If you are one of those aspiring bloggers who wants to try blogging as a way to make money online and generate passive income, you need to read this article before you start a blog. You can make money from your blog, you can also generate passive income from your blog, however, you need to realize this: do not dream of quick money, building a profitable blog takes a lot of time and a lot of effort, sometimes even years. If you truly want to blog and make money, do not be discouraged. There are a lot of strategies you can use to grow your blog audience and generate an income, even in the early stages of your blogging journey.
How to Start a Blog: Everything You Need to Know for Success
There are different ways to start blogging. The easiest way is by publishing on free blogging sites or content aggregator platforms like Hubpages, Medium, Vocal Media, Substack, Tumblr, etc. Another way is to use free blogging platforms or website builders to create free blogs. For instance, you can use Wordpress, Blogspot, Weebly, Wix, etc. You can just create a subdomain site in these platforms and start blogging. The third way, which is the ideal way, is by registering a domain, buying a hosting and then starting a self-hosted blog. If you choose this method, you are basically creating your own blog site by using content management systems like Wordpress, Hugo, Ghost, etc. The third method requires you to have at least some basic web designing skills, especially for the platform you are using for your blog. Once your blog site is ready you can start publishing your blog posts. It takes under 30 minutes to launch your own blog if you already have pre-written articles.
How to Drive Traffic to Your New Blog
Ask anyone who has been blogging for a while about the best traffic source, all of them will tell you that search engines are the best sources for traffic. You can build traffic from search engines through search engine optimization (SEO). However, building traffic through SEO takes a long time, and sometimes despite your effort, you might still not get as much traffic as you want because SEO is a competitive game. You need to understand this, SEO is not the only way to attract readers on your blog, there are multiple strategies for new bloggers that are as good as search engines.
Leverage social media: Create pages for your blog across multiple social media sites and then share your content. If you have managed to build substantial followers on various social platforms, you will see traffic from day one. If you do not have followers on your social pages, you can even utilize your personal social media and reach out to friends and family.
Engage with online communities: There are a lot of online communities created by bloggers for blogger, such as forums, discussion boards, social media groups and communities, etc. Participate in these communities, build relationships with other bloggers and drive targeted traffic.
Keyword optimization: Social media and online communities can certainly help you with traffic but SEO is always the best strategy for generating traffic and revenue. One of the easiest ways to rank higher on search engines is by targeting moderate-volume keyword. Instead of trying for highly competitive keywords, target moderate volume keywords, or micro niche keywords. This method can help you rank higher in search results and attract targeted traffic.
Making Money From Your Blog: Adsense, Amazon and More
For Bloggers, Adsense and Amazon are popular choices. Using Amazon ads on your blog takes under 5 minutes. You can sign up as an Amazon Associate, grab your affiliate links and post on your blog. Adsense requires manual approval but if you have published quality content, it shouldn’t be difficult to get approval. With Adsense, you earn for every legitimate clicks and also for ad impression. With Amazon, visitors need to buy the advertised products for you to make money. Well, these are not the only ways to make money, there are numerous other ways to monetize your blog.
Explore alternative ad networks and affiliate networks: Just like Adsense, you can try ad networks like Media.net, Infolinks etc. Apart from Amazon, you can also consider affiliate networks like ClickBank, ShareASale, Impact Radius, Commission Junction, etc.
Create a store on your blog: You can also create an online store on your blog by using plugins. You can sell physical or digital products. For physical products, you can use options like dropshipping or print on demand model where you don’t hold the inventory and do not even fulfil the order yourself. If you're using WordPress, plugins like WooCommerce or Easy Digital Downloads can help you set up a shop page on your blog. Selling digital products and services is another good option for your store. You can sell ebooks, digital courses, digital art, templates, or SVG files.
Content discovery platforms: Taboola and Revcontent can provide additional revenue streams.
Premium ad networks: You can try premium advertising networks such as Mediavine or Ezoic. These are adsense ad partner that offer high paying ads for high traffic website.
Direct advertisement sales or sponsorship: You can also sell advertising space in your website. You can either use advertising marketplace like BuySellAds or pitch your website to businesses for sponsorship. This method works if you have a lot of traffic
Facebook Instant Articles: This is website monetization program from Facebook.
If you want to earn better, you should try multiple advertising methods. For instance., you can try Adsense, Amazon and also Shop on your blog. Experiment with different monetization methods and stick to the one that best works for your blog.
Blog Monetization and Revenue Generation
Well, you need to understand one basic thing about monetization that is meeting monetization requirements. Different ad networks have varying requirements and these requirements are mostly related to content quality or traffic, or both. For Google Adsense approval minimum traffic is not a criteria, however, your content needs to be high quality. You can immediately start using Amazon Associates (Amazon affiliate marketing), there is no traffic or content requirement to be fulfilled, but if you cannot generate a single sale within six months your account will be terminated. To monetize with Facebook Instant Articles, you need a Facebook page where you get 50k visits in the last 28 days. Likewise, with Revcontent, Taboola, Mediavine, Ezoic, you need minimum 50,000 monthly visits.
Blog monetization and making money from the blog are two different things. You can easily monetize your blog if you meet criteria, however, you will not earn if you are not receiving substantial traffic and engagement on your ads. You also need to bring traffic from reputable sources like search engines, social media, etc. It takes very long time to build quality traffic and generate revenue.
How to Improve Revenue on Your Blog?
This is very important question that needs to be addressed properly. No matter what ad network you are using for your blog monetization, ads are basically 4 types:
CPC (Cost Per Click): You earn for every legitimate clicks. You will have to use high CPC keywords on your site. You can do this by creating blog posts on topics that get higher Cost Per Click rates from advertisers.
CPM (Cost Per Mile): You earn for every 1000 ad impressions. You earn better if your traffic is coming from high tier countries like the US, Canada, and the UK. You will have to do geo-targeting. Geo targeting means you work on building traffic from the locations where advertisers offer higher CPM rates.
CPA (Cost Per Action): You earn for action (product purchase for example). Your visitors will take action on your CPC ads when they are strategically placed on the spots that get maximum attention. You will have to experiment with different ad spots to find which one gets best user experience and visibility.
Fixed Price: You receive fixed amount per week or per month. You can negotiate with your advertisers for higher rates. You can get higher rate if you have good organic traffic.
How to Improve Ad Engagement?
This is another important thing that you need to work on if you want to make money from your blog
Your website shows ads does not mean your website is also earning money. Your website will not generate revenue unless there are ad engagements. To improve ad engagement, you will have to primarily focus on three things, one, ad relevancy, two, ads blending with content, and three optimized for mobile devices. The ads you are displaying on your site should be relatable to the content you have published on your blog. For example, if your blog post is about fitness, ads related fitness trackers, can be relevant. Likewise your ad should easily blend with your blog content. This will make ads appear native to your blog and do not look intrusive. If your blog it optimized for mobile devices, you can get ad engagement from your mobile traffic.
Conclusion: What Determines Your Blogging Success
Blogging is very competitive field, it is not possible to become successful overnight. Blogging requires you to patiently work for a long time, consistently producing high-quality blog posts, and working on SEO and digital marketing. You will have to build a loyal readership through various approaches such as blog subscribers, social media communities, etc. You will have to engage your audience by offering value. You need to continuously learn and adapt to the latest trends in the blogging industry.
How to Start a Blog: Everything You Need to Know for Success
There are different ways to start blogging. The easiest way is by publishing on free blogging sites or content aggregator platforms like Hubpages, Medium, Vocal Media, Substack, Tumblr, etc. Another way is to use free blogging platforms or website builders to create free blogs. For instance, you can use Wordpress, Blogspot, Weebly, Wix, etc. You can just create a subdomain site in these platforms and start blogging. The third way, which is the ideal way, is by registering a domain, buying a hosting and then starting a self-hosted blog. If you choose this method, you are basically creating your own blog site by using content management systems like Wordpress, Hugo, Ghost, etc. The third method requires you to have at least some basic web designing skills, especially for the platform you are using for your blog. Once your blog site is ready you can start publishing your blog posts. It takes under 30 minutes to launch your own blog if you already have pre-written articles.
How to Drive Traffic to Your New Blog
Ask anyone who has been blogging for a while about the best traffic source, all of them will tell you that search engines are the best sources for traffic. You can build traffic from search engines through search engine optimization (SEO). However, building traffic through SEO takes a long time, and sometimes despite your effort, you might still not get as much traffic as you want because SEO is a competitive game. You need to understand this, SEO is not the only way to attract readers on your blog, there are multiple strategies for new bloggers that are as good as search engines.
Leverage social media: Create pages for your blog across multiple social media sites and then share your content. If you have managed to build substantial followers on various social platforms, you will see traffic from day one. If you do not have followers on your social pages, you can even utilize your personal social media and reach out to friends and family.
Engage with online communities: There are a lot of online communities created by bloggers for blogger, such as forums, discussion boards, social media groups and communities, etc. Participate in these communities, build relationships with other bloggers and drive targeted traffic.
Keyword optimization: Social media and online communities can certainly help you with traffic but SEO is always the best strategy for generating traffic and revenue. One of the easiest ways to rank higher on search engines is by targeting moderate-volume keyword. Instead of trying for highly competitive keywords, target moderate volume keywords, or micro niche keywords. This method can help you rank higher in search results and attract targeted traffic.
Making Money From Your Blog: Adsense, Amazon and More
For Bloggers, Adsense and Amazon are popular choices. Using Amazon ads on your blog takes under 5 minutes. You can sign up as an Amazon Associate, grab your affiliate links and post on your blog. Adsense requires manual approval but if you have published quality content, it shouldn’t be difficult to get approval. With Adsense, you earn for every legitimate clicks and also for ad impression. With Amazon, visitors need to buy the advertised products for you to make money. Well, these are not the only ways to make money, there are numerous other ways to monetize your blog.
Explore alternative ad networks and affiliate networks: Just like Adsense, you can try ad networks like Media.net, Infolinks etc. Apart from Amazon, you can also consider affiliate networks like ClickBank, ShareASale, Impact Radius, Commission Junction, etc.
Create a store on your blog: You can also create an online store on your blog by using plugins. You can sell physical or digital products. For physical products, you can use options like dropshipping or print on demand model where you don’t hold the inventory and do not even fulfil the order yourself. If you're using WordPress, plugins like WooCommerce or Easy Digital Downloads can help you set up a shop page on your blog. Selling digital products and services is another good option for your store. You can sell ebooks, digital courses, digital art, templates, or SVG files.
Content discovery platforms: Taboola and Revcontent can provide additional revenue streams.
Premium ad networks: You can try premium advertising networks such as Mediavine or Ezoic. These are adsense ad partner that offer high paying ads for high traffic website.
Direct advertisement sales or sponsorship: You can also sell advertising space in your website. You can either use advertising marketplace like BuySellAds or pitch your website to businesses for sponsorship. This method works if you have a lot of traffic
Facebook Instant Articles: This is website monetization program from Facebook.
If you want to earn better, you should try multiple advertising methods. For instance., you can try Adsense, Amazon and also Shop on your blog. Experiment with different monetization methods and stick to the one that best works for your blog.
Blog Monetization and Revenue Generation
Well, you need to understand one basic thing about monetization that is meeting monetization requirements. Different ad networks have varying requirements and these requirements are mostly related to content quality or traffic, or both. For Google Adsense approval minimum traffic is not a criteria, however, your content needs to be high quality. You can immediately start using Amazon Associates (Amazon affiliate marketing), there is no traffic or content requirement to be fulfilled, but if you cannot generate a single sale within six months your account will be terminated. To monetize with Facebook Instant Articles, you need a Facebook page where you get 50k visits in the last 28 days. Likewise, with Revcontent, Taboola, Mediavine, Ezoic, you need minimum 50,000 monthly visits.
Blog monetization and making money from the blog are two different things. You can easily monetize your blog if you meet criteria, however, you will not earn if you are not receiving substantial traffic and engagement on your ads. You also need to bring traffic from reputable sources like search engines, social media, etc. It takes very long time to build quality traffic and generate revenue.
How to Improve Revenue on Your Blog?
This is very important question that needs to be addressed properly. No matter what ad network you are using for your blog monetization, ads are basically 4 types:
CPC (Cost Per Click): You earn for every legitimate clicks. You will have to use high CPC keywords on your site. You can do this by creating blog posts on topics that get higher Cost Per Click rates from advertisers.
CPM (Cost Per Mile): You earn for every 1000 ad impressions. You earn better if your traffic is coming from high tier countries like the US, Canada, and the UK. You will have to do geo-targeting. Geo targeting means you work on building traffic from the locations where advertisers offer higher CPM rates.
CPA (Cost Per Action): You earn for action (product purchase for example). Your visitors will take action on your CPC ads when they are strategically placed on the spots that get maximum attention. You will have to experiment with different ad spots to find which one gets best user experience and visibility.
Fixed Price: You receive fixed amount per week or per month. You can negotiate with your advertisers for higher rates. You can get higher rate if you have good organic traffic.
How to Improve Ad Engagement?
This is another important thing that you need to work on if you want to make money from your blog
Your website shows ads does not mean your website is also earning money. Your website will not generate revenue unless there are ad engagements. To improve ad engagement, you will have to primarily focus on three things, one, ad relevancy, two, ads blending with content, and three optimized for mobile devices. The ads you are displaying on your site should be relatable to the content you have published on your blog. For example, if your blog post is about fitness, ads related fitness trackers, can be relevant. Likewise your ad should easily blend with your blog content. This will make ads appear native to your blog and do not look intrusive. If your blog it optimized for mobile devices, you can get ad engagement from your mobile traffic.
Conclusion: What Determines Your Blogging Success
Blogging is very competitive field, it is not possible to become successful overnight. Blogging requires you to patiently work for a long time, consistently producing high-quality blog posts, and working on SEO and digital marketing. You will have to build a loyal readership through various approaches such as blog subscribers, social media communities, etc. You will have to engage your audience by offering value. You need to continuously learn and adapt to the latest trends in the blogging industry.
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