How to Make Money Blogging in 2023:
Expert Tips and Financial Strategies

While blogs originally just served as online diaries, they now have a much wider range of purposes.

These days, there are blogs about anything and everything, and anybody can be a blogger with a little basic knowledge.

Some people blog for fun in their free time, whereas others blog for money. Many hope to do both. Blogs don’t automatically generate revenue, but there are several ways to monetize them, which we’ll cover below.

Here’s how to create a blog and earn real money:

Blogs that make money tend to have a central theme rather than just being a repository for your thoughts on life in general.

Choosing a single overarching theme or field to focus on will give readers confidence that you know what you’re talking about and that your blog is a good place to get the information they need.

Key factors that make a blog idea lucrative

When you pick a niche, consider these factors:

• Your knowledge and expertise: It’s important to actually have a solid background in what you’re writing about. This will make your blog more useful and interesting to readers and establish your credibility.
• Your passion and interest: You should choose a subject that you love (or at least want to learn more about). This is the best way to ensure you don’t run out of steam or give up before your blog has even started making money. Your readers will be able to tell, too—it’s usually apparent when somebody is genuinely passionate about a subject instead of faking it.
• The competition: Do your best to pick a topic that isn’t already covered in a million other blogs. For yours to be truly valuable, it needs to provide something that isn’t already available online
• Interest among readers: On the other hand, to garner a solid readership, your blog can’t be too specific. It needs to cover topics that appeal not only to you but also to a broad range of people. If you’re stuck, the finance, food, and health spaces are always popular.

Carving out a niche doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, a lot of successful blogs originated from very simple ideas.

For instance, Alexandria Drzazgowski of Foreign Fork is one blogger who’s managed to take food blogging (a very popular space) and put her own spin on it by cooking one meal from every country in the world. This is a simple concept that anyone can grasp immediately, but it’s enough to make her blog stand out from the crowd.

Once you’ve picked a topic, it’s time to actually make your blog. This might seem like an intimidating task if you’ve never blogged before, but it’s actually pretty simple to do.

Choosing a web host and domain name

The first step is to pick a web host (where your website will live) and a domain name (what people will type into their browser to navigate to your blog).

You’ll have plenty of options when it comes to web hosts. To get you started, here are a few popular blog hosting companies to consider:

• Bluehost
• Hostinger
• WordPress.com
• Blogger
• Wix
• HostGator
• DreamHost
• GreenGeeks

Alternatively, you can host a blog on a cloud service provider like Heroku or DigitalOcean. However, this is a more advanced option that takes a bit of technical know-how to set up.

Picking a domain name

As far as your domain name goes, try to pick something that’s catchy, memorable, relevant to your niche, and not too hard to spell.

Buying the actual domain will be relatively straightforward. For step-by-step instructions, check out Hostinger’s guide on how to buy a domain name.

Should you get a domain name through your web host?

Some web hosts will offer to buy a domain name for you. This has the advantage of simplifying the process for you, but it also has one notable disadvantage: some of these web hosting companies will give you the domain name for free but charge you more than it’s worth later down the line.

It’s important to think about your long-term goals. If you know exactly what you want your website to be called and you’re committed to becoming a paid blogger, then it’s probably worth your time and money to buy the domain name yourself.

Should you start a blog for free?

Many web hosting companies offer free options that allow you to create your blog at absolutely no cost. While this is a great way to start a blog for fun, it’s not the best way to make money.

Hosting your blog for free has several disadvantages that can hurt your earning potential. For starters, you may have fewer monetization options, as some free blogging sites have clauses prohibiting you from using certain strategies.

It’ll also be harder to build up your reputation enough to start making the big bucks since you’ll have limited control over your blog design. With many free plans, you also won’t be able to use a real domain name—your blog will be hosted on a subdomain (i.e., the URL will be something like blogname.webhost.com instead of the more professional blogname.com).

That said, if you just want to get your feet wet and get comfortable blogging before trying to actually make money, then choosing a free web host for beginners is a good option. You can always upgrade to a premium hosting service later down the line.

Designing your blog

Looks matter. An eye-catching and appealing design will help you keep visitors on your site and make them more likely to return (or recommend your blog to others).

Blog design consists of several components, including color scheme, UX design, illustrations/photos, and typography (text size and font).

If you’re a visually minded person, this is a good opportunity to exercise your creativity and have some fun, but there are general rules you should follow:

• Easy-to-read text: Pay attention to your font, text size, and text color. Tiny text, an unusual font, or an inverted color scheme (white words on a black background) can alienate some of your readers.
• Consistency: Whatever design you choose, be consistent. This is part of good branding—readers will remember and recognize your blog based on its design characteristics.
• Stellar homepage: Your homepage is the first thing that many people will see when they go to check out your blog. For this reason, it’s the most important page to keep in tip-top shape.

You don’t need to come up with an overly complicated blog design in order to hook readers. In fact, simpler is often better, as long as you follow the guidelines above.

For your blog to earn money, you’ll have to write content that people want to read. This means coming up with ideas for interesting posts and paying attention to their structure, tone, and readability.

Types of blog posts

Here are a few examples of the types of blog content you can create (of course, you aren’t limited to picking just one):

• Opinion pieces
• Tutorials/how-to guides
• Listicles
• Reviews
• News content
• Interviews
• Recipes
• Informational articles
• Checklists
• Infographics
• Videos
• Podcasts
• Original research

Think about what formats work best for your subject. For example, a cooking blog is well suited for recipes, videos, tutorials, and even product reviews, whereas a blog about astronomy lends itself to infographics, news stories, interviews, and research.

Keep blogging

All pro bloggers agree: consistency is key. Blogging frequency matters when it comes to building up a readership.

Mark Slack, who works in the SEO industry and has over a decade of experience building popular websites, told us the number of posts you need to generate will depend on your niche, competition, and traffic-driving strategy.

“If you’re planning on driving traffic from search, like Google or Bing, you’re likely going to need to post more frequently so that your website’s corpus is large enough so that it’s taken seriously by search engine algorithms,” he said.

He also emphasized the need to keep your posts high-quality even if you have a frequent posting schedule, and added that “Intermittent, deeply researched pieces that are rich with new insights about your niche can drive traffic from social media and set you off as a thought leader.”

Create a schedule that you feel you can maintain in the long run, whether it’s one new blog post per month or one per day. If you want to be one of the successful bloggers who reel in thousands of dollars each month, you have to put in consistent work to get there.

Making your blog successful isn’t just about writing good content. People need to actually see your blog before it can take off.

Experienced bloggers will tell you there are several ways to build up traffic and attract viewers.

SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an ever-evolving field that’s concerned with making your website easy for search engines to find and your content strong enough for algorithms to rank it in high positions when your audience searches for terms you cover.

According to Slack, if you intend to have an SEO strategy, you’ll need to learn at least some technical SEO to ensure your content gets found and indexed by search engines. The more competitive your niche, the more knowledge you’ll need.

“You’ll probably have to implement complex code that enhances how your content gets presented, linked together, consumed, and displayed by search engines,” Slack said. “You can hire a developer to do that, but you’ll at least need to know what you’re looking for. In competitive niches, technical SEO is an ongoing arms race.”

If the word “technical” makes you nervous, you’ll be surprised to find that writing strong content is also a highly technical exercise if you hope to rank in search engines. While it may be tempting to pick topics at random and blast out your thoughts on the matter, that will only get you so far, even if you’re an expert.

Slack told us that you’ll need to use keyword research tools and do a significant amount of competitive research to determine what information your audience is really seeking (and in what order) when searching for any given query.

“You’ll need to develop a feel for when you’ve over-covered or under-covered a topic and arrive at the sweet spot that your audience will enjoy and algorithms will understand,” he said.

Some of those keyword research tools include:

• Semrush
• Ahrefs
• Majestic

Finally, you’ll need to present your content in an easily consumable format. Use plenty of spacing, bullet points, numbered lists, and relevant images to break your pieces into scroll-worthy, addicting chunks. Many online readers have short attention spans, and you want to hang onto them as best you can.

SEO is one of the main ways people make money from blogging. Learning about it is essential, because it has the power to make or break your blog.

Cover topical, newsworthy content

With SEO, you’ll largely cover what are known as “evergreen” topics—they’re always relevant and are commonly sought out. For instance, take the topic “how to pay my taxes”—people will always wonder about that, and it’ll never go out of style.

But you can also drive people to your blog by covering news about your niche. Consider adding a section of your blog dedicated to “news” where you discuss current events, new products, or virtually anything that’s brand new in your field.

The important thing is to show readers (and search engines) that your blog is the place to go for up-to-date, accurate, and cutting-edge information.

Mark Slack explained that if you’re going to cover news in your niche, you have a choice of doing straight reporting, adding your opinion (if you have the expertise), or writing a mix of both. Either way, in his words, “Publishing consistency is key. You’ll need to keep up with all of the breaking news about your topic, sometimes posting multiple times per day, and share that information with your audience on social media.”

While news pieces will spike in traffic and decline quickly, over time, your blog could become a central part of your audience’s information diet and enhance your brand.

Be realistic about what you can cover. The broader your niche is, the harder it will be for you to break through with news. You’ll be competing with the behemoths of the news world, like major networks, Reuters, and the Associated Press.

Promote your blog on social media

Perhaps the most obvious way to get more traffic to your blog is to get the word out to as many people in your social network as possible. Tell your friends, family, and acquaintances about it.

But that’s only the beginning. Slack told us that driving traffic from social media isn’t as simple as posting your links and hoping for the best—they’ll just get sucked into the void. You need to find where your audience lurks and present them with your content in a way that appeals to them.

He went on to say that “if you have expert knowledge, that could be as simple as consistently posting your thoughts until you’re recognized,” but that you might also need to work with an influencer to drive initial interest. “Overall, your blog will be your brand, and your brand will need to have something interesting to add to the conversation your audience is having.”

Add links to your blog from all your social media profiles, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Social media can be a powerful driver of traffic—if you’re able to find and interact with your audience in a way they crave.

There’s no single best way to make money blogging. If there is an ideal approach, it’s a combination of different methods. This way, you avoid putting all your eggs in one basket.

Run ads

One of the easiest and most popular ways to generate income from a blog is to host advertisements. Running ads is a great first step into the world of blog monetization, although it also has drawbacks.

Pros and cons of running ads

Plenty of bloggers start off with ads and then move on to higher-earning means of making money from their blogs.

How to put ads on your blog

If you decide advertisements are right for your blog, then you’ll need to choose an ad company.

Google Adsense is probably the most well-known advertisement network, but they can be strict about which sites they approve. If you get rejected for Google Adsense, don’t despair—there are several other options you can explore:

Here are a few of the most popular ad networks among bloggers:

• Taboola
• Infolinks
• PropellerAds
• Ezoic
• PubMatic
• Media.net
• Adsterra

Once you sign up for a network, you don’t need to stick with it forever. See how it works for you. If you don’t earn enough money, you can switch to a new one.

Shane Dayton, co-founder of Assorted Meeples, told us that the website’s largest increase in earnings occurred when he and his team took the risk of switching to a new ad provider, which increased his revenue from $400 to $900 per month.

How does running ads work?

When you have ads on your blog, the advertising company will pay you using one of the payment structures below:

• Cost per click (CPC): You get paid each time someone clicks on an ad that’s hosted on your blog.
• Cost per action (CPA): You get paid each time someone who’s visiting your blog clicks on an advertisement and then completes a desired action (e.g., making a purchase or subscribing to a service).
• Cost per thousand (CPT): You get paid a set amount each time an ad gets 1,000 views on your blog. This is also sometimes referred to as “cost per mille” (CPM).
• Flat rate: You get paid a set amount of money to host an ad on your blog for a certain period of time.

Use affiliate links

Affiliate marketing is where you mention a particular brand on your blog and include a link to their website. The affiliate company then compensates you each time one of your readers clicks that link and makes a purchase.

Incorporating affiliate links into your blog can be more effective than hosting display ads since you’ll be able to make the offers more targeted and attractive to your readers.

Pros and cons of affiliate marketing

If you want to use affiliate marketing on your blog, you can either sign up for an affiliate network (a third-party organization that connects you with merchants) or seek out brands that have their own affiliate programs.

Signing up for a network is often easier and more convenient, but signing up for an affiliate program directly with a brand you like gives you more control and may get you better earnings.

Charge for subscriptions

Another way to monetize your blog is to offer subscriptions for premium content. The most effective way to do this is to introduce a tiered pricing scheme that still allows readers to read your base content for free (if you put up a paywall across your entire blog, you risk losing your audience).

Slack also told us that you can use a platform like Substack that will set up a paywall for you. This is a method that expert bloggers have used to great effect in recent years.

Pros and cons of charging for subscriptions

In order for this to work, you need to first establish a dedicated following. Once you get readers hooked on your free content, you can start offering access to exclusive content for those who pay a subscription fee.

Sell your own products or services

Depending on the subject of your blog, you may be able to use your site as a platform to launch your own products and services.

For example, if you run a blog on wedding planning, you could offer your own wedding planning services. Similarly, a blog on photography is a good place to sell your own photos or offer photography classes and workshops. You can even sell digital products like templates for letters or resumes.

Many people also use their blogs to sell their own print or digital books. The possibilities are endless—all you need to do is figure out what products or services your readers want to buy and then create them.

Pros and cons of selling products and services

Write sponsored content

Once you’ve built up your blog enough to attract the attention of merchant companies, you can make money by writing (or accepting) sponsored blog posts.

These are essentially posts that you publish specifically for a particular brand with the intention of promoting their products or services.

Pros and cons of sponsored content

You’ll need to disclose that the post is sponsored, otherwise you could get in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). 1 It’s also wise to only write sponsored posts for brands you actually want to stand behind so you don’t lose the trust of your readers.

Mark Slack cautioned against selling link placements (i.e., linking to other websites to boost their SEO). “It may be tempting to sell links from your website, either by adding them in yourself or allowing guest post submissions, but selling links is against Google’s policy. They may end up penalizing your site, significantly decreasing your traffic from search.”

“You may have seen others say that as long as you’re careful about who you sell to, you can fool Google,” he said. “But if you’re planning on running your blog long-term, it’s a bad idea to toe that line.”

Tracking your blog’s growth is one of the most important things you’ll need to do to maximize your profits and continue making money well into the future.

Paying close attention to dips and spikes in web traffic will help you understand what you’re doing right (or wrong), identify areas for improvement, and figure out what options you have for making money from your blog.

Test everything

It’s important to be flexible about your overall money-making strategy and adjust it if necessary. As a real-life example, Dayton told us that his website’s revenue dropped 40% when he added display ads, which he couldn’t have anticipated.

He only realized what had gone wrong after taking a step back to assess his overall approach.

“The site was so affiliate optimized that every click on an ad was like giving up a sale, so I was in that very rare group where ads were a bad idea,” he said. “After 4-5 months to give the ads a fair shake and make sure it wasn’t a fluke, I worked with the company to end the contract early and remove the ads to restore earnings.”

He says reflecting and adjusting his approach worked. “Once the ads were removed, the numbers returned to normal. This taught me to never take common wisdom at face value without testing—because there are always exceptions.”

Still have questions on how to start a blog to make money or make a profit from a blog you already have? Find the answers below:

How much do bloggers make?

The amount you can make as a blogger depends on many factors, including the type of blog you’re running, how much time and work you’ve put into it, and which monetization strategies you’re using. In some cases, it also just comes down to luck.

Can you make a little extra cash on the side from blogging? Probably. Can you make a living as a blogger? Maybe.

Dayton says that new bloggers shouldn’t expect much in the first year. He says you’re doing pretty well if you make $50–$100 per month after your first year or reach $1,000 per month by the end of your second year as a blogger. After 3 years, he says, is when “things tend to take off.”

How fast can you make money blogging?

In the majority of cases, it takes time to start making money from a blog. Many successful bloggers we spoke to told us that they started off earning mere peanuts in their early days and only saw the big figures after months or even years of blogging.

For example, Dayton told us that even when he and his team were publishing articles every week, they were only making around $50 per month at first. This sum gradually grew to $200–$300 per month, but they didn’t start making steady money until after the first year.

Reuben Lim, the creator of Fishing Sensei, a fishing blog that’s managed to reach earnings of over $5,000 per month in just 1 year, suggested that you shouldn’t expect much success in your first 3–6 months. He cited a widespread belief that Google is reluctant to rank new and unproven websites (referred to as placing them in a “sandbox”—essentially a type of trial period).

It’s worth noting that many SEO experts question the existence of this sandbox and attribute difficulty ranking to other factors, such as it simply taking time for your site to accumulate the signals that will cause Google to take it seriously.

Either way, the takeaway is that you should keep your expectations modest in the beginning, since whatever the reason, sites rarely rank well in their first few months of existence.

What’s the quickest way to make money blogging?

Even though it takes time to start earning serious money from your blog, there are ways to speed up the process. Lim says one shortcut is buying an expired domain, which can provide you with built-in authority, as long as the domain you purchased has a good history.

Some monetization strategies also work more quickly than others. For example, both Lim and Dayton started off with affiliate marketing because it allows you to start earning money immediately, even when your blog is new. Other approaches require you to have a certain amount of traffic.

Nevertheless, Dayton told us that although there are exceptions where some people get lucky faster, most bloggers “need to go the blue collar route” to see success, which means “more writing, more work, more learning.” He said, “the ones who keep at it despite the low early results will almost always eventually see something out of their efforts.”