I recently read an article published on Yahoo Finance that blogging is definitely not dead. From the way I see it, most people people think blogging is dead simply because they might not be able to make money blogging or even generating enough traffic to keep the website running. So yes, let me tell you a few very important principles you should know before you can actually earn your first dollar blogging.
*Disclaimer: You can find the link to Yahoo Finance here.
The term ‘˜make money blogging’ is indeed a very famous word in search engines. It doesn’t matter if you are full time or a part time blogger, all of us want to make money through blogging.
Let’s start by by asking ourselves the reason we create a blog. Those reasons can varies from making money online, blogging as a hobby and even expressing feelings towards the world. I love blogging because I love to share my ideas and experience with the world. It might cost me a few hundred a year just for blogging, but I really enjoy it.
Another important disclaimer: You can easily start a free blog without needing to spend a single penny (referring to what I just last said).
Before we sway too far off from our main goal today, here are some things you can definitely do to get the money rolling into your blog.
1. Blogging on things you really know
You will learn:
- How to blog properly
- How to blog a blogpost that attracts readers
I know this goes against the principles of many bloggers but it is true. If you want to blog, always make sure the content is genuine and rightful. I know many bloggers who thought they could make fast money online simply by blogging hot topics.
Well, I used to be one of them previously and does that works? Yes, it does!
Huh??!!
Blogging hot topics will give you moderate traffic and probably generating some money online. However, if you are planning to become a serious blogger, then this is definitely not the way to go and let me tell you why!
Hot topics or trends as what Google call it, is always short term basis. You may earn enough to last for the season (maybe), but you might be out of business for the rest of the year. Let’s face it my fellow bloggers. Hot topics are not meant to stay (and will never stay). Imagine it as a gossip instead. Blogging these might bring you just that far but it won’t be doing much good for you. Trust me on this!
Instead, start blogging on things that you actually know and have interest in. For example, I love blogging and websites, thus creating this website as a portal for bloggers around the world to get a nice inside scoop of blogging and to find good blogging tips, SEO techniques and even WordPress guides.
2. Making fast money through affiliate programs
You will learn:
- How to make money being an affiliate
- Simple techniques to sell or promote a product online
This is really something that makes me pissed off big time. I see so many websites promoting a product which they hardly use! Furthermore, these sites are basically ‘˜copy and spinning’ articles around just to make it unique.
One concept that I will always live by is that when you sell an affiliate product, make sure you know about it and give genuine review on it. Isn’t that obvious that in order to have a good review, you need to try the product first?
Yes you get my point. Personally, I have been writing several reviews in the past and trust me that they are tough to construct if you have no hands on experience in it.
One of the best tips I can offer to bloggers who wish to make some money by selling affiliate products is that you need to decide yourself if that product is worth your time selling. Some products offers a huge commission but it has zero quality for that while others might have a lesser commission base but has better quality.
If you want read more, you can check out what Darren Rowse wrote on ProBlogger Secrets to Six Figure Income.
3. Blogging is never about making money online
You will learn:
- How to blog better
This is one phrase I always use in nearly every blog, articles or website I write. Blogging is never about making money online. If you think that blogging is a get rich quick business, you are wrong. Sorry mate!
For bloggers who started out fresh, you got to focus to put up one hell of a show (good content), attract readers and then focus in generating money through blogging, not the opposite.
Many people (and even bloggers) who think that blogging is dead simply because there are tons of websites and blogs out there to compete. Good Lord they are wrong.
Competitions and competitors doesn’t make it impossible but both of these only make blogging more challenging. What I love best about of these is the fact that they makes me better in my blogs and yes, it can really sharpen my blogging skills at the same time.
4. Improve blog traffic with great content
You will learn:
- How to improve blog traffic
- The effect of quality contents
I am not sure if you are aware on this but the only way to gain more money is through having a good amount of traffic to your blog. For me, I always believe that more traffic means more income.
Readers only want to read good article and not some lame stories. So, gaining a good amount of traffic especially repeated visitors will actually improve the chances of you making money through blogging. I wouldn’t want to go in too deep on that but always remember that you can generate money not only through advertisement clicks but as well as total number of impressions received.
Content writing or content blogging is important to create good traffic to your site. You have to remember that traffic is not created overnight but it takes time and lots of effort. Of course, the first step is to provide good content to your readers.
You do not need to write a thousand words article like I do in most blog articles but always make sure that each article is packed with quality information. Readers like you and me will only return back to the blog if they have good articles that worth reading.
Here’s a few example of websites offering quality contents:
5. Increase your blog earning with the RIGHT banner
You will learn:
- How to monetize your blog
- How to further improve your ad revenue and convertion
I know people make tons of money with Adsense and some doesn’t. In fact, it is not the number of banners visible to your visitors that count. Instead, it is all about using the RIGHT banner at the right place which counts!
One of the biggest mistake most bloggers do when it comes to monetize their blogs is placing too many ad banners. If you are one of them, remove those banners right now!
Yes now!
Google had realized banner’s hotspot few years back and many are still using it. As time passes by, everything changes and so does the click rates and banner location. I am not saying that we should not use Google guide in banner placement but we should improvise from it.
From time to time (and thanks to having many websites), I am lucky enough to test the different types of click rates I could have. The biggest and most obvious differences is the layout colour, size of fonts and yes, placements of each banners.
Basically, larger banners like those 250 x 250, 3300 x 250 and 336 x 280 has better click rates when placed in the starting and ending of an article page. In other words, placing on the first and last paragraph is definitely a good choice if you want to generate some earnings from Adsense. Furthermore, these large banners usually fetch a very high cost per click (CPC) rate.
Another good banner which many people fail to use them is the link units. These link units provided me pretty good click rate. Yes, maybe the cost per click (CPC) is rather low for most bloggers, having at least one of this advertisement units on your blog will definitely increase the chances of your earnings.
In order to make money blogging, I often see most bloggers placed more than 6 types of banners on a page. For the sake of God, please…I beg you…please don’t do it to your poor blog.
C’mon guys! People visit your blog to gain experience and gather information. They are not here to click on your banners! I get it and I really do. We all bloggers (including me) would love to see at least some earnings on your Google Adsense. What you can do is place them wisely.
Personally, I would recommend not more than three banners visible on one page itself. At times, it is alright to be greedy and place slightly more than three banners on high traffic pages thought. You might get lucky but do not over do it if you do not want to kill your blog traffic.
Let’s recap what you have read above using SlideShare, shall we?
Back to you…
I hope you enjoy this article as much as I do and feel free to contact me if you have any inquiry on the topic. At the same time, I appreciate your feedback and you can do so by filling up the form below.
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