How to Make Money Blogging in 2023

Working from home or from anywhere you like at your own pace, having a flexible schedule, and writing about your passion or sharing your knowledge, are the things that make blogging attractive to many. Blogging is also looked upon as an easy way of making money. Starting a blog is indeed easier than it's ever been and doesn't cost much, but making a successful blog takes time and effort. Lots and lots of both.

Besides the technical aspects of starting a blog, this guide points to the challenges you are inevitably going to face and sheds light on the kind of commitment you are going to get yourself into. We hope you won't be discouraged by this information and use it to prepare for the challenges and overcome them.

How to Start a Blog

If you aren't a technical person, words like hosting, domain, and blogging platform may sound scary. Don't fret, they may sound scary but there is nothing complicated behind these terms. Let's go step by step through everything you need to start a blog. But first, you should understand the difference between a self-hosted and a hosted blog.

Self-Hosted Blog vs Hosted Blogging Platform

A self-hosted blog is a blogging software of your choice that is installed and run on the hosting of your choice. Because you run the software, you are in charge of all components of your blog and you are in full control of how your blog looks and works.

A hosted blogging platform is a blogging software hosted and maintained by a third party. These hosted platforms are also called website builders. You can create a blog simply by setting up an account on a hosted platform. You won't need to install and maintain the software but you will be limited to the capabilities of the platform. Dozens of blogging platforms are offered as a service and all of them have different capabilities and limitations.

The majority of guides suggest that your blog must be self-hosted if you are planning to make money from your blog. There is some truth to that, you should certainly avoid free blogging platforms that don't allow monetization of your content and limit what you can do with the structure of your blog. But it's possible to have a successful blog and make money on a hosted blogging platform. If you'd like to run a hosted blog you will need to research and decide what platform will work for you.

However, running a self-hosted blog is preferred by most bloggers and generally is a cheaper approach. That is if you won't succumb to the temptation of buying extras that you don't need at the beginning of your blogging career. In the beginning, you will only need to pay a few dollars a month for hosting and about ten dollars a year for your domain. You may have to put more work into maintaining your blog but you will have greater control of all aspects of it and will not be bound by the rules of a third party. If you decide to go with a self-hosted blog, the first thing you will need is hosting.

Hosting

Hosting is where the files of your blog will reside. Think about hosting as a computer that is always connected to the internet. You will rent this computer to run your blogging software. Hosting is not that important when you first start. If there is something you won't like about your current hosting, you can always change your provider by moving the files of your blog elsewhere. Our suggestion is to spend as little money as you can and see if blogging is for you. You can get hosting from any of these providers:

• SiteGround
• Bluehost

Domain Name

A domain is a website address. MoneyKnack.com is the address of this site and this is how you got here. You will need a domain name so people could get to your blog.

Most hosting providers offer to register a domain on your behalf when you are signing up for their hosting plans. Although it's convenient and sometimes you get a domain for free, there are a few reasons for getting your domain through a domain registrar, such as GoDaddy.

Every year you will have to renew your domain registration. Hosting providers usually charge more for domain renewals and your free domain may turn into a bad deal when the next renewal is due. Also, there could be hefty fees for transferring your domain from one hosting provider to another if you decide to move your blog to another company.

When you get your domain through a domain registrar you are in full control of your web address. If you decide to move your blog to a new hosting, you simply need to point your domain to the new hosting provider without the need to migrate the domain.

The name you want is likely already taken. You will need to spend some time to come up with a domain that you like and that is available for registration. When you finally register your domain through a domain registrar you can point it to any hosting provider or any hosted blogging platform.

Get your domain from GoDaddy.

How Much Does it Cost to Start a Blog?

In the beginning, you will need only a domain name, which costs around $10 a year, and a hosting account, which typically costs between $60 and $80 a year. You don't need anything else. Your primary goal should be writing quality blog posts. Later, when you start seeing the results of your labor, you can spend more on promoting your blog and enhancing its features.

Blogging Software

Use WordPress. WordPress is the most popular blogging software with a large community and great support. It is free and all hosting providers have a simplified process of installing WordPress on their servers. There are plenty of free prebuilt layouts, called "themes", for making your blog look as you like.

Tip: Don't confuse WordPress.com, which is a hosted blogging platform, with WordPress.org, which is the site from where you need to download WordPress software for your self-hosted blog.

Themes and Plugins

You will be bombarded with information about what themes are the best for blogging and what plugins every beginner blogger must install. Beautiful themes do not bring visitors. Plugins won't make your blog popular. Themes and plugins will play a role later but are not important at the beginning. What is important is what you are going to write. Your content is the most important factor that will determine the future of your blog. Don't spend money on paid themes, plugins, or any "extras". Focus on creating great content.

You are probably not going to listen to this advice and spend countless hours on making your blog pretty. But remember, the time spent on anything but creating content will take away from your blog's growth.

Topic of Your Blog

Niche. You will hear this word a lot. Niche is simply a topic of your blog. Writing about a specific topic makes it easier to build an audience, retain and grow it, and advertise to it in the future. You can write about a multitude of different things but if you do, it will be much more difficult to build a readership.

If you are starting a blog as a business you should research a topic that has the potential to be most profitable. Also, consider the fact that you will have to write on this topic for a long time. Do not choose a topic that will limit you in any way in the future. An example of a limiting niche can be a short-term trend or a topic on which you don't have enough knowledge. Choosing a niche that is overly crowded or dominated by big brands may limit the level of your success as well.

How Do Bloggers Make Money?

The most common ways bloggers make money are by displaying ads, placing affiliate links, publishing sponsored posts, and eCommerce sales.

Display ads. Bloggers install a piece of code provided by an ad network to display advertisements on their blogs. When readers click on those ads the blogger gets a commission. Most bloggers start by joining Google AdSense and later move to more profitable ad networks.

Affiliate marketing. Bloggers promote products and services by integrating affiliate links into their content. Affiliate links are trackable links that indicate that the sales are coming from a particular user. Companies pay a commission when someone makes a purchase using these links.

Sponsored posts. Bloggers are paid directly by companies for publishing sponsored posts that promote products or services.

eCommerce sales. Bloggers sell their products or services to the audience. It may be a digital product, such as a course or a book, a service, or a physical product in which the audience may be interested.

Bloggers can make money by using any of these methods or all of them at once.

How Much Do Bloggers Make?

The short answer is from zero to millions a year. But most of the blogs make zero dollars and don't exist for very long. How much you can earn will depend on the success of your blog. Making a successful blog is a long and gradual process. You will have to put in some work before you can monetize your blog. If you are looking to supplement your income immediately, blogging is not the best option.

When You Will Start Making Money and How Much?

You want to know the exact numbers, of course. Alright, here is a short answer to the point. These numbers are just a reference, and your results will vary. But you will get an idea of how much money you can earn.

Typical average earnings per 1000 pageviews are $5 with Google AdSense and $10 with a premium ad network, such as Mediavine. Plus the money you can earn from affiliate marketing, which is highly dependent on the products or services you advertise and the numbers of visitors that visit your blog. Affiliate earning can raise the total income to an average of $25 per 1000 pageviews.

The amount of money you will make is proportioned to the number of visitors to your blog. The more visitors or "traffic" you get, the more money you earn. It will be a while until your blog starts getting decent traffic. When your blog starts getting traffic, you can start thinking about making money and placing ads and affiliate links.

Traffic

While your blog is new, you won't see many visitors. Traffic can come from sources like search engines, social media, email newsletters, advertisements, and other sources. Later you will be using many sources to get traffic, but the goal is to improve your ranking on search engine results pages.

Bloggers rely on traffic from search engines, mostly from Google. Before Google starts sending traffic to your blog, it needs to evaluate your content and decide if your blog should be recommended over other existing blogs. Google takes a long time to evaluate each post, usually between six and twelve months. The more content you create in the beginning - the faster your blog will be ranked. That's why focusing on content creation from the start is the most important strategy. Creating a posting schedule will help you grow your blog consistently.

You Will Need a Schedule

Posting regularly is important for several reasons. It will help with building the readership and will keep your audience engaged. I will help your blog establish "authority" in search engines so your blog is "recommended" in search results. Your schedule will also help establish a habit of writing posts regularly which is a good remedy for procrastination. Make sure that you set a realistic schedule and you have time to blog regularly and follow the schedule.

Content Quality

This is the most important factor that will determine the success of your blog. Don't post anything just for sake of posting. Remember that you are writing for people and your posts should provide value. There are already thousands of other posts on the topic you are going to write about. Your articles must be better in every regard, otherwise, they will be lost in the multitude of other posts. Your posts should be longer, more thorough or more engaging, and have a better structure than those that appear on the first pages of Google. If your content is better, people will want to read it, and your blog will grow.

To Sum Up

You now know everything you need to start your blog. You will need to learn more skills later, such as SEO, marketing, and link building, but for now, you should focus your efforts on creating awesome content. Get your domain name, hosting, and blogging software, and start your journey.