5 Simple Steps to Start a Blog and Make Money -

To start a blog and make money with it might seem far fetched. Earning money online takes time, discipline, and skills.

But the good news is it is possible. And having a blog is a great way to make some extra cash.

In this article, I will explain how to start a blog and make money and 5 steps to make it more successful to build your business.

By the end, you’ll know exactly how to start today.

Why Is Having a Blog Important?

There are multiple ways you can start and grow a business. Having a blog is fuel to the fire of success in any business. Though it takes time, it’s time worth spent if done right.

Here are three reasons having your own blog is important:

#1 – Having Your Own Platform to Build Your Authority

Having your own platform is important because there is lower risk to losing your content. If you use a platform owned by someone else, for example Facebook, you run the risk of getting shut down and completely losing everything on that platform. Having your own website lowers your risk of losing everything, especially if you use it to build an email list.

Your own website also allows you to build authority.

By creating content revolving around a certain topic or topics, you can create a level of authority all your own where you can direct your audience from other platforms.

#2 – Optimizing Your Website and Blog Articles for SEO

You can optimize your website and blog articles for SEO (Search Engine Optimization), to rank higher and get more eyes on your content.

The more eyes you get, the higher your commissions are. You need a platform, like a website, to be able to do this. Using some of the other companies’ platforms, like Facebook for example, won’t help you rank with search engines. You need your own website.

#3 – Build Future Passive Income for Years to Come

Who doesn’t like the idea of passive income?

Without spending a fortune to get to that point, you can create the future passive income to help you have more financial freedom and abundance.

It takes very little overhead to start a blog and once the content is created, it’s always there.

One thing to note when you start a blog and make money is it’s important to consistently add new content to your website and update older content every few months or so.

But it’s still very close to having passive income.

When Will I Start Earning Money with a Blog?

This is a question I hear all the time. Show me the money, right?

Of course the money will come, but to start a blog and make money requires consistency, patience, and some important skills to make it rain.

If you leave out one or more of the key elements to making your blog successful, the commissions won’t start coming in very quickly, or at all.

Here are just a few of the vital factors to consider when trying to earn money with a blog:

Are You Using Affiliate Links in Your Articles?

I recommend you focus on having an affiliate marketing authority blog. That way you have countless topics to choose from to write about and put your affiliate links for those topics in the articles.

When someone reads your review of a particular product, they will likely click on and buy through your affiliate links.

And once you start developing authority on your site with Google and other search engines and with your community, the commissions start rolling in.

Click here to check out my article about the ins and outs of affiliate marketing.

Are You Optimizing Your Content for SEO?

This is vital to start a blog and make money. You need to be able to rank as high as you can with search engines like Google, Bing and others. Without it, you won’t have enough eyes on your content or clicks of your affiliate links.

One thing to consider when trying to rank with SEO is doing keyword research and using the appropriate amount of those keywords in your articles. As you’ll learn later, this is so much easier than you think.

If you want to learn more about SEO and how to implement it in your website, I highly recommend the course SEO Affiliate Domination.

Are You Contributing to Your Blog Consistently?

Google and other search engines will recognize your blog a lot sooner and start to rank your content if you consistently add to your blog. They won’t take you seriously otherwise and won’t show your content to users.

Consistency is vital to start a blog and make money.

Are You Promoting Your Blog on Social Media and Other Sites?

You can get the word out about your blog or specific articles that answer people’s questions by ethically posting in Facebook groups on promo threads or when invited to do so.

You can also guest post on other blogs, leading readers back to your blog to learn more about a certain subject. The point is to get the word out about your blog and your authority.

The money will come, and though the various factors that play into it make a difference, it’s very much up to you and your efforts when that money comes. Put forth the effort and follow the above points and you’ll see those commissions roll in.

So, how do you get started and create a successful blog?

5 Simple Steps to Start a Blog and Make Money

Step #1: Get a Domain and Hosting to Start a Blog and Make Money

When choosing a domain name, consider your niche. Many people recommend using your name dot com. It’s up to you. You could use dot net, dot co, or something else.

Whatever you decide for your domain name, make sure it’s easy to pronounce and it’s related to what your blog is all about.

You need a hosting site to house your website. A hosting site is where you build your website and blog. No hosting, no website.

I use and recommend Dreamhost for your hosting site. It’s user-friendly, affordable, and has excellent customer support.

You can also get free security for your site so your personal information, like your email, address, phone number, etc. isn’t shared with the world. Not all hosting sites will do that without you paying extra.

Click here to sign up for Dreamhost.

Step #2: Customize Your Blog

After you get your domain and hosting, the next step is to get WordPress for your domain, a simple process to connect it to your site. If you choose to use Dreamhost, it’s a matter of one click. They make it very simple.

Once you have WordPress, you can then choose a theme, customize it to fit your needs, and start blogging. I like the Kadence theme.

There are a few free plugins I recommend to use your blog more effectively and get it ranked higher with search engines.

All In One SEO Pack – This plugin helps you rank with SEO and know exactly what you need to do to each page and article to optimize them. With this plugin, you can ensure your articles are ready to rank.
Easy HTTPS (SSL) Redirection – Forces all site visitors to https when visiting any form of your site. Whether they put in www, or just your domain name, etc. this plugin will make sure they are always redirected to https.
EWWW Image Optimizer – Used to optimize images for faster load speeds.
Google XML Sitemaps – Improves SEO sitemap indexing for your site.
Kadence Blocks – Makes things easier to get things up and going.
Kadence Starter Templates
Lightspeed Cache – Makes your site work faster.
Thirsty Affiliates – Change one affiliate link and that link changes on your entire site so you don’t have to go to each article and change each one.
WP Editorial Calendar – Helps you keep track of your posting schedule.
WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click – This is a vital plugin in my opinion. Your content is protected from being copied.

There are of course other useful plugins you could use. These plugins will get you started on the right foot to ensure more success and protection for your website.

Step #3: Keyword Research

In order to rank with search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo and others, you need to use keywords.

Simply look up your main keyword on one of the keyword research tools and see what long tail keywords come up that not only help give you some direction in what to write, but will also help rank your article for SEO.

Here is a list of some of the free keyword research tools I and others have used:

Ubersuggest

Keyword Tool

Keyword Research Tool

Google Adwords Keyword Planner – Click the link, then go to keyword planner.

Keywords Everywhere

KWFinder

Ahrefs (free version)

You can also Google your article topic and look at what else comes up as you search. If you scroll to the very bottom of Google, you’ll see more keywords you could use.

For example, if you were writing an article about ClickFunnels, you could find other keywords by simply Googling it. Here’s what it would look like if you searched for ClickFunnels:

You don’t have to be a professional researcher to be successful with your blog. Using a keyword research tool significantly simplifies the research.

Step #4: Writing Content

So now you have a domain and hosting, a customized website, and have done the research.

To start a blog and make money, you need to write.

Don’t let the writing scare you off from having a blog and creating that passive income so many online marketers seek.

Stay with me. This part of the process is easier than you think and I’ll tell you the secret.

You don’t have to write a word.

It’s true. Most people don’t enjoy writing and some people downright hate it. If that’s you, there’s another way.

The secret to getting quality articles written and taking back your time is to outsource.

Here are three options I recommend to outsource your article writing:

Content at Scale

Content at Scale is an AI platform that writes the best content I know of. If you are willing to pay the monthly cost to use it, it’s worth it.

With all AI content, you’ll need to tweak some things and make it sound more human-like, but not as much as any other AI platform.

It’s the best out there.

ChatGPT

This is another AI platform, but needs much more tweaking than Content at Scale. It’s still a great option though if you understand how to give it the right prompts.

Fiverr

You could outsource to a human writer on Fiverr. Every time I’ve done this, I’ve had to make major tweaks to the articles, as they’re not exceptionally written.

But tweaking an article is usually easier than starting from scratch, at least until you know how to write articles quickly (which comes with practice).

You could also have guest bloggers contribute to your blog.

These are options if you don’t want to write your articles. But if you do, be sure to use the free plugin All In One SEO Pack on your website to help your writing.

Step #5: Promote Your Content

It’s always better to get more eyes on your content to increase the link clicks and commissions you earn. In order to maximize how much your site is visited and your content is consumed, you need to promote it.

Here are a few ideas of how to promote your blog or specific content on your blog:

Facebook Groups – Many Facebook groups have a promo thread or promo day where you can share your links. Be sure to ethically share your website because by not following the rules in some groups, you can get banned. Don’t ever just post your links without permission.
Comment on niche related blogs and YouTube channels – You can Google related blogs that you can comment on and post the link to your blog or certain articles on your blog. Be sure to do it ethically to be helpful and not to spam.
Quora – This is a site where you can answer questions, and you can share links to different articles on your blog that could help answer those questions.
Guest post on other people’s blogs – In your article, you can point people back to your own blog.

There are many other ways to share your content and promote your site. The important thing is to get it out there so you can build your reputation for being an authority.

FAQ Section

How Much Money Does It Take to Start a Blog and Make Money?

It takes very little overhead to start a blog and make money.

Besides the cost of your domain, there really isn’t any other cost except time…

Unless you decide to outsource the writing, of course.

The cost of your domain usually is around $7 or $8, plus hosting, which can be free for a trial period.

How Much Time Does It Take to Start a Blog and Make Money?

The short answer is as much time as you’re willing to put into it.

It could be 30 minutes a day, 2 hours a day, 2 hours a week, etc.

It’s really up to you.

What’s important is that you stay consistent in posting articles, you work to optimize your site and articles, and you do outreach to get eyes on your blog.

You can decide how to allocate your time to get those things done.

Which means you can start this as a side hustle while you work full-time, if that’s what you choose.

In a Nutshell

It may start slowly, but like a small snowball at the top of a mountain, it will grow as it rolls down the mountainside.

The same goes for a website…

It may start slowly, but it will build, site visitors will become more frequent, and those commissions will start coming in – from affiliate marketing, adsense, and collaboration with others.

The financial freedom created from your blog will eventually grow and give you the life you want.