If you search for the term “make money online”, you will find hundreds of ways to earn online. However, some of these methods for earning money online may require specific skills or knowledge. Similarly, some of them may require a lot of repetitive work that you may not like. One of the best ways to make money online is through a personal blog.
A personal blog is relatively more straightforward than the other methods of making money online. It does not require you to have any specific skills or knowledge initially, though it is a good idea to develop your WordPress, SEO and social media skills. Personal blogs can be a rewarding and fun experience.
What is a Personal Blog?
A personal blog is a website where you can share your ideas or experiences. Think of a personal blog as a journal that you can show others. The great thing about personal blogs is that you can write about anything and everything. In a personal blog, your life is the focus. It is different from other blogs where the users of the blogs are the focus.
How to set up a Personal Blog?
Setting up a personal blog is straightforward nowadays. When it comes to personal blogging, you have many different platforms that allow you to do so. The most famous platform among these is WordPress. WordPress is a specialized blogging tool that lets you create different types of blogs. In your case, it allows you to make a personal blog.
To get started with WordPress, you will need a host for your personal blog. There are many specialized hosts such as Bluehost, HostGator, Hostinger, DreamHost, etc. that can host your personal blog. The prices for these hosts may be anything from $2 per month to $10 per month. Some other web hosts may also allow you to host your blog for as low as $1 per month. Ultimately, you get to decide which host suits your needs the most based on your requirements.
Most web hosts have online installation panels that can install WordPress for you automatically. If your host does not install it automatically, you can install it manually. You will need to head over to WordPress’ website first, and download the package from there. You can find instructions for installation on their website.
Finally, once your website is up, you will need a domain. A domain is a .com or .net address that your audience can use to access your website. You can get a domain name on websites such as Namecheap or GoDaddy. It will generally cost you $10-$15 per year. We highly recommend you to choose a domain name that fits the niche of your personal blog.
Ideas on what to write about
If you are short on ideas on for your personal blog, we have a full list of topics you can get you started. It is as below:
- Health and fitness.
- Education.
- Travel.
- Wealth.
- Food.
- Self-improvement.
These are some of the blog ideas you can get your personal blog rolling. However, you must write about things that your audience would want to read. Specifically, when it comes to making money off of blogs, you must get and keep an audience. So, choose your niche wisely.
How do people make money from Personal Blogs?
There are many ways to make money from personal blogs. However, before you start thinking of methods to monetize your blog, we recommend that you build an audience. Generating money from these methods depends on your audience count. Some of these methods may even require you to demonstrate that you have an audience before allowing you to signup.
Once you have a respectable audience count, you can monetize your personal blog. Some of the methods to monetize are as below.
Display ads on your Website
The oldest way to make money on your blog is to display ads on it. Different ad networks allow you to display ads on your website. The biggest and the oldest name in the ad network business is Google AdSense. However, the approval process for the ad network is tough to crack. With Google AdSense, you get the benefit of a wide selection of ads for your blog. Google automatically detects the type of your personal blog and displays relevant ads for you. You also get a variety of ad formats that you can choose.
Another ad network that has recently started becoming popular is Ezoic. While Ezoic may not be as big as or as widely used as Google AdSense, it does give you a reason to consider it. Ezoic provides you with several tools that can find the best positions for your ads on your personal blog. They allow you to find the optimal place for an ad on your website. By placing ads strategically on your website, you can increase your ad revenues significantly. If you’re interested, read my Ezoic Review.
Affiliate marketing
You can also monetize your personal blog by sharing affiliate marketing links on it. You can choose from different affiliate marketing platforms online. For example, you can partner up with affiliate market platforms such as Awin to maximize your personal blog’s earning potential. Similarly, you can also choose Etsy to promote handmade or vintage items. The success of this affiliate marketing will depend on how you promote different products. The closer the niche of your personal blog is to the products you are marketing, the better your chances of success are.
Sponsored Posts
Once your personal blog starts grabbing some attention, you will get offers to write about different products. These are known as sponsored posts. The number of requests you will get will depend on the niche of your personal and how famous your blog is. Your popularity will also dictate how much you can make per post. Sponsored posts are an easy source of income. That’s because you get paid a lot for very little work.
Freelancing
If you are not ready to take a big step of making a personal blog, you can find other blogs for which you can write. You can get paid for writing for different niche blogs as a freelancer. You can also sign up on various freelancing platforms to get work as a freelance copywriter. If you start writing for others, not only can you gain experience from writing for specific niches, but also make a decent earning to fund your personal blog in the future.
Top tips for a Successful Blog
There are many ways to achieve success with your personal blog. If you follow these simple tips, you can ensure your personal blog is successful. These tips are as follows:
- Set goals for your personal blog.
- Start small and grow naturally.
- Invest your time in user experience and blog design.
- Use Google AdWords to optimize your blog for search engines.
- Break up your blog content for improved readability.
- Add images and gifs to your posts to spice things up.
- Write at least two or more blog posts per week to satisfy your audience.
- Proofread and edit your posts and ensure they are grammatically accurate.
- Don’t copy the work of others.
- Use catchy titles.
- Write unique content.
- Use guest posting to promote your personal blog.
- Get Google Analytics for better blog statistics.
- Share your blog posts on social media and popular bookmarking sites.
- Don’t forget to take a break once in a while.
If you found this article helpful you might also like to read about Making money from a Lifestyle Blog and blog niche ideas.