Today I want to show you how I personally make money blogging and how you can as well.
Step 1: Finding a Niche
One of my favorite ways to find a niche is to Google for blog income reports. You’ll find lots of income reports shared by bloggers from various niches.When you read the actual income reports, you can often get a very good idea of how much ads pay in this niche or what different ways these blogs make money. There are literally hundreds of blog income reports you can find on Google. After going through several of them, you may find a great idea for a niche.
Step 2: Setting Up Your Website
Once you’ve chosen your niche, it’s time to set up your website. For this, I highly recommend using Cloudways hosting. Cloudways is the fastest hosting provider I’ve personally used, and they offer a completely free trial for 3 days—you don’t even need to enter a credit card. Cloudways is dedicated Cloud hosting, which means that you get your own Cloud server, making it extremely fast. The basic plan starts at just $11 per month, but if you use my discount link, you’ll get a discount off that price.
Step 3: Registering Your Domain
Once your hosting is set up, the next step is to get your domain name. You can go to Namecheap to buy your domain. For example, if your blog is in the travel niche, you can check if SlowTravelPro is available. You’ll see some suggestions, like slowtravelpro.com, .org, .net, etc. It really doesn’t matter which extension you get. The most recognizable extension is .com, but if that’s not available, try another one like .net or .org. Once you’ve chosen your domain, complete the purchase, and manage your domain through Namecheap.
Step 4: Linking the Domain to Your Hosting
Now, go back to Cloudways and check if your server has been configured. Click on your server to manage it, and from there, go to the Applications tab. Your website will be an application on the server. Click on your application and go to Domain Management to link your new domain to the application. Enter your domain and repeat with “www” twice. Make one the primary domain, then go back to Namecheap and add the CNAME and A records to link your domain to the server.
Step 5: Installing SSL Certificate
Next, you’ll need to install an SSL certificate to ensure security. Go to Let’s Encrypt, enter your email address and domain name, then add the certificate and install it. After that, go back to the access details and preview your website.
Step 6: Customizing Your Website
Log into the backend area of your website by clicking on the link that ends with “wp-admin.” From here, you can start customizing your site. Go to posts to manage your blog posts, pages to manage your pages, settings to change the site title and tagline, and permalinks to make sure post names are selected.
Step 7: Creating Content
The first traffic source that has worked amazingly well for me is Google search. To get traffic, you’ll need to create content that ranks on Google. Use keyword research tools like SEMrush to find great keywords. You can sign up for a 14-day free trial of SEMrush using my link for two weeks instead of one. Once inside SEMrush, go to Keyword Magic and look for phrases related to your niche.
Step 8: Writing Content
Once you have a keyword, write an article based on through research. You can either write manually or use tools like ChatGPT to create drafts, but ensure you humanize the content afterward. Avoid plagiarism and always double-check your facts.
Step 9: Monetizing Your Blog
Once you’ve created content, it’s time to monetize your blog. Initially, use companies like Ezoic, which doesn’t require a minimum traffic to sign up. MediaVine requires 50,000 monthly visitors to join, but Ezoic can help you install ads from the start. They offer competitive earnings, typically around $5 to $25 per 1,000 visitors.
Step 10: Additional Monetization Methods
In addition to display ads, I’ll share two more methods for monetizing your blog with affiliate links and other strategies.
Conclusion
I hope this guide helps you get started on your blogging journey and start making money.