Bloggers make money through affiliate marketing, Google Adsense, Sponsored posts, One-on-one coaching, ebooks, tutorials and the sale of physical products.
Blogging is the most sustainable way to make money online because an SEO-optimized blog with valuable content brings traffic all year round.
It is advisable to get things right from the onset before going into blogging.
Most newbies fall into the “blogging the wrong way” trap, thereby working tirelessly with no results.
The key things to consider before starting your blogging journey include;
- Choosing a highly profitable niche
- Creating a monetization strategy
- Understanding off-page and on-page SEO
- Creating valuable content
- Consistently updating your blog with topical content.
- Continuously learning from successful bloggers
- Not giving up too early.
How to make money blogging for beginners
These are the 7 ways to make money blogging even as a complete beginner.
1. Ads networks
Have you heard of Google Adsense? Oh yes, you should. Google Adsense is the most used blog monetization option for beginners. Google pays you 68 per cent of ad revenue when you partner to place ads on your blog. This means that for every click you get from your blog visitors, Google pays you 68 per cent and keeps 32 per cent.
This sounds fair enough right?
The higher your traffic, the better your earnings.
Google Adsense is one (out of many) Ad networks out here. You can monetise your blog with other ad networks too, especially when you are getting a hard time with Google Adsense approval.
Other Google Adsense Alternative include;
– Ezoic
– Ezoic Access Now (for new websites)
– Media.net
– Propeller ads
– Bidvertiser
– BuysellAds
– Taboola
– Infolinks
– SHE Media
– AdThrive
– EMX
– Monumetric (Recommended for a growing blog)
– Playwire (For blogs with massive traffic)
– Mediavine
– Adsterra (supports blogs with adult content)
With these options, you should not freak out whenever Google Adsense delays approving your blog for monetization.
2. Affiliate Marketing
The affiliate marketing model has become a household phrase amongst internet marketers, yet many find it unrealistic because they do not see the expected results.
Truth be told, affiliate marketing works and will continue to work in years to come.
It is the second most used monetization option for new and advanced bloggers, apart from Google Adsense.
This model allows you to partner with other businesses by redirecting your blog readers to the websites of other product sellers.
The idea is simple,
- Choose an affiliate product to promote
- Sign up and get an affiliate link or banner
- Place it on your blog
- Earn a commission for each sale made through your link.
The easiest way to start affiliate marketing is to sign up with affiliate networks like;
- WorriorPlus
- Clickbank (Not available in some countries)
- CJ Affiliates (Previously known as Commission Junction)
- ShareAsale
- Amazon Associates Program
- Jumia Affiliate Program
- Expertnaire (Affiliate platform for Nigerians)
- FlexOffers
- eBay partner network
- Digistore24
- Rakuten
- Shopify Affiliate Program
As a blogger, affiliate marketing helps you to kickstart your monetization journey early.
3. Sponsored Posts
Once your blog begins to gain momentum with reasonable traffic, other brands and website owners will probably contact you to publish posts for them.
This becomes an added income stream for your blog. Be careful with what you accept to publish on your blog, only publish helpful content that resonates with your readers, or else you may lose your consistent readers.
4. Coaching
Though this comes with the growth of your blog, some readers who find you and your content interesting may require you to support them one-on-one.
Successful bloggers charge a premium fee for this service (up to $2000). The idea is to charge what you are worth and give value as much as you can.
5. SaaS
This simply means Software as a Service, a professional way to describe any software-based service like an app, platform, or any software that solves a problem.
Examples of SaaS include;
- Hubspot (Customer Relationship Management) Software
- Clickfunnels page/funnel building software
- Systeme.io funnel-building software
- ActiveCampaign email software
- Dropbox cloud “file sharing and storage” software
- Class365 school management software
- Grammarly writing software etc
These SaaS companies get the most traffic through blogging. People visit their blogs to read related content and end up as their paying customers.
6. eBooks/Courses
The ebook and digital courses model is a great way to earn as a beginner because you are not limited to what you can create or write about.
The main idea is to discover what your audience has an interest in, package it into an ebook or video course and charge what it is worth.
People will be happy to pay for organised and helpful information, especially when it is offered by someone who has earned their trust.
7. Physical products
Most e-commerce websites attract buyers through blogging. Bloggers who have noticed traffic increase on their blogs opt to sell physical products to readers.
For example, if you write about hair grooming for men, you can offer beard grooming oils to your readers. This kind of marketing further helps your readers and increases your revenue.
The fastest way to make money blogging
Google Adsense and Affiliate Marketing are the fastest ways to make money blogging within a short period.
AdSense Arbitrage is the fastest blog traffic generation method.
This is only advisable if your blog’s niche has a high CPC (cost per click).
The idea is simple, you buy cheap traffic from Facebook or other native ad networks like PropellaAds or AdPush and send the traffic to your blog, when the visitors click the ads, you get paid.
Similarly, if they click on affiliate links and eventually buy, you earn a commission.
This strategy can be used on blogs with a high cost per click.
Note: this method can expose you to Google AdSense ban, if not done correctly. It is against Google’s policy. But it works when done the right way.
Free blogging sites to make money
These are the free blogging sites to make money without paying for hosting;
1. Medium
Medium is a free micro-blogging platform that lets you publish content without buying a hosting plan or a domain name. Most bloggers earn a decent income on the medium through the medium partner program.
This allows you to get paid for publishing content on the platform.
Your medium articles can rank on Google and this will increase your traffic.
Alternatively, the medium allows publishers to add affiliate links to their articles, which is a plus for affiliate marketers.
2. Blogger.com
Google owns this platform, and it supports free blogging with all the monetization options.
You can create a free blog with blogger.com in minutes and start blogging.
No credit card is required
No hosting fee is required
3. Tumblr
A microblogging website that supports short-form blogging. You have the liberty to add media files to your article.
How to make money with Tumblr:
- Through affiliate links
- Promoting your products
- Through ad networks like info links
- By selling Ads space to others
4. Free WordPress blog with WordPress.com:
Wordppress.com is a reliable blogging service provider by Automattic.
They allow you to build your blog without paying for anything. Although there are options to buy a custom domain. This is optional.
You can explore many monetization options with WordPress.com.
4. Self-Hosted WordPress Site (WordPress.org)
This is by far the most preferred blogging software (or script) for everyone. It is Google-friendly and free to use.
How to make money with a WordPress blog
- Through Ad Networks
- Through Affiliate marketing
- Through sponsored posts
- By selling physical or digital products like courses and ebooks
However, WordPress.org is self-hosted, unlike other microblogging platforms, WordPress.org requires you to buy a domain name and a hosting plan from other web hosting companies like Bluehost, Godaddy, Hostinger etc.
You are required to install the WordPress script before proceeding to build your blog.
Note: WordPress.com is a blogging company that allows bloggers to blog for free using a subdomain like www.yourwebsite.wordpress.com (with the option to upgrade to a custom domain like yourwebsite.org)
While WordPress.org only provides you with software (script) to install on a different web hosting server managed by independent hosting web service providers. This is called self-hosting.
How many blog posts to make money
You are required to publish at least 15+ blog posts before applying for the Google Adsense Program. Each article must contain over 1000 words.
Your content must be plagiarism free.
Why do most bloggers fail?
These are the key reasons why most bloggers fail;
1. They expect to get rich overnight: Blogging is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It is serious business and a lot of strategic work is required.
2. They go too broad: I surveyed new bloggers, and the outcome of the survey suggests that over 60 per cent of newbies go too wide.
Narrowing down is the first step to building an authoritative blog.
3. They try so hard to sell: Most beginners try so hard to sell with blog content. This is not blogging. Successful bloggers do content marketing and not direct selling.
Focus on providing value and not selling. Naturally, recommend affiliate products that will help your readers. If they find you or your content worthy, they will trust your judgment and buy through the links on your blog.
4. They give up too early: As mentioned earlier, blogging is not a “get rich quick” scheme. You need to build an SEO-optimised blog and publish helpful content.
What to avoid in blogging
- Avoid publishing duplicate content
- Don’t go too broad, chose a narrow niche and stay on topic.
- Create original and helpful content
- Avoid keyword stuffing, write for people and do not impress the Google algorithm.
- Follow SEO best practices
- Never publish content based on your instinct, publish content based on popular demand.
What is the most common mistake for first-time bloggers?
These are the most common mistakes made by first-time bloggers
1. Trying to publish content about everything and for everyone without a defined audience: This is a trap, don’t do it. Find a niche audience, serve them with good content and build authority.
2. Trying so hard to rank keywords: This is an old fashion model of blogging.
Google does not prioritize content that is written to impress its algorithm. Focus on providing value without necessarily trying to sprinkle keywords everywhere in your article.
3. Publishing thin content: If you must rank on Google, you must be ready to provide value without leaving any stone unturned when writing your blog post. Be very detailed.
4. Not punishing enough content: Some bloggers get fatigued easily and that’s understandable. But truth be told, having very little content on your blog will not help. Treat blogging as a serious business and it will pay you back very soon.
Is blogging easy to learn?
Yes, you can find useful learning resources to learn blogging on YouTube, but if you are serious about skyrocketing your blogging and income, sign up for my blog ranking academy and get over-the-shoulder support to build a highly sustainable income through blogging.
General Dos and Don’ts of Blogging
Don’ts
- Don’t copy and paste content on your blog
- Don’t start a blog until you define your audience
- Don’t write valueless content, do thorough research and add value.
- Don’t include graphics (videos, photos and infographics) that you don’t have the right to use. Take your pictures or download them from free stock photos or video websites like Pixabay and Pexels.
Dos
- Learn on-page and off-page SEO before you launch a blog
- Define your niche and stick with it
- Write and publish content consistently
- Define your monetization strategy from the start and draw a clear blogging plan.
- Keep learning new ideas
- Download and read the “Blogging Income Secrets” ebook.
Key Takeaways
Blogging simply requires a defined niche, an optimized SEO website, SEO-optimized blog posts, consistent publishing of topical content and the right monetization strategy.
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