In this article, we would be showing you various ways you can make money by simply blogging, this can be a side job or even full-time depending on your commitment level and dedication. (We recommend that you build your blog with lltforce.com especially if you are just getting started in the web development industry.)
How to find a blog topic
- Track current trends – What topics are in the media right now? It’s good to pick a topic with longevity, but if you can piggy-back on a trend early on, you can quickly establish yourself as an expert on it before anyone else. Searching #journorequest on Twitter shows what kind of themes journalists are currently reporting on.
- Think about different types of content – Could you do tutorials/how-to guides? Reviews? Interviews? Lists? It might not be what you write about, but how you write which sets you apart.
- Identify your own interests and passions – While all of the above are important, there’s no point in blogging about something you have zero interest in. You’ll quickly get bored and people will spot your lack of enthusiasm. Write about something you really, truly care about.
- Look at other blogs – This should be your first port of call. What’s already successful? And more importantly, what’s missing? Find the gaps in the market.
- Use Google – What are people searching for? Use Google suggested searches and auto-complete to discover what people are looking for – if they’re searching for it, that shows there’s a demand.
How to get traffic online
Traffic online is what helps you bring the income. The more the traffic on your blog the more your potential income. You would want your blog to be absolutely trendy and up to date to keep visitors coming and to keep them in your blog clicking all around.
- Social Media: As with any business nowadays, you’re not likely to get noticed if you don’t have social media accounts.
We recommend setting up pages/accounts for your blog on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and even LinkedIn (you’re essentially your own business anyway, right?). Design these accounts in a similar colour scheme/theme to your blog so your brand is consistent and easily recognizable.
Use them to share new posts and tag fellow bloggers/influencers/companies who might share your content and help it 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 competition to generate more likes. Once you’ve got the followers, keep them interested by posting on a regular basis (not just for new blog posts).
- Connect with other bloggers Make yourself known to other people who blog about similar topics. Despite the fact you’re technically a competitor, you’re likely to be pleasantly surprised by how supportive the blogger community can be.
Many bloggers even have a ‘links’ page on their site which they use to link to loads of their friends within the community in return for a link on your own blog. This will help massively with your SEO (that’s search engine optimisation that is how likely your blog is to pop up in Google searches).
If you engage with other bloggers and share their content, they’ll likely return the favour – you could even work on some collaborations!
- Blog the News: If something happens in the news which is related to your niche, get involved. This is what we refer to as ‘newsjacking’ and it can work a treat for getting you some great exposure.
For example, if you blog about cheap student cooking, keep an eye out for things like the reveal of our latest Student Money Survey. You can get on social media to say your bit with relevant hashtags, get involved in discussions and even reach out to journalists to say you’re available for comment.
If you’re really great at owning your niche, journalists might even come to you.
- Create viral content: Creating viral content will help you reach a new market and, in turn, increase your readership.
This might be easier said than done, but the key to creating viral content is to tap into controversial or highly-discussed topics related to your niche blogging field that is as you can imagine, this often involves newsjacking, as mentioned above. As this is your niche, you’ll be passionate, opinionated and knowledgable about it, so you’ll be able to post an opinion that people want to read, share and talk about.
How to turn traffic into money
If you have successfully built traffic, you may want to turn the already running traffic into your money making machine and take all the advantage. Follow one or as we recommend all of the following steps:
- Affiliate Marketing: Affiliate marketing works by adding tracked affiliate links into the text of your blog. You can make a small commission every time a reader clicks through to a site you recommend and makes a purchase.
The links will lead readers to the website of a brand, and the money you receive is to say ‘thanks’ for sending some of your lovely readers to their site. Almost all online eCommerce websites have an affiliate program of some sort, like Amazon, ASOS and Apple. Sign up to Affiliate Window – a huge affiliate network where you can promote thousands of well-known brands and services from around the world.
You can earn income in one of two ways. CPC (cost per click) means you’ll get a set payment for every reader who clicks the advert,while CPM (cost per thousand) means you’ll negotiate a set payment for every 1,000 impressions the ad gets.
- Add banner adverts to your website: As a more visual way of advertising, you can sell banner advertising space on your blog page to brands that relate to your readers. Adverts can be placed anywhere, but they’re commonly found across the top of blog pages or in the sidebar.
- Charge for sponsored social media posts: If you have a strong social media presence, you’ll be very attractive to brands. Some people actually make their entire blogging income through sponsored posts on social media. You can charge per post/re-post and the fees can be surprisingly high.
You’ll just have to work hard on building your followers first – your ‘social proof’ (or how many people follow you on social media) is seen by brands as evidence that readers will like what you post about them, too.
- Selling digital products: If you have skills or advice to offer, another option is to charge a fee for access to eBooks, video tutorials, courses or workshops.
In order to make this option work, you need to be able to show you’re extremely good at what you do, or that your content has proven to be incredibly valuable. This isn’t easy.
It can be pretty difficult to convince online communities to pay up, as there’s a tendency for people to think everything online should be free of charge. Worth a try though, right?
There are a few challenges though but nothing too serious
Nothing worth it comes without hard work and a few challenges.
It is no news that blog monetization takes time. Many bloggers only make pennies from monetizing their blog each month and this is after having worked on their blogs for a while.
To have a chance of creating a full-time income through blogging, again, you need to have multiple income streams from a selection of sources above. Monetizing a blog takes time and relies on you having some traffic. The more readers you have, the more attractive you are to advertisers.
