- August 26, 2022
- Kaitlyn
How To Make Money Blogging
in 7 Steps!
Did you know that blogs are still as popular as ever? They are great ways to start building some passive income and help you make money in your sleep! But unfortunately it’s not as easy as people make it out to be. You should be familiar with web design, SEO, copywriting, email marketing and social media management/marketing. It’s your lucky day because we’re going to go over that!
Table of Contents
Note: This post may contain affiliate links, which means that if you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I appreciate your support! You can read my full disclaimer here.
Step 1: Blog Ideas; Where To Start Blog Idea Brainstorming
The first and probably most important step of starting a blog is getting your ideas together on what exactly you should blog about. It can be something really simple or quite intricate. However, the MOST important characteristic of your blog is that it needs to solve a problem!
Check out Pinterest for some inspiration! There are also lots of Facebook groups for bloggers that you can check out as well. I recommend:
Step 2: How To Brand a Blog
Branding is the most fun step for me! You get to create a color palette, fonts, logo, name and overall “vibe” for your blog. Are you more serious or more fun? Make sure your copy (writing) shows that!
Step 3: How To Design a Website For a Blog
I won’t be able to explain this in a paragraph. In fact this can be so complicated that people charge around $5,000 just to design a fully functional and optimized website. But here are the basics on designing a website.
There are lots of different CMS (content management systems aka web design softwares) that you can use like Squarespace, Wix and WordPress. I highly recommend going with WordPress to get the best SEO and you actually OWN your website. Unlike the other CMS where you “store” it. WordPress is also cheaper. But be prepared, there’s a huge learning curve! Squarespace and Wix are much more user friendly but not as good to get you ranked #1 on Google!
WordPress.org and WordPress.com are two different things. WordPress.com is less of a hassle but you won’t own your website and it’s not as good for your SEO. I still highly recommend WordPress.org.
For WordPress.org, you need a host first. Think of this as a plot of land that you’re purchasing for your house (your website) to sit. I have heard great things about BlueHost but I personally use Siteground. Only a $2/month difference so go with whatever you choose!
I also recommend Elementor to design your website and blog. They have tons of ready to use templates so you can just download and go!
This is the most extensive part of your blog journey, so if you know you get burnt out easily, I recommend hiring a web designer or a course to walk you step by step. Becca Klein is a great resource for bloggers. She has a great course walking you step-by-step on how to do everything! Plus she does blog audits which is amazing!
Step 4: How To Legalize a Blog
This is very important! If you don’t take the necessary steps you could be blogging illegally. You need to have an EIN or LLC. You also need to have necessary pages like an affiliate disclaimer if you’re going to be doing affiliate marketing, a privacy page, a disclaimer, and a terms & conditions page. Don’t skip out on these steps!
Step 5: How To Optimize SEO For a Blog
Just like designing a website, there are lots of steps that go into SEO. Here are the basics so you don’t get too overwhelmed.
You first want to do keyword research. I have a Chrome Extension called Keywords Everywhere that I love! Make sure that the search volume is high while the competition is low. This is how you’re going to be ranked in Google. Add these keywords throughout your website, your photos, etc.,
Another key tip in SEO is creating H1, H2, H3 etc., tags so Google can recognize your content and distribute it to people actively searching your keywords.
SEO takes a while to register. Like 3-6 months. So don’t freak out if you don’t see results right away!
I highly recommend you get the RankMath Plugin for SEO. A lot of people recommend Yoast, but if you don’t get the paid version, it can slow down your site. Plus there just aren’t a lot of good options on the free Yoast version. RankMath has a great free subscription and it doesn’t slow down your site.
Step 6: How To Market a Blog
I own a social media marketing agency, so this is my JAM! Pinterest is going to be your best friend when it comes to marketing. Pinterest is a search engine, not a social media platform, so it also uses keywords to group content together.
Do keyword research just like how you did with SEO and be sure to add it in your graphics. I love Canva for graphics. There are tons of templates and there’s barely a learning curve so if you aren’t good at design, take a look at Canva!
Be sure to pin relative content to your boards and ensure your board names even have keywords. It should be pretty clear by now that keywords are KEY (get it haha) in creating a successful blog.
Facebook groups, like I mentioned above, are also great to engage in to get your blog noticed. Plus you get to meet some pretty cool people!
Step 7: How To Make Money Blogging
The quickest way to make money blogging is with affiliate links. Everytime someone makes a purchase using your link, you get a commission. It’s a win for the customer, for you and for the product owner!
This likely won’t make you a millionaire (but who knows!), but it is a great way to let people know what your favorite and most useful products are while making money from home! Most affiliate marketers make anywhere from $500-$5000/month depending on how big their audience is.
Learn more!
I know you’re tired of hearing “click this link to learn more!” But I really do believe that Becca Klein Co offers the BEST blogging course there is. She is very thorough, she’s been blogging for years, she’s had hundreds of success stories, AND she’s an attorney so your legalities will be SET! Check out this free webinar where she goes over how to start a blog!
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