Online searches are an integral component of daily life for an estimated 4 billion Internet users. For as long as that trend prevails, I have complete faith that I can continue to make money blogging on WordPress. What’s more, I believe that anyone with a similar level of determination can achieve this goal.
When it comes to website design, WordPress is the most popular website building software and content management system on the planet, This software was born as a blogging platform, and the WordPress blog editor contains an incomparable and incredibly powerful set of tools.
In many ways, WordPress further enhances the myriad benefits of blogging because it offers a clean, search engine friendly structure. The intuitive interface lets newbie bloggers focus on content rather than technical issues. Furthermore, thousands of stunning themes let you alter the look and functionality of your blog to create an awesome user experience.
In a nutshell, you can absolutely use WordPress and blogging to generate an online income. It’s more than possible to follow your passions and make money from home doing something you love.
So, please join me as I share some powerful and proven tips that will help you earn money with your blog.
5 Powerful Tips to Make Money Blogging on WordPress
These tips are proven and time tested gems for making money with a blog that you can implement even if you’ve never built a website before and have no experience with monetization techniques. If you haven’t created your blog yet, there’s no time like the present to get started.
But first, a word of caution….
If you need income to cover basic living expenses in the next few months, you need to investigate another option. Blogging is a business venture and a longer-term solution to earning an income. A mature blog has excellent earnings potential.
But even the most dedicated blogger will typically invest 6 to 12 months of sweat equity in cultivating their blog before they begin to see returns. That may not be what you want to hear, but I tell it like it is. Many folks start their blog as a side hustle, keeping their job until the blog gains traction.
With that cautionary advice out of the way, let’s move on to those tips, shall we?
Tip #1. Identify Potential Income Streams
One of the first things you need to do is figure out how you’ll be paid for your blogging efforts. You can approach monetization in a plethora of different ways, and they’re not mutually exclusive. I use affiliate marketing to make money from my blog, and I’ve created multiple streams of income by affiliating with various vendors.
Affiliate marketing has been a stellar solution for me, and I highly recommend it for all new bloggers because of the ease of implementing this technique. Most vendors offer affiliate programs which are free to join. Consequently, there are several hundred thousand products that you can promote as an affiliate marketer.
You probably want to start by joining the Amazon Associates program. Amazon’s commissions are relatively low (about 4% on average) but their product offerings are obviously vast, and they are a trusted merchant. Also, nothing prevents you from affiliating with other vendors as well.
Not sure what vendor program to join?
No problem. Just open a Google search box. Type in the name of a product and add ‘+ affiliate program’ to your search string. A list of potential programs will be displayed. From there, you can evaluate your options and apply for affiliate status.
For example, let’s assume you’d like to target beginner golfers and promote golf clubs. Here’s a picture of the search results:
Obviously, you would not be limited to promoting golf clubs. Beginning golfers are also interested in an endless variety of golf accessories, golf training aids, books, and videos.
Related Article: Why Become an Affiliate Marketer?
Some of the other possibilities for making money with a blog include displaying ads, selling your own products including digital products like e-books or offering services for a fee. Ultimately, you may decide to use a combination of these different options.
Now that you have an idea of how you might generate income let’s move on.
Tip #2. Be an Action Taker – Buy a Domain and Hosting Package
To start a WordPress blog, all you really need is a domain name and web hosting. WordPress itself is free, and many hosting providers will offer one-click installation of the software.
Setting up a blog with WordPress really couldn’t be simpler, and you’ll be live on the web in a matter of minutes. I can’t emphasize enough just how critical it is to dive in and take these actions because nothing further can happen until you do :).
Don’t be someone who sits on the fence forever, and lacks the confidence to follow their dreams. Click here to take action and build your WordPress blog today.
A domain is a unique address where users can find your blog on the World Wide Web. You definitely want to purchase your own domain versus using a free subdomain because it’s far more professional. It will also be easier for readers to remember your address and find your blog.
In most instances, a dot com domain is preferable for a moneymaking venture because it’s what users expect. Continuing with my golfing for beginners idea, I might go for something like BreakingOneHundred.com. This domain is available at a highly affordable cost of $13,99 per year.
A web host is a business that provides storage for your website files and also handles Internet connectivity so that readers and potential customers can access your blog. You have some choices when it comes to web hosting, and you want to do some comparison shopping to ensure that your site is well served.
I have state-of-the-art WordPress hosting with SiteRubix for my site, and it has served me well for several years now. Some of the important factors to evaluate when making your choice are speed, reliability, security, and support. Bear in mind that if your site is always down or it loads slowly, you won’t be able to attract customers.
And, of course, we need to draw in prospective customers. We can sum up our Blogging Mantra pretty succinctly.
By relevant traffic, we mean website viewers who are members of our target audience. “Relevant” is key because not just any reader will do. In our beginning golf example, it’s probably clear that if we somehow attract tennis players or couch potatoes, these viewers are unlikely to be interested in the golf products we promote, right?
As discussed above, WordPress offers more than 2,000 free themes you can choose as part of the installation process to beautifully showcase your content. Naturally, there are also premium themes, but I wouldn’t worry about that yet because a free theme will work just fine.
Beyond selecting a theme, the only thing you need to do to lay a sound foundation for your blog is to install a couple of plug-ins. WordPress plug-ins are used to add additional functionality. There are over 50,000 free plug-ins available but for now I really only recommend two.
You’ll want an SEO plug-in (I use Yoast) and an image optimization plug-in (I use WP Smush). Optimizing your graphic images will greatly speed up page loading times and Yoast will help keep the search engines happy. So, it’s best to add these components right from the outset.
Tip #3. Follow Your Passion and Become an Authority Within Your Chosen Niche
The concept of a niche causes a lot of confusion and stress. But it’s really nothing more exotic than a group of people who share an interest in a particular subject. In other words, it’s a segment of the marketplace. As individuals, we’re all members of multiple niches.
It’s entirely possible to create a blog that is focused on any niche imaginable. I don’t care what the subject matter is, you’ll find a group of individuals with an interest in the topic. Specifically, people will have questions around the topic and will search for answers to their queries.
A successful blog is one that is narrowly focused and well–positioned to address the burning questions of its target market and provide much sought after answers. Maybe you already have expertise in a given area, and you can readily create articles based on this depth of knowledge.
It’s not necessary that you start your blogging journey as an expert, though. As long as you’re willing to conduct research and then write content based on your findings, you’ll be fine. If you choose a passionate interest, hobby, or favorite pastime, you’ll relish the opportunity to engage in research and become an expert in the field.
Over time, as you add more and more quality content to your blog, your target audience will begin to see you as an authority with solutions to their problems. And that’s when the magic begins! So, be passionate and share your knowledge!
It’s a pretty good gig!
Tip #4. Build Trust and Credibility
In this information age, we all tend to rely heavily on the Internet for advice and help in various areas. We have questions about products, or we want to know how to do something and we “Google it,” right? So, as you contemplate blogging and affiliate marketing, know this…..
Behind most Internet searches, there’s money to be made!
Your role as an affiliate marketer is to connect buyers who are looking for products with vendors who have products to sell. Your blog can encourage those connections by providing the answers your target audience is seeking when they turn to Google.
If your answers are thorough and your product reviews are unbiased, prospective customers will come to rely on you. Your blog posts can educate readers, inspire people to try new things, and generally enrich their lives. Equally important, over time you will build trust with Google.
Continuing with our beginning golfer niche example, here are some questions that prospective readers might turn to Google for.
How can I drive a golf ball further?
What’s the best putting grip?
Best golf clubs for senior women.
The trick is to spend time researching things that best align with the questions your target market is likely to pose. Then you can turn your research into a comprehensive article that meets the needs of readers and provides solutions. You’ll want to check out the competitive landscape and provide more value than the competition.
Make sense?
All Google wants is to serve up the most relevant and comprehensive answers to user search queries. So, if you want the search engines to reward you with rankings, your take away is pretty simple. If there is a “secret” to affiliate marketing success, here it is
Give Google exactly what it wants!
Start answering questions and endeavor to cover every aspect of a topic by delving into the minutia. Dial into this process and keep it up until Google recognizes your efforts and starts sending you relevant traffic. Remember our blogger’s mantra above. You need that relevant traffic to make money.
Trust builds when readers find answers! And, customers are far more likely to buy from people they trust.
Tip #5. Grow Your Blog and Stay the Course
To create an online presence that emanates authority, consistently add to the content on your blog. Each post will address a different reader query (bloggers refer to these terms as keywords). As you add more quality content, you improve your visibility in the search engines, and you increase your relevant traffic.
More relevant traffic ultimately equates to more buying customers. And, when customers purchase the goods and services you promote, you earn commissions and your income increases. With persistence, this approach will propel your site into the limelight and earnings begin to snowball.
Blogging and affiliate marketing is a brilliant combination that represents a highly effective business model. However, if you suffer from “instant gratification syndrome” this business model is not for you. You have to be willing to pay your dues by performing some hard work, earning trust and exercising patience.
Make connections and encourage comments, interaction, and engagement on your blog to further enhance prospective customer relationships!
What Are Your Takeaways Today?
We started today’s post with a frequently asked question. Can I make money blogging on WordPress? I hope I’ve been convincing and you now understand that making money by blogging with WordPress is a highly achievable goal.
Affiliate marketing with a blog is a completely legitimate business model that involves online promotion of 3rd party products and services in exchange for a commission.
The financial investment in a blog is modest, and the required skill level is minimal. These factors combine to open up opportunities and establish a level playing field.
I can’t blame anyone for being a bit skeptical because there are definitely some dodgy programs out there. But I can assure you that the platform where I launched my blog is the real deal. Wealthy Affiliate is a training program that leads you step-by-step through the process of creating a successful online business using blogging and affiliate marketing.
Building a profitable blog is hard work, but challenging tasks become easier when we’re not alone. The WA community provides much-needed assistance and moral support. The platform is also a one-stop solution where you can launch your blog today.
A Wealthy Affiliate Starter Membership is both completely free and priceless. Click here to see exactly how this process of making money blogging on WordPress can work for you.
Over To You
Have you launched your WordPress blog yet? If not, what are you waiting for? Please drop your comments below. I’m here to help you with this online journey!
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Thanks so much for sharing these great tips to start an online business with blogging and affiliate marketing. Your article is so honest as you gave good advice about giving this business model time and persistence before getting an income from it. Not everyone out there explains this so clearly. I also liked the recipe for blogging, those are great ideas. Actually, I think I’m going to print the recipe to keep it on my desk so I remember that this is a long term business that is also related to my passion or hobby, so I need to enjoy the journey from day 1. The key, for what I can see from your post, is patience and steady work, posting good quality content. I have a blog where I’m posting twice a week, but it is really new. I have been blogging just for like 6 weeks. Later on, when my ideas are more clear, I would like to create a digital product. Thanks again for sharing these great tips. It motivates me to go on. Do you think creating a mailing list is also a good feature in blogs?
Hi Thais,
There are certainly many bloggers out there who will tell you that the money is in the list. While I’m not sure I would go that far, there are advantages to having a list of subscribers. Even if you don’t actually market products through email (I personally find this extremely annoying when I’m on the receiving end, so I refuse to do this :)), you can alert your subscribers as you add new posts to your blog. Email alerts can be an effective way of driving traffic and encouraging repeat customers.
You mention your intention to create an ebook at some future point. I mention that here because giving something away (like an informative ebook) can be an effective driver for getting folks to sign up to your email list. Just something to think about.
I appreciate your kind words and I hope my recipe for blogging success will continue to function as a good motivator. By the way, I checked out your blog, and I can see you’re well on your way to success. Good luck and keep up the good work!
This is a very informative article! I’ve been blogging for a couple years now and I enjoy it quite a bit. But honestly, I wish I’d known everything I know now back when I was getting started. It’s true that it does take several months, at the very least, to get a decent blog off the ground. It’s worth the effort, though! I write for a living already, as a freelance writer. So I view blogging as my best chance to get on the other side of that business, so that instead of writing for clients, I’m writing for my own sites and hopefully earning enough to move away from freelancing. Thanks for sharing this!
Mark
Hi Mark,
I wholeheartedly concur that the effort it takes to grow a blog into a successful business is worth it. As a freelance writer, you’re well-positioned to keep creating and publishing quality content regularly. From there, it’s merely a question of patience.
I maintain that building a profitable blog is simple, but not easy. The concepts are very straightforward and just about anyone can perform the necessary tasks. Unfortunately, not everyone has the determination to see it through to fruition.
In a lot of ways, blogging is a lot like losing weight. We all know that losing weight is a conceptually simple process, right? If you bend the elbow less and get off the couch more, the weight is going to come off. And yet, there’s nothing “easy” about it, and I often can’t find or sustain the proper motivation. The same is true of many newbie bloggers.
I have little doubt that you will achieve success and I wish you well!
Something I’ve always loved about affiliate marketing is the fact I can write about my passions and choose appropriate affiliate programs to market products to others that I’m passionate about. It’s quite the perfect blend for me since I can someday make a full-time living working from home, writing, and enhancing my blogging skills to drive traffic to my websites. A big thank you for providing such an accurate outline that anybody, literally anybody can do as long as they’re willing to learn and put in the work.
Hi Todd,
A business effort that revolves around things you’re passionate about is a dream come true for many people. It is indeed something that anyone can accomplish if they follow my recipe for blogging success.
Good luck with your blog and thanks for your insightful comments!
Hi Linda,
A great article about starting the blogging journey! You’ve covered everything in a simple and easy to understand way. I got caught out as I didn’t understand that I needed to purchase my own domain name, so that was a cost I wasn’t expecting. But I love how you’ve set everything out. Thank you!
Fiona
Hi Fiona,
I understand that any cost you’re not anticipating can be a bit disconcerting. But I may have a very different perspective on the cost of my domain. Many years ago, I had a small offline business performing accounting and tax services for clients. My office cost me several hundred dollars a month in rent. As an affiliate marketer, my website is my business “storefront”. At $13.99 per year vs. hundreds per month, it feels like a pretty good deal to me.
Thanks for your comments and I hope you’ll pursue blogging!
Linda, thank you so much for this very informative article on how to make money online via content creation. You are completely right in saying that there is a serious amount of money that can be made online via content creation, and anyone that is willing to work hard is able to achieve this goal. Some people might be of the opinion that they are too old to start learning about making money online, but that is where a lot of people go wrong with that mindset. After retirement, when you have a lot of free time on your hands, is exactly the right time to build residual income for yourself in order for you to make the most out of the remainder of your life, without having to worry about finances. Once again, thanks so much for this very informative article.
Hi Schalk,
I wholeheartedly agree that we’re never too old to learn something new. As a senior and retiree, blogging has been a wonderful experience for me that I highly recommend to my peers. Starting something completely new can be a bit intimidating at any age, but the excitement quickly takes over. Setting up a WordPress blog really couldn’t be easier and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed performing research and working on my writing and communication skills. We need to stay active and vital in retirement and my blog does that for me.
Thanks for adding your perspective to the discussion!
Hi Linda, I will be 66 years old in two weeks. I am fit and quite active in my church and community. Someone suggested blogging to me some time ago but I could never understand how writing every day could make money. Well thanks to you, I am now well informed about how it all works. My biggest takeaway is the finding of affiliate marketing opportunities on Google. The whole set up sounds easier than I thought. I hope it will be. Thank you for the information……and I didn’t pay a penny.
Hi JJ,
Let me wish you an early happy birthday! Good for you for staying active and fit. Personally, I think it’s incredibly important to remain both physically and mentally fit. Blogging can play a key role in mental fitness which is one of its many benefits for seniors. And, the fact is that 66 is still fairly young by today’s standards. I live in an active retirement community and I have several close neighbors who are in their 90’s and still going strong. In fact, I played 18 holes of golf with one of them last Sunday and he kicked my butt :).
You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to set up a WordPress blog. The success part is a bit more challenging but you can do that too. I like to describe growing your blog to the profitability stage as simple but not easy. Individual tasks and concepts are amazingly straightforward but you do have to work diligently over time to build sufficient content and attract a following.
I hope you’ll now take the blogging suggestion to heart. Thanks for reading and I wish you the best!
Yay! Blogging is really a lucrative “business” and a nice means of generating income online. I’m also looking forward to start my own blog next month and will probably choose WordPress CMS because of it’s flexibility. I’ve found my niche and I’ve done keyword research just to be sure of what I will be getting into. However, I will like to know your search engine optimization techniques to quickly rank my website on search engines most especially google and bing. I will check the hosting company you suggested.Thanks for the awesome post, will definitely check back.
Hi Geebehn,
It sounds like you’re doing a great preparation job which can only ultimately benefit your blog. Good for you! You can check out my hosting company, SiteRubix, for free and create a WordPress website. This would give you some additional information and some hands-on experience. Just a suggestion but all need is an email account so it’s entirely risk-free.
As far as the search engine optimization (SEO) techniques I use to rank my posts in Google, please check out this post. The ‘How To’ of Search Engine Optimization: a helpful guide
I hope you’ll keep me posted on the status of your blog. Good luck with the launch and thanks for commenting!
I love your true honesty in this post. You tell everything exactly how it is. I’m sad to say that not everyone is as honest as you and some people try to trick others into believing that no commitment and hard work would be necessary in order to start making money online. Great tips on how to get started, everything is explained in a detailed yet easy to comprehend manner.
Hi Alex,
This era of technology and the Internet has greatly enhanced our lives in so many ways including information at your fingertips. It’s incredibly unfortunate that technology has also brought about many new ways for unscrupulous people to separate us from our hard earned money. That’s just not the way I roll.
There are indeed some really dodgy sites out there that spout a lot of nonsense about overnight riches. The thing is, most of those sites don’t stay around long because the people they entice quickly get wise to them. My site is quickly approaching three years of age. Even more importantly, the platform I use and promote, Wealthy Affiliate, has been around more than 13 years.
When you’re searching for the real deal, longevity is something you definitely want to assess. I’m so glad you found the post easy to understand. I appreciate your comments and I hope you’ll decide to join me on this exciting online journey. Best wishes!
This is a thorough article on how to make money online blogging. I like the fact that you came out and give your word of caution that this business not going to take care of your living expenses in the next few months. In other words, this is not a get-rich-scheme sort of business. I applaud you for getting that out early.
I liked the process you describe from building your WordPress blog, getting your Domain and choosing a niche that you are going to market on your blog. And you mention on building out your blog having customers coming to it on a regular basis. And I love how you went through that process by building trust and using targeted keywords. This is great.
What if I already have a passion that I feel comfortable about like spiritual awareness, How would I find something to market to earn an income on that niche? And would you say is a profitable niche? Thank you for your detail article about blogging.
Hi Bishop,
As an affiliate marketer, you can make money in any niche. That said, spiritual awareness is an incredibly broad topic and in my mind is not a niche. I think you’re going to want to greatly narrow your focus and choose a subtopic that falls into this field. As an example, I might choose Meditation. If you use my technique of Googling and type in Meditation + affiliate program, I guarantee that you will find plenty of partners to affiliate with and many products to promote. There are plenty of other subtopics you might choose to hone in on that you can unearth through research. Remember that narrow is inevitably better because you want to become a trusted authority figure.
I do think there are numerous exciting choices under the spiritual awareness umbrella. I would think courses, books, magazines, and CDs would be major products to promote. But you’ll want to further explore as you fine-tune the direction of your blog.
I wish you great success and I hope you’ll pop back and update me on your progress. Good luck and thanks for commenting!
Blogging using WordPress is really effective nowadays but it is not easy to get started with it. You have gathered all the information and altogether a wonderful article with a step by step guide for everyone who wants to blog online. This article has been so insightful and useful.
Thank you so much for sharing this article.
Hi Sujander,
You’re correct that blogging with WordPress is very effective. WordPress is the most popular content management system on the Internet. One of the reasons for that is the ease of use. Anyone can start a WordPress website from scratch very quickly and easily. Setting up a WordPress blog isn’t difficult at all. What becomes challenging is consistently adding quality content and getting recognition as an authority figure by the search engines and readers. Building a blog to profitability is hard work. And yet, the long-term rewards make the effort very worthwhile.
I’m glad you found my article useful and I appreciate your comments!
Hello Linda! I love your determination and I agree with you completely that one can make money blogging on WordPress. There are so many people that use the internet on a daily basis, an estimate of 4 billion, so yeah, the possibility of making money while blogging is very much positive. I love using WordPress as it is one of the easiest platforms to use when it comes to content management and website building.
Thanks for your tips on how to make money blogging on WordPress. They are truly powerful tips.
Hi Gracen,
I love using WordPress myself because it’s so powerful and yet so intuitive to work with. What’s great is that I don’t have to have much in the way of technical skills. Making money does require determination and hard work but I’m okay with that. I’ve worked hard for everything of value in my life and I didn’t expect blogging to be any different :). I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the journey and success is sweet.
I’m pleased you enjoyed my tips and I wish you well on your online journey!
Hi Linda,
Thank you very much for sharing such an interesting blog with us. I am really impressed when I see your blog. There are lots of tips here. Now I am confident to start my online business. I will urge everyone to read this blog at least once for all this time. If they do not have any idea at all about blogging or affiliate marketing, they can also learn a lot from here.
Thanks very much for the kind words about my blog. I learned how to build a WordPress website as a complete beginner. So, I admit to being rather proud of what I’ve accomplished. My goal is to help as many people as possible to realize their goal of making money online. With determination and proper resources, it is entirely possible to build a successful online business.
Thanks for sharing information from my blog with others, I appreciate your comments and wish you success!