Starting a blog is one of the surest ways to earn a passive income today. There are many ways to make money blogging, but this article focuses on the 9 most reliable ones. So, if you want to know a blog’s viability or diversify your income, you’re in the right place.
Research shows that 33% of bloggers don’t make money online. I don’t want you to be stuck in this category. Here’re some of the proven ways that you can start making money on your blog:
- Monetization with Google Adsense
- Selling Ads Space Directly
- Affiliate Marketing
- Selling Freelance Services
- Selling Digital Products
- Accepting Sponsored Articles
- Sharing Subscription-based Content
- Starting an E-commerce on your Blog
- Accepting Donations
But remember, the amount you can make on your blog highly depends on your website traffic, niche, and hard work. So, targeting the right audience and being niche-focused is very important. That being said, let’s explore these money-making opportunities one by one:
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9 Ways to Make Money Blogging
Starting a successful blog dosnt have to be complicated. All you have is to do is find a niche and domain name. Then buy a domain and hosting package, install WordPress or hire a web developer, customise your blog, and start writing educating content. Then start monetizing it.
1. Make Money Blogging with Google
According to GwowtBadger, Google AdSense is the most popular monetization method for bloggers, followed by affiliate marketing. It allows you to monetize your website traffic by placing ads on your platform, and gving you a share of the Ad revenue, like YPP does.
And getting started is not that complicated. Here’s what I want you to do:
- Start a blog in a specific nice
- Write original and quality blogs (at least 15).
- Publish a privacy page
- Create a Google AdSense account and submit your blog (s)
- If accepted, enable automatic ads, and you’ll start seeing ads on your articles.
- If declined, you’ll be given reasons, so work on them and reapply.
- Get website traffic, and start making money online.
AdSense link content creators (publishers) and advertisers. So, for content-based publishers, you’ll earn 68% of the ad revenue from publishers, while Google keeps the rest.
You have the answer now if you’re wondering how Google makes money. At least 82% of Alphabet’s revenue (Google and YouTube parent company) comes from advertising.
Check out how Google’s revenue has been growing since 2002. And you’ll notice that, between 2020 and 2021, the revenue increased by over 40% – 181.69 to 256.74 billion Us dollars.
AdSense pays publishers using two payment models; per click (cost per click) and 1000 ad impressions. Your income depends on factors like your niche; some niches have higher CPC than others. Check out these top 20 most expensive keywords by Wordstream in 2021.
So, if you’re sharing content on any of the above keywords, higher are the chances that ads with such keywords will be placed on your blog, and that’s how you end up with more money.
Other factors affecting cost-per-click (CPC) include the location (depending on the GDP of your audience), time, and the ads placed on your website. You can earn at least $100 per day with Adsense per month. Or even more depending on your efforts and niche.
Your revenue directly proportional to the organic traffic. More page visits mean more ad impressions and clicks and more money. But although Google AdSense is very popular, there are more ad networks you can consider. Here’re the 10 most common ones:
Check them out and review their commissions, terms, monthly page view requirements, and any other relevant details before applying.
2. Selling Ads Space Directly
Other than using ad networks like Goole Adsense and Media.net to place ads on your website, you can advertise ad spaces and earn all the commission.
For instance, you can approach brands and offer to include their banners in your articles or sidebar. Alternatively, companies will start competing for ad spaces on your blog when you’ve established authority. Just select the ones to work with and start monetizing your traffic.
If you’re a WordPress user, you can use plugins like AdSanity, to place ads on your site.
But just like Google Adsense, you’ll need a specific niche and impressive monthly page views to attract established brands to promote products and services on your blog.
3. Make Money Blogging as an Affiliate
Affiliate marketing is the second most popular way that bloggers and YouTubers make money, after Google Adsense. If your’re wondering what it is, it entails advertising other people’s products and services for a commission.
So, you apply for affiliate programs and include affiliate links or banners in your articles. You’ll earn a commission when someone clicks or buys something through your link. While some affiliate programs pay per sale, other pays for clicks, so understand the terms before applying.
How do you get started with affiliate marketing?
- Establish authority – share amazing articles in your niche
- Apply for affiliate programs that are relevant to your audience
- If accepted, add affiliate links and banners in your articles
- Get free traffic from search engines and social media
- Make money when people click or buy products
There are many affiliate networks out there which, like Goggle Adsense, links publishers with marketers (brands with affiliate programs. ShareaSale is my favourite network, especially because it is easier to aply, best suited for beginners, and has multipe programs.
Other reliable networks include Amazon associate, ClickBank and CJ affiliate. But you can contact brands relevant to your audience independently rather than using an affiliate network. For example, if your niche is SEO, you can recommend Semrush, a reliable SEO tool.
Bottom line, there is no limit on how much money you can make on your blog with affiliate marketing. It all depends on your monthly reach, content reliability, and brand authoity. Can your audience trust you enough to accept your recommendations?
4. Selling Freelance Services
Thimble claims that 45% of freelancers offer skilled programming, business consulting, and marketing services. And you can learn any of these profitable skills by enrolling in an online course or following an industry expert. Then create a portfolio and market your services.
For instance, I make money blogging by offering digital marketing services on this site, like content writing and marketing, link building services, Off-page and on-page SEO, and the likes.
And with a business blog, driving more audiences to purchase your services becomes easier, as long as you are targeting th right audience. For instance, if your blog is about applying makeup, you can start advertising the same services and get customers online.
Bottom line, find a service(s) relevant to your audience and in line with your niche, advertise it, and start earning cash. You can even turn your blog into a ‘real’ business with time.
5. Selling Digital Products
GwowtBadger found out that high-income bloggers are 2.5 more likely to sell their products than use Adsense. And even more interesting is that 45% of bloggers earning over $50,000 per year sell their products, but only 8% of low-income bloggers do so.
I don’t want you to be an ordinary blogger. So I highly recommend you start selling digital products. Some of the most profitable digital products you can create include online courses and webinars, kindle books, audiobooks, and web elements like WordPress themes.
There are many ebook template providers out there. But Hubspot is my favourite source, as its quality templates are free. You can also use tools like Canva to create yours.
All you have is to do is download them, select the most favorite one, edit the template and publish your first copy. Or self-publish your ebooks using Amazon Kindle self-publishing.
Identify a gap (or need), prepare a digital product, promote it in your blogs, and start earning. But do not make the mistake of creating digital products without conducting the necessary research. Find the audience first, then prepare your products, not vice versa.
6. Accepting Sponsored Articles
Other than brands coming for you to advertise their products or services on your blog, others can request you write an article about their offers for a fee. But I’d prefer you write the articles independently, other than accepting guests to write content on your blog (guest posts).
According to Google and SEO’s, the practice of guest posting for SEO reasons is not a sound SEO practice anymore. In fact, link building tactics have increasingly been scrutinized by Google over the past three years.
But you can still approach the brands, show them your stats, and explain how you share the same audience. The amount you’ll charge the brands per post will depend on your reach, negotiation skills, and features.
You can offer to feature the article on the top of your page or home page and the sidebar. So, focus on creating an audience and then make more money blogging through sponsored articles.
7. Sharing Subscription-Based Content
You can also make money blogging by offering members-only (subscription-based) highly-quality content. For instance, you may have encountered The New York Times, which charges a $10 annual subscription or $0.25 per week.
The amount may seem insignificant, but remember, they surpassed 10 million active subscribers. So you can imagine the revenue this company collects yearly from paid subscriptions alone. But before considering this option, ensure you’re giving people value for their money.
So, you’ll need to be known for something. And then set affordable (or, say, reasonable) subscription charges and alternatives.
8. Starting an E-commerce on your blog
In addition to selling your products and services, you can make money blogging by starting an e-commerce store. One of the favorite ways bloggers do it is using WooCommerce, an established e-commerce platform, to build your online store.
Just install the WooCommerce WordPress plugin, and follow the steps to launch your online store. Alternatively, you can find an eCommerce theme, customize it, add your merchants (like T-shirts) or ebooks, market it and start making money online.
For instance, if you focus on a US audience and your blog is about computer reviews, you can start an online computer store and sell to your audience.
9. Accept Donations
You can include a donation button, for instance, using PayPal, and let your audience support you by tipping as little as $1.
Many donation WordPress plugins that allow you to do so. But you must give your audience enough reasons to donate by offering high-quality content that meets their needs. Explain how their donations could help you run the site and publish even more content for them.
Conclusion
Starting a busines blog is a surest way to earn passive income, yet 33% of bloggers do not earn money. Lucky for you, here’re the 9 surest ways to turn your blog into a full-time hustle. Also, let me know your favourite one, and add more options in the comment section.
- Monetization with Google Adsense
- Selling Ads Space Directly
- Make Money Blogging with Affiliate Marketing
- Selling Freelance Services
- Selling Digital Products
- Accepting Sponsored Articles
- Sharing Subscription-based Content
- Starting an E-commerce on your Blog
- Accepting Donations
Maximize these opportunities if you have already written some amazing articles on your blog. But if your blog is new, I want you to focus on writing at least 30 articles first, and then you can start strategizing on how to grow your traffic and income.
Remember, giving value comes first, and then money follows, not vice versa.
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