Before we answer the question of "how to monetize your blog", its important to understand the importance and growth of blogging in the last many years.
Did you know that today there are over 600 web-pages of published blogs globally. Compare that to almost 2 billion web-pages in total and blogs make a staggering 1/3rd of all existing web pages today.
With the content marketing industry projected to be worth $412.88 billion by 2021, blogging and vlogging aren’t just a hobby anymore. Today, top industry experts, coaches, and celebrities take on blogging to talk about a niche, provide valuable insights, and educate the target audience. 46% of people take recommendations from high-authority bloggers, while 53% of consumers acknowledge that their buying decisions, at some point, have been influenced by YouTube vlogs.
Even modern businesses have embraced the concept of blogging in digital marketing. Today, blog posts happen to be a powerful and cost-effective form of content over eBooks, email, and white papers. It is one of the best ways to provide valuable information to the consumers, keep them engaged, and build trust. According to a study, businesses that leverage blog posts for marketing purposes generate 13x the ROI of businesses that do not. Blogging also plays an integral role in Search Engine Optimization. A website that publishes blog posts regularly is considered high-authority and relevant, thus, boosting search engine rankings on Google.
With blogging gaining immense significance as an integral form of content, it opens up endless possibilities for bloggers and businesses. Interestingly, there are various ways you can transform a blog into a money-churning tool on the Internet. Whether you are a personal blogger, a celebrity vlogger, or a business owner with a website, you can monetize your blog and increase ROI.
Not sure how to make money with your blog?
Here is a comprehensive guide on how to monetize your blog and generate steady income.
But before that, as celebrity blogger Neil Patel says, “It takes time to build an income from blogging.” Regardless of innumerable “instant” techniques and strategies that you will find online, no success happens overnight. Unless your blog has a fair amount of daily traffic, it can be challenging to make money through this platform. There is no shortcut to driving blog traffic. Period.
Of course, there are ways to increase traffic to your blog, but you’d need to be patient and work hard to get results. So, before you get started monetizing your blog, understand where you are in the blogging chain and work from there.
10 Proven Ways to Monetize Your Blog and Increase ROI
Let’s dive straightway into 10 powerful ways you can make money from your blog.
#1 - Advertise on Your Blog Using Google Adsense :
Thinking of making money from your blog? Advertising is the most obvious option that comes to mind first.
However, if you have just started with blogging or do not have a steady traffic flow (say, over 1,000 visitors per day), it can be difficult to get advertisers for your blog. As such, selling ad space directly to an advertising agency is a viable solution only for high-authority blogs with a large audience base.
A smarter alternative is to advertise using Google Adsense.
Google Adsense is the largest network of online advertisers that provides an opportunity for publishers to have high-quality and relevant ads placed on their blogs or websites. When a visitor clicks an ad on your blog, you will earn money. The benefits of working with Adsense are plentiful:
- You do not need to waste time searching for advertisers who would be interested to advertise on your blog
- All ads are screened to ensure they are relevant to your blog content and audience
- Mobile-optimized ads that boost performance and help make more money on all devices
- You are in complete control of ads placed on your blogs. Customize ad positions, block the ones you do not like or are irrelevant, and more
- Getting started to Adsense is simple and quick. Create a Google account; provide your phone number, mailing address and bank account; and connect your blog to Adsense by placing a little code into your blog
And if you have a WordPress blog with a Business or Premium plan, you can also use WordAds network that works with some of the top-notch ad publishers like Google Adsense, Amazon A9, Facebook Audience Network, etc.
#2 - Join as an Affiliate:
Did you know that your blog post does not need to be outrightly informative always? You can be smartly promotional, marketing a variety of related products and services through your content. And that is what affiliate marketing is all about.
In this form of blog monetization technique, you need to join the affiliate marketing program of a brand or business that is relevant to your blog niche. On becoming an affiliate, you will receive ready-to-publish text links, banners, content, PPC ad, and other promotional materials that you need to place on your blog. Each time a blog visitor clicks the affiliate link and purchases a product, you earn a commission.
However, it is not as simple as it sounds. Most businesses would want you to have an excellent traffic flow to become an approved affiliate. Additionally, they have a host of terms & conditions, payout threshold limits, dos’ & don’ts that you must clearly understand before you get started.
Some of the most popular affiliate marketing networks where you can find a broad spectrum of products to promote on your blog are:
- Amazon Associates
- ShareASale
- Commission Junction
- AWIN
- Rakuten Advertising
- ClickBank
Know more about how you can use affiliate marketing to monetize your blog and earn a passive income.
#3 - Sponsored Blog Posts or Reviews:
If you have an aesthetically pleasing blog with high-quality & relevant content, an engaged target audience, and consistency in blog post scheduling – you can choose to write sponsored blog posts or reviews and get paid.
It is a widely-used blog monetization strategy wherein a business or brand pays you to write blog posts or reviews that intelligently promote their products or services, without sounding like an advertisement. Often, they will curate the blog content themselves and all you have to do is publish the same on your blog. It is quite similar to how influencers promote products on YouTube or Instagram and receive paid sponsorships.
Below is an example of a typical sponsored blog post:
Honestly, this approach works best with celebrity bloggers or industry experts who have a dedicated fanbase. Still, if you have a decent audience size, then give your blog a professional look using a media kit using Canva. They have hundreds of eye-catchy pre-made templates to choose from that can help you create an impressive media kit easily.
The kit should include valuable information about your blog traffic, audience demographics, social media following, page views, etc. that would attract advertisers. This media kit can then be sent to businesses that you want to partner with.
#4 - Offer a Course:
It is likely that you are providing free value through your blog posts, but creating a course for motivated customers can give blog monetization a whole new dimension.
How to monetize your blog through a Course?
If you have deep knowledge in a subject and can teach something valuable to your audience, why not create online courses that your blog readers will pay for? Courses tend to be more interactive and in-depth than blog content, and therefore, strikes well with readers who genuinely want value from your site.
For example, here’s how Cole’s Classroom monetized its photography blog by selling courses and tutorials.
Not sure whether people will purchase your course? Here’s what you should know:
- Every blog reader has a pain point. And creating a course around it to provide effective and faster solutions may work well for you
- People want “bonus” information, tips, and secrets that your blog otherwise does not offer
- Your blog audience counts upon you from the free value you offer on your blog. As such, they are more likely to buy a course because they know it is worth their money
- Your readers want to reach you better, preferably through phone conversations, emails, or webinars
There are various steps to create a successful online course that your readers will be interested to buy on the blog. The course can be in the form of a Learning Management System plugin or a downloadable PDF version.
If you have a WordPress blog, you can use MemberPress to build an online course. It has a full suite of features that allow you to create, manage, or sell your online courses.
#5 - Become a Coach:
Want to make money on your blog in the shortest possible time? Become a coach your readers will look up to consult to address their problems. Of course, your blog offers free value, but a one-to-one consultation with your prospects give direct access to your expertise or products – and that’s what they want.
Thinking why you should begin as a coach on your blog? Here are some facts for you:
One of the primary reasons why the coaching service on your blog can help you make money is because people are always looking for ways to enhance their skills or want to have expert advice in resolving their problems. Coaching service has exceptional demand because the process can help deliver dramatic results.
Jenni Elliot – founder of BizMavens.com is one of the biggest examples of how offering a coaching service to your clients can boost your earnings. She provides one-to-one blogging coaching sessions, helping her students achieve desired results. And she makes a whopping $500 for each coaching consultation she provides! Check out a screenshot from her blog post “Blog Coaching & Consulting: The Fastest Route to Blogging Success and Long-Term Sustainable Growth.”
Initially, you may face challenges attracting regular clients to your coaching service. However, spreading the word through social media can help you overcome the problem and get more readers or customers to sign up for the coaching program.
#6 - Write an eBook for Your Audience :
Selling eBooks to your audience is a popular method that bloggers use to make money through their blogging platform. It is relatively easier to write an eBook and usually comes at a price that most visitors can afford.
And eBooks don’t just let you monetize your blog quickly. It is a powerful tool that helps test whether your readers are interested in the value you provide before moving on to offering expensive products to them. eBooks are low-risk, but make sure it is interesting and relevant to your blog readers. For instance, blogger Sarah Mae created an eBook that is based on a question her readers have often asked about forgiveness.
You can also create an eBook by delving deep into one of your blog posts that already has a good readership. For instance, if your blog post on landing page optimization did really well, you can turn it into an eBook by providing a more detailed guide with tips, secrets, and proven strategies that deliver results for your readers or customers.
#7 - Integrate a Membership Area in Your Blog:
One of the best ways to monetize your blog is to create a membership section where your readers get access to premium content and exclusive benefits, but only upon paid subscription. This may include select articles, step-by-step guides, one-to-one consultation, webinars, or reports that can add more value to your readers – inspiring them to subscribe monthly or annually to become a member.
Here’s how Ryan Levesque, having passion and experience in growing orchids, created the section “Orchids Made Easy” to offer exclusive content to his paid members. He provides a common platform where the members can meet and get valuable insights from other Orchid lovers and professional growers.
There are various tools you can use to create a membership offer for your blog – MemberPress, OptimizePress, and s2Member. However, you’d need to regularly update and maintain the membership area to add value to your readers so they continue to subscribe to the membership plan.
If you have a WordPress blog, here is a guide to turning your blog into a membership site with WordPress.
#8 - Sell Other Digital Products on Your Blog:
To further monetize your blog and add more value to your readers, you can consider selling other types of digital products like printables, templates, video tutorials, WordPress themes, audio recordings, artwork, cheat sheets, and much more. If you have expertise in your niche and think adding a few digital products will provide your audience with valuable insights, sell it!
Looking for a tool that helps you create and sell a wide range of digital products on your blog? Easy Digital Downloads are worth considering here. The plugin allows you to easily sell digital products like PDF files, WordPress plugins, templates, discount codes, and much more.
In addition to digital products, you can also consider selling physical products. This strategy is workable for blogs that run on niches like fashion, style & grooming, jewelry, technology, pets, shopping, etc. There are examples of how bloggers started selling only a few items on their blog and gradually moved to set up an entire eCommerce store in addition to the blog.
Beardbrand is a popular eCommerce store today. But did you know it started as a blog by Eric Bandholz who wrote about men’s beard grooming? He then started selling different beard grooming products on his blog, transforming it into a business by creating an eCommerce site.
If your blog has an audience, then focus on their pain points and see how you can sell something that will help resolve their problems. You can also invent a product, get it designed and patented, and put it on sale to add more value to your blog readers.
#9 - Build a Private Forum:
Another invaluable way of making money from your blog is by creating a private forum, where industry experts, professionals, coaches, businesses, and other members can come together to discuss different topics and get one-to-one advice from you. It is an excellent way to build a community and engagement around your blog. Additionally, with paid forum subscriptions, you can have a steady flow of passive income from your blog.
WordPress has forum plugins that allow you to create a relevant private forum and integrate it into your blog.
#10 - Host a Webinar:
Hosting a webinar is a fantastic way to showcase your knowledge in a subject and spread the word for your blog. And if it is a paid one, it can also help you earn money.
Typically, a webinar is a live online course or video training session that ends with a question-and-answer round. This can be a great way to engage your audience and interact with them while making passive income through their subscriptions. If you have an exclusive piece of information to share or something exciting that can add value to your readers, hosting a paid webinar would be ideal to establish your authority in the topic and drive more traffic to your blog.
Here is a perfect example of how HubSpot uses its webinars as gated content to gain more leads.
Though HubSpot offers webinars for free, you can make them paid if you have great content or information that your audience will be willing to pay for.
Summary - How to Monetize your Blog
The time-tested and profitable blog monetization techniques discussed herein are just the tip of the iceberg. There are various other ways you can establish your blog and start making money from it.
So, put in a little hard work, implement these strategies, and be patient. What appears to be a hassle for you now might turn into a profitable source of income for you!
