After seeing how to start a blog, in this article we will focus on how to make money with a blog. I will try not to get lost in useless chatter and get to the point immediately, listing all the best methods to make money online through a blog, which if applied to the best will allow you to obtain excellent results.
Despite everything, however, it is necessary to make a premise:
Nothing is achieved without effort , do not believe those people who promise easy earnings in a short time.
Like all jobs, you need a lot of passion and perseverance, only those who persevere will succeed in their intent, all the others will end up in oblivion.
At the end of this article you will have a solid foundation to start your career as a professional blogger and start monetizing seriously.
No more chatter and let’s get started!
How To Make Money With A Blog – 7 Effective Methods
If you follow all the points of the guide in detail, your chances of success will increase dramatically, but it is enough to neglect even a single point and all your dreams could be shattered very quickly.
Pay close attention to everything I will tell you and try to follow all the steps step by step, only in this way will you be able to monetize your blog seriously .
1. Choose the Niche
This is by far the most important part of our entire journey.
Often many people start a generic blog where they talk about their own business that nobody cares about.
It is mathematically impossible to monetize such a blog , unless you are a well-known character.
To really be able to make money with a blog it is important to choose a specific niche in which you are particularly prepared. Do not talk about random topics just because they sell, you will only waste your time, choose something that you are passionate about.
Choosing the right niche today is fundamental , much more than in the past, but watch out, consider that a topic is not a niche, a part of that topic instead.
I’ll give you a practical example:
- Technology = Topic
- Smartphone = Niche
- iPhone = Specific niche
The more specific you are in the subject you will cover, the greater the advantages will be from all points of view.
A well-defined niche makes your life a lot easier at SEO level (if you don’t know what it is we’ll get to it in a moment) and credibility, as you will be identified as an expert in the sector and this is certainly a great thing.
Each niche can bring earnings , the important thing and be knowledgeable on the subject and not make fun of people, otherwise they will soon no longer frequent your blog.
If you don’t know how to choose your niche try to take a look at my article where I talk about the various methods to start new business, you may have some inspiration.
2. Create your Blog
I know it might seem obvious, but if we really want to monetize our blog there are some steps we must take to avoid getting in trouble later.
Once we have chosen the niche we start creating our blog .
In this article I will not explain how to create a blog from scratch , it would take too long, but I will limit myself to listing some precautions to be taken when creating it.
Most of the blogs are made in WordPress , by far the best tool around, but there are also many others.
Whatever platform you will use, try to respect these points:
- Buy fast and functional hosting
- Choose a simple but effective domain
- Choose a professional and responsive theme
- Optimize the site on the SEO side
- Write original and quality content
Don’t get scared by this list, it’s all easier than you think.
As far as hosting is concerned, it is essential to choose a quality one , very often we tend to neglect this aspect. If our site is based on a low quality web space, the whole site will be compromised.
I personally recommend SiteGround and in this article you can read my opinions on this hosting. On SiteGround (or any other hosting provider) you will also choose the domain (among other things for free).
As for the template, it is essential to choose a professional one so as not to encounter problems in the future, but also for a better user experience on your site .
On ThemeForest you will find all the templates you want, already responsive and optimized for SEO . If you don’t know which one to choose take a look at my article “Professional WordPress Themes”.
Finally, it is essential to write useful and quality content but above all original. It is also important to use original images, first of all to avoid complaints from the legitimate owners, but also to have SEO advantages.
In this regard, I recommend that you use one of the best image platforms on the web, namely Canva.
3. Bring traffic to the site
This is the only real obstacle to overcome, without traffic it is impossible to earn , I would be lying if I told you that it is simple, it is not.
So what do you need to do to get traffic to your site?
Now I will list a number of effective methods , but you will have to study them in detail one by one later if you really want to succeed in this endeavor.
Here on my blog you will find many detailed articles on every single topic.
SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization which simply means optimizing pages for search engines .
Why is SEO important?
It is important to be able to get organic traffic, that is in a natural (and free) way through search engines.
Millions of people in Italy alone use Google every day to search for what they need, but honestly how many of you have ever gone beyond the first page of results?
SEO is for this, trying to optimize the entire site so that Google notices you and decides to position you on the front page .
Obviously it is much easier said than done, the work of SEO is very complex and requires a lot of patience and determination, but if you decide to try your hand in this field you can get many advantages, and all for free.
Once you understand how SEO works and get the first results, everything else will be downhill, SEO will work for you day and night and you can earn passively thanks to search engines. Honestly, that’s my favorite method.
For the occasion I have created an extremely advanced and unique guide of over 300 pages on how to optimize a site for search engines called SEO Master .
In summary, let’s quickly see the advantages and disadvantages of this technique:
PRO
- High quality organic traffic
- Constant over time
- Free
VERSUS
- Requires experience
- It takes time and study
SOCIAL NETWORK
An alternative to SEO is certainly Social Media .
Social networks have become an integral part of everyone’s life, so you understand their potential very well.
If you are particularly popular on one of these social networks , you can use this tool to your advantage to drive users to your blog .
If, on the other hand, you intend to grow but you don’t know how to do it, I suggest you read my guides in the social section.
You can start with the one on Facebook titled “How to be successful on Facebook”
Obviously growing on social networks is not an easy job and takes time, plus the traffic will never be of quality and constant as for SEO.
PRO
- It does not require too much technical knowledge
- Free
VERSUS
- It is not easy to grow up
- It takes time
ADVERTISEMENT
The last viable alternative to bring traffic to your blog is ” advertisement ” or paid advertising .
You’ve surely come across Facebook sponsorships or Google ads by now , well those are all paid ads
People set a budget and pay a certain amount. (usually less than a euro) every time someone clicks on their ad.
The advertisement speech can become complex if your intentions are serious.
I wrote a very detailed Facebook Ads guide (Facebook sponsorships), but if you are a beginner, it may be a little too complex.
PRO
- Immediate traffic
- Traffic targeted for your industry
VERSUS
- It is a paid service
- To do this in an optimal way you need study and strategy
Whatever the source of traffic you choose, the material on your blog must be interesting and of quality, in order to grow the audience naturally over time. This is a prerogative present on all guides on how to make money with a blog .
Methods of earning
Once we have created our blog, we begin to evaluate all possible earning methods.
In this section I will list all the main methods of earning through a blog , from the simplest to the most complex ones that will allow you to earn even hundreds of euros a day .
If you want to know more, read my article “How to make money on the Internet”
Whether choosing one method or using them all together is up to you, it matters that they are used intelligently and optimally.
1. Google Adsense
Google Adsense is by far one of the best known methods. Basically this service allows you to insert advertising banners on the site. You will get paid (a few cents) every time someone clicks on it.
Registering on the platform is free and once you have filled in all the required fields, in less than an hour you will have the code for the banners to be implemented in your blog .
Placed banners on your site you will receive a commission for each person who clicks on the ad.
The commissions are variable, they depend above all on the type of ad, but let’s say that in principle they vary on average from 0.03 cents to up to one euro per click. Not bad I would say.
The nice thing about Goggle Adsense ads is that they are dynamic, meaning they change according to the user’s interests. This greatly increases the chances of receiving clicks.
PS. It is not possible to click your own ads, risk: ban from the service .
Although this is one of the most immediate methods of earning through a blog, you will hardly be able to earn significant amounts using only this method.
2. Advertising banners
In addition to Google banners , it is also possible to insert “proprietary banners” or advertisements provided by the companies themselves on your blog.
For example, if your blog is about video games, a well-known video game manufacturer, or a store like GameStop , could offer you to place their banner on your site in exchange for a fee.
Of course, you can also be the one to propose to certain companies. The only requirement is to be able to guarantee a significant number of impressions, which means having a lot of traffic on your site. Nobody would agree to put banners on a site with little or no traffic.
How much you earn with this kind of banner depends on the agreements made with the company itself. Some pay a fixed fee per month, others pay a certain amount. every thousand views, others for every click received.
If your site enjoys a lot of organic traffic you can try to propose your site on specialized portals such as BuySellAds, companies or individuals will contact you directly from this platform.
3. Affiliations
Affiliations are by far the best way to make money with a blog . But how does it work?
It basically consists of promoting and selling someone else’s product. One example above all is the Amazon affiliate program .
Read also “What is affiliate marketing and how it works”
Once registered, you can generate “referential” links for each product you have chosen through the control panel, and then insert it in your blog.
You will receive a percentage every time someone clicks on your link and I buy one or more products (in the case of Amazon the commissions range from 5 to 10%).
Nowadays it is possible to affiliate with almost all the major online stores, however there are affiliate networks full of companies and products to promote.
The commission rates vary from company to company and can be as high as 75%, essentially you earn more than the owner.
To promote a product on your blog, just choose something relevant to your niche and then write a good article about it, perhaps a detailed review, in order to convince the user to click on the link and buy the product.
There are also other types of affiliation such as those in CPA, that is cost per action , where you will be paid for each action performed by the user and not for each sale.
In most cases it is a newsletter subscription or having downloaded an application.
If you intend to get serious in this field, then I highly recommend you access the online course of Luca Tornabene and Matteo Olla, one of the most advanced online courses in Italy where you can learn in practical terms how to do affiliate marketing and start making money. seriously. Seeing is believing.
4. Sell an info-product
We’ve seen how to sell other people’s products through affiliations, but why not use your blog to sell products created directly by us?
If you are an expert in a sector, try creating a guide in an ebook or a video tutorial and then promote it on your blog.
Here are some portals that allow you to sell product info online: Udemy, Skillshare and Envato
5. Newsletter
Believe it or not, today the newsletter is one of the most effective sales methods.
Through an accurate email marketing campaign, we will be able to obtain contacts that can be reached as and when we want, and no longer random users. In this way we will be able to promote all the products seen previously in a strategic way.
There are several ways to create a targeted contact list in your industry, the most common being to offer a free gift in exchange for the email (lead magnet).
Obviously our blog must be connected to an email marketing platform pre-configured by us, such as GetResponse (one of the best quality-price), which will automatically send emails to our contacts based on their actions and interests.
Connecting these platforms with a blog is extremely easy and fast with the help of a plugin.
6. Sell Guest Posts
If your site is fairly authoritative then you may want to consider selling ” guest posts “, ie allowing other bloggers to write on your blog.
Why would anyone pay to blog on your blog?
Simple, because in this way it will get visibility, traffic, but above all a backlink to their blog, which will transfer the so-called ” link juice “.
The prices for a guest post start from a few euros up to hundreds of euros, it depends a lot on the authority of your site and on the sector.
Be careful not to overdo it though.
7. Offer services or advice
So far we have seen methods on how to make money with a blog in a substantially passive way.
Obviously your blog can very well act as an intermediary between you and potential customers, offering services or specialized consultancy in a particular sector.
The trick is to create a quality site with quality articles , so as to attract the attention of users and encourage them to contact you for advice.
How much can you earn with a blog
As you may have noticed, the methods to monetize a blog are multiple and the earnings vary. In any case, I can safely say that with commitment and perseverance as well as a careful keyword research, you can generate more than a good salary every single month. We are talking about over 2000 € per month.
Conclusions
Being able to monetize your blog is not at all easy as it seems, you have to work hard and always be focused on the goal. In reality there are also other methods of earning but these are by far the most profitable and effective.
Trust it works great. Passion brings results that are much faster and more satisfying than the obsessive pursuit of profit.
My advice is to start one step at a time and do not be in a hurry, if your blog is of quality with time the first earnings will also arrive.
Before saying goodbye I want to leave you the link to a complete course on how to become a professional blogger with WordPress and make money with it, take a look!
