Whether you want to earn a passive income from the blogging business or make it your primary income stream, you can’t go too far without an effective strategy.
With the right approach, a significant number of bloggers have found this online business to be lucrative.
The Content Marketing Institute found that 94% of B2B organizations used short articles in the past 12 months, making blog posts the leading content type among digital marketers.
Choosing a profitable niche is a vital step that positions your new blog for success. In this guide, we’ll go over how to get your blog ready for monetization, how to make money blogging and tips to help you make the most of these techniques.
How to choose a profitable blog niche
Not all blog niches are created equal. Some niches generate more blog income than others.
This boils down to three key points:
- The number of people interested in the niche.
- How competitive the niche is.
- Whether the niche lends itself to monetization.
For example, if you’re focused on a popular blog topic like “European vacations,” your new content will be pretty marketable due to its high search traffic. The larger your market size, the higher your earning potential.
On the downside, there are already thousands of other bloggers writing about popular topics. In this case, finding a more specific focal point, like “vacationing in Italy as a solo traveler,” can help you narrow down your niche while still writing about a topic that appeals to a large audience.
Considering your monetization options can also help you choose a profitable niche. For instance, selling personalized tours of Rome might make you a decent amount of money. But you can earn even more through advertising, affiliate marketing and selling travel e-books.
Some topics are much easier to monetize than others, making them more popular among bloggers.
Profitable niches today include:
- Personal finance: With assets under management set to hit $145.4 trillion by 2025, people need information on how to invest their money and reach their financial goals.
- Blogging: There are over 600 million blogs, and many new bloggers need help to become successful.
- Food: RankIQ found that food bloggers had the highest median monthly income at $9,169. They were also more likely to have at least 50,000 monthly sessions.
- Lifestyle: The same study by RankIQ reveals that approximately 25% of all new blogs are lifestyle blogs, making this niche worth considering.
- Travel: More than 80% of travel enthusiasts surf the web for tips and advice on planning their next trips. So, starting a travel blog is a great way to make money online.
Setting up your blog for monetization
Before you start looking for sponsorships or implementing your digital marketing strategy, ensure your blog is ready for monetization.
Here’s how to prepare for blog monetization:
Create a professional website
Not only do you need a monetization strategy, but you also need an attractive, optimized website ready for your target audience.
If your website could use a bit of a facelift, check out Bluehost WonderSuite. This easy-to-use website builder helps you create a beautiful website optimized for humans and search engines.
Your website must look good on both desktop and mobile devices. Approximately 76% of American adults have bought something on their phones, so optimizing your blog for mobile devices enables you to reach a wider audience.
Even if you aren’t selling items on your website, you should still keep in mind that 56.28% of web traffic comes from mobile devices, so chances are the majority of your audience views your website from their smartphones.
Publish high-quality content
While a professional website boosts your credibility, you don’t want to be all style and no substance. Your website should have great posts that are already getting readers to stick around before you work on monetization.
In other words, populate your blog with posts that:
- Are engaging and well-researched.
- Are written with SEO (search engine optimization) in mind.
- Aren’t too short — aim for at least 500 words.
- Aren’t too long — any more than 3,000 words, and readers could lose interest.
- Include high-quality images. Bloggers who use 7-10 images per post are more than twice as likely to report improvements in their blog’s performance.
Your publishing frequency is just as important as writing great content. Publish new posts a few times a month — more often if you want to make the blogging business your full-time job.
Comply with relevant regulations
While populating your blog with high-quality content, you want to ensure you’re not using copyrighted materials without the owner’s consent. These include images, audio files, video content and even text.
To avoid copyright infringement and establish a strong reputation for your small business, create your own content or obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Regulatory compliance also involves understanding tax implications. As a best practice, consult a legal professional to ensure compliance with relevant regulations.
Optimize your website for search engines
If you need help with SEO, there are several top-rated SEO tools you can use to boost your ranking in Google search. You may need to add more structure (e.g., headings and bullet points) to your posts or find new keywords that match the search intent of your target audience.
SEO tools eliminate the guesswork by suggesting relevant keywords for your blog. Regardless of the size of your niche market, optimizing your website for search engines increases readership by bringing your content to the people most interested in it.
How to make money blogging
Now that you’ve chosen your niche and designed a beautiful, navigable website, it’s time to make money blogging. The blogging business offers multiple avenues to make money online. While you can opt for one monetization method, combining different strategies increases your earning potential and accelerates revenue growth.
Here’s how to make money blogging in 2024.
1. Join an ad network
Google AdSense, Mediavine and other ad networks offer a passive way to make money blogging. When you join an ad network, you’ll allow companies to display ads on your website in exchange for a commission.
Ad networks are growing in popularity since they offer a convenient way for bloggers to earn money online, even without selling any items. To start earning from ad placements, you only need to choose your preferred ad network, create an account and add a code snippet to your website.
There were over 49 million websites running Google AdSense as of September 2023. Remember how we said there are about 600 million blogs online right now? That means almost 1 in 10 blogs is running AdSense.
Joining an ad network is an excellent way to make money blogging — you don’t have to spend a lot of time and effort. So, you can earn passively, even while you sleep.
2. Sign up for Ko-fi
This free service allows you to ask readers to buy you a coffee. Essentially, you add a code snippet to your website, and readers can pay you if they find your content helpful.
Ko-fi is a great fit for less profitable niches that don’t typically lend themselves to monetization. If you’re passionate about a blog niche that doesn’t offer opportunities to sell your own products, signing up for Ko-fi could be an excellent way to earn from your hard work.
Ko-fi allows you to sell memberships and merchandise or just ask for donations. You can even install a WordPress plugin for Ko-fi, so you don’t have to spend much time setting it up.
3. Sell digital products
This is another great way to earn passive income as a blogger. Selling digital products means you can make money anytime and from anywhere.
Stock images, e-books, apps, music, podcasts, plugins, templates and printables are just a few of the countless digital products to sell on your own blog. You can also offer digital marketing, freelancing and consulting services.
The digital product you create depends on your niche and expertise. For example, if you enjoy dancing, consider granting access to your choreography videos for a fee.
If you intend to sell multiple products, you might decide to create an eCommerce store so potential customers can browse through your catalog with ease.
4. Write sponsored posts
Sponsored posts are any blog posts you write to promote a company’s offerings in exchange for compensation. For example, if you run a baking blog, you might write a sponsored post for a flour company.
Writing sponsored posts can be a lucrative passive income idea if you have a large following. But even if you don’t, you can still gain traction with the right companies. The food blogger Pinch of Yum is an excellent example.
She works with popular food companies and grocery stores in her niche. She even creates recipes specifically for some of their products, helping to drive interest in the brands.
Approximately 83% of consumers say they are “highly likely” to buy something a micro-influencer they follow recommends. So, if you have a sizable audience, you can earn money online by publishing blog content that promotes a particular brand.
5. Sell physical products
Depending on your niche, physical products could be a good fit. Thanks to print-on-demand companies like Printify, you can start a side hustle selling custom products without having to open a physical store. You can create unique tumblers or stickers that feature your artwork, thereby monetizing your creativity.
But selling physical products isn’t limited to print-on-demand items. You can sell other items related to your niche.
For example, if you’re a health and wellness blogger, consider selling supplements and other products that contribute to healthy living.
6. Create online courses
Similar to selling digital products, you can create online courses or tutorials depending on your expertise. Whether you blog about business, finance, education, technology or fashion, there are countless opportunities to create unique courses that provide value to your target audience.
You can start by creating a step-by-step guide on a particular topic. For example, if you’re an experienced teacher, consider creating an in-depth guide to setting up a classroom in 2024. Offer a sneak peek of what you know, then disclose additional information to those who sign up for your online course.
7. Join an affiliate program
Affiliate marketing is another convenient way to make money blogging. Affiliate marketing involves promoting a company’s offerings by sharing a unique link with your audience. You earn a percentage of each sale the company makes through your marketing efforts.
There are many affiliate networks to work with. One of these is the Amazon Affiliate Program, which allows you to earn money by promoting affiliate products on Amazon.
You can also join the Bluehost Affiliate Program, where you’ll earn a commission for recommending our hosting services to your audience.
Tips to make money blogging
Deciding how to make money blogging is crucial for profitability, but optimizing your blog for monetization is just as important.
Here are five tips to help you achieve your blog monetization goals:
Promote your blog
You want to continue to market your blog while monetizing it. If you haven’t already, launch an email marketing campaign to spread the word about your blog. You can reach thousands — and even millions — of readers by building an email list.
Write monthly or weekly newsletters that inform subscribers about new products you’re offering and give them a preview of your latest blog post.
In addition to email marketing, you can promote your blog through guest posts, online forums and paid advertising.
Post relevant content
Imagine you run a travel blog. It wouldn’t make sense to write product reviews for salad spinners just because a company approaches you about it.
You want your monetization strategy to align with your niche and provide value to your audience. This means physical products your readers would actually use, affiliate products that spark their interest and targeted ads related to your niche.
Keep up with industry trends
Industry trends are constantly changing. The way people make money blogging in 2024 is completely different from 2010. Some monetization methods listed above, like Ko-fi and certain affiliate programs, weren’t even around then.
As you grow your online business, keep a close eye on the latest trends and news, as well as your competitors’ responses to these changes. This enables you to write relevant and timely content that builds your audience and potentially increases revenue.
Create multiple income streams
Take an omnichannel route when deciding how to make money blogging. You can run ads, sell digital products, have a Ko-fi button on your website and write sponsored posts, all at the same time. If you only focus on one monetization strategy at a time, you could lose out on other revenue sources.
You don’t want to forget about social media either. For example, if you’re selling physical products, you can promote them on your blog and sell them on your social media pages.
Enhance the user experience
You want your readers to enjoy their time on your blog. So, ensure you don’t have too big of a disconnect between your content and the monetization methods you choose. If all your readers see on your website are ads, CTAs to buy your e-book and links to buy your latest course, they may lose interest in your blog.
Limit the number of pop-ups and ensure ad space doesn’t overwhelm your blog. This way, your website will be accessible and easily navigable, encouraging visitors to become more immersed in your content.
Final thoughts: How to make money blogging — tips and best practices
It can take time to become a successful blogger and make money consistently. However, with the right strategy and a comprehensive grasp of how to make money blogging, you can achieve your blogging goals.
Before looking for monetization options, position your blog for success by creating high-quality new content, optimizing your website for mobile devices and following SEO best practices.
Create awareness about your blog and drive organic traffic to your posts. This can be via email or social media marketing.
You also want your website to be secure, fast-loading and easy to navigate. A reliable web hosting company will help you get there.
With Bluehost’s WordPress hosting, you’ll gain access to a comprehensive suite of SEO tools, a beginner-friendly website builder and secure web hosting that’ll keep your website running 24/7.
Contact us to start your blogging journey today.
How to make money blogging: FAQs
How long does it take to make money blogging?
It can take a bit of time to make money blogging. For some bloggers, it takes at least one year to start earning up to $1,000 per month. However, this number will vary depending on how you intend to make money.
The timeframe also varies depending on how enthusiastic you are in promoting your blog. Bloggers who implement an effective digital marketing strategy earn more than those who don’t advertise their content.
How can I drive traffic to my blog?
You can generate organic traffic by posting high-quality, engaging content regularly. Aim for at least one to two posts per week.
You can also increase page views by boosting your SEO efforts. A combination of on-page SEO, WordPress plugins, technical SEO, and off-page SEO will help you rank higher in search results so the right people can discover your blog.
How does keyword research impact blog performance?
Keyword research can boost both your blog’s performance and your ad revenue. If you target keywords relevant to your audience, you’ll not only be meeting search intent, but you’ll also be creating posts that tell advertisers exactly what your readers are interested in.
