If you are thinking about starting a blog, just do it. Use this guide to upgrade your blogging skills and learn tested ways to make money blogging. This guide is written exclusively for budding bloggers to help them make the right start.
Keeping a blog has become very popular over the last few years.
People are blogging about a wide range of topics and making money with their blogs.
Someone is out there blogging day and night to share her knowledge with the rest of the world while someone else is inspiring people with his art of living.
Someone is keeping a blog to promote her own line of products whereas someone else is making people smile with his comics.
Someone is bringing a busy executive closer to a nearby eating joint by providing real time information through her blog and at the same time someone else is bridging the gap between a learner and a guitar master through his blog.
If you think you have something special to talk about, start a blog. Use it to let the world know who you are and why they should care about you.
Blogging has become more than just a pastime. Over the last few years, it has transformed into a professional money-making activity. Like thousands of bloggers before you, you too can earn a living through blogging.
Fame, fortune, freedom and finances are just a blog away from you. Act today and start a blog to live the life you have always dreamed of.
We are here to help you start a blog successfully. Let’s begin.
Choose a Blogging Platform
Before you can start making money with blogging, you need to create a blog. And for that you need a blogging platform.
While there are hundreds of free blogging platforms available, we suggest that you host your blog on your own servers. Doing so provides you many benefits such as a custom domain name and total control over your data.
When you go for a paid blog, you can change its design and theme. You can modify and improve its functionality. On a paid blog, you can display affiliate ads and make money by promoting other people’s stuff.
Free blogging platforms are powerful but they do not offer you much control. You get a free account but after a while, you have to purchase more space. You may also have to buy a good looking template because the free ones are usually worthless. Running a successful blog through free blogging platforms is not recommended because in the end you end up spending more money than you save.
So our suggestion is that you register a domain with a web hosting provider and install WordPress or some other blogging software on your personal domain.
Name Your Blog
You must choose a unique and easy to remember name for your blog. If you could keep it short, that will be an added benefit because short blog names are easy to spell.
The name of your blog should be meaningful and above all should not be already taken by somebody else.
Some people try to include the most important keywords related to their business in their blog name. While that can certainly improve your search engine rankings, such blog names are usually long and prone to typing mistakes. Not to mention people hate them.
Create a Responsive Design for Your Blog
Your blog must look great in addition to offering an easy to use interface. People hate blogs and websites that feature offbeat colours and layouts. Always choose a colour scheme that complements your blog’s contents.
People read blogs to get information about different topics. But what makes them stay at a blog is its aesthetics. The more pleasing to the eye a blog is, the more likeable it becomes.
When your readers find your blog attractive and interesting, they may recommend it to their family and friends. But if your blog sports a design that is below par, users will not talk about it.
Pick a blog template that enhances your blog’s aesthetics. When good design is combined with great content, the result is always remarkable.
A responsive design provides another unbeatable benefit: it retains its look and feel across a range of electronic devices including desktops, laptops, smartphones, tablets, HDTVs and more.
Deliver Regular Content to Your Readers
Publish regular content on your blog. Ensure that you content is genuine and informative. And it should not be boring.
Unless your blog’s target audience is Harvard graduates, use a simple language. Use simple, common, appropriate words to deliver your message clearly.
Above all, write like you talk.
Keep a conversational writing style. Imagine that you target reader is sitting next to you and you are conversing with them about your topic. It’s true that face to face conversations provide the benefit of using body language and facial expressions. But believe us you can also achieve the same thing in your writing by using a consistent voice and tone.
Using your natural communication style adds rhythm to your content. People love such content and they share it as well.
Just remember: give your readers something new on regular basis to keep them coming back to your blog again and again.
Also read: Content Strategy for the Absolute Beginners
Promote Your Blog using SEO, Social Media, Linking, etc.
After starting your blog with a bang, move on to promote it.
You may have made a fantastic blog containing awesome content, but it is worthless unless people start reading it.
This is where successful blog marketing comes in and here are some effective ways to promote your blog.
SEO is of course the first point of action. You need to use keywords that mater to your business in your blog. Proper SEO improves your blog’s search engine rankings and better rankings means your blog is likely to be found when people search for the information it contains.
Apart from SEO, you should leverage the power of social media. Create a blog post and then share the big news through your social media profile on Facebook, for example. Stick to only one social network in the beginning and gradually move on to other networks.
You should also try to get links from other blogs. These links are very valuable and can quickly boost your blog’s rankings and reputation. You can get a link from a blog in two different ways. You can get inline links that are a part of a blog post or you can secure a place in the blogroll.
Also learn: The Future of Search Engine Optimization in the Year 2015
Monetize Your Blog
Once you start getting enough visitors regularly, start making money with your blog.
You can choose from a range of money making opportunities. Affiliate marketing is one of the best methods of making money online using a blog.
Pay-per-click advertising is another effective way.
You can also rent out space on your blog pages and display AdSense ads in it to make money.
You can also sell advertising space on your blog and charge money for displaying ads in there.
Apart from that, you can turn your blog into a directory and feature sponsored posts and articles once you start receiving enough visitors. If your blog does well, people would pay attractive sums of money to feature their articles on your blog.
You can also use your blog to generate leads for another business. It is much like affiliate marketing but with one twist. Unlike affiliate marketing, you don’t get paid only when a sale is made. Rather, you get paid once a user provides the required contact information such as their phone number or email address.
You can also sell e-books through your blog. What’s more you can also offer a complete training course through your blog.
Also learn: 5 Easy Ways to Make Money Online without Investment
Before Everything Else, Find Your Niche
Before everything else, you need to find a niche topic for your blog. Niche blogging is becoming increasingly popular.
In niche blogging, people choose a topic that they are passionate about and then they start blogging about it.
To find your niche, answer this simple question: What are you passionate about?
For example, may be you are passionate about cars. You can start a blog where people can find unbiased information about cars. You can help people buy the right cars. You can write reviews about cars. You can include car price guides. You can let people compare different cars. You can even help people sell and buy old cars through your blog.
If you are serious about becoming a successful blogger, choose a niche topic for your blog and start blogging.
Get Ready to Woo Your Blog Readers!
The possibilities of making money through blogging are limitless. Just pick a niche and then deliver impressive content regularly to build a community of loyal readers that will build your business.
When your readers find something worthwhile, they share it with friends and family, promoting and growing your business.
If you haven’t started a blog yet, start one now and take the first step towards making money with blogging.
