How Hard Is It To Make Money Blogging

Think blogging's just a hobby? Reckon again – IT can buoy really make you quite good money. Here's how to get started, find your corner and sprain your blog into a nice little money earner.

blogger's laptop and phone

We'll be honest: blogging isn't the easiest direction to make money. But, the not bad thing is that anyone can do it, and it looksamazingon your CV.

All you need is something unputdownable to say and enough patience and dedication to build traffic and a pursual. But how do successful bloggers make their money? We've interviewed a few them to reveal their monetization secrets.

Our guide gives you a concrete sue plan to get your blog off the ground and grow it into a profitable itsy-bitsy business from home.

How to start a blog

You have two main options when it comes to actually setting dormy a blog – you can utilisation a free blogging chopine, or you can create your own website. We'll take you through both, outlining their pros and cons.

Free blogging platforms

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Superfine for: Informal bloggers and those non concerned in making money from their web log.

Pros: Big easy to frame and completely free.

Cons: Limits on customisation and video/image uploads, you much can't put down adverts or use affiliate links, you can't create a custom URL and the platform retains the right to erase your web log.

A lot of platforms will allow you to set up a blog for exempt, and they're super easy to use. If you're just wanting to blog nonchalantly at 1st, this could suit you well.

But, free blogging platforms can be very limiting. You'll only be able to customise to a limited extent, and your web log will have a storage trammel which could construct information technology harder to upload large videos and images.

Another drawback is that your web log URL will be something the like 'www.yourblog.wordpress.com' with the platform stigmatisation.

Most free blogging platforms besides put on't allow you to place banner adverts or affiliate links on your site, which are keystone revenue streams for most bloggers.

Nevertheless, if these things don't bother you, present's a warm summing up of the best costless online blogging platforms.

Superior blogging sites
- WordPress.com – This is a non-slave basic blog hosting service that's easy to use. You'll have to offer with WordPress ads and branding unless you pay a monthly fee, and you can't put ads on your site. There are also minor options for customisation and expansion.
- Blogger – Google's detached blog hosting service, Blogger, is in truth simple to use. But, the customisation and design options are same limited, and there aren't a great deal of options if you want to add new features.
- Medium – With Medium, the emphasis is along the piece of writing rather than conception. IT's used by lots of journalists, writers and experts and is a great manner to share your work with a particular community. You can't escape any ads and it's difficult to make your own individual stigmatisation.
Create your own site

Best for:Dedicated bloggers and those looking for to earn money from their web log

Pros: Complete ascendancy complete pattern and customisation, your own made-to-order URL and the ability to use adverts and associate golf links how you like

Cons: You'll have to pay – first for your domain name (URL) and and then for hosting, but we've got tips along cheap web hosting.

If you're non especially tech-apprehension, the thought of creating your own website might seem quite scary – but information technology's in reality pretty light to do, and you can produce one in rightful 20 minutes.

Save the Scholar's founder, Owen, has written an painless-to-follow, step-aside-step guidebook to show you how to start a website.

With your own website, you'll be able to make over unique personal branding (with your own URL), and there's no risk of your web log being deleted away the program – you'll personal the site and embody in complete control.

WordPress has an insane amount of templates or 'themes' for you to choose from – take your time to make up one's mind on one which suits both your personality and the topic of your blog.

Opt for something realize and simple, with space for large-scale images and easy-to-read fonts (Comic Sans and Courier fonts are no-nos).

Create your own website »

How to choose a blog topic

jd scrubs thinking

Credit: First rudiment

This can either be the easiest or the hardest part of starting your blog.

The most important thing at this stage is to choose a niche which you can phone yourself an authority in – the biggest mistake early bloggers make in such a crowded blogosphere is start a blog without difficult to do something astonishing or different.

For instance, if fashion's your thing, instead of combining generic wine fashion content, you could combine your have sex for clothes with your humongous-hearted concern for the environment by blogging about environmentally-conscious designers rather?

These are the best ways to find a topic for your new blog:

Look at other blogs – This should be your first left of birdcall. What's already successful? And more significantly, what's missing? Find the gaps in the market.
Use Google – What are the great unwashe trenchant for? Use Google suggested searches and auto-unmitigated to find what people are looking – if they're searching for it, that shows thither's a demand.
Search forums for common FAQs – When people can't find answers to their questions, they go to forums. What are they asking? What do they need advice on? This will show what citizenry are interested in and what there's a miss of available information connected.
Track current trends – What topics are in the media far now? IT's good to pick a topic with seniority, but if you potty piggy-back connected a trend early on, you can buoy quickly establish yourself Eastern Samoa an skillful on it in front anyone other. Searching #journorequest on Twitter shows what kinda themes journalists are presently reporting along.
Think of different types of content – Could you do tutorials/how-to guides? Reviews? Interviews? Lists? Information technology might not be what you write about, but how you write which sets you apart.
Identify your own interests and passions – While altogether of the above are important, there's no point in blogging about something you have ordinal interest in. You'll quickly get on uninterested and people leave spot your lack of enthusiasm. Write more or less something you rattling, truly care about.

Check proscribed our extensive list of small business ideas – get your entrepreneurial juices flowing and earn some cash in!

How to increase your blog traffic

Once you've created your website, semen up with a kick-backside web log topic and you've published your first posts, the big dubiousness is – where are all the readers?

You can't just anticipate people to magically chance your blog and start reading it. You make to promote it!

Here are the best and easiest ways to puzzle over more readers for your blog:

Promote your blog on social media

Credit: NBC

A with any business present, you'atomic number 75 not likely to get noticed if you don't own social media accounts.

We recommend setting skyward pages/accounts for your blog on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and steady LinkedIn (you'Ra essentially your have business anyway, right?). Contrive these accounts in a quasi colour in scheme/theme to your blog so your brand is concordant and easily recognisable.

Usance them to share inexperient posts and tag fellow bloggers/influencers/companies who might share your content and help information technology to reach an even bigger audience.

You could also dabble in some paid advertising to help your blog reach a wider audience, or run a competitor to generate more likes. Once you've got the followers, keep them interested by card regularly (not just for new blog posts).
Relate with other bloggers

Make yourself notable to other people who blog about similar topics. Despite the fact you're technically a competitor, you're likely to be pleasantly surprised past how certificatory the blogger community can be.

Many bloggers smooth have a 'links' page happening their site which they employ to link to loads of their friends inside the community in return for a link on your possess blog. This will help massively with your SEO (that's search engine optimisation – how likely your blog is to nonclassical up in Google searches).

If you engage with other bloggers and plowshare their content, they'll likely tax return the favour – you could even exploit on some collaborations!
Respond to news stories on your web log

Credit: Warner Bros

If something happens in the news which is concerned your niche, beget involved. This is what we refer to as 'newsjacking' and it can work a treat for getting you close to great exposure.

For example, if you blog about cheap pupil cooking, keep an eye out for things like the reveal of our latest Student Money Go over. Students might spend an average of £101 a month on groceries, merely you can tell them how to drop to a lesser extent (patc feeding healthier food!).

You can get on social media to say your fleck with relevant hashtags, get involved in discussions and even touch out to journalists to say you're available for comment.

If you'ray rattling enceinte at owning your niche, journalists might even come to you.
Produce viral content

Creating viral content wish facilitate you reach a new securities industry and, in turn, growth your readership.

This might live easier same than done, but the key to creating viral subject matter is to tap into controversial or highly-discussed topics concerned your niche blogging field – atomic number 3 you potty imagine, this oftentimes involves newsjacking, as mentioned above.

As this is your niche, you'll be passionate, opinionated and knowledgable about it, so you'll cost healthy to post an opinion that populate want to read, share and babble about.

How to make money from blogging

Once you've got your blog up and linear, you can (finally!) start looking into ways to produce a profit from it.

These are the best and easiest ways to make money as a blogger:

Use affiliate marketing on your web log

Affiliate marketing works by adding tracked affiliate golf links into the text of your blog. You can seduce a small commission every time a reader clicks through to a place you recommend and makes a purchase.

The golf links testament principal readers to the internet site of a brand, and the money you receive is to enunciat 'thanks' for sending roughly of your lovely readers to their site.

Almost all online eCommerce websites have an affiliate program of extraordinary sort, like Amazon, ASOS and Apple.

Ratify capable Affiliate Window – a huge affiliate mesh where you can promote thousands of well-glorious brands and services from around the world.

Money-thrifty blogger, Claire Roach, revealed:

We primarily usage affiliate marketing as our main source of tax income, although there's also Google AdSense on there for an special few pounds each month.

Affiliate marketing is a natural fit for many bloggers. American Samoa writer Ceri Jones suggested:

As a blogger, you're always recommending products and services to your readers. A lot of companies offer affiliate programs sol it's really hands-down to find relevant programs to conjoin and start earning commission.

The paint is to be authentic and genuine with affiliate marketing. Write reviews and articles with your unpretentious opinions and only encourage your readers to buy something if you think it's a serious product or service for them.
Add banner adverts to your website

As a more than visual way of advertising, you can sell banner advertising space on your blog page to brands that link up to your readers.

Adverts can be located anywhere, but they'Ra commonly ground across the top of blog pages or in the sidebar.

You can bring in income in one of two ways. CPC (cost per click) means you'll get a set payment for all reader who clicks the pay heed, whileCPM (cost per thousand) means you'll negotiate a set payment for all 1,000 'impressions' the ad gets.

With the growth of AdBlocker plugins, the CPC and CPM hind end cost low, but it does depend on your industry, and thither's little harm in trying them out.

A quick way to incur started is creating an account with Google AdSense.
Write advertorials and sponsored self-complacent

According to the bloggers we spoke to, one and only of the best ways of monetising a blog is through offering sponsored self-satisfied opportunities (or advertorials). These are essentially adverts in the form of a paid-for article Oregon blog post.

As an example, if Adidas brings out a new swimwear line and you receive a blog on women's athletic wear, they might offer to yield you to pen an clause virtually their swan. You may also be able to add whatever affiliate golf links on top.

This monetization method normally works best when you have a strong niche audience. Once you've grown your readership, brands leave frequently approach you to discuss sponsored posts.

As Kenzie Harvey, from beauty, fashion, lifestyle and travel web log LemonaidLies said:

I have alone ever had sponsored self-satisfied opportunities come to me though PR companies, either directly or direct apps like the Instagram agency Takumi.
Charge for sponsored social group media posts

If you have a strong societal media comportment, you'll embody real spellbinding to brands. Some people actually make their entire blogging income through sponsored posts on social media. You can cathexis per post/re-post and the fees can be surprisingly adenoidal.

You'll fair-minded have to work hard on building your followers first – your 'social proof' (or how many people follow you on social media) is seen aside brands as evidence that readers will like what you post about them, too.
Write node web log posts for media outlets

Once in a while, members of the press (or even brands who have a blog of their own) will reach bent on you if you're an authority along a in for topic, asking you to make believe a bit cameo appearance on their website.

If you're specially knowledgeable on cooking along a budget, e.g., a newspaper might touch base and deman you to contribute many budget-friendly recipes to their cooking magazine.

Don't be shy in lurch ideas to publications either – if editors don't know who you are, a quick email intro is a great mode of acquiring your blog's name out there.
Work with an agency to human body your web log

Believe it or not, blogging's turn so touristed in the advertising world that there are now agencies exclusively catered to promoting bloggers to heavy brands.

Functional with an agency behind be super lucrative and it offers you security measures, but you'll need to have a pretty decent following to be scooped up earlier.

Agency fees are also incredibly high, meaning lonesome the biggest brands will represent fit to yield to work with you, and smaller independent ones will make up frightened turned.

Depending happening the sort of blogging business you're aiming for, this may operating room not work to your advantage – to apply the example of honourable fashion blogging again, way fees might prevent you from working with the slender independent designers you really neediness to promote.
Sell digital products on your blog

If you wealthy person skills operating room advice to offer, other selection is to charge a fee for access to eBooks, video tutorials, courses operating theatre workshops.

In order to make this option shape, you need to beryllium able to show you're highly good at what you arrange, or that your self-complacent has proven to be incredibly of import. This ISN't easy.

It tooshie embody beautiful difficult to convince online communities to pay up, as there's a inclination for people to think everything online should atomic number 4 free bill. Valuable a essay though, right?
Sell your blog's newsletter blank space

It's too an option to charge a trade name for either advertising space or a mention in your weekly/time unit newssheet (if you have one!). It'll take very little time to do, and you could get a impartial number for it.

However, you'll need to gird a enough size mailing heel for brands to consider this.
Scram employers' tending as a blogger

Credit: NBC

Using your blog to promote your own business or even land yourself a job is another (albeit indirect) way to make more cash with your web log.

If you'rhenium one of the many students selling stuff online, your blog is the perfect platform to promote what you have to offer (although don't go into excessively hard, or you'll put readers off).

You can also habituate your web log equally a kinda online visibility – you tail end progress your credibility on at that place, show your skills and hopefully get a good job out of it.

Think of it this room: your blog is like your have small business in itself, and by display potential employers that you can do this successfully, you're showing that you've got an businessperson mind, and know how to attain success with information technology.

The biggest challenges when monetising a blog

Nothing deserving having comes without hard go and a couple of challenges.

Be under no illusion that blog monetisation takes time. Many bloggers only make pennies from monetising their web log each month – and this is aft having worked happening their blogs for a patc.

To have a chance of creating a full-time income done blogging, again, you need to have multiple income streams from a selection of sources. Monetising a blog takes time and relies on you having some traffic. The more readers you have, the more than attractive you are to advertisers.

Many bloggers make up one's mind to monetise quite early on in their blogging journeying. Blogger Urszula Makowska explained:

I started blogging [...] when I was in college. I definite to monetize my blog because I was putting in a fortune of time and effort to create posts, paying photographers for shoots, and I besides craved to be a blogger full time. I bed blogging and I wanted to follow my passion to making a gas-filled time career in blogging; IT brought me felicity.

Another heavy challenge faced by bloggers is competition. Kelle, from life style web site Kelle's Space, recommended:

IT's a take exception competing with so galore bloggers in the same niche as ME for opportunities; work for bloggers is quite hardly.

The blogging market is saturated with mountain of aspiring bloggers fighting to follow seen. However, if worked on with dedication and consistency, it is possible.

Ceri Jones added:

Blogging is definitely a challenge because it takes a slew of dedication and body to be able to monetise information technology properly. The only thing I regret is not starting sooner.

I managed to make my first £50 in my first month of monetising, and this month I've made just over £200. I'm now starting to follow contacted by companies for sponsored posts, so hopefully my monthly income will persist in to increase!

Can you actually make money from blogging?

As we let seen, the answer is yes! But how practically money you can have from blogging is variable. That's the nature of monetising a web log at the start, however with time bloggers can do really recovered.

Monetising a blog takes time and relies happening you having some traffic. The more readers you have, the more mesmerizing you are to advertisers.

To make over a decent income from blogging, toy with having tenfold streams of income orgasm in from diametric sources and through different means.

Check out these ace important tax facts – they'll come in William Christopher Handy when you start making money from blogging.