How to Monetize a blog? Some Essential Rules of Success

Are you a blogger struggling to make money? Read these effective to-do steps on how to monetize a blog?

More and more people are magnetized by the idea of making money online. Nowadays one of the most common types of websites is a blog, and one of the most popular ways of online money making is blogging.

The creation of a blog is available for any user; as practice shows, almost any blogger can earn some money. It might look hard at first sight.

Here you will find a lot of useful information that will help you sort out how to monetize a blog and become a successful blogger? And, what is even more appealing, is how to monetize your blog!

So, you just want to get some money online? Or perhaps you want to turn your hobby into a valid source of income? Anyway, firstly you should create a successful blog that will attract a lot of visitors.

The first secret of monetization is simple but complicated to achieve. The main factor that provides you with a valuable income is large traffic. You might be confused now, asking yourself a question: what should I start with?

1. Choose Your Niche

First things first, you need to choose your niche.

The perfect niche for you will be, obviously, in the field where you have at least some knowledge. What is more, you undoubtedly should be interested in this topic.

The readers will find your blog valuable if it is dedicated to the sphere of special interests or a market that is well-known to its author.

You have probably heard about the so-called “expensive” and “cheap”, promising and not very relevant themes for blogs.

Indeed, a good commercial blog in a perspective niche (such as, for example, on the themes of finances or medicine) can provide you with a larger income than a blog in a niche of entertainment (for example, about the life of celebrities).

You should be attentive, as this regularity may be rather trapping! You definitely should not choose a theme for your blog only based on the popularity of the niche and on how expensive it is.

It may be surprising, but the statistics show that a good and highly visited blog of a “cheap” and not the most popular thematic has a very high chance to bring you more money than a rarely visited blog of an “expansive” thematic.

However, we won’t force you to avoid competitive themes. It would be just unwise. The main idea is centered around a simple fact: to earn the money you have to create a good, interesting, and highly-visited blog.

Here are some questions that you can ask yourself

They will help you in the process of finding your niche for the affair.

What am I good at?

Having a deep knowledge of a topic provides you with an advantage over your competitors. Especially if you know a narrow theme.

What am I interested in?

A true interest in the topic and your real passion will serve you in good stead – you will dive into the topic gaining expertise. Your readers will feel and appreciate it.

What am I going to write about?

You should think about choosing some specific aspects of your topic as well as interesting details; it will differentiate you from the competitors making your content unique and more interesting for the visitors.

Now choosing a niche for your blog seems to be a little less complicated, isn’t it? Nevertheless, there are some traps left. A lot of beginners make common mistakes while choosing their niche; we will help you save your time and avoid them.

2. Some Useful Tips to Monetize a Blog

2.1. Blog About Everything

The most common mistake is making a blog about everything you are interested in. Some people are submitting a huge variety of things at the same time.

They post a serious article with an analysis of a particular field, then – a cute video about kittens, and after that – a description of their trip to another country. Such kind of a blog may serve as your diary.

Unfortunately, you will never be able to monetize it and attract visitors (perhaps only if you are a huge celebrity). To gain success, you should choose a certain topic in the circle of your interests.

2.2. Choosing a Broad Niche

Choosing a very wide theme won’t be good for you; you can’t be a specialist in everything. People are searching for specific information to satisfy their requirements or solve their problems.

If you had to buy a new computer, where would you go: to the household appliance shop or a specialized computer store? Obviously, most people will choose the second option.

They would prefer the ability to get a certain configuration, software, and equipment. They would choose to be consulted by specialists, who know their business in and out.

The situation with this is practically the same; a person is looking for specific information that can satisfy his or her needs.

2.3. Choose a Topic of Less Interest

An opposite mistake is also rather common: choosing a niche that is too narrow won’t make you successful.

If too few people are interested in finding information on this topic, you simply won’t have enough visitors to your blog. You should try to find a golden mean.

2.4. Choosing an Abstract Theme

If your theme is too abstract, it will be hard to monetize it. Non-practical information is hard to sell just because it will be hard to write the advertising text for it.

You will face problems with traditional copywriting. Copywriting sells the specifics, some specific actions.

For example, how to cure something, how to cook, and how to make money on the internet. It is easy to sell because it is easy to describe. You can present a practical result to a person.

2.5. Choosing a Niche without Knowledge

Choosing an “expansive” niche, you are not interested in and unskilled in it’s doomed to failure. You won’t be able to create even more or less valuable resources for the visitors.

What is more, you just will not want to work. Torturing yourself with a job that you don’t like is the worst self-punishment.

Don’t try to chase after money – it won’t bring you success and just will make you unhappy with your work.

3. Blog Design

Researchers show that the design of the website is the key factor in the visitor’s decision to trust the Internet resource.

In other words, at the moment when a person visits your blog for the first time and decides rather stay or not, the design exactly plays the main role.

You should keep in mind that the visual design can affect the convenience of navigation and site adaptability.

In its turn, it affects the impression of the users about your blog. It is first-rate for your blog to have handy navigation.

Furthermore, it should be attractive to a visitor. The psychologists proved that too large a variety of options reduces the conversion. It concerns the design as well.

• It should be simple, without any unnecessary extra elements.
• Avoid placing too many elements in the sidebar.
• A large number of widgets will only embarrass your readers.

Remember about the great influence of colors on the subconscious part of our mind. Use it to your advantage! Try to avoid using too many colors – it looks very distracting.

Choose a pleasant color scheme that will correlate with the theme and image of your blog. Keep your design stylish, spick, and span – and you’ll win the hearts of the viewers at first sight!

4. How to Write a Good Post?

Well, now you know how to take care of the body of your blog. It’s time to think about its soul. Yes, you are right – it’s time to talk about your posts!

Remember that your text has to be useful for the readers. It has to save their time, help them to make the right choice, and warn them about some changes.

First of all, pay attention to choosing the right format. Your goal is to make the text laconic, useful, and easy to read. Your post has to attract the reader’s attention. Here it would be useful for you to work on the structure of your post.

• The structure is like a good frame for your text that helps you express your thoughts logically and makes it easier for your readers to perceive the given information.
• Think about creating a good and attractive title. The statistics showed that the title determines the viewers’ decision rather than reading the post or skipping it. Don’t make it too long.
• It will appeal to your viewers making them want to know what’s in the post. What is more, it will improve SEO and increase the number of new visitors. There are a lot of other ways to enlarge your blog’s traffic.
• The title leads the reader to the post. The introduction makes him continue reading. Try to start your post with an interesting story! It will attract around 300% more readers and will make them stay to read your post to the very end.

4.1. Qualities of a Good Blog Post

Perhaps you’ve heard that most people don’t read the texts online, they rather scan them. Your main helpers here are the sub-titles.

They help create a decent structure and organize your text. They make your post easier and more comfortable to read!

To make your text even more convenient, add different kinds of lists. They help in receiving information.

You can make lists of any kind you like – marked or numbered. Just decide what kind of list will be more suitable in your case.

Avoid making gigantic paragraphs! Your paragraph should optimally contain 3 – 7 sentences. You can divide it into some sub-paragraphs if needed. Make sure to organize them wisely!

Don’t be afraid to add some links! They play a role as an additional source of information and help in your blog’s navigation.

You can add both inner links and links to some relevant sites. (Google bots will like it – a plus to the SEO)

Add a short conclusion at the end of your post. It should contain a very brief summary of all the information given above. It can also contain a question or a motivation to action.

5. Quality Content is the King

We’ve talked about the structure of the post, now let’s move on to its substance. Content is the most important part of every blog. A recipe for success consists of many factors.

Here are some tips to improve your skills in creating qualitative and relevant content:

5.1. Write about something that you like

It is the best way to make your blog popular. When you write about something you are fond of, it increases your chances of becoming popular, intersecting with the tastes of your readers. Moreover, you will feel satisfaction from your work!

5.2. Be honest

Gaining the trust of your readers is of great importance. You have full control of your content, so don’t overuse it! You are responsible for all the information that you give to people.

Post only well-tested facts. Write only something you are sure about. Give your readers only reliable materials, and you’ll gain their trust; your blog will be known as a prestigious and dependable source of information.

5.3. Write original content

You don’t need any problems with copyright and plagiarism. Good and original content is one of the most effective methods of resource promotion.

The value of the original content in promoting your blog can’t be overestimated. Search engines take into account the uniqueness of the content when indexing and ranking resources.

Original content will draw the attention of the target audience to your resource. It will also accelerate its indexation and promote it to the top of the search engines.

5.4. Be useful

Give your visitors valuable information, and you’ll notice, that they not only read it but also share it. It is very good for you – your blog will become more popular, and you’ll get more viewers.

5.5. Find your unique style

If you have a style of writing that is easy to recognize, your blog is going to win the audience’s hearts without rivals! Some phrases or keywords may become your secret weapon.

Here is more useful information that will help you become a very successful blogger.

6. Monetize Your Blog

Congratulations! You’ve made your first steps to creating a successful blog. How about a reward? A good blog with valid content and a sufficient number of visitors can and even should be monetized!

There are dozens of ways to make money from your blog. You can choose one or a number of them to monetize your awesomeness!

There are two main ways of monetization to choose from: selling advertisements and selling your products and services. Let’s talk about them in more detail.

The most popular way of monetization is the selling of advertisements. It has a variety of different methods. Here are the most effective and popular of them:

6.1. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is one of the tools of the Internet’s marketing mix. How does it work? You publish an ad unit or a link on your blog. If the user follows the link and performs the target action – you receive a reward.

This monetization technique effectively provides you with a profit. There are a large number of different affiliate platforms for you to use.

For example, Commission Junction, ClickBank, Google Affiliate Network Commission Junction, ClickBank, Google Affiliate Network. Such platforms use special tracking technologies.

A lot of bloggers actively work with the well-known Amazon. It is most commonly used by bloggers who write about electronics, cosmetics, perfumes, and clothes. Amazon Associates program is one of the oldest affiliate programs.

It is based on the principle of pay-per-sale (PPS). You put a link to one of their products and get a reward if your user buys it. It allows you to get from 4 to 15% of the purchase price.

(The percentage depends on the number of sales per month. The more sales you help them to make – the higher this percentage is).

6.2. Contextual Advertising

Contextual ads provide advertisers and publishers with a CTR that is above the market average. The secret of its efficiency lies in the following: advertising information is integrated into the information content of the page.

It means that the system shows your visitors the ads that match their current interests. For example, if the user reads an article about choosing a good camera, this person is likely to see the advertisement for cameras in the ad unit.

The largest contextual advertising system is Google AdSense. It is a Pay-per-click (PPC) advertisement. The cost of a click depends on the subject, authority, attendance of the site, and many other factors.

For each unique transition, you, as the blog owner, receive a certain sum of money after the deduction of the commission of the Google advertising network.

The methods mentioned above are effective and well-known. How about something new and unique? Many bloggers are earning a decent regular revenue from Adsense. If you have a blog that receives around 1,00,000 pageviews a month, you can earn a splendid revenue.

6.3. Secret Methods

Yes, monetization through advertising still works. Nevertheless, the advertising blindness of the audience reduces the effectiveness of commercial messages. That’s why we can’t be sure about its future.

Unlike the methods, based on selling the advertisements, our secret methods of monetization are connected with selling your services and products! Just think about it: instead of spending your time promoting someone else’s business, you put your effort to develop your biz!

Participation in the market is a real alternative to the advertising model of monetizing a blog. Here is how this system works: a blogger does what he writes about, and gets money for it. There are some possible variants:

Create your own business and promote it on your blog:

A person first does some business: an online store, a manufacturing enterprise, a private clinic, etc. Then this person creates a blog, that shows their expertise and attracts customers.

Grow the business out of your blog:

A person creates a blog and then starts a business that is related to its theme and grows from it. It can be anything: from the online store to hand manufacture.

Need some ideas? Here are some brainchildren for you.

1. Create a Teaching Program

You can create any course connected to your expert field. It may have different forms: tutorials, videos, different podcasts, etc. Think about something you are great at and create unique content that will be useful for people.

2. Work as a Consultant

This method will work best if you have already built a reputation as a blogger. You can offer people some private consulting services that are connected with your niche. You can meet them in person or communicate online, for example by using Skype.

3. Sell your Services

Use your blog to offer people to hire you. Create an advertisement for your professional services. Organize your blog in such a way that it would be easy for people to hire you and receive your help via the internet or in real life.

4. Create a Webinar

You can create an online workshop – if you are a well-known blogger, people will pay for the ability to hear from you online. It would be good to give your audience the ability to interact. It would be very useful to bring up different videos, photos, presentations, etc.

5. Write a Book

If you are very experienced in your niche and have a good reputation, you may want to write your book. You can sell it directly on your blog, getting a full price and more traffic as well.

To sum it up, you can see that how to monetize a blog is not easy, but an extremely interesting process. Remember that everything depends on the popularity of your blog and the traffic.

You should start with developing a reliable base – find your niche, create a suitable design, fill your blog with high-quality content, and remember about SEO. Hard work pays.

Last Few Thoughts…

Even though, there are a lot of opportunities available on the Internet, starting a blog and running with a passion is the most profitable source.

Every business has a structure and if you learn to create a business around a structure/frame, the success will no longer wait for you.

If you have a computer and an Internet connection, you can find lots and lots of good online jobs to work from home.

Hope this article may have delivered some refreshing thoughts on starting a blog and how to monetize a blog.

If you have any thoughts (or) suggestions, feel free to discuss them in the below comment section.