How To Start A Blog And Make Money! [Ultimate Beginner's Guide]
Table of Contents
Blogging is by far one of the best ways to make money online – since it’s ‘easy' to monetize a blog through various means.
Affiliate marketing, Display Ads & Paid sponsorships are some of the few ways that can be used to monetize a blog – thus, helping the content creator to earn money from his/her works.
There's no doubt that, a blog can turn into a passive income generating machine in the long run i.e. if you work on it for long enough.
You only put-in a ton of work in the initial stages – but once your articles starts ranking, you can get traffic & sales on autopilot – thus, allowing you to live the true passive income lifestyle🏖.
Having a blog is like having your own piece of real estate on the internet.
A blog is regarded as a valuable business asset i.e. it's like a tree that generates fruits for you on autopilot.
If you check platforms like Empire Flippers, you’ll see some blogs which are being sold for five or even six figures – which proves that they're really valuable.
People gets overwhelmed when they imagine how much they can make from building simple blogs – however, most of them don't know where to start.
But if you're one of those people, then l got your back!
In this post, I'II give you a step by step process that you can follow to build your own blog today.
But before l get into the meat, l need to clarify some few things real quick:
1. Most people want to succeed with blogging – but they aren’t willing to put-in the work.
In order to succeed with blogging, you must be willing to put-in the work i.e. through writing & publishing articles on a regular basis – especially in the early stages of your blog.
Failure to do that will result in unpleasing results.
2. Most people gets into blogging with the ‘get rich quick’ mentality.
But the truth is, it takes time & efforts for your site to start ranking.
But once you built it to a certain level, it’ll generate traffic & sales on autopilot.
This grind needs some patience – because patient bloggers who’re consistent will reach great success.
(Rome wasn't built over night)
Now don't get me wrong....
I didn’t mention this to scare you.
But l want you to be mentally prepared for this grind – so that you can venture into it with the right mind-set.
Because some ‘gurus' will tell you that it’s an easy journey – but once you start facing some challenges, you might easily give up i.e. if you aren't mentally prepared for them.
But if venture into this grind – knowing that it's gonna be tough at times, you’ll keep pushing past those challenges.
~~~~~
Now that I've cleared all these things out of the way, let's dive into the step by step process of creating a blog.
Step 1: Choose A niche
I know this seems obvious, but l need to touch on it a lil bit!
l see a lot of bloggers who want to write about every topic that they find interesting.
But personally, l suggest that you choose one niche & you execute on it!
Why?💁♂️
Because people should know exactly what to expect from your blog i.e. if you’re niche focused.
It also helps to build authority on search engines – because Google will know that you're a trustworthy source when it comes to that niche.
Of course, you can write about different topics here & there – but the majority of your posts should be based around 1 particular topic.
NB: I always recommend people to choose a niche that they're knowledgeable about – so that it becomes easy for you to create content.
But you can also outsource content i.e. if you aren't knowledgeable about the niche.
Step 2: Come Up With A Blog Name
Now that you’ve chosen a niche, it’s important to come up with a name for your blog.
It’s always advisable to use a name that is searchable & findable – so that it becomes easy for people to find your blog.
Also, try to look for a name that’s related to your niche – since this helps a lot when it comes to SEO.
For example, names like healthtips.com, dailyhealth.com, fitnesshub.com, etc. – clearly shows that these blogs mainly focuses on health related topics i.e. as the names suggests.
But keep in mind that some of the names were already taken by other site owners – thus, you might need to make some few adjustments i.e. if the name isn't available.
Step 3: Host Your Domain Name
Now that you’ve chosen a name, it's now time to register that name on a web hosting platform.
This allows your blog to be findable on search engines like Google – since it'll be recognised as part & parcel of the internet real estate.
Thus, it's an important step of the process that you shouldn't skip.
But keep in mind that, new blogs are being created on a daily basis – thus, someone else might take your ‘proposed name’ before you do.
For this reason, you should register yours ASAP i.e. before someone else takes it!
My number 1 recommendation for web hosting is GreenGeeks.
It's recommended by WordPress – which is the largest website builder on the planet – which proves that this company isn't just a comedy🤪.
Grab your domain name below for only $2.95 per month.
Step 4: Start Building Your Blog With WordPress
After hosting your domain with GreenGeeks, you’ll now be ready to start building your blog.
The most interesting part is that, WordPress is automatically installed once you buy your domain name.😁
Thus, you don't need to stress🤯 about any additional costs of using this app.
You can easily build your own stunning blog i.e. using the free themes that comes with WordPress.
You can use a plug-in called Elementor – which is a great tool that helps to simplify the website building process.
With this tool, you can turn your site into ‘what you see is what you get' type of interface – thus, you wont need to stress about any complicated coding staff.
Thus, l highly urge you to use this free tool.
Step 5: Integrate An Email Capture Software To Your Blog
One of the top secrets🤫 of most successful bloggers is that, they build an audience i.e. an email list.
If someone visits your blog today, there's very slim chances that he/she will come back in the future – since there's a bazillion blogs out there which offers similar content.
That's why it’s important to capture your visitors’ emails – so that you can get in touch with them in the future.
Remember, you don't own SEO traffic! Google does!
And if something happens to your site, you might lose all your traffic overnight.🤯
But if you build an email list, you’ll have your own database of customers that you can contact at any time.
And you can also use that list to promote your offers – which is great.😁
If you want to learn more about list building, check out the FREE 90 list building program that’s offered by GetResponse.
Still with me?🤔
Great, let's proceed....
Step 6: Get A Logo
If you want to increase trust with your audience, you gotta have a logo.
This is important for branding – since people will easily recognise your blog through it's logo.
Besides, it also helps to look more professional👨💼 – thus, your blog will look like a real business🏬 – though you might be just bootstrapping in your mom's basement.
That being said, you can create your own logo using Canva – which is a free graphic design tool – though it also has some premium plans.
You can find some great tutorials on YouTube on how to use this tool – thus, shortening your learning curve.
However, if you have some few extra bucks💵 to spend, you can outsource the logo on Fiverr – since there's a ton of talented designers on this platform.
And you can get a nice logo from as little as 5 bucks – which is quite affordable to many!
Step 7: Start Creating Content
Now that everything is setup & ready to run, it’s now high time to start creating content.
This is where most people lose focus – because it takes a ton sh*t of work to write great articles.
But if you want to get traffic & sales, you gotta write & publish some articles to your blog.
👉Helpful Resource: Page: How To Write Effective Blog Posts That Ranks!
It's also important to highlight that, it takes time for new blogs to start getting traffic i.e. it takes months.
For this reason, you should be patient – and continue working on your blog even if you're not yet seeing any pleasing results.
Because if you stick to it for long enough, you'll slowly start to see the fruits of your labour come to fruition🍒.
Step 8: Getting Traffic
Once you have some content on your site, you should start getting some traffic.
I wont rant too much about this issue here – because l have a dedicated article on this topic – which you can read here.
But as l mentioned earlier, SEO traffic takes time⏱.
So you must be patient enough to push through the hard initial phase i.e. when your blog is still under the sandbox📥.
But once your blog builds some trust & authority on search engines, you'll start to get some traffic👥 & sales💸 passively i.e. on autopilot.
How Do Bloggers Get Paid? (Ways To Monetize💵 A Blog)
If you’ve been following this blog for some time, you already know that I'm obsessed with this business model.
Affiliate marketing is the true way to live the laptop👨💻 lifestyle – since it allows you to work from any where in the world (location freedom🏖), set your own schedules (time freedom🕐), & you can earn tremendous amounts of money whilst doing this (financial freedom💵).
Once you have a blog, you can apply for various affiliate programs that sells products related to your niche.
And you can easily recommend these products in your articles & earn commissions i.e. when people buys through your links.
Display Ads
This is the most common way in which publishers monetize their sites.
This is whereby you apply for an ad network like Ezoic – and once you get approved, Ezoic will start to show some ads on your site.
These ads comes in different formats e.g. overlay text, banner ads, side bar ads, amongst others.
The ad network will pay you every month i.e. based on different factors e.g. number of visitors, RPM, seasonality, etc.
Even though ads are a great way to earn money, they're not the best form of monetization (at least in my opinion🤷♂️) – because you get paid less for your traffic.
Paid Sponsorships
This is whereby companies pay you a certain fee – so that you can publish a post that promotes their brand.
This should not be confused with affiliate marketing – because with affiliate marketing, you earn a commission on every sale that’s generated through your links.
However, with paid sponsorship posts, you only get paid a once-off payment💵 i.e. for posting content about a certain brand.
This is also a great way of monetizing your blog – because you can literally earn a significant income from these deals.
But keep in mind that, it takes time before getting recognised by big brands – as most big brands has other influencers that they already work with.
But you can approach smaller brands & you can advertise their products i.e. at a cheaper rate – just to build some relations🤝 with them.
But once you gain some reputation, you can then start to charge premium rates.
Wrapping Up
In my opinion🤷♂️, blogging remains one of the best ways to earn true passive income online.
It's a great venture that can help you to make some few extra bucks on the side – and potentially, replace your full time income.
With the global🌍 pandemic😷 that’s currently going on, you can utilise all this free time to start your own blog & publish some articles on it.
And l urge you to start as soon as possible – because the online space is getting saturated each & every day – thus, there'll be more competition in the near future.
So jump in ASAP before it's too late!
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do l Start A Blog For Free?
There are various free platforms that you can utilise to start your own free blog.
These includes:
WordPress (free version)
These platforms are great because they rank on Google i.e. due to their high domain authority.
But keep in mind that, you'll be using a subdomain like myname.wordpress.com or medium.com/myname.
Thus, you wont have the freedom to use your own custom domain.
Does It Cost Money To Start A Blog?
The answer to this question is YES & NO.
What do l mean?🤷♂️
You can start a blog for free i.e. if you utilise some free platforms like Medium, Blogger, Google Sites, etc.
However, you wont get a custom domain if you use these free platforms – thus, you might need to consider investing some few bucks in getting your own domain.
And the most interesting part is that, you can get a domain from as little as $2.95/month i.e. if you use a platform like GreenGeeks.
If you're able to spend hundreds of dollars every month on the latest designers & fancy restaurants, then why should you hesitate to invest just 3 bucks for your website?
👉Check out some of the affordable hosting providers HERE
Is Starting A Blog Worth It?
In my opinion, starting a blog is one of the greatest decisions to make – especially if you want to achieve the passive income lifestyle.
This is so because, a blog can turn into a passive income business – that can generate income for you in the long run.
If you create content today, you can earn income from that piece of content even years later.
And the most interesting part is that, a blog can be monetized via various means like affiliate marketing, display ads, paid sponsorships etc.
So if you want to create an income stream that requires less capital to start, then you might need to consider starting a blog.
How To Start A Blog On Facebook?
I was surprised when l discovered that you can start a blog on Facebook – since this platform was built as a social platform.
But you can utilise this platform to start your own blog!
You don't need any coding or design skills – since this platform is easy to use.
All you need to do is to head over to the ‘NOTES' section on your profile – and you’ll land on a page that you can use to start posting your content.
And the interesting part is that, Facebook Notes actually ranks on Google i.e. if you write high quality content – because Facebook is a high authority site with a high DA.
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