How To Start A Blog And Make Money – A Beginners Guide

A blog can turn into an online business but rarely will make much money to start with. You’ll need to provide useful content, learn how people find your content and give people a reason to return. The benefit is that you’ll build up a large collection of articles and a loyal audience over time.

Choose A Topic

Common blog topics include money, technology, travel, education and health. However, don’t choose something just because it’s popular. Choose something you know about, enjoy reading about or have real experience with.

Try to think of at least 50 useful ideas for articles on your topic without repeating. If you can’t then your topic may be too niche or broad.

Set Up Your Site

If you want your own site you’ll usually need a domain and hosting. However, you can start on a free blogging site. Keep it simple with easy to read text and make sure your pages load well on mobile.

Write For Readers

Every article should answer a real question or help someone with something. Keep your text simple, short paragraphs and headings so people can easily skim through.

Learn Basic SEO

SEO helps people find your content on search engines. Start with;

• Use a phrase that people are likely to search for.
• Use it naturally throughout your title and article.
• Write a meta description which honestly describes what your page is about.
• Use useful images with clear file names and alt text.
• Link to other useful pages on your site.

Don’t stuff your keyword throughout every paragraph.

Post Consistently

It’s better to post one quality article a week. New blogs can take several months to get a steady flow of visitors so don’t be put off by the first few weeks.

How Can I Make Money?

• Display Advertising – You’ll earn based on how many visitors you have and how well your ads perform. You’ll need to have some readers first.
• Affiliate Links – You may earn a small amount when your readers purchase items.
• Sponsored Posts – Once you have an interested audience brands may want to feature on your blog. Always make it clear when a post is sponsored.
• Your Own Products – You can create ebooks, templates or courses for your readers to buy.

Mistakes New Bloggers Make

• Giving up before building up enough content.
• Copying other websites and not sharing your own ideas or experiences.
• Choosing a topic because it looks like it’ll make money.
• Not considering the questions people ask.
• Hoping for visitors without promoting or improving your posts.

Blogging requires patience. Focus on helping one group of people and create quality posts. You may earn money but it’s never guaranteed.