Blogging offers you a side hustle opportunity that’s flexible, and with a low startup cost. And if there’s anyone that understands the money-making potential of a blog, it’s me!
One of the great things about starting a blog is that there are countless ways of making money out of it. However, truth be told, not all blog monetization strategies will be a good fit for your specific blog.
Monetizing a blog takes time, but it also requires taking the right monetization approach.
In this newsletter, we’re going to unpack the various blog monetization strategies available today so that you can select the appropriate strategies for your blog. Let’s get to it!
This week’s newsletter brings you:
- Trends. Choosing the best strategy to meet your monetization goals requires data, so check out the latest trends regarding blog monetization.
- Strategies. We’ll teach you the basics of blog monetization and teach you about the best monetization strategies you can try!
- Tool of the Week. The longer people are on your blog, the more of a chance you have to make money. Learn how Optinmonster can help you monetize and increase your blog traffic.
Trends
Which blog monetization strategy is likely to generate the most revenue? What blog niches make the most money? What factors determine the success of your blog? We’ve laid out all the data for you below!
How bloggers make money
According to this survey by FirstSiteGuide, 22% of all surveyed bloggers said that they aren’t generating any revenue, while 19% say that affiliate marketing is their top revenue source. 17% make the most money by selling various services or products to their readers.
Highest-earning blog niches
One of the most frequently asked questions by bloggers is, “How much money do the most profitable blogging niches actually make?”
For median income, food and personal finance blogs were at the top of the list. The food bloggers had a median monthly income of $9,169, and the personal finance bloggers came in just a hair below at $9,100
The next two niches that made up the top 4 were lifestyle/mommy blogs ($5174) and travel blogs ($5000).
Blog success factors
Bloggers who earn over $50,000 per year place a bigger emphasis on article headlines & introductions, SEO, email marketing, site design, blog name & URL, and relationships with influencers than lower-income bloggers do. Interesting stuff!
Strategies
With the data out of the way, it’s time we dug into the world of blog monetization to learn how to make money from your blog.
How to start monetizing your blog
Let’s start with the fundamentals. What exactly is monetization? In simple terms, monetization is the process of earning money from your website.
And there are various online strategies you may use to start making money from your blog, such as:
- Ads
- Affiliate promotion
- Offerings of physical or digital products
- Subscriptions
- Coaching
- Books
- Guest posts
- And more
So what steps can you take to make these strategies work for you and your blog?
Monetizing a blog takes time and is dependent on visitors. The higher your readership, the more appealing you are to marketers, so your approach to blog traffic has a direct impact on the effectiveness of your monetization strategy.
You should choose a monetization method that matches the peculiarities of your niche. An example of this might be selling eBooks and online courses on your marketing blog. However, you can use affiliate marketing on a fishing blog to sell equipment from your favorite brands, or even your own.
Additionally, you need to be able to choose effective marketing techniques and know how to apply them. Consider expanding your email list and boosting your website’s traffic, for example.
The number of contacts on your email list or the amount of traffic you should drive is not determined by any general guidelines. The factors that determine your earning potential depend on your specialty, and you should always use the best tactics to boost your earning potential.
There aren’t many bloggers who can attract tens of thousands of visitors each month. Even a thousand visitors is beneficial.
To create a successful blog monetization plan, you need to start with numbers. It is important to set specific earnings targets for your blogging so that you are able to plan your activities accordingly.
You could earn $10,000 a month by selling $100 to 100 people or $500 to 20 people if you want to earn $10,000. It is also possible for you to provide two $5,000 consultations. The process of monetizing a blog requires meticulous calculations.
It is not enough to simply raise your rates to boost your income. Rather, choose a monetization strategy that matches the peculiarities of your niche and aligns with your financial goals.
If you want to make a decent living from blogging, you’ll also need to have many streams of income coming in from different sources.
Resources:
How to Make Money From Blogging by Google
How to Make Money As A Blogger by Save the Student
Best blog monetization strategies
As we mentioned before, there are a wide number of blog monetization strategies and the best one for you will largely depend on your audience and the type of content you produce.
Having said that, you should still be familiar with all the different strategies out there.
Let’s take a deep dive into each of them:
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is one method for monetizing a blog that practically every blogger should consider. The purpose of affiliate marketing is to promote another company’s product or service in exchange for a commission when a visitor you recommend makes a purchase.
Some affiliate programs pay based on the number of leads or actions taken. When a visitor completes a lead generation form, registers an account, installs an app, or does something else, you may get a cut of the profits.
It is possible to become an affiliate in almost any field or sector. You can join multiple relevant affiliate programs, no matter what the topic of your site is. Additionally, affiliate networks exist for both digital and physical products, including online courses, ebooks, applications, and software.
In contrast to many other monetization strategies, affiliate marketing doesn’t require you to have a large, established readership. Even modest websites can earn money by promoting products that complement their content and attract viewers. This makes affiliate marketing one of the best ways for bloggers to make money.
The majority of the money made by high-earning blogs comes from affiliate marketing. Depending on the product or service you’re promoting, you could earn a few hundred dollars or more per sale. When it comes to digital products, affiliates typically earn a higher commission than when it comes to physical products.
Another advantage of affiliate marketing is that it can generate passive income. As an affiliate, you will make commissions almost automatically if you have constant search engine traffic and your content promotes products efficiently.
The best affiliate marketing sites allow you to search various affiliate programs and select the ones that offer the highest commissions. The most popular platforms of this type are Amazon, CJ Affiliate, Shopify, and ShareASale. To browse affiliate programs, you only need to register an account.
Sponsored blogs and guest blogs
This is yet another common blog monetization approach that allows you to earn money by producing blog content. You can write about a certain product or topic on behalf of a company, sort of like content outsourcing. Some businesses already have blog pieces they want you to write, so you just publish them and get paid.
Instagram and YouTube influencers who take sponsorships employ the same strategy. Naturally, you will not receive sponsorship proposals until you have established authority in your industry, especially if companies in your niche are unfamiliar with you.
However, if you already have an engaged audience and a regular blogging schedule, you might hunt for companies that could be interested in collaborating.
Joining blogging networks such as ValuedVoice or Massive Sway is the best approach to locating corporations for sponsored posting.
You can sign up for these sites and develop a media kit that includes information on your page numbers, audience demographics, social media activity, and so on. Advertisers will swiftly determine whether or not you can provide them with adequate exposure this way.
Direct ad sales
When you sell your ad space directly, you can choose your own pricing. This method is easier to use than managing clicks and allows you to optimize your revenue.
You can sell your ad space directly to companies interested in your audience by creating a specific page on your website that your potential customers can access. You can also connect with potential customers by using services like BuySellAds. On the flip side, selling ad space directly is difficult because it requires a significant amount of time and effort to negotiate, manage payments, and so on.
Selling your ad space directly has several advantages. However, it also necessitates that you handle numerous technicalities as well as engage with potential clients. All of the legwork can be handled by Google AdSense, and it’s one of the easiest ways to sell ads. Many popular blogs, such as BuzzFeed and Huffington Post, use Google AdSense to monetize their content.
AdSense can be turned into a solid source of passive revenue. However, you need have at least 5,000 daily visitors. As a result, AdSense is a wonderful tool for well-established blogs with high traffic.
In AdSense, the average cost of a click is 30 cents. However, given that many people use ad blockers or just refuse to click on advertising, making AdSense your primary monetization priority might not be the best choice at the start of your blogging career.
Several ad networks, such as Ezoic, Mediavine, and AdThrive, claim to increase their revenue as your traffic grows, making your traffic crucial to this monetization strategy.
One of the most effective methods for increasing your domain authority and organic search traffic is to boost your backlink profile. Your display ad profits will increase as your brand grows and more authority sites refer to you, increasing the number of site visitors you receive.
Writing reviews
Writing reviews might earn you money too. This blog monetization method is similar to publishing sponsored posts. However, it is based on a different content structure. You look for a company that is interested in promoting its product, try it, and provide a review on your site.
The most important thing is to select products that are directly relevant to your niche and the topic of your blog. You can reach out to firms in your niche directly or register on platforms like PayPerPost to identify brands interested in paid reviews.
Selling digital and physical products
Creating and selling digital products and printables is one of the best strategies to monetize your site! The most straightforward method is to set up a Shopify shop with printables for sale, from which visitors can purchase your products directly from your blog or website. You may generate printables for your audience using free graphic design software such as Canva or Powerpoint.
You can think about some of your target audience’s most pressing needs and how you may help them by developing digital products. You can also consider templates, ebooks, planners, organizers, and so on.
The possibilities are limitless, as is the amount of money you may make selling digital things through your internet business.
Email marketing
While it may appear to be a lot of labor, email marketing can be a really effective monetization strategy. Building a solid relationship with your readers can lead to an increase in blog subscriptions.
Emails allow you to sell not only your blog, but also services and offers from your site straight to your viewers. This is a simple approach to increase revenue for your site, but it may take some effort to set up. There are numerous email marketing solutions available to help you get started, such as Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, and Drip.
Provide consultations
You may have come across several poorly designed blogs for financial advisors and lawyers that look terrible and are out of date despite being extremely profitable for their owners.
The reason for this is because these professionals mainly make money from the fees they charge for their consultation services. In this situation, a blog is simply a vehicle for promoting services, and this strategy can be especially beneficial if your blog is new and receiving little traffic.
Resources:
Best Ways to Monetize Your Blog by Blogging Wizard
Monetizing a Blog by Rickorford
Tool of the Week – Optinmonster
One of the harsh realities of blog traffic is that a big portion of your visitors will “bounce,” which means they will quit without visiting another page on your website.
Luckily for you, new technologies are available that prevent your visitors from bouncing, giving you a second chance to earn from your visitors.
One such tool is Optinmonster. Optinmonster is a fully featured solution that helps to substantially lower your bounce rate. It has a quick setup time and a customized anti-bounce strategy. You can build opt-ins, decide when they should display, and then let them run.
