Whether you want to create a personal blog or a profit-making blog, here you will learn the exact steps to create a successful blog in record time.
So, you want to make money by blogging?
Fair warning – blogging is not a ‘get rich quick’ job.
Blogging involves hours of research, writing, website development, and marketing. Most importantly, it’s a continuous learning experience, requiring patience and the right resources.
Having the willpower to overcome difficulties is entirely up to you.
When it comes to the right resources, I’m always here to support you.
Here, you will find all the steps you need to turn your blogging aspirations into reality.
Let’s continue.
What is blogging?
Before we delve into the details of blogging, let’s first clarify what a blog really is.
It’s not just about writing articles and publishing them on your own website or blogging platform.
If you intend to make money by blogging, you should treat it as a business that requires your utmost dedication.
See what we just did there? We just did some research.
As I mentioned earlier, blogging also involves research, marketing, and website development. There’s also the aspect of community building, which is key to developing a trustworthy brand to nurture a loyal readership.
Remember, where there are people, there’s money.
A steady flow of traffic opens up money-making opportunities that can make blogging viable. In certain cases, a blog can also be leveraged to enhance an individual’s reputation and authority in a specific field.
For example, Aileen Adalid is a travel blogger who clearly knows how to make money from her blog. Besides the shop on her blog, here are some ways she makes blogging beneficial – both spiritually and financially:
KevinMD.com by Kevin Pho, MD, is an example of a blog that prioritizes brand building.
It still has money-making channels like display advertising and links to Kevin Pho’s own books. But based on its design and layout, one could assume that making money from the site was an afterthought.
Besides the potential to generate income and enhance your reputation in your field, blogging has other benefits, such as:
Achieving a position in the digital marketing industry Improving your writing skills to pursue opportunities to become a book author Starting your career as a consultant or freelancer in your chosen field Building connections with influential people in your industry Having full control over where and when you work Developing your marketing and negotiation skills No matter what your motivation for blogging is, there’s still a lot of work to do before you can achieve that goal.
Without further ado, let’s talk about the steps you need to take to become a professional blogger.
Step #1: Choose A Perfect Niche
What’s the first step in building a profitable blog?
Nope — it’s not finding the right host for your website.
It’s not coming up with a domain name and registering it, either.
Before you get to any of those, you must first identify the most profitable blog niches for you.
Step #2: Start Your Blog
Once you finalise your niche, you need to know how to build and run a blog.
The good news is, you hardly need any web development experience to accomplish this goal. In fact, I’m pretty confident that you can get a professional-looking blog up and running in less than an hour.
Step #3: Find Blog Topic Ideas
Speaking of SEO, there’s one strategy you shouldn’t ever miss: quality content development.
In order to get on the radar of search engines, your blog needs to signal relevancy. And the only reliable way to do this is to consistently publish informative content.
Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to come up with content topics that readers and search engines deem relevant.
There will be slow days when you simply can’t think of anything to write about.
That’s why I put together this list of 25 ideas to generate blog posts. With this in your hand, you’ll have enough content ideas to keep your blog fresh for months.
Step #4: Develop Top-Notch Content
It’s one thing to be able to come up with attention-grabbing content ideas, it’s another to actually write them.
The thing is, there are thousands — if not millions — of blogs out there who may offer similar content as you. If you want your blog to stand out, you need to improve every single facet of your blog writing game.
Your blog’s appearance? That’s only secondary.
What really matters is the value that you can provide your readers through your content. This step-by-step guide to blog content writing will show you the way forward.
Step #5: Promote Your Blog Content
You may now have the ability to write winning content. The question is, what comes next after publishing them?
I’ll tell you: relentless blog promotion.
The phrase “build and they will come” doesn’t apply in the world of blogging. If you want your content to garner a massive, profitable audience, you need to learn how to promote your stuff.
You might be thinking: “I don’t have the budget yet to run ad campaigns.”
Luckily for you, you don’t need to spend a dime to get the word out on your blog.
I’ve listed down 17 simple ways to promote your blog and build a readership without spending a dime.
Step #6: Make Money From Your Blog
In the final step, you’ll learn how to make money from your blog.
From tons of ways to make money blogging, there are only few monetization methods that give the best ROI.
And you must learn about them so that you can decide which one is the perfect fit for your blog.
Click the button below to get started.
Some Frequently Asked Questions
Let’s face it, even with the information above, you’ll still run across a couple of roadblocks in your blogging journey.
I can’t promise that I can help you solve every problem you encounter along the way. However, I do have the answers to some of the frequently asked questions in the blogging industry.
Q. Do I need to be an expert to be a proficient blogger?
While you need accurate and updated knowledge, you don’t need to be a long-time expert to write compelling blog posts.
Blogging is a never-ending learning experience. It doesn’t matter how many years you have under your belt — there will always be new things to learn.
You do, however, need to do tremendous amounts of research whenever you write articles.
Since your brand is on the line whenever you publish content, you can’t afford to make factual mistakes.
Q. How much does it cost to start a blog?
To be honest, not a lot.
If you’re happy with a subdomain from a blog-publishing service, you can actually get started for free. Even if you decide to purchase your own domain, you might still be spending less than $10 a month.
Should you choose a self-hosted WordPress.org website, domain registration and hosting are your primary expenses. The other assets you need, like themes and plugins, are provided for free — unless you purchase from third-party providers.
Combined, domain registration and hosting shouldn’t exceed over $20 during the first month.
Q. Should I quit my full-time job and focus on blogging?
Absolutely not.
Don’t expect your blog to start making thousands right away. Truth be told, your blogging expenses will most likely exceed your profits during the first year.
Until your blog becomes self-sustaining, you should hold on to any steady source of income.
Q. What’s the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?
Everybody knows that WordPress is the most popular blogging software in the world.
In simple terms, WordPress.org is a free content management system that’s compatible with almost every web host.
WordPress.com, on the other hand, is a premium service that consolidates everything you need in one platform. That includes domain registration, web hosting, WordPress themes, and so on.
WordPress.com has a more streamlined user interface and slightly better usability. On the flip side, WordPress.org is significantly more flexible — not to mention the vast library of plugins that expand functionality.
Q. How long should my blog posts be?
Okay — this can be tricky.
Studies suggest that articles between 2,250 and 2,500 words rank well on search engines. However, blog content can become boring if it drags on for too long.
The solution? Just write content as comprehensively as you can.
If there’s a piece of information that can help readers solve their problem, feel free to include it. Just try to avoid fluff as much as possible and don’t worry too much about word counts.
Q. How often should I post?
Similar to the previous question, there’s no correct number of times to publish content on your blog.
While it’s definitely important to keep your blog updated with fresh posts regularly, don’t pressure yourself to needlessly publish content. Take your time, focus on promoting your previous posts, and never rush a blog post.
