There is no reason why you can’t make money from blogging in 2021. We promise you it’s no longer necessary to be a tech-savvy person in order to generate cash from a blog. More than ever, small business owners and entrepreneurs make money online by setting up simple blogs.
While blogging won’t make you rich quickly, it’s undoubtedly a great side hustle to generate additional cash in the long run after putting in consistent work. In some cases, blogging can even make you enough money to support your family!
This post covers the most popular and effective ways to make money blogging so you can start earning some extra income in no time.
What Is Blogging?
Blogging is the process of self-publishing your writing, photos and other media online. It began as an opportunity for individuals to write diary-style entries, but blogs are now a critical aspect of many business websites.
Blogs usually include frequent updates, informal language and opportunities for readers to engage with your company. It’s a prime way for readers to get to know you or your business a lot better, too!
How Does Making Money From Blogging Work?
Making money from blogging is a pretty simple process. It just requires patience. When people click on ads or follow links from your blog, you will get paid a commission!
Once you have a few posts on your blog and you start garnering traffic to your website, you can work on monetizing your blog. Two of the best ways to get started making money from blogging is by signing up for Google AdSense and the Amazon Associates program.
But these aren’t the only ways to make money from blogging. Let’s explore 5 of the best tips for making money from your blog!
5 Steps To Make Money Blogging
Affiliate marketing, paid reviews, ad placement, sponsored content and ecommerce sales are 5 of the other ways you can make money from blogging. Let’s dig deeper into affiliate marketing and the other steps that you should follow if you want to make money from your blog.
Step 1: Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is the easiest way to earn cash from blogging because you can promote so many different products. Affiliate marketing is when you recommend a product or service to your readers using tracking links.
You will receive a small commission every time someone buys the product or purchases the service via your link. But before you can link products and services, the first step is to think about the products you already use.
Brainstorm all of the items that you use and decide if any of those products sound like items your readers may be interested in, too. From there, research the products and see if the brands offer an affiliate program that you can sign up for online.
Once you have products to promote, it’s time to install a WordPress plugin that can help you manage your affiliate links. A good plugin is one that helps you insert links into posts, create branded links, auto-replace keywords with links and view analytics that display how each link is performing on your site.
Step 2: Paid Reviews
A paid review is when you make money by writing reviews of products or services on your blog in exchange for payment from the brand that sells that product or service. Start by trying out products that are related to your niche for free. From there, you can work your way up and start getting paid by companies for writing reviews.
Of course, the products you review on your blog should be related to your niche and a company will want to see your site demographics to make sure it is a good fit for them as well. According to U.S. law, you are required to disclose that your blog post is a paid review, so look at all guidelines and applicable laws before posting your first paid review.
Step 3: Ad Placement
Many people argue that placing ads on your blog is not the best way to make money, but display ads are still popular despite the negative press that they get. While it’s not the most profitable way to make money, they do work and it's easy to get started with ad placement.
The best way to get started is to install a plugin that tests your ads to see which ones are performing the best. From there, you can use the analytics to determine where to place your ads.
If you want an ad to appear in your article but you only want it to show up after the first two paragraphs, you can easily control the ad placement thanks to plugins. Ads are a great way to make money because you don’t need a product of your own to sell.
However, you do need to have enough traffic coming to your site because this increases the likelihood that visitors will click on the ad. It takes time and patience before ads will start earning you money, but eventually, as long as you stick with it, you’ll get there.
Step 4: Sponsored Content
Sponsored content operates much like sponsorships in sports, TV shows or other industries. When it comes to sponsored content and blogging, a company will pay you to blog about their product or service as a way of promoting the brand to your readers.
Companies will want to see your website’s analytics before they offer to sponsor your content, so be prepared to present a one-page media kit that details your traffic stats, social media following and audience demographics. You’ll want to show potential sponsors how desirable your blog is because this will entice them to sponsor your content.
It’s important to be aware of laws regarding sponsored content in the United States. Sponsored posts must comply with the FTC’s Endorsement Guides. You will need to disclose when a post is sponsored.
Step 5: eCommerce
If you want to make money blogging, adding an online store to your blog can be life-changing. The products you sell can either be physical items like T-shirts or digital copies like guidebooks.
You will need to set up a system for accepting payments. Also, think about how you will store your inventory, organize shipping and handle taxes. It’s relatively easy to set up and customize an ecommerce store on your WordPress blog by using a plugin.
It's important to incorporate products that relate to the topics that you blog about. Doing so will help you earn your readers’ trust, improve your website’s credibility and introduce your readers to exciting products that are related to your niche.
Make Your Blog A Business in 2021
Doesn’t it feel like everyone is earning income in multiple ways in 2021? You can be one of those people, too! By focusing on your blog and putting in the hard work, you can turn your ordinary blog into an income source. As you begin building trust between you and your audience, your readers will be more likely to click on your links, buy your products and invest in the products or services that you recommend.