When most people think of what it means to make money blogging, two words seem to come up almost automatically: “instant cash”. And yet blogging for money isn’t your ticket to quick wealth as it’s often made out to be. The truth is that today’s highest-earning bloggers weren’t even SEO specialists. Instead, they had a great product, a promising idea for a blog topic, and the industriousness to stick to the effort over the years.
One of the first things that you have to do as a professional blogger is to get ready for all the work that lies ahead of you. Keep in mind that your blog won’t be the only one of its kind that’s already up and running, which means that competition for reader’s attention is much stiffer now. Like every other business enterprise, blogging won’t give you a lot of revenue at the start! A blog needs to be paid a lot of attention to, especially during its first year or so. If you already spend most of your day in your full-time job, you have to be prepared to devote around 4 more hours of your time just to maintain and update your site.
Despite these challenges, professional blogging can prove to be very fulfilling once your site has gained a foothold in its own niche and readership base. After all, it’s one thing to write about what makes you tick; it’s another thing to do that and get paid for your efforts! Before you put up your blog, however, read up on these golden rules that will help you monetize your blog. Follow these principles, and you’ll find that blogging for money can be as enjoyable as it is profitable:
1. Decide on a niche to specialize in, and plan out your blog accordingly:
Will you be writing about sports? Or will you be running a steady stream of political commentary on your site? Are you considering putting up restaurant reviews? Whatever subject you choose to specialize in, the other elements of your blog should match it quite well. Choose a blog template, for example, that matches your overall theme, and keep your blog posts within the bounds of your chosen niche.
You can afford to create an off-topic blog post every so often, but if you want to gain your readers’ trust and establish yourself as an expert, it’s better to be consistent with your blog entries. If you’re dealing with technology, for example, it wouldn’t exactly serve you well to start talking about relationships or how your visit to the dentist was unsatisfactory.
Most importantly, however, you should choose a topic that you will actually love researching and writing about. It’s hard to fake enthusiasm for a topic that you don’t actually care much about, and it’s a tactic that usually backfires. Don’t start a blog on technology just because it’s a popular subject.
Instead, choose a niche that you feel strongly about, whether it’s food, politics, religion, photography, or even something as esoteric as zoology.
Remember, a good blog is one that’s written with obvious zeal and passion, and dealing with a topic you love ensures that you won’t get sick of writing about it year after year.
2. Update frequently:
Updating your blog regularly can make a big difference in the volume of traffic that your blog receives. Because site traffic usually translates into revenue, you have to ensure that readers are visiting your blog frequently. Encourage them to visit by updating your content as regularly as you can. People don’t want to return to a blog only to find a post that they’d already read before! Make your readers’ visits worth their time by providing them with new content as often as possible.
Frequent updating also ensures that Google and other search engines index your site frequently, making your blog more visible and accessible to others. If you don’t want your blog to fall into obscurity, you have to work at giving your readers a lot of fresh entries.
3. Take advantage of ad networks and affiliate programs:
Once you’ve got your blog up and running, you can look into more direct ways of earning money from your site. A good way to jumpstart this is by signing up for Google Adsense, which rewards you for each click that an advertising link receives from your site.
You can also sign up for an affiliate program such as Amazon.com Associates, Clickbank, or Azoogle. When you become an affiliate partner, you have to put up appropriate links to your blog that direct your readers to a product offer. The affiliate program will then pay you for each visitor from your site who makes a purchase or signs up for a service.
Whether or not you like it, blogging for money will always involve some form of advertising in your blog. Remember, however, that the volume of traffic your site receives will affect the number of clicks that your ad links will receive. No matter how great your affiliate program is, it won’t produce a lot of revenue if your blog doesn’t have a lot of visitors.
4. Write quality posts:
No matter how frequently you update your site, and no matter how many ad networks you’re part of, you can’t earn any long-term revenue unless you offer your readers a lot of quality, credible content. Nobody wants to read something that’s poorly or shabbily written, so do your best to write as well and as accurately as you can.
When your readers realize that they can rely on you to give them solid advice and credible information regarding your niche, they’re bound to return to your blog, as well as create backlinks to your site that will boost your search engine ranking. The moment that your readers see that you’re an expert who can share valuable knowledge and information, they’re bound to become loyal visitors who can boost your traffic and create revenue for you.
Although there are different ways through which people make money blogging, the best tactic is still to provide quality content to your readers. After all, your visitors aren’t frequenting your site just to marvel at your blog template! Nonetheless, it’s also important to come up with a blog theme that works well with the niche you’re dealing with, as well as to use advertising networks and affiliate programs wisely. Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, you’re sure to be blogging your way towards a real and sustainable profit!
My hobby is the internet, and a year ago, I decided to try anything then using it to earn ed \ daily work of our results were stable $ 10 a day:) But I’m not going to stop there
Whenever I see a blog bragging about how much money it makes, I almost instantly think of it as spam. They’re just the digital versions of those “How to make a million dollars” books.
I have no idea how these sites get so popular. Do people actually buy into that get rich quick garbage?
In today’s world earning money through blogging has become very popular. But one should devote quality time while developing a good blog.
Hello Web Files,
Thanks for your article on specialist niches, frequent updates, affiliate programs and quality posts. Good information. In summary, I agree with you that it is most important to write quality posts on a frequent basis to attract new readers and to retain existing readers.
Well you have surely pointed out the best tips for Monetizing a blog but I would also suggest the main thing is also traffic. we need to do a lot of backlink/traffic building for getting back money from our blogs
This is very true. I sometimes have to discourage my clients from adding blogs to their websites if they don’t have the time to devote to them.
Having a stale blog is worse than not having a blog at all!
I agree your points. They are true. The money makers are not at all SEO specialists. I run a couple of blogs and I earn some good money though i’m null with SEO.
A pity you are right in a way, I wish it was easier to make money online! Content really is king, isn’t it?
Perfectly said! It’s true there are bloggers who never expected their blogs to earn so much…They just did it purely because they thought of sharing something. Thanks!
I am currently trying to write really good content while putting together Youtube videos for my tutorials which has worked incredibly well and link back to the article.
I’m trying to write quality and original posts ant it is working. I became pr3 and will try to become bigger 🙂
I think the hardest thing and you mentioned it about the blog is the long hours you have to put in. And also the updating. Just when you think you are done. Think again!
Time consuming is the biggest part. Just keeping up and putting 100% into your writing is the most difficult. I spend many hours after the kids are asleep keeping up.
Know any CPC networks besides Adbrite and Google?
Try Zango; I’m currently using it and i’m mnkiag an average of $30 USD a day. My traffic is only about 1k-2k unique viewers.Zango not only give you $1+ per install but provides you with free content to put on your site.My site is. If you are like my advice, please use my reference link:I hope you find this helpful
I agree completely with your post. The main thing is you have to choose a subject your both passionate and knowledgeable about. If you’re making a blog only for the money, you’ll eventually burn out, lose interest, or your posts won’t have the quality of an average PLR article. You have to love what you’re doing.
You have hit it on the head. Blogging is not a money making venture to start with. It takes a lot of blog posts and even controversial/ latest topics to get people’s attention to your blog. Eventually if you are providing good quality material it will start attracting readers. That is when the money will slowly start flowing. Dont give up- it builds up slowly but if you are passionate about your topic them readers and money will come
1)right keywords selection.
2)proper backlinking.
these are 2 main rules to earn online.
Hello.. i am pretty new to blogging and this stuff but as I started my new site I see now what is important, not only to earn money but to take some good traffic. In my opinion it is quality content on the first place so I agree that blog needs to be updated often so people who find it interested would come again and again. Every niche can be good, it all depends on your expertize.
Hi Curious,I’m not sure about Affiliate Marketing but I do know of a opportunity that you can start manikg money the same day. And there is nothing to sell just help people like yourself. My wife and I started in Sept. 07 and it’s the best decision we have ever made!!! Our two sons just quit college to do it also.Due to yahoo guidelines you will have to email me direct and I will give you a site to explore and you be the judge for yourself, goodluck.Sincerely,Val Was this answer helpful?
Focus on Quality – content is always king.
You always need to make sure you’re dedicated to the blog. If you’re not, you’re not going to pull in the traffic and that’s the only way to make money. The point about quality posts is true as well – you really need to offer something people want to read! Too many blogs fall into the trap of too many boring posts and not enough readable, interesting content.
In business, service is everything and in blog world content and it’s value is your service. so having a great article makes your blog sell quickly. that’s why avoid boring post! Nice article it was pretty helpful
I have never made money with affiliate maknteirg. It is not blogging, but can certainly be intergrated into a blog.Affiliate maknteirg is linking to items such as from amazon to your website. If someone buys an item from amazon that came from your site, you get a percentage of that sale.So you have to aggressively advertise your site in order for people to come to it. Then it’s up to the person to actually complete a purchase. Was this answer helpful?
I have been following the above steps for a long time, but the only problem is when to go for monetizing the blog, can you please suggest me what is the appropriate time to go for monetizing the blog.
Creating a blog is like a diary, you are making sure that everyday moments was captured not just a picture but also the feeling you felt during the event with people close to you. For me blogging is like you are story telling then at the same time get an extra income from it..