Starting a blog can seem intimidating, but with the right strategy and persistence, it is possible to earn up to $9,000 per month blogging. With over 500 million blogs on the internet, blogging is an ever-growing industry that allows individuals to share their passion, connect with an audience, and make money online.
Introduction
Blogging has many benefits beyond just making money. It allows you to build authority in your niche, express your creativity, build connections, and promote your other projects. However, blogging can also be a full-time business if done correctly.
Some of the top benefits of blogging include:
- Flexibility: You can blog whenever and wherever you want. You set your working hours and environment.
- Passive income: Blogs can generate income through ads, affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, etc. This income can continue even when you aren’t actively blogging.
- Low overhead: Starting a blog has a very low cost. You only need a domain, hosting, and time to create content.
- Build authority: Regular blogging helps establish you as an expert in your niche, leading to more opportunities.
- Own your platform: You have full control over your blog and brand without relying on other platforms.
- Creative outlet: Blogging lets you share your knowledge and passion with a wider audience.
With the right strategy, a blog can earn $9,000 per month or more. However, this requires consistent, high-quality content as well as promotion of your blog. Let’s look at the step-by-step process for building a profitable blog.
1. Choose a Niche and Topic
The first step is determining a niche and topic to focus your blog on. To maximize your earning potential, you want to choose a niche with high demand from readers but low competition from other bloggers.
Here are some tips for choosing the right niche:
- Make a list of your interests, hobbies, areas of expertise, and passion topics. These make ideal niches since you’ll enjoy creating content.
- Use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner to find high-traffic keywords related to your interests. Try including keywords like “for beginners”, “tips”, and “guide”.
- Check competitor sites to ensure there aren’t too many established sites already dominating the niche. You want to be able to compete.
- Consider future monetization when choosing a niche. Some niches have more potential for earnings than others.
Some examples of popular profitable niches include finance, health and wellness, food and cooking, business, travel, and software/technology. Don’t feel like you have to pick a niche right away either. You can always expand into other niches once your blog is established.
2. Buy a Domain and Hosting
Now that you’ve chosen a niche, it’s time to set up the technical side of your blog by getting a domain name and web hosting.
Choose a Domain Name
Your domain name is your web address that people will type to access your blog. A good domain name should:
- Communicate your niche and topic
- Be short, memorable, and easy to spell
- Use hyphens instead of spaces or underscores
For example, if you’re starting a blog about cooking for beginners, some domain options could be:
- cookingforbeginnersblog.com
- beginnercookingtips.com
- cooknovice.com
Use a domain search tool to find availability for your desired names. Aim for a .com domain if possible but .net, .org, and .blog work as well.
Select a Web Host
Web hosting provides the server space for your blog files and pages. When choosing a host, look for:
- Reliability – Make sure they have strong uptime.
- Speed – Faster hosting leads to a better user experience.
- Storage – Will you need space for media files?
- Customer support – Look for 24/7 support via chat or phone.
- WordPress optimized – Streamlines setting up a WordPress blog.
Popular hosting options include Bluehost, HostGator, SiteGround, and GoDaddy. Expect to pay $5-15 per month for good hosting. For even better performance, a managed WordPress host like WP Engine is a good investment.
3. Set Up Your Blog
Once you have your domain and web host, it’s time to set up your actual blog. This involves installing blogging software, customizing your design, and optimizing settings.
Install Your Blogging Platform
The most popular platform for blogging is WordPress, used by over 60% of all blogs. WordPress is free, open-source software that manages all the backend of running a blog. Most web hosting services provide a simple one-click install for WordPress.
Other blogging platforms like Blogger, Medium, and Ghost are also options, but WordPress provides the most control and ownership of your content.
Choose and Customize a Theme
The theme controls the look and feel of your blog. WordPress has thousands of free and premium themes to choose from. Look for a responsive theme optimized for speed and SEO.
After installing a theme, customize it to match your brand:
- Update logo, fonts, colors
- Create menu and widget areas
- Set up pages like About, Contact, etc.
No coding knowledge is needed since most themes have customization options within WordPress.
Configure Your Settings
The final step is setting up all the backend configurations that optimize performance:
- Install security plugins like Wordfence to protect your blog.
- Set up caching plugins to speed up page loading.
- Configure permalinks for SEO-friendly URLs.
- Add XML sitemap and robots.txt files.
- Install Google Analytics to track traffic and stats.
With your blog installed and optimized, it’s time to focus on creating awesome content!
4. Create High-Quality Content
Consistently publishing new content is key to building organic traffic to your blog. Strive to publish at least 2 blog posts per week, if not more.
Follow these best practices when writing content:
Write Comprehensive Posts
Each blog post should provide in-depth information aimed at helping your readers. Include tips, how-to guides, explanations, research studies, and actionable advice.
Aim for long-form content over 1,000 words since this performs better with search engines compared to short posts.
Optimize for SEO
Use targeted keywords naturally throughout your content. Include keywords in titles, headers, meta descriptions, image ALT text, and URLs when possible.
Engage Readers
Use conversational language, humor, stories, images, lists, etc. to create an enjoyable reading experience. Break up long paragraphs into scannable sections.
Link to Other Relevant Content
Link out to your related posts to keep readers on your site. Links also signal to Google what your content focuses on.
Promote Your Posts
After publishing, actively promote your new content on social media, email, and anywhere else your audience is present. Promotion is key to being discovered.
Put effort into writing posts you would enjoy reading yourself as a reader. Provide more than just superficial information – go in-depth!
5. Promote Your Blog
You won’t earn any money from your blog if people can’t find it! That’s why promotion is so critical, especially when first starting.
Here are proven strategies to get more eyeballs on your content:
Social Media
Leverage platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram to share your posts and engage with your target audience. Post shareable images and quotes related to your content.
Email Signup Offers
Offer a lead magnet like a free ebook in exchange for an email signup. Email subscribers become repeat blog visitors. Send regular updates and content recommendations to subscribers.
Guest Posting
Reaching out to other blogs in your niche to contribute guest posts is a win-win. You gain new readers while also getting a backlink.
Link Building
Build natural backlinks by getting mentioned on other websites, directories, listings, and profiles related to your niche.
Networking
Connect with other influencers and brands relevant to your target audience. Cross-promote content and collaborate on projects.
Blogging is a long game, so be patient and persistent in promoting your content through multiple channels. Over time, all this exposure will compound to grow your readership and authority.
6. Monetize Your Blog
Once you’ve built an audience and established expertise in your niche, you can add income streams to start monetizing your influence.
Some popular ways to monetize a blog include:
Affiliate Marketing
Join affiliate programs like Amazon Associates, ShareASale, and CJ Affiliate. Promote relevant products in your posts and earn commissions on referrals.
Sell Advertising
Many advertisers are eager to get their products/services in front of your engaged audience. You can sell text link ads, banner ads, sponsored posts, etc.
Offer Coaching or Consulting
Your readers look to you as an expert they can learn from. Offer paid coaching calls, courses, or consulting services tailored to their needs.
Product Sales and Merchandise
Sell digital products like ebooks or courses. Or sell branded physical merchandise like t-shirts, mugs, and other swag.
Membership Site
Offer premium content, community access, special perks, and more through a paid membership program.
When just starting, affiliate marketing is the easiest monetization method to implement. As your traffic and influence grow over time, you can diversify your income streams with other options too.
7. Grow Your Blog and Audience
If you want to maximize your income, focus on continually growing your blog by improving your content and expanding your reach.
Analyze Performance
Track metrics like pageviews, bounce rate, and conversion rates to see what content resonates with your audience. Pay attention to which topics attract the most shares and links as well.
Improve Old Content
Update existing posts with new information, references, images, etc. Broken links and outdated advice hurt your credibility.
Expand Your Authority
Write additional in-depth guides on sub-topics related to your niche. Become known as the expert people rely on.
Diversify Content Types
Beyond text content, create videos, podcasts, quizzes, and infographics to appeal to different learning styles.
Continue Promoting
It takes consistent promotion over months and years to maximize your visibility and readership. Don’t get complacent.
Adapt your blog to perform better over time. Experiment with new income streams when possible too.
8. Earn $9,000 Per Month
Is earning $9,000 per month from a blog realistic? Absolutely! Many bloggers easily earn 6 figures or more. However, this level of income doesn’t happen overnight. Consistency and persistence are key.
Let’s look at some sample income sources to get an idea of how to reach $9k per month:
- Affiliate earnings: $3,000/month from affiliate links placed in your posts that generate sales.
- Sponsored posts: $2,000/month from brands paying you to create content promoting their products.
- Display ads: $1,500/month from banner ads on your site. Rates vary based on traffic numbers.
- Consulting: $1,500/month from coaching clients and offering consulting services in your niche.
- eBooks: $500/month by selling educational PDF guides. Expand with a full course too.
- Merchandise: $500/month by selling shirts, mugs, and other custom-branded products.
This example totals $9,000 per month from multiple income streams. But your earnings are not limited to just these options. Other monetization methods like memberships, events, and software products could push you well past $10k+ per month as you scale your business.
Tips for Blog Success
Here are some final tips to help maximize your chances of earning a full-time income from blogging:
- Stick to your niche – Don’t bounce around between topics or you’ll dilute your expertise.
- Be consistent – Post regularly and respond to comments to build engagement.
- Reinvest earnings – Continually improve your blog’s design, speed, content quality, etc.
- Diversify income – Don’t rely on just one monetization model. Try different options.
- Monitor analytics – Pay attention to traffic sources and engagement to optimize content.
- Improve over time – Successful blogs evolve as your skills and audience grow.
Conclusion
Starting a profitable blog takes time, effort, and patience. But the long-term rewards make it well worth it. There’s nothing more satisfying than earning a living from a blog you’re passionate about while also helping educate others.
With a strategic approach and persistence, you can reach $9,000 per month or more from blogging. Follow the steps outlined in this guide, stick to your niche, promote consistently, and provide stellar value to your audience.
The freedom and flexibility of professional blogging await. Start building your blog today!
FAQs
How long does it take to start earning money from a blog?
It typically takes 6-12 months to start earning income from a new blog. You need time to build traffic, establish expertise, and gain a loyal following first. Have patience and don’t expect overnight results.
What blog topics are best for making money?
Niches like finance, business, technology, and marketing have the most monetization potential. But you can earn well from any topic with a highly engaged audience and multiple income streams.
How important is SEO for earning blog income?
Very! Writing SEO-optimized content with targeted keywords will get your articles ranked high in search engines. This inbound organic traffic is invaluable for growing your blog.
Can you make a living from blogging?
Absolutely! Top-earning bloggers make well over $100k+ per year from their blogs. But you have to continually publish great content, promote it, optimize for conversions, and diversify your income sources.
How do most bloggers make money?
The most common income sources are affiliate marketing, display ads, sponsored posts, consulting, digital products, and coaching services. As you gain more traffic and authority, you can diversify into more income streams.
