Last updated on June 23rd, 2019 at 10:35 am
We’re told from the get go that we shouldn’t start a blog just for the money.
I totally get that, but hey running a blog costs money. There comes a time when we have to learn how to monetize a blog. Especially, if you’re trying to turn your blog into a sustainable full-time income.
I am not saying that you should plaster a bunch of ads on your blog.
After all, your readers should come first. If your ads drive your readers away, guess what, you won’t be able to create a successful blog.
So be sure that you’re always taking into account your readers. Strive to help as many of them through your content as possible.
After all, like Zig Ziglar says:
You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough people get what they want.
How to Monetize A Blog
As a blogger, you’re going to have to decide how you want to monetize your blog without annoying your visitors.
This article is just going to cover 5 simple methods you can start using to learn how to monetize a blog. These aren’t the only methods you can use. There are literally tons of ways to monetize a blog, here’s an article explaining 30 different ways to monetize a blog.
I recommend starting with just a 1-2 of the methods and see which ones work for your blog. Once you have a better idea of which monetization methods work for you, then you can start adding more.
I can’t guarantee that you’ll actually make money. You’ll have to test things out and see what works for your blog.
Related: Should Monetizing My Blog Scare The Crap Out Of Me
1. Website Ads
We’ve all seen them when we visit websites, ads that popup or slide in just waiting for us to click. Usually, these ads are place on the sidebar, in-text or in the footer.
Before you start using these types of ads, you might want to consider how they will look on your blog. Will it help you reach your blog goals? If you’re trying to sell products or services you may not want to have people clicking away from your blog.
Google Adsense: This is the one that comes to mind for most new bloggers. Once you get your blog approved you’ll start displaying ads on your blog. There are two ways to earn money from Google Adsense:
- Based on impressions: Your payout will depend on the number of page views of your blog. For instance the more page views you have, you’ll get a certain amount of money. This will require you to have a lot of page views. So in order to be successful, you’ll need to know what marketing method is actually helping you drive traffic to your blog. Google Analytics can help you determine which marketing method is growing your blog.
- Based on Clicks: Your page views won’t matter. Instead, you’ll get paid whenever someone clicks on your ads. The payout will vary from $0.01 to a couple of dollars depending on the type of ad.
Adsense can be a great way to earn from your blog. Some bloggers have done extremely well. However, you’ll have to learn about the best ad placement for the most clicks, colors to use and which size of ad works best. Basically, you’ll have to test everything to see which ads work best for your blog.
I really don’t know that much about using Google Adsense. If you’re serious about getting started and want to learn the ropes, I suggest you read How to Make Money From Google Adsense Newbie Guide.
Related: How to Sign Up For Google Adsense
Media Net: Supposedly this ad network allows you to have more control over your ad placements. You can even do A/B split tests and find out which ads are actually worth having on your blog. My blog is NOT using ads right now, but who knows what I’ll decide to do later on down the road.
If you’re looking for some networks that have fast approval read this.
In my opinion that will do more harm and will hurt your blog. Of course, it’s your blog and you get to run it the way you want π
2. Affiliate Marketing
I love affiliate marketing and this is one of the methods that I am using on this blog. You don’t have to worry about creating your own products. When you start using a product and you fall in love with it, why not recommend it to your readers.
After all, you know the product is great and will help improve their lives in some way. I do that with the social plugin I am using, I love it and you can read why I use it and recommend it here.
However, don’t make the mistake of trying to promote just anything as an affiliate. It important to promote only products that you yourself have used.
Here are some great affiliate companies to join:
Amazon Associates: This affiliate giant can definitely work with almost any blog. I am pretty sure that you’ve heard of it π
Share A Sale: This affiliate network has so many different types of products you can promote. You may have to spend some time trying to find some that match your site. Some of my favorite companies I like promoting on ShareSale are Genesis and iThemes. If you’re a lifestyle blogger, this can be a great place to find different companies to work with.
PicMonkey: I used to use this before I started using Photoshop for my social media images. Even though I no longer use it, I know that this is a great alternative for those who can’t afford Photoshop.
Related: Steal My Pinterest Image Creation System for Social Warfare
Ultimate Bundles: This can apply to different types of niches. Every year they come out with different bundles that are offered at a steep discount of 90% to 95% and whenever you make a sale, you receive a 40% commission. They have bundle sales throughout the year for essential oils, healthy living, photography, bloggers, and hers.
I picked up the bloggers bundle during the last sale. It definitely is worth the money for the amount of information you get.
Teachable: The amount of people creating online courses is amazing. You can receive up to 30% for every sale.
SiteGround: This is not only a great company that I recommend and use, but their commission rate will vary. For the first 1-5 sales you’ll earn $50 and then the commission will jump to $75. I even wrote a step-by-step tutorial on how to start a blog on SiteGround.
These are just a few of the programs you can join as an affiliate marketer. You’ll definitely want to find out what types of products your readers are looking for.
3. Services
Offering your services on your blog can be a great way to monetize your blog. You may have seen people offering WordPress services, in fact, I offer my limited WordPress services.
What type of services can you offer your reader. Before you say that you don’t have any skills, you need to dig deep and figure out what your talents are. Here are some possible services you can offer your readers:
- Content Writing
- Proofreading services
- Logo design
- Website Design
- WordPress Maintenance
- Plugin Updating
- WordPress Security Services
- Blog Setup
- Coaching
These are just a few of the services that I can think of right off the top of my head. I’m sure there are ton of other different services you can offer your readers.
You just have to find out what you’re talents are then find a way to get paid for them.
4. Sell Digital Products
You can create your own digital products and sell them directly from your blog or from Amazon. I just created my first ebook and am selling it from my blog. I haven’t yet started selling from Amazon, maybe I’m missing something?
The more products you create, the bigger the profits.
I personally think that eBooks are one of the easiest ways to get started creating products. You want to make sure that the products you’re creating actually help people.
Plus, they don’t take very long to create and you can sell them directly on Amazon without having to worry about setting up a gateway system for your blog.
If you’re wondering what system I went with to start selling ebooks, I chose Easy Digital Downloads. It’s extremely easy to setup and the best part is that it’s free. You only pay for the add ons you want.
5. Create A Membership Site
Many bloggers turn their blogs into membership sites. They create content that only their paying customers can see. One that comes to mind is this Genesis Developer.
He creates useful tutorials for Genesis users who don’t understand how to work with Genesis. His tutorials are more in-depth than mine are, however, I’ve used several of them to help me customize my Daily Dish Pro theme.
Imagine if you were to create a membership site that charged people $20/month (it’s your membership site, you can charge whatever you want) If you had 10 people sign up every month, by the end of the year your blog would be making $4800 per month.
Of course you would have to take into factor the retention rate of your members. Truth be told, most people don’t like monthly subscriptions…like yours truly.
However, you don’t even have to charge monthly fees, you could charge a one-time payment of $197 or more.
The sky is the limit of what you could do with your membership site. Digital Access Pass is the only membership software I’ve used. However, there are so many available for WordPress, you’ll just need to do some research to find out what works for your blog.
Final Take Away
These are only a few of the possible ways to learn how to monetize a blog. There are tons of possibilities out there. Of the 5 that I mentioned, I prefer affiliate marketing and selling digital products.
I personally believe affiliate marketing is the easiest ways for beginners to start monetizing their blogs. A quick word about making money with affiliate marketing. It’s going to take some time to actually see money rolling in.
It’s not as easy as slapping up banners on your sidebar or linking to a product. You need to create awesome content that helps people and build their trust. If your readers don’t trust you, they won’t buy from you.
So don’t be pushy with your monetization methods and focus on helping your readers. The more people you help, the better off you’ll be.
If you need an in-depth course on how to make money with affiliate marketing, I recommend the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing.
This program has definitely opened my eyes to the truth about making money with a blog. Of course, you can always figure this out on your own as well π
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Have you started monetizing your blog? Out of the methods discussed, which one do you prefer and why?
Roy A. Ackerman, PhD, EA says
I perennially consider how (ok, more IF) I can monetize my blog. And, I have continually decided that my blog is the best monetizer itself- I can garner one or two clients who learn of the breadth of my knowledge and experience (as an exemplar for my fine co-workers) each month. Which pays significantly better than the pennies I may garner from ads.
Susan Velez says
Hi Roy,
You’re definitely correct about ads, that’s why I don’t use them either. Although, I have read where people are earning good money every month from using ads.
I just prefer not to use them on my blog either. Good to see that you’ve found a way to monetize your blog that is working for you.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment, have a great day π
Susan
Visshal says
Is there anyway to earn from social marketing using facebook ?
Susan Velez says
Hi Visshal,
I am sure there is, but I am still in the process of learning how to use social marketing, so I haven’t figured that one out yet.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment, have a great day π
Susan
Vishwajeet Kumar says
Hello Susan,
AdSense is one of the best way to monetize a website or blog. It works with any niches. Whilst I am getting success with affiliate marketing and it is one of my primary ways to monetize my blog. I prefer to write reviews and try to test the products or services first. It will ensure me that the reviews are genuine and unbiased. This will help me to gain trust among my users. I really appreciate your efforts and the way you do blogging. Thanks for writing this great post. π
Susan Velez says
Hi Vishwajeet,
I have used Adsense in the past and it can be a great way to earn some money. The downside is that you have to have a lot of traffic so people will click on your ads.
Unfortunately, this site still doesn’t get a lot of traffic. So I have chosen not to use it yet, I am not really sure if I will?
You’re definitely correct about reviews being a great way to make affiliate sales. I haven’t written a lot of reviews, but I love writing how to tutorials.
I’ll have to start writing more reviews, thanks for the gentle reminder.
Have a great day π
Susan
Vishwajeet Kumar says
I have 100% agree with you. To make most out of AdSense you need a huge fresh and unique traffic. You also have to monitor your site’s traffic closely to prevent any invalid click activity. So, it is quite headache for some website owners and this is one of the reason I have choose affiliate marketing. Thanks for your thoughts.
Have a great day π
Vishwajeet
Susan Velez says
Hi Vishwajeet,
Sounds like you know how to use Adsense and increase the profits. I’ve never been that great with it, that’s why I don’t use it.
Yeah, affiliate marketing is a lot better, in my own personal opinion.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Have a great one π
Susan
Wallace says
Susan, this was an awesome article! I’m just getting started in the blogging community and was wondering what the connection was between blogging and making money. This article definitely explained a lot. I especially liked the part about services…I think I’m going to go that route and offer SEO services.
Thanks again!
Susan Velez says
Hi Wallace,
So glad that you found this article helpful and welcome to blogging. It’s a lot of hard work, but I am loving it.
You should do very well with SEO services, since people are always looking for ways to improve their SEO.
Good luck with your blogging journey.
Have a great day π
Susan
Abhilash PS says
I tried affiliate marketing once but didn’t work out, it was 3 years before. I think Google Ad Sense would be the finest way to earn money from website.
Thank You,
Hassaan Khan says
Hi, Susan!
I started off blog monetization through Google Adsense back in 2010. It did work well. In fact, I have had a good experience with Affiliate marketing back in 2013-14. Later on, I kind of diversified the monetization plan, and freelancing took over everything. I’m glad I learned a lot along the way.
Susan, you mentioned your e-book launch. Could you write a few blog posts on making and selling e-books? That would be fantastic.
Thank you so much!
Monika Sharma says
Hi Susan,
Thanks for your wonderful article. This is really important to Monetize a blog that most of blogger be fail to Monetize.
Monetizing important to have wonderful performance. This article give best idea to Monetize a blog.
Adithya Shetty says
Hi Susan,
Great post on Monetizing methods. For me, Affiliate Marketing is the best and efficient method to make money with a blog because it’s kinda risk-free for long-term.
Thanks for sharing!
Susan Velez says
Hi Abhilash,
I’ve been there before about creating a blog that wasn’t successful. I think we all go through that journey in our blogging life. The important thing is just to keep working and stop focusing on the money.
At least that’s what seems to be working for me.
Glad to hear that you’ve found the monetization method that you like. I wish you the best of luck with Google Adsense.
Have a great day π
Susan
Susan Velez says
Hi Monika,
You’re definitely correct about monetizing a blog. If you’re writing amazing content and providing value for your readers, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with monetizing it.
I can see that you don’t have a problem with monetization, have a great day π
Susan
Susan Velez says
Hi Hassaan,
Glad that you’ve learned a lot through your blogging journey. I think that monetization comes down to testing and tweaking and seeing what actually works for your own blog.
The great thing is that there are so many different ways to monetize. Like you, I prefer affiliate marketing.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment, have a great day π
Susan
Susan Velez says
Hi Adithya,
Totally agree with you about affiliate marketing. I love it as well. In the past, I had a bad experience with an affiliate program, I was promoting a product and the company closed down.
It was such a tight niche that I couldn’t find another affiliate program. It was a niche that I really didn’t love, so I ended up just letting the blog go.
So that’s the only downfall I see from affiliate marketing. Since it’s not your product, you have to be make sure that you find something that can be replaced easily or you can create your own product if the company closes its doors.
So glad that you’re having success with affiliate marketing, have a great day π
Susan
Sofor says
I thinks that, Affiliate marketing is a the best way to monetize a website.
What you say?
Susan Velez says
Hi Sofor,
I love affiliate marketing and am using that method to monetize this blog. I am also using product creation and services as I don’t want to put all my monetization methods in one basket.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment, have a great day π
Susan
Khurram says
Thanks Susan!
Very useful article you wrote. Really loved it. Please also share something about keyword density and keyword research. thnx
Susan Velez says
Hi Khurram,
I am so glad that you liked the article, I strive to please.
As for keyword research, I really don’t focus a lot on keyword research or keyword density. I don’t know if you remember me telling you that in the past, I focused 100% on SEO. Then when Google came out with the Panda update, my blog fell like a rock.
So with this blog, I am focused on other means of getting traffic. While I do optimize my blog posts, I am NOT concerned with keyword research or keyword density.
I will quickly find a keyword using Long Tail Keyword to find the keyword that I want to use.
I will then write a blog post based off of that keyword. I really don’t pay attention to the density of the article. However, at the end of my article, when I check the Yoast SEO plugin, the SEO usually has a green light.
I am sure that I could use my keyword more often throughout the article, but I don’t want to worry about keyword stuffing.
I hope this answers your question about keyword research and keyword density. That’s pretty much all I do with my article writing.
Have a great day π
Susan
Dheeraj Singh says
Hi Susan,
Really Great Article! It helped me a lot in my blogging career as I am a newbie in this field. These are the really amazing method to monetize our blog. The one which I like the most is “Affiliate Marketing”.
Thanks for sharing & letting me know about different ways to monetize my blog.
Susan Velez says
Hi Dheeraj,
I am glad to hear that you found the monetization model you prefer.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by, have a great day π
Susan
Tanmay says
hi susan
your article is really very informative and it really help me a lot
thanks for sharing!
Susan Velez says
Hi Tanmay,
I am so glad that you found the blog post helpful.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment, have a great day π
Susan
Chetan Kapoor says
Hi Susan,
Thanks for the article. I was using only one way to monetize now i can have more that one way to monetize.
Susan Velez says
Hi Chetan,
Glad my post opened up some more monetization avenues for you. What method were you use to monetize your blog?
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and feel free to come back any time.
Have a great day π
Susan
Ashutosh singh says
Hi Susan
Great article on the way of monetising a blog. I use affiliate and Adsense too but still I don’t make a sale through affiliate.
Can you suggest some tips on how to increase affiliate sale?
Thank you
Susan Velez says
Hi Ashutosh,
I personally haven’t started any ads on my blog and am not sure if I will? Only time will tell.
How old is your blog? This blog isn’t quite a year old and it’s made some money, not a enough to walk away from my freelancing job yet.
Without really knowing what your affiliate marketing strategy is, it’s hard to give you any advice. I picked up a lot of tips when I signed up with Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing.
Although you really don’t need a course, you can learn pretty much for free. I recommend taking a look at what you’re currently doing and find out why it’s not working?
Maybe you don’t have enough traffic yet?
Sorry, I know that’s not very helpful, but it’s the best I can do without really understanding what you’re doing.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and please come back and let me know how your affiliate marketing improves and what you did to improve it.
Have a great one π
Susan
Farhan Khan says
Great article on the way of monetising a blog. I use affiliate and Adsense too but still I donβt make a sale through affiliate.
thank you
Susan Velez says
Hi Farhan,
Welcome to my blog and feel free to have a look around. Glad to hear that you’ve started monetizing with affiliate marketing and Adsense.
It takes time and a lot of work to start making money. I am sure that as your blog continues to grow, you’ll start to see your hard work pay off.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment, have a great day π
Susan
Irfan Afzal says
Thanks For Article on monetizing a blog. I use affiliate and Media.Net too but still I donβt make a sale through affiliate. This Help me Lot
Susan Velez says
Hi Irfan,
I don’t use Media.net so I don’t have any experience with them. I have made a few affiliate sales and wrote an email that walked you through step by step on what I did, here it is in case you missed it.
Just keep working on your blog every day. I have no doubt that you’ll start making some sales soon.
Have a great day π
Susan
Blossom Smith says
Amazing! I am happy I read through this! I am right now utilizing AdSense and amazon offshoots, however, I discovered that I can do as such a great deal more! Much thanks to you for the greater part of your marvelous guidance!
Susan Velez says
Hi Blossom,
I was using Adsense, but I wasn’t getting enough traffic to justify it. I’ve never heard of Amazon offshoots, thanks for the heads up.
Glad you found it useful and good luck with your blogging journey.
Have a great day π
Susan