Blogging is a great way to share your thoughts, ideas, and experiences with the world. Not only can you build an audience of loyal readers, but you can also make money from your blog through advertising, sponsorships, and affiliate marketing.
It’s not the same as a regular website. A standard website will simply have pages with information, whereas a blog has posts that are added to regularly. It’s not uncommon to have a website that features a blog, which means there is plenty of crossover.
If you’re interested in making money from your blog, then using WordPress is a great option. WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that makes it easy to create and manage a blog. Plus, there are plenty of themes and plugins available for WordPress that can help you monetize your blog.
Here are some tips on how to start a WordPress blog that makes money:
1. Choose a monetization strategy
Before you even start creating your WordPress blog, you need to decide how you’re going to make money from it. There are a few different options available, such as advertising, sponsorships, and affiliate marketing.
Advertising is the most common way to make money from a blog. You can sell ad space on your blog or use a service like Google AdSense, which will place ads on your blog automatically.
Sponsorships are another option. You can find companies that are willing to sponsor your blog in exchange for exposure to their products or services. This is often easier to achieve once your blog has become established – don’t expect to get sponsorships as soon as you start blogging, unless you are already well-known or have a very unique proposition.
Affiliate marketing is when you promote other people’s products or services on your blog and earn a commission for every sale that you make. This can be a great way to monetize a blog, especially if you’re reviewing products or services.
2. Choose a WordPress theme
Once you’ve decided how you’re going to monetize your blog, it’s time to start creating it! WordPress makes it easy to create a professional-looking blog with its wide range of themes.
There are both free and premium WordPress themes available. Free themes are a great option if you’re on a budget, but they often don’t have as many features as premium themes.
When choosing a theme, make sure it’s responsive (which means it will resize itself to look good on mobile devices), and that it has the features you need to monetize your blog. For example, if you’re planning on using advertising, then look for a theme that has ad space built-in.
3. Install WordPress plugins
WordPress plugins are like mini-programs that add extra features to your blog. There are plugins available for just about everything, from social media sharing to email capture forms.
For monetizing your blog, there are a few essential plugins you’ll need. For example, a WordPress Adsense plugin makes it easy to insert Google Adsense ads into your blog posts. You’ll most likely find several options for every type of plug-in, as plug-in authors tend to build their own solutions when existing plug-ins don’t do exactly what they want.
If you’re planning on using affiliate marketing, then there are often affiliate plug-ins specifically for affiliate platforms – there’s an Amazon Affiliate link generator, and so on.
4. Write great content
Of course, none of the above will matter if you don’t have great content on your blog. Your content is what will keep people coming back to your blog, and it’s also what will help you attract new readers.
When creating content for your blog, make sure it’s well-written, informative, and interesting. If you’re reviewing products or services, be honest and impartial.
It’s also important to ensure that your blog posts are optimised for search engines. This means using keywords throughout your post so that people can find it when they’re searching for information on the topic.
You can find out more about structuring a page in your blog here, and how to optimize your site for SEO here.
5. Promote your blog
Once you’ve got your blog set-up and have started creating great content, it’s time to start promoting your blog. There are a few different ways to do this.
Social media is a great way to get the word out about your blog. Share each new post on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also use social media to build relationships with other bloggers and influencers in your niche.
Another way to promote your blog is through guest posting. This involves writing articles for other people’s blogs in exchange for a link back to your own blog. This is a great way to get exposure for your blog, as well as to build relationships. It will require some outreach to other blog owners, but the benefits are worthwhile – especially if you can build a rapport with a major player in your niche.
6. Make money with your blog
Now that you’ve got your blog set-up and are promoting it, it’s time to start making money! As we mentioned before, there are a few different ways to monetize a WordPress blog.
Advertising is one of the most common ways to monetize a blog, and Google Adsense is a common choice. Remember, Adsense may only pay pennies per click, but the amount will vary depending on your niche. Insurance companies pay more to advertise than most other businesses, but if you know nothing about insurance, starting an insurance-related blog isn’t a good idea!
Approach companies directly can often bring a greater return, but the ease of access to Adsense makes it attractive to new blog owners.
7. Keep at it!
Making money from a blog takes time, patience, and perseverance. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a successful blog. Keep creating great content, promoting your blog, and building relationships, and eventually you’ll start to see the results you’re looking for.