If you’re just starting out, you may be wondering How to start a blog and make money… But don’t worry! We’re here to do all the hard work for you.
We’ll walk you through the steps required for starting a profitable blog, explain the tools you’ll need, talk about monetization options, and much more.
So, without further ado, let’s move on to our first step.
How to Start a Blog and Make Money
Step 1: Learn The Basic Skills Needed For Blogging
Before you start a blog, you should first learn some fundamentals. If you are unaware, there are a few skills that many people overlook when starting a blog.
No doubt, they will learn them over time, but it simply complicates things as a newbie blogger.
So, if you don’t want to feel like a clueless person, learning the following skills sooner will make things easier for you later on.
1. Learn Content Writing
Contents can either make or break your blog. If your blog is full of low-quality content with bad English & grammatical mistakes, you will lose both visitors & sales.
To improve this, you can learn content writing by enrolling in online courses or try to read as many articles, books, and newspapers as possible, which will gradually give you a sense of how it is done.
2. Learn About Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Your primary traffic source should be Google, as they are known to drive highly engaging visitors.
To attract them, you must be able to rank your blog post on the first page of Google for specific keywords. And to do so, SEO practices play a huge role.
I recommend learning about On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO because they will cover all of the necessary topics.
You can do this by enrolling in online courses or simply watching YouTube videos.
Related – 10 Best Seo Friendly WordPress Themes
3. Spend Some Time Learning Graphic Design
To promote your content, you will have to create lots of social media graphics, especially for Pinterest.
So learning how to create graphics with a photo editor such as Adobe Photoshop or Canva will benefit you.
Step 2: Set Up Your Blog
Now, let’s look at all the necessary steps to set up a blog.
1. Pick a Niche
The first thing you must decide is what topic you will write about. It could be anything from a hobby to a personal interest.
Whatever it is, make sure that-
- It has a large audience so you can receive a lot of traffic.
- It has several problems for which people require solutions.
- It’s a must-have product that you can sell to your target audience as a solution.
If you find a niche that meets all three of these criteria, you can proceed to purchase a domain name.
Related – How To Choose A Niche For Your Blog
2. Buy a Domain Name
Before buying a domain name, decide on the name of your blog. Make it something related to your niche name.
Once you have one, simply go to www.bluehost.com and purchase a domain name with a “.com” extension.
If your blog name is already taken, consider another name.
3. Buy a Web Hosting
Next, comes web hosting which will be used to allocate space on a web server for your blog’s files to be stored.
As a beginner, you can buy a web host with a basic plan and then upgrade to a more advanced plan once you have enough traffic.
Here are a few of my web hosting recommendations:
4. Install WordPress
Once you’ve secured a domain name and a web host, it’s time to install WordPress.
Though it is a visual process, it is much better explained through video, so watch the video below to learn how it is done.
Video Link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8KrvTleuoc
5. Install a WordPress Theme
A good WordPress theme improves the appearance of your blog, provides a good user experience, and increases the loading speed.
All of these features can be found in many WordPress themes such as GeneratePress, which I prefer.
6. Install The Necessary Plugins
Next, you need to install a few plugins to add new functionality or enhance the existing functionality of your blog.
Here are my few recommendations:
- Yoast SEO – Takes care of On-Page SEO.
- Social Warfare – Install social media sharing buttons on your post.
- Antispam Bee – blocks spam comments.
- WPForms – A contact form plugin.
- WP Super Cache – Enhances the speed and performance of your blog.
7. Set Up Your Legal Pages
Whether you blog for fun or for a living, you must ensure that you have legal protection in place for your online space.
8. Create a Contact & About Page
If your visitors or businesses want to contact you, there must be a page where they can enter all of their information. This is where a contact page comes into play.
You can create this page by first installing and then adding a contact form plugin to the page.
Another one is an about page, where you can explain your blog’s mission, why you started it, and a little bit about yourself.
It is a necessary page that will let your audience know more about you and your blog.
Step 3: Start Writing Blog Posts
Before launching your blog in front of your audience, it is necessary to have at least a few blog posts.
To figure out what to write, think about your ideal audience and what they might search for about your niche.
If you’re still stuck for ideas, check out your competitors’ blogs to see what kind of content they’re producing.
This alone can provide you with several blog post ideas, allowing you to write more and more content.
I recommend that you have at least 10 posts before launching your blog.
Step 4: Start Promoting On Social Media
Unless you are a brand, you can not expect traffic to your blog without promotion. So, unless organic traffic (via SEO) kicks in, you can promote your content on social media platforms such as Facebook and Pinterest.
However, I recommend that you pay more attention to Pinterest because, in my experience, it is the best social media platform for generating traffic.
So, learn about Pinterest marketing by enrolling in a course or watching YouTube videos. I can guarantee it can drive you thousands of visitors per day when you get a hold of it.
Step 5: Start An Email List
Having an email list is similar to having subscribers with whom you can communicate at any time.
To get started, sign up for an email service such as Mailerlite or MailChimp, both of which are completely free to use up to a certain limit.
Then create a lead magnet (freebie) and offer it to your audience in exchange for their email address.
As soon as they join your list, start sending them emails introducing yourself and your blog.
Then you can send one or two emails per week providing helpful tips related to your niche.
In this way, you can gain their trust & they will be willing to purchase your recommended products and services when the right time comes.
Step 6: Monetize Your Blog
Once you start receiving decent traffic, you can begin monetizing your blog in a variety of ways.
You can:
- Display ads by joining Google Adsense, Ezoic, MediaVine (need 50K sessions/month), or AdThrive (need 100,000 pageviews/month).
- Include affiliate links in your content to earn commissions for every sale.
- Write sponsored posts promoting a product or service.
- Sell your own products such as ebooks, printables, and courses.
Related – Best Ad Networks for Publishers
Conclusion: How to Start a Blog and Make Money
Starting a profitable blog to earn $1,000 per month will not be an easy path to take, but it is certainly doable if you are willing to commit and work hard.
It may take some time to see the desired results, but you can speed things up by writing more and more engaging content and driving more traffic.
If you are willing to take on the challenge, nothing can stop you from reaching your $1,000 goal. Let me know if you have any further queries by dropping a comment.
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