How to Start a Blog (And Make Money on It) in 2022
Blogs are like opinions: Everyone has one. This is for a reason!
A blog that is well-designed and filled with informative content is among the most powerful advertising methods available. It shows potential customers you're a subject matter expert and builds your online reputation. It also shows potential customers that you're a media Centric SaaS Companies like Hubspot that maintain useful, active blogs can even see higher traffic levels than other major media outlets in their respective industries. That's massive.
In this post, we'll break down why blogs are such an important brand-building strategy, before diving into the details of what you need to do to create with a blog. We'll then go over the primary strategies bloggers utilize to monetize their blogs, so you'll have the steps to transform your blog into an effective source of passive income. (Because anyone doesn't think about that!)
Let's get started, and help you go from a beginner to a blogging superstar. These are some tips, if you're eager to get to a particular section:
The advantages of blogging
The benefits of having your website to rank better on search engines to building your brand's relationship with your audience there are a few key motives why each creator or business needs to have blogs.
Boosting your website traffic
We won't go deep into terminology, but this technique is known as "inbound marketing. You blog about a subject the people actually are looking for. Along this route, people will find your name. That means you won't need to spend money on ads in order to get seen. (That's outbound marketing!)
Conway later says that by taking a stand on controversial issues within his field and defending his position, he saw an "huge growth in the number of visitors" and increased his audience up to 20,000 per month. Now, he works in conjunction with freelancers who produce great articles. This is a model that you could emulate, no matter what the field you work in.
Getting discovered via social media
Blog posts aren't just great for driving visitors to your site -It can be utilized for social media. Through this method, you'll increase the reach of your brand and get leads you couldn't get elsewhere. It's easier to illustrate rather than explained. We'll look at an instance.
If you are a seller of lint rollers that you use to write a blog post about strategies for removing cat hair from sofas. In-depth you write about every possible way to get the cat from the place you lie. (Meow.) This post as well as the study that you have put into it form the foundation of your work.
To take it one step further, you could start your own Twitter thread in which you break the hair removal techniques in under 280 characters. This is shorter, easier to digest and gives you access to a new public. Additionally, you can build an Instagram-based video that gives your five best ways to get cats off of sofas. If you're feeling adventurous, you could even film the video on TikTok video on how to use a do lint rolling like a pro.
The blog post becomes more than simply a single piece of text. It's a complete mini-content marketing plan, that includes elements you can spin off to promote your brand across various social media channels. The blog post itself is your best bet to devote the most time. But once it's written, you'd be missing out in the event that you don't invest an hour or two spinning it out for your social media.
See this article on Instagram
A blog post that is shared with (@)
Building your online reputation
It is also a great way to build your online reputation and make yourself known as a subject matter expert. A well-established online reputation can be beneficial for entrepreneurs who are solo and large companies Your blog posts and content that you create today can influence customers for long time to come.
Simply put, people prefer to buy from businesses which help them, rather than anonymous corporate behemoths. Companies would rather hire consultants who give away some benefits upfront than those that don't provide any evidence they can deliver what they say they will.
A consistent, top-quality blog is how you give away the value of your blog and demonstrate your value.
Long-term growth in business
A major benefit that blogging has is its capacity to generate long-term business for your company. When you've published a blog piece, you're the sole author of it (and it's up and running for a long time). You can update and republish the most important posts each year in order to ensure they're ranked well as well as people continue exploring your brand via your blog on their own.
Best of all, your blog content will make first impressions for you. When a potential customer contacts you for the first time, they'll already be able to form a picture of you formed by reading your blog posts. There's no need to introduce yourself, and you'll be able to be focused on solving the problems of your customers and establishing relations with them.
See this article on Instagram
A blog post that is shared with (@)
How do you begin a blog that will be successful in 2022
So now that you know why blogs are so well-known, let's dive into the nitty gritty details about how to start an effective blog. Because blogging has changed significant amount since the beginning that were LiveJournal and TypePad in order to become effective by 2022, you have to establish a clear program and plan for your blog, right at the beginning.
1. Pick your niche
When you begin your blog, it's important choose the area you're going to focus on your blog's content. That's your niche.
If, on the other hand, you pick an overly specific niche, nobody will ever discover the time to find. You might be the biggest fish in a small water body, however, if there's no one else fishing in the pond and you don't think that it's likely to have a significant impact on business.
Imagine you're a tailor that is obsessed with making quilted reproductions of album covers from the 1960s and 1970s. It's possible that there's a small audience who wants to see your Trout Mask Replica quilt. But if you're trying to get new customers to your company, you may be interested in writing about making. This is a broad topic, and there's more people looking for this type of information.
With luck, there are a few steps you can take to identify a lucrative niche which isn't overly crowded, and which people are looking for. Here's how you do it:
Think about your passions or skills as well as business
Your search for a blog niche should start with some serious self-reflection. Consider the following questions--and jot down some brief notes when you're done:
- What is it that you enjoy to do? And what would you like to talk about all day?
- What life skills or experience could you teach or offer to others?
- Within the niche you're drawn to, what areas haven't yet been explored until death?
The majority of the time the real world or your work passions will be the niche that your blog should focus on. This is a place where you already have a wealth of knowledge.
The importance of knowing your market is essential, since it'll take time to build your blog audience. If you're not passionate about your blog niche it's likely that you'll experience an existential crisis and abandon it prior to reaching the year-mark. (And it won't be a pleasant experience (I promise you that). )
Look up Google Trends to find out how well-known your field is
If you've found your own niche, it's time to conduct some basic analysis to discover what people are searching for within your field. It's a lot easier and doesn't require as much soul-searching.
Start by going to Google Trends -- the best free way to measure search volumes (a.k.a. the number of times that people search for phrases in Google each month). Next, you should think of important keywords for your area of expertise. If you're in the field of photography, think of phrases such as "learning photography," "best photography cameras to beginners," or even "photography." Input the keywords into Google Trends, and you'll get a view of the volume of searches in the course of time.
That's all there is to it. What Google's Trends research procedure does is to inform you of the pathways people are taking to get into your market. The research process can reveal trends in your field, as well as indicate whether your area of expertise expands or decreases.
This phase can assist you gut-check whether your niche is the right one. If you're afraid that your niche is too saturated for you to make a mark, stick around -- that's an issue you'll be able to solve.
Find an area of the web that you could be the owner of
The blog's niche could be one that is already popular, like photography, personal finance or healthy eating. However, if you consider which areas within the niche remain unexplored You can create an untapped niche that you can own.
For example: if you're a photographer, then you could drill down from the extensive niche of photography into the niche that is studio photography. You can let someone else write about long-exposure landscape shots. It is possible to concentrate on lighting, arranging indoor photography sessions, and acquiring studio gear.
So, you'll come across as an expert in a particular profession. (Which will help make your business stand out, as well. And isn't that the whole point?)
2. Choose a blog name
Once you've picked your niche (or sub-niche! ) then it's time to choose a name for your blog. It's the name people search for and recall, so it's essential to select one that is simple, memorable as well as true to your branding.
When picking your name You'll need to consider your intended readers, what you'll be writing about, and also what your writing voice is like.
With that background in mind, you're ready to pick names. Below are some possible names you could choose for your brand new blog:
Make use of your name
The creative director Nathan Allebach uses his last name to name his blog and communications company. This strategy has helped people who have read about his experience at Steak-Umm to discover his firm and eventually become customers.
On the flipside the other hand, this strategy of naming may not work for teams, or for blogs with a focus on industries. If you're using a common name like John Smith, you may be unable to rank in Google. (But this is what middle names are you know? )
Pick up a thesaurus
If your blog is geared towards specific industry or field, using your own title could lead to a pigeonhole of your blog. You may want to use a broader title which is representative of the kind of blog content that you're writing about.
It can be a bit tricky however, so make sure you take out your local thesaurus (or Thesaurus.com). It's going to be taking certain industry terms you thought of earlier and plug them into your blog, and then search for synonyms or related words that you could make a base to create your blog's title.
As an example, a name such as The Camera Blog feels generic, so take the term "camera" and input it into the online dictionary. It will give you related terms such as "lens," "mirror" and "35mm" -which suddenly sounds much more exciting.
It is easy to flip them into a new title that fits your blog -such as Lens Tracker, 35mm Mayhem, or Mirrorless Magic. Anyone searching for photography will be able to identify what your blog's about, and you will not disappear into the sea of badly-named blogs.
Use a blog name generator
A different method for naming your blog is plugging some terms into a blog name generator. Choose a couple of terms that are related to your field, then let a naming tool such as BlogTyrant's perform the job. (This name generator will even find out which domain names are available. )
There's no greater example of the strength generated by name generators then the upcoming EGOT winners Childish Gambino. The name he chose for his stage debut via the Wu-Tang Clan name generator in the early 2000s and is still rocking the name a decade later. (It's in existence. Connect "Donald Glover" here, if you're interested. )
It's no shame in letting the robot assist you in brainstorming. As long as you come up with a good, original name, it won't ever be a problem no matter what you did to get the name.
3. Install your blog's host
When you start your blog, you'll need to set up hosting. In layman's terms, this is buying your domain or the URL that your readers will use to access your posts.
Choose the most reliable host. If you go with a bottom-of-the-barrel, extra-cheap hosting provider, your blog may see performance issues, such as lag time while loading. This may not be apparent to you in the first place, but Google's search engine certainly will, which means you'll risk not showing up in Google's search results.
Hosting isn't expensive at all. Indeed, many hosting providers will only cost just a few coffees per month, and they'll maintain your blog running around the clock.
Our Top five recommendations for hosting companies are (in no particular order):
4. Build your blog in a CMS
Once you have the domain you want to use, you're ready to build your blog out in an Content Management System, also called a CMS.
CMS platforms enable you to create your own site without needing to code. The CMS will be where you'll go to create new pages, create content, or update your old content in the future. If you're a blogger, choosing a CMS is like choosing your significant other so choose carefully.
The most common CMS software is WordPress the open-source standard used by brands of all sizes. There are a variety of great CMS systems on the market, however. These are our top choices for you to start:
5. Create and distribute material
After you've established your CMS set up, your next task is to create and publishing content. Content creation is an issue in and of itself, and you could write us a whole book (or weep you out) regarding the method that goes into choosing which content to publish.
Always you should think about these important concerns:
- My target market is who?
- What do they like about HTML0?What are the problems they have?
- What could I do to help them learn?
This method will prevent the possibility of straying from your field, creating off-brand articles, or even creating content on topics that someone else has already written about. This will help you uncover intriguing, untold stories to bring to life for your audience. Happy writing, my friends!
6. Make sure to promote your blog
Once you've put your material available The next thing to do is to make it more visible.
The most effective strategy that we'd recommend is using blog content to create your social media channels. Turn a long-form article into a carousel post on Instagram or even a deep dive thread on Twitter. Open your iPhone and film your own TikTok that breaks down the key points in your piece, then send people to your site to read the entire story.
This kills two birds with one stone. It helps solve the "what to post on Instagram" dilemma, as well as it also brings users to return to the original blog article.
In addition to content reuse as well, we recommend creating your blog searchable. It requires a amount of SEO investigation however it's a rabbit hole that's really worth exploring. You just have to do the necessary keyword research, discover important terms that rank high, and then incorporate them into your article.
It tells Google that your content answers problems that people are searching for, and it'll boost your organic page's traffic to the next level.
Making money from blogging with Four ways to make money blogging:
You've created your blog and are up and running. Congrats! The people are finding your blog and it appears that they're really enjoying the articles that you're posting.
So how do you actually monetize all of the video content?
It's crucial to comprehend the ways that content creators earn profits:
- If you sell your content and earn money directly from your users. For instance, when content is behind a paywall, or structured to be an online course you're marketing your service.
- If you're trying to sell attention to the public, you're using a third-party to fulfill their marketing needs. Think of your "word that we get from sponsors" part of your favorite podcast or links to your recipe site that will lead to Amazon products. These are examples of selling your audience.
1. Advertise on your blog
Setting up Google AdSense (Google's advertising toolkit) on your blog is an excellent way to turn the clicks that your blog earns to cold, direct deposits to your bank account.
How does it work? The blog you have created is accessible to Google's advertisers' network and allow ads to be shown on your blog. Clicks and impressions from ads add up to a monthly AdSense pay-out.
AdSense is free to join, the eligibility requirements are low and the amount you earn from advertising is scalable according to the blog you run, too.
There's a number of different types of AdSense advertisements, such as:
- Image advertisements: Graphic ads available in a range of dimensions.
- Text ads: ads that only display text that can display either one or multiple offers.
- Rich media advertisements include video, HTML, as well as flash advertisements.
- GIF ads: animated images ads.
If you notice that an ad can distract from your blog content You can switch the ad type for one that is more discreet. Also, if you're hoping to earn massive sums of money by selling lots of advertising space There are advertisements that will allow you to do this too.
2. Affiliate network
Affiliate marketing is a sure-fire method to make money from your blog. You provide affiliate links to productsand each time a customer that started on your blog makes a purchase You earn a tempting commission.
You'll want to advertise products that your audience is really interested in. People who read your cooking blogs at home isn't looking to buy a moisturizer... however, they'll definitely be interested in crockpot suggestions. Pick the right products, and you'll transform affiliate ads for cast iron cookware into gold.
We've learned from our experience that there's a ton of ambiguous information available about affiliate networks. Because we care, we've put together a brief list of eight reliable affiliate programs which you can sign up for today:
- Instagram Affiliate
- FlexOffers
- AWIN (prev. Affiliate Window)
- Amazon Associates Program
- CJ Affiliate
- Affiliaxe
- Affiliate Program
- ShareASale
- Udemy Affiliates Program
3. Write sponsored posts
Sponsored posts are another great method to convert your blog's traffic into passive earnings and this is especially true with a committed readership. In exchange for a per-post charge, you'll integrate advertising for a company's product into your blog posts.
It's a winning for everyone. You get the benefits. is money. Your sponsor will get an authentic piece of third-party of content, which will promote the product (without appearing to be an unfeeling product placement).
Sponsored posts may be in various forms such as:
- Posts written by a sponsor that you post
- Blogs that you write on behalf of a product or service sponsored by a sponsor
- Links to sponsors' website and/or product pages
- A list that includes positive coverage for a brand's product
- An announcement of a new product which gives a limited-time discount to blog users
It's important to mention that in most cases you'll get approached to create content for sponsored companies. It's not a good idea to pursue companies, but in the end, that can make you look desperate. Just focus on creating quality content that is distinctive within your field And, over time, they'll be there for you.
4. Offer online classes
The online course is the most efficient and scalable way to earn money from your blog. Blog articles are a great way to introduce people to the personal brand or company you represent However, the process of assembling your experience into well-organized courses is more valuable. (And you can make it very lucrative!)
Once you've created a course, the course is completed. It's possible to modify the course content from time to intervals, but the course is a finished asset that will be available to your blog's audience to forever. And if your blog becomes an authority within your field, your bank account could shoot up. (No we've witnessed this happen a number of times. )
See this article on Instagram
So, what's next?
Once you've figured out how to create your own blog, you're likely to be seeking ways to transform your platform into a profitable cash-flowing business. We've already said that the fastest, most effective way to monetize your blog and earn passive income is to start creating classes.
That's where comes in. We make it easy to drive revenue from your blog through repurposing your content into self-guided online classes and membership websites. Our simple-to-use platform for course design aids educators, coaches as well as digital content creators create interactive, customized e-Learning experiences to help grow profitable online companies.
Start for no cost and receive the course creation as well as marketing and sales tools you need to take your company to the next level. (No tech skills required! )