services:

• Subscriptions with exclusive content
• Online courses
• Webinars
• Workshops
• Printables (digital documents you can print)
• Consultations
• Coaching

In short

You have read about how to make money from blogging. You also have a step-by-step guide with 9 tips to get started. You can generate income with your blog by establishing a good strategy, creating valuable content and attracting more visitors. It will take time, commitment and patience, but you will get the rewards over time. Good luck with making money with your blog!