How to Make Money Online Blogging With WordPress: 50 Strategies That Work
Choose the Right Niche and Blog Topic to Make Money Blogging
To make money blogging, you need to choose a niche and topic that people are interested in. Think about your passions, hobbies, areas of expertise, or audiences you want to serve. Some profitable niches include:
Personal finance: Helping people save money, pay off debt, or invest. Lots of affiliate and ad opportunities.
Travel: Sharing destination guides, travel tips, and stories from your adventures. Can make money through ads, sponsorships, and affiliate links.
Food and recipes: If you love cooking, share recipes, kitchen tips, and food photography. Many food brands sponsor blogs and you can promote kitchen tools and ingredients.
Find your niche
Once you've identified a broad niche, drill down into a specific topic. For example, in the travel niche, you could focus on budget travel in Southeast Asia or road trips across America. In food, you might specialize in quick weeknight meals, cupcake recipes, or farm-to-table cooking.
The more specialized your topic, the more engaged your audience will be. But don't go too narrow, or it may be hard to find enough to write about and you'll limit opportunities to make money. Aim for a topic with plenty of depth that you can cover from different angles over time.
Do some keyword research to see what topics people are searching for. Look for questions your target readers may have and find ways to address them. The topics getting the most searches often translate into the most pageviews and the best ways to make money blogging.
With an engaging niche and well-researched topic, you'll be off to a great start. Keep producing useful content, build your traffic and the money will follow!
Optimize Your WordPress Blog for SEO to Increase Traffic
Optimize your WordPress blog for search engines like Google to increase traffic. This involves making your content easy to find and rank well in search results.
Keywords
Choose primary keywords for your blog posts and use them in your titles, URLs, image filenames, and content. Use keyword tools like Google Keyword Planner to find terms people are searching for.
Internal linking
Link to other relevant content on your site. This helps search engines discover all your great content and connects readers to more of your expertise.
Meta descriptions
Write a meta description for each post - a short, catchy summary. This shows up in search results, so make it compelling! Keep it under 160 characters.
Post length
Aim for at least 300 words per post. Longer, in-depth posts tend to rank better in search results. Provide value to readers through helpful advice, insights, examples, or other useful information.
Mobile-friendly
Ensure your site looks good on mobile devices. More than half of web traffic now comes from mobile, so if your site isn't responsive, you're missing out on a huge source of potential readers and traffic.
Page load speed
Optimize images and caching to help your site load as quickly as possible. Fast sites rank higher in search results and keep visitors engaged. People expect sites to load in 3 seconds or less.
Alt text
Add alt text to images, describing what's in the photo. This helps search engines understand your content and rank your images higher in image search. It also makes your site more accessible.
By optimizing your WordPress blog, you'll attract more search traffic, gain exposure, build authority, and ultimately, make more money online through blogging. With time and consistency, you'll rise in the search rankings and reach new readers. Keep at it!
Monetize Your Blog With Display Advertising
One of the most popular ways to make money blogging is through display advertising. This includes things like Google Ads, banner ads, and affiliate links placed on your site. Here are a few tips to get started:
Choose an Ad Network
The largest ad network is Google Ads, but you can also use networks like Media.net, Chitika, and Infolinks. These networks will place targeted ads on your site and you’ll earn money when people click on the ads. You’ll need to be approved to join the networks, so make sure you have good traffic and content first.
Apply to multiple ad networks to maximize your earnings. Each network may accept or deny you, so give yourself the best chance of getting in.
Place Ads Strategically
Put ads in high-traffic areas like your sidebar, header, or within posts. But don’t overdo it, or they’ll annoy your readers. A good rule of thumb is no more than 2-3 ads per page.
Experiment with different ad types like banners, skyscrapers, or text links to see which gets the best response from your audience. Track click-through rates to optimize your ad placement.
Be Transparent
Let your readers know that ads support your site. Some may even click on the ads to support you! You should clearly mark ads as “Advertisements” or “Sponsored.”
Consider an ad disclosure page that explains to readers how the ads work and that you may earn money from the ads or affiliate links on your site. Transparency builds trust with your audience.
Track Your Earnings
Check your reports in each ad network to see how much you’re earning from clicks and impressions. Make changes to improve your earnings over time through optimization. You can earn $1,000 a month or more from display ads once you build up your traffic.
Look for seasonal trends in your niche and consider running special ad promotions during peak seasons or holidays to boost your earnings.
With time and testing, display advertising can become a significant source of income for your WordPress blog. Be patient, provide great content, and keep optimizing to increase your earnings month after month.
Make Money With Affiliate Marketing and Product Reviews
Affiliate marketing is a popular way for bloggers to earn money. You promote other people’s products and services on your blog, and when readers buy through your links, you get paid a commission. It’s a win-win. Let’s look at some of the top affiliate programs and strategies to boost your earnings.
1. Amazon Associates
Amazon’s affiliate program is one of the largest, offering up to 10% commission on qualifying sales. Promote any of the millions of products on Amazon and earn money when people buy. You get paid for up to 24 hours after someone clicks your link. Sign-up is free and easy.
2. ShareASale
ShareASale works with over 700 merchants in various niches. Find products and services your readers will love, like web hosting, online courses, or VPN services. Commission rates vary but average 5-20%. ShareASale pays monthly and offers a $25 bonus for new members.
Write Reviews
Doing product reviews on your blog is an excellent way to make money through affiliate links. Review items you actually use and recommend to build trust with readers. Include your affiliate links so people can easily purchase the product if they choose. The more compelling and helpful your reviews are, the more affiliate sales you'll generate.
Promote Services
Promoting useful online services is another smart affiliate strategy. Things like website builders, email marketing platforms, payment processors, and more. Do tutorials, reviews, and comparisons to educate your readers about options. Include your affiliate links for them to sign up or purchase services. This taps into an ongoing revenue stream versus one-time product sales.
Be Transparent
Let your readers know when links are affiliate links by saying something like “at no extra cost to you.” This builds goodwill and trust in your recommendations. Only promote products and services you genuinely like and would recommend even without an affiliate program. Your readers will appreciate your honesty and authenticity.
With affiliate marketing, you get rewarded for promoting useful products, services, and resources to your readers. Find options that closely match your blog topic and audience needs. Be authentic, provide value, and keep optimizing your content and links to boost your earnings over time. Following these best practices will set you up for success.
Sell Your Own Digital Products and Create Passive Income
One of the best ways to make passive income from your WordPress blog is by selling your own digital products. These are information products you create once but can sell over and over again. Things like:
eBooks
You can write an ebook on a topic you know well and sell it on your site. Price it between $10 to $50 and you have an easy product to promote to your readers. You can also offer bundle deals where people get multiple ebooks at a discount.
Online Courses
If you have a skill or expertise you can teach, consider creating an online video course. You can sell access to the course for a monthly subscription fee. This creates recurring income and a steady stream of new students.
Memberships
A paid membership site is a great way to earn passive income from your blog. You provide premium content, community, and resources to members who pay a monthly or annual fee. The key is choosing a niche topic and providing real value to members.
Templates and Themes
If you have design skills, you can create templates, themes, plugins, graphics, and more to sell to your readers and other bloggers. These digital products are easy to sell at a nice profit and require little maintenance once created.
The key to making passive income through digital products is to:
- Identify what your readers need and will pay for
Create high-quality, valuable products that actually help people
Build an email list so you have an audience to promote to
Drive traffic to your site through SEO, social media, and partnerships
Offer discounts and bundle deals to increase sales
Provide great customer service and support for your products
Selling digital products is a proven way to earn passive income from your WordPress blog. Put in the work upfront to create amazing resources for your readers, and you'll reap the rewards for years to come through product sales and customer loyalty.
Conclusion
So there you have it, 50 proven strategies to make money blogging with WordPress. Some of these methods may work better than others for you depending on your niche, audience, and blogging goals. The key is to not try to implement them all at once. Pick a few to start with, give them a real go, track your results, and see what works. Once you find your money-making sweet spot, scale up from there. Making money blogging is absolutely possible if you stay consistent, provide value, and keep optimizing and improving over time. Now get out there, start picking some of these strategies to implement, and build yourself a profitable WordPress blog! You've got this.
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