How to Make Money from My Blog

 

You have a desire to blog. You have a topic of choice. You have some extra time to make it happen. Incidentally, you also would love to make some extra money from your blog. Technorati has reported that every second brings two new blogs. How do you make sure yours is successful? Do your research and consider the following aspects when creating your blog. And remember you want to create a quality blog to attract readers in order to make money.

What is the title of your blog? This will take some work and creativity. Do your research as you will not want to have the same as someone else. Again, you want to attract readers and stand out from the competition. Something engaging, succinct and memorable will help you to attract an audience.

Research!

The internet is full of blogging ideas and guidelines. Read other blogs and decide what you like or don’t like about them. Set some goals and understand what you hope to gain from your blog. What are you writing about? Once you have a topic chosen, you will want to put together a few words that summarize it and put them into a search engine. Recognize that you may only get a small part of research as some sites are better than others at compiling this data. This step is most important thing when you’re start to blog and hope an income. An attractive research will result in the right and potential niche which you can optimize.

Keyword research

Keyword research is also imperative to make money from your blog. There are multiple programs that can walk you through this, some are better than others. If you truly don’t understand this or have difficulty navigating through this process, hire someone who can do this for you. Keyword research can truly make or break you.

Optimize the keywords on your niche

Keyword optimization is imperative if you want to attract readers. Often people will put specific words into a search engine when they are looking for a topic of choice. Know your audience and what they are looking for. Select your topic and focus on a few key words that will attract your audience. Try to link back to older posts when you can. This will help to keep your reader engaged in your writing.

Starting a blog

• What about your platform? This is an overwhelming decision that can directly impact the success of your blog. If you choose a predesigned format, your background will not stand out from the others and it may detract readers, regardless of your content. Remember, your readers first reaction will be to what they initially see, the visual appeal of your blog. There are many sites that will walk you through creating a blog and some have fewer restrictions than others.

• Create a domain name. Check the availability and register it. While it is true that many are already registered, if you are flexible and creative, you can come up with something that is catchy and memorable. Make sure it relates directly to your topic. Once you have created and purchased it, get it registered.

• Decide who will host your blog. If you are new to this area, look for someone who provides unlimited support and live chat. Bandwidth and ordering time can also help you to decide on a host. Some hosting sites allow you to forward your domain to alternate web addresses, which can assist you in expanding your capabilities and audience.

• To do well with your blog, you will also need to build links to other sites. This will increase your traffic and your credibility. Increasing your link building will also increase your status in the search engines. Backlinking may also be called incoming links or inbound links. IT is basically Search Engine Optimization. IT IS CRITICAL FOR THE SUCCESS OF YOR BLOG. You want the search engines to find you so that they can recommend you and to keep finding and listing you.

Optimize a blog

• Social media: update regularly. Keep your followers involved…if you don’t have updated and interesting content, your readers will go elsewhere. Update your Facebook and Twitter sites with your newest blog. Consider that by the end of 2012 Facebook is estimated to have near one billion members. Link your social accounts together.

• What about the extras? Buttons, widgets, plugins? Don’t include them just to have them there. Make them functional and tie them into your material. These can be useful tools in linking your readers to other materials regarding your information. Too many can also slow down the loading time for your site.

Make money with your blog

Affiliate marketing programs allow you to make a commission by linking to another product or service. When people click on these links and purchase from the originator, you will earn a commission. Review products, books, services and allow your readers to click directly to that product…if they buy, you also receive compensation.

• Clickbank. Incorporate these products into your blog and when a reader clicks on them and purchases, you receive a check! Clickbank is one of the best affiliate programs out there.
• Continuity programs…in this situation you earn money form people subscribing to your blog or service. These are membership sites that offer services, support and an ongoing income stream.

Advertise in your blog. Companies pay for space on your blog. This can work in your favor or not, and you need to consider that some people become frustrated with being barraged by advertisements. Choose wisely and tie them into your blog.

• Chitika is an ad-network that allows for personalized ads and pays you after charging advertisers to be highlighted with your information.
  • Google AdSense allows you to personalize your ads and tie them into the content of you blog. When these ads are clicked on to received more information, your receive compensation.
  • Stumble Upon offers adds for .05 per click.
  • Consider utilizing ReviewMe and buy reviews on other blogs.

Blogger advertising network. Join a blogger network and let them take care of getting advertisements for you. The pay rate may not be as high; however you will not be handling the workload. Examples of these are Glam or NetShelter.

Sponsored Posts : This happens when you receive payment for placing an article written by your sponsor on your blog. The benefit is that you can charge more for the space; however you are allowing someone else to write on your blog. Additionally, you need to make sure that you agree with what is written and that it is in line with your beliefs.

Advertise your own services….extend your client list. If you are a consultant or freelance writer, for example, you may utilize your blog to solicit new clients. Use your blog as a stepping stone to market yourself. Place recommendation letter from others who have been happy with your work.

Ask for donations. Regular followers may donate some financial support for you if they find your information to be worthwhile.

Other considerations:

• Conversion Optimization…consider that your conversion goal is just one step in your marketing program. The conversion goal is measurable, allowing you to see the direct impact on your blog. Understand Google Analytics and how the information accumulated there can help you in making money from your blog.
• Install and utilize visitor Analytics. You want to know who is visiting your site and why. Listen to what the reports tell you and make adjustments as needed. These sites range from free to expensive, depending on your needs.
• Register a Google and Bing webmaster tools accounts. These sites will monitor site information and report it back to you via interfaces.
• Where will you get your pictures? If you do not take them yourself, know that some sites like Flickr allow you to use their images for free. Consider being an affiliate with Amazon to use their pictures also. Images draw people into your site. Consider the strength of the image.
• Gear your target for an audience who will be likely to share your material. That in itself will help you to access new readers.
• Follow your readers and participate in like forums.
• Check that your design works on all Browsers. Older browsers may change the design or leave information out entirely.
• Utilize an analytic site. You want to know who is visiting your site and why they are visiting you. Follow the trends and make adjustments accordingly.
• Create a KPI dashboard and track the results regularly.
• Run a crawl simulation of your own site. There are some free tools that will allow you to do this. The information is critical and will show you what is not working. This is also an excellent way to check up on any freelance or contract workers.

What are the top three things to do in order to make money from your blog?

• Write new content! Keep it interesting and relevant.
• Continue to increase your traffic.
• Keep researching….know what the trends changes are and incorporate them into your website.