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Allegedly, anybody can make money blogging in 2021. Yes, this is the word on the street. Tons of money can be earned blogging. People have turned the once innocent blogging hobby into profitable full-time careers. But, how?
We have already written about powerful online passive income tactics and blogging is leading the list. So, in this in-depth guide, you will find information on how to start a profitable blog, pick your niche and turn your blog into a sweet, money-making online business.
It’s not dead easy, we won’t lie. Follow our action plan, and with some good old-fashioned work and luck on your side, you will see the profits come your way.
Let’s begin.
Contents
Is it worth to start a blog in 2021?
We honestly don’t see many cons for starting a blog. Let’s start with the prevailing pros.
Here are the pros
- anybody can start a blog
- it’s free
- it looks great on your CV
- you don’t need a degree, or previous experience to run a blog
- businesses can increase their visibility utilizing a blog
- blogs can be very profitable
- a blog can be a hobby, a part-time side project, or a full-time income source/career
- you are in control, your own boss
- you can work from anywhere, on your own schedule
- you will connect will other bloggers worldwide
Cons
- it can take time for a blog to take off
- blogging includes hours and hours of hard work
- starting a blog can be expensive
- content should be high-quality
- successful blogging involves utilizing SEO optimization and various marketing strategies
If you don’t believe us or need more statistics to show you what’s the current situation concerning blogging, Semrush published an article with the most up-to-date blogging statistics in 2021. Here you will find percentages of best blog length, frequency, influence, marketing, income, and more.
BLOG MONETIZATION FORMULA
Here it is, in short:
START A BLOG + TRAFFIC/ FOLLOWERS + ADS = SUCCESS
This is a very, very simplified action plan to make money blogging, so let’s get into the details to explain all the steps leading you to success. Monetizing a blog is just a few scrolls away…
How to start a blog
When you start a blog, there are some important questions that you have to decide on beforehand.
1. Free or Paid
You have the option to start your blog for free, which is great for beginners, and paid blogs, which we recommend even for beginners.
One of the questions that people ask often is: Can you monetize a free blog? The answer is – yes.
The main difference between free and paid blogs is actually hosted vs. self-hosted. Another difference is that free blogs like Blogger can look unprofessional (especially the name). If you post on a paid blog, like Bluehost, your image will be more professional and brands and ad agencies will take you more seriously.
Keep in mind that even beginners can afford to pay for blog hosting as it is very affordable. If you want to make money blogging, you need to spend a little too.
Besides, free blogs will eventually need paid upgrading because there’s only so much you can do with free basic tools. Another option is moving from a free blog to a paid one, which can result in a big mess and is better avoided.
We at Workooze use WordPress and can’t recommend it enough. Actually, this is the only blogging platform we recommend.
We don’t want to get into the nitty-gritty of starting a blog right now, so if you are at the beginning of your blogging journey please read our article How to Install WordPress [2021 Best WordPress Guide for Absolute Beginners].
One of the tips, when you want to make money blogging, is to focus on titles and include numbers. Why is that and for other useful tips, you will have to check out the article.
2. Design
Looks are more important than you think. Focus on the most professional design that you can achieve because it will give your blog credibility. This way, you will make money blogging for sure. You have to focus on building credibility, authority, and trust from the early days, because later… Well, there will be no later. If a reader finds your blog unappealing, they will leave and never read a word and get to witness your brilliant mind.
For more advanced bloggers we recommend getting Adobe certification. Knowing video editing, animations, photography, design & more is highly useful when running your own blog and trying to make money blogging. Learning how to code is another skill that will make your life easier.
3. SEO
To appear close to Google search page 1, you need to implement SEO. Search Engine Optimization is nothing but many little tweaks to your blog posts that can boost its visibility. It is actually quite easy to master the basics of keyword research, which is a big part of SEO. You have zero chances to make money blogging without SEO, so you better get on it. You can take advantage of many online courses that Google, Microsoft, SEMrush Academy, HubSpot Academy, and others are offering for free so far.
We also wrote these articles that can be helpful to all bloggers: This is How to Write a GREAT Blog Post [2021 Updated], 16 Best SEO Tools (Search Engine Optimization)
4. Social Media
After you start blogging, work on employing social media to market your blog. There is no point in writing if nobody can find you. Building a large following is extremely important if you want to incorporate ads later and start to make money blogging.
We recommend starting with creating pins on Pinterest and focusing on mastering it completely.
If you don’t have time to post on Pinterest, you could try an app called Tailwind. It will do the pinning for you, at scheduled times. There are other features, but we signed up as soon as we heard about time-saving. Tailwind can also be used for posting to Instagram.
“Tailwind was one of the best decisions I made as a blogger. I get 7 days of marketing done in two hours every Monday morning.”
Latasha Peterson Founder at Arts and Budgets
From here you can move on to Instagram, Facebook, and others. Social media will give you a huge following if done right. Beginner bloggers should focus their time and energy on page views, then, and only then, come ads and mastering how to monetize a blog.
5. Email list
All bloggers who want to make money blogging focus on building an email list and recommend starting it from the beginning, even if you don’t know what to do with it yet, to be honest. Bloggers swear that focusing on your email list will account for half of your income later.
Think of it as building your own fan club where subscribers are your fans. Through regular emails, you are building a relationship with your subscribers. Emails feel personal and can help you build trust. Bloggers report that linking products in emails is more successful than just linking products on your blog. ConvertKit reports that the ROI of email is four times higher than any other marketing channel!
Setting up an email list is not as hard as you think:
- First, create small, but helpful downloads like a checklist or a template. This is called Lead Magnet. You give it away for free, in exchange for their email address.
- Then you should use opt in forms in your blog, like offering updates on new articles, usually as a pop-up or a small window in the footer on your blog. A free app called ConvertKit can help you with that.
- Finally, create a set of automated emails. They are here to welcome new subscribers and get to know you. You can explain what you’re about, why you are writing your blog, how you can help them, etc.
What to blog about?
You are probably asking yourself what types of blogs make the most money and what blog niches are most profitable. These are legitimate questions and should be answered before starting a blog if you are setting yourself up for success.
It is nice if you can turn your hobby and something you are truly passionate or knowledgeable about into a profitable blog. And, this is the easiest route to success. You will enjoy every minute sharing your wisdom with the world, without having to do a ton of research or, in a worst-case scenario, paying for outsourced content from SEO Content Writing Agencies, like WordAgents, for example.
So, just to be sure that your niche is desirable, please check out Google trends. On this useful and free website, you can explore what other people think about your chosen topic. If the graph line is closer to the bottom line, we advise changing your niche, because it will be hard to build up an audience and later, make money blogging successfully.
The safest bet is blogging in evergreen or trendy niches.
Evergreen Niches
Health and Lifestyle
Understandably, health is everyone’s number one priority, especially this year. What goes well with mental and physical health advice, are healthy lifestyle choices. You can give keto diet advice, teach people how to do yoga, exercise, share smoothie recipes, etc. We think that food blogs, especially homemade cooking, are going extremely strong this year.
Travel
In a time where travel is restricted, wanderlust only grows stronger. Big topics these days is traveling and working for digital nomads, traveling on a budget and local road trips. Bloggers who decide on these topics will surely make money blogging.
Fashion
People will always be interested in clothes and accessories, and not just the ladies. We recommend looking into streetwear fashion which has become a big trend in the last few years. Another great idea is writing about fashion for children or senior citizens. You can completely narrow down your niche, specialize let’s say, and dominate that part of the market.
Sports
Sports enthusiasts need recommendations on what equipment to use and this is where you come in. You can blog about sneakers, knives, multi-tools used by preppers, camping gear, or electrical bikes. Sky’s the limit.
Finance
We are big fans of advice on frugal living, savings, investing, passive income and especially early retirement. With constant turmoil worldwide, we expect audience for such blogs shouldn’t be too hard to find.
Pets
Cats and dogs, especially, are top money-making niche. This is true now more than ever because during the pandemic a lot of people adopted pets to keep them company at home. It will be easy to make money blogging about pet products because people love them as much as family members.
DIY
With all of us stuck at home, it comes as no surprise that we want to beautify our homes. Home improvement is extremely popular, so popular blogs are all about explaining and teaching painting, woodworking, tiling, etc. You can make money blogging through affiliate marketing, your own products, dropshipping, etc.
Celebrations
Birthdays, anniversaries, Father’s Day, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, etc. will never go out of style. You can write about traditions, food, décor or gifts. You can take the vegan perspective, for example. There are plenty of options in this niche to make money blogging.
Stay at home moms
Moms blogging is a huge movement. Moms have found a way to connect, share advice on parenting, baby food, fashion, and earn money at the same time. Note that to write a mom blog, you don’t have to be an actual mom and make money blogging.
Trendy Niches in 2021
Working from Home
Remote work and freelancing became mainstream in 2020 when COVID-19 hit. As it looks right now, working from home is here to stay for a very long time. If you are interested in blogging about remote work opportunities, giving advice to freelancers and the unemployed, this is the right niche for you. Funny enough, you can make money blogging about unemployment.
Gaming
All things game-related, video games, etc. During the pandemic, people found a way to socialize and have fun with their friends even in isolation. Check out Google trends to see the upward movement in gaming for yourself. You can make money blogging with game reviews, necessary hardware, and software.
Manga, anime, and comic book art
This is a great niche to explore for true fans of manga. Their fan base usually has deep pockets, so it will be easy finding ways to monetize a blog on these topics.
Investing, stock market, bitcoin
This is a potentially high-earning blogging opportunity because you can take advantage of high-profit affiliate programs. The global pandemic already surprised and influenced greatly the market at its beginning. Maybe you can explain all about the next crash or bitcoin perseverance?
TicToc
Nothing is as trendy as TicToc right now. You can make money blogging by describing what’s currently hip, who the latest influencers are, or recommend products as seen on TicToc.
Is blogging profitable in 2021?
Finally, we have come to the million-dollar question. Yes, you can make money blogging. Blogging can be extremely profitable if you work hard, implement different strategies into building a blog and diversify income streams. One single method may not bring you riches, but all of them combined might just do the trick.
“Don’t put all your eggs in the same basket.”
Miguel de Cervantes
How do I monetize my blog in 2021?
To answer your question in the best way, we decided not to just share our money-making tactics, but to explain also – How do other bloggers make money blogging? After in-depth investigating, we found out that these are the most profitable ways to make money blogging:
1. Display Ads
Ads are a huge way to monetize a blog. If you want to make money blogging, this is definitely the first thing you should be doing.
By displaying ads you can make money. Look at all the empty white space on your blog and imagine what it can be – a steady source of passive income. Another term for display ads is pay per click (PPC) because when somebody clicks on it, you will get paid.
Google Ads or Google AdSense will get you started. It is motivational for newbie bloggers, but, unfortunately, not very effective when you want to make money blogging. Google Ads will not make you rich. You can earn only a few cents per click. Before you get disillusioned and write off ads forever, don’t forget that Google Ads are just one of many.
When you have more page views, you can apply to a premium ad network, for example, Mediavine. Their requirements are high, but not unreachable. Premium ad networks will give you higher returns. You can check out AdThrive, media.net, PropellerAds, and more.
2. Sponsored posts
Sponsored posts are another way of advertising. This is how it works: you get paid to publish a post on your blog and be seen by your audience. A sponsor will pay you for reviewing their product or service and promotion. We wouldn’t rely on sponsored posts as the only source of income, just as a nice bonus.
Influential bloggers can get paid high amounts of money to advertise brands, products, or services. The larger their following, the more money they can ask per post. This works particularly well on Instagram but is also done on blogs. Sponsored posts are certainly something to aspire to.
3. Affiliate Marketing
For a commission, you can advertise other people’s products on your website. Affiliate marketing is a very profitable tactic to make money blogging that everybody uses – not just bloggers, but also influencers, YouTubers, etc. The most widespread Affiliate program is Amazon Associates, mostly because Amazon is so widespread.
But you should know that there are many more affiliate programs that you should explore because they often offer higher commissions than Amazon. Please check out for yourself ClickBank, ShareASale, CJAffiliate, and many others.
Affiliate marketing is great for many reasons. It is wonderful as passive income and you get a feel of what it’s like to sell products. This can lead you to the idea of selling your own products and make money blogging about your inventions.
If you want to learn more about the secrets of Affiliate Marketing, read our articles: Best Ways to Start Affiliate Marketing in 2020 [Easy Guide for Complete Beginners] and 12 Best Affiliate Marketing Sites.
4. Products
You can start selling your own physical products and digital products.
The smart thing to do is selling your own products on your blog. This way, you are not selling other people’s creations for a small commission, but you get to keep all the profits to yourself. This is your ultimate blogging goal.
Having control over the entire process is wonderful, but there are many cons to consider with selling your own products like time, manufacturing costs and shipping, etc. So don’t jump in the water before you checked for sharks.
Selling digital products can be very lucrative because you can charge a lot of money for them. The whole world is leaning toward doing business online, but unique digital products are still quite rare and therefore desirable. You could create and sell an online course, an eBook, a questionnaire, etc.
Related post: How to Instantly Self-publish on Amazon in 2021 [Easy as 1-2-3]
5. Services
You can offer your services on a blog. This can involve any real-life service like walking dogs, babysitting, tutoring, or anything that you are able and willing to do in exchange for money. It all depends on your expertise and your schedule.
Digital services are highly popular and you could make a lot of money if you can evolve them into a successful business. You could offer online one-on-one coaching of any kind (lifestyle, blogging) to improve people’s personal and professional lives, consulting, online tutoring (yoga, drawing, singing), virtual assistance, freelance writing, creating websites, design, etc.
Premium Chat is a great app you can use to monetize your time. With Premium Chat you can make money on online consultations, or even a live video call. Check out our Premium Chat article to learn more about this opportunity.
Related posts: Become Expert Social Media Manager [Conquer 2021], Best Freelance Websites,
6. Online store
Dropshipping is the next step you can take. There are no manufacturing troubles, no dealing with shipping, just marketing, and customer service. Profits can be huge if you choose the right products.
If you think that sounds appealing, read our post Why is Dropshipping Business Tempting [2021 Updated Guide] to find out more.
7. Optimize
Small tweaks on your blog and existing content can get you more audience and, you guessed it, more sales!
You could add new content like testimonials and user reviews. You can always tweak the design of your blog. If you run out of ideas, work on technical stuff like improving the speed of your blog. If you work on Google SEO, you will get more organic traffic from Google.
How do beginner blogs make money?
It is hard for blogs in the very beginning to start earning money because some ad programs require you to have a certain amount of page views.
When you’re just starting out we suggest using Google AdSense. Google will pay you to display ads on your blog. Setting up is easy, without requirements, and free. The best part is – it requires no extra work on your part. Google does everything for you.
Also, we recommend signing up to Skimlinks. This website gives you easy access to Affiliate Marketing. It’s free to sign up, install and track your results.
How many blogs are successful?
According to Forbes, the highest-earning blogs are:
- Huffpost
- Engadget
- Moz
- PerezHilton
- Copyblogger
These blogs earn millions (and millions) of dollars every year.
These are the similarities between the most successful blogs
- They didn’t become an influential overnight
- They all produce large quantities of content
- They produce high-quality content which helps with getting views via organic search
- To monetize a blog, you have to attract a large audience
- They use multiple ad streams and affiliate marketing to monetize blogs
- These blogs were built into highly influential brands and empires
Who is the highest paid blogger?
HuffPost, leading on the highest-earning list, makes $500 million per year. It is a global news blog and produces content that competes with the world’s leading news agencies. It started out as a commentary blog and evolved into a giant news media. Their secret? Wikipedia says Google SEO.
How much money can you realistically make blogging?
Let’s say that you are an average blogger. You are not a pro, yet, but not a beginner either. Statistics show that average annual earnings come to $24,086. Only 14% of bloggers can earn a salary from blogging. Just a half of all bloggers earn less than $1000 per year.
These numbers are not encouraging at all. But, keep in mind that you can do better than average. If you aim higher, higher earnings await.
How long does it take to become a successful blogger?
In today’s modern world a lot of times success is considered equal to money. So, let’s rephrase this question – How long does it take to start earning money from a blog?
You can expect to start earning money after six months to a year. It all depends on you, of course. Money will come after hard work, and all the implemented tools are done right. You can’t expect a result if you missed the marketing part, for example.
What is Sandbox Effect?
Google Sandbox is a strategy employed by Google to prevent new websites from appearing in SERP (Search Engine Result Page).
The Sandbox Effect can last up to a year. This probationary period will end once you prove that your website isn’t spammy, low-quality, or employing black hat techniques.
Sandbox Effect can really confuse and disillusion inexperienced bloggers and make them quit before witnessing any results.
“I suppose it had to happen at some point. SEOmoz is finally sandbox free for the first time since our move to this domain 9 months ago. We aren’t alone, either. Many folks had sites escape, and I’m happy for all of them. It looks like our 12,000+ all-natural links (never link built for this site, just link-baited) finally paid off.”
Rand Fishkin (Moz) in 2005
Why do bloggers fail?
Here are some common mistakes bloggers make:
1. Giving up too early
It takes time to see results. We all know that success doesn’t happen overnight. So, it can be said that a lot of bloggers don’t actually fail, but they, in fact, give up.
There will come a time when you start questioning yourself and doubting your blogging tactics. When you find yourself on the verge of quitting, our advice is to stick with it and keep going because this is usually when things start snowballing.
2. Not solving problems
Another reason why some blogs aren’t successful is that they don’t focus on the audience. Your focus should be on your followers, trying to be helpful, and give useful advice. Orbit Media published statistics saying spending more time on a post pays off. Bloggers who spend six-plus hours on a post report strong results by 31%.
3. Not producing high-quality content
There are so many blogs out there (more than 600 million according to Oberlo blogging statistics), you just have to find a way to stand out. WordPress claims that over 409 million people view more than 20 billion pages each month. What your audience, and Google, will appreciate is high-quality content and a unique perspective. Find your own voice and people will follow. Statistics say that spending more time and energy writing a post pays off. Orbit Media states that bloggers who spend six-plus hours on a post have strong results by 31%.
“I’m not surprised to see more time spent on each post correlating with “strong results.” The bar for content is higher than ever before. And it takes a ton of time to create a post that’s legitimately unique, useful, and worth sharing.”
Brian Dean, BACKLINKO
4. Doing it for the wrong reasons
Don’t write about topics that are only interesting to you. Don’t write only about your experiences. Try to make it universally interesting. Also, if you are in it only for the money, your audience will know it. Unfortunately, it shows and you won’t gain a big following with this tactic.
5. Marketing
Digital advertising is as much important as quality blog posts. Great content will get your foot in the door, but you need marketing to push it one step further. You need to build a large following.
Unfortunately, most people don’t use social media aggressively enough. Honestly, we don’t understand why. Social media are free to use and fun.
So, How do you make money blogging?
Blogging should be used by individuals and companies for the same reasons – to increase visibility and your money-making prospects. It’s free and can drive a lot of traffic your way.
Blogging is not a passive income source. As with anything in life, results come after some time and actual work. If you are new to SEO, social media, etc. you should first master these skills or outsource them, because without them, monetizing your blog will be difficult.
The good news is that it is not rocket science, so anyone can do it. But, only if you implement all the strategies, tips, and tricks.
So, get up, start a blog, gain followers, and make a ton of money!
Let us know how you did. Good luck!