How To Start A Blog To Make Money – Beginners Edition

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclaimer for more information

This ‘ how to start a blog to make money ‘  post will outline the steps you need to follow if you want to make money blogging.

 

Last year I took a leap of faith and decided to learn how to start a blog to make money on the side.

This wasn’t my first time attempting to blog, in fact, I had created a blog 2 years prior and I failed, miserably.

But, last year, I created a great blog, one that now makes me actual money each and every month.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclaimer for more information.

 

Before I show you the steps you need to follow to learn how to start a blog to make money, read these important tips.

Starting a blog to make money is possibly one of the best ways to make money online. I've been able to consistently earn money from my blog. If you want to learn how to start a blog for money, click this image to find and follow the beginners guide

I did not follow those tips and these are the main reasons why my first blog was a complete failure:

1. Do not start a blog that is too expensive to maintain. I started my blog expensively. It cost me $40+ monthly to keep it up and running and that was way too much for me to maintain at the time.

2. Do not choose blog topics that you don’t care about. You might end up creating content that is less than ‘interesting’ and your readers might not read it. If you don’t get readers, your blog has a high chance of failing.

3. Traffic is a key to success: When I started my first blog, I expected to get tons of traffic (blog visitors) from google search. This did not work out, hence I felt hopeless. I was spending 14 hours a day on my old blog and was getting zero visitors. 🙁

4. Learn how to properly make money from your blog. I did not know how to monetize my blog effectively. Other than the monetization strategies such as Google Adsense Ads and Amazon Associates Program, I had no clue of how to monetize my blog and actually make money from it.

5. Do not believe people who would lead you to believe that blogging doesn’t take much time and effort. When I started my first blog, I convinced myself (after hearing others say so) that I was going to have my blog set up in a day and start making $1000+ in my first month as a blogger.

Do not get me wrong, this does happen in some rare cases, however, generally a blog takes about 1 week to a month to get fully set up and you can expect to make about $1000+ by month 4 or later, and way more (I’m talking full-time income plus some) by the end of your first year as a blogger.

6. Learn to Market on social media- My fav is Pinterest. When I started my first blog back in 2014, I had no clue Pinterest was a way to get blog visitors.

This time around, Pinterest has been driving thousands of visitors to my blog each month.

In this post, I will show you exactly how to start a profitable blog in 6 steps so that you can avoid the mistakes I made with my first blog.

Keep in mind, starting your blog is just the beginning.

You still have to spend some time setting up your blog so that you have a nice looking and cohesive blog when you start to promote it on the internet. Don’t worry though, I have some awesome resources linked below, that will help walk you through the Blog Set Up Process from start to finish or you could just sign u for my 8-day email course and get EVERYTHING you need to know to start your blog!

 

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First An Outline Of How I’ve Been Able To Make Money Blogging.

I did my research and learned how to start a blog to make money online and, by September 2016, my blog was set up and ready to go. I started my blog for just under $50 dollars and made it back in my first month of blogging. Plus $1.29 cents profit 🙂

From this point on, I have been making some extra income each month from my blog.

Here are my income and traffic stats:

1. My first income and traffic report: September 2016 -$51.29 and 3526 page views

2. Income and Traffic report for month two -$145.89 and 4316 page views

3. Income and Traffic report for month three– $245.36 and 6538 page views

4. Income and Traffic report for month four -$354.46 and 9900 page views

5. Income and Traffic report for month five – $763.76 and 12,752 page views

6. Income and Traffic report for month six -$626.36 and 19,132 page views

7. Income and Traffic report for month seven – $1505.27 and 45,838 page views

8. Income and traffic report for month eight– $1726. 44 and 38,710 page views

9. Income and traffic report for month nine- $1924. 03 and 41,260 page views

10. Income and traffic report for month nine -$ 2954.50 and 56, 579 page views

As you can see, each month has been better and better and I expect even greater results in the next few months- to the point that this income replaces a regular 9-5 income 🙂

 

How To Start A Blog To Make Money

Here is a brief overview of what you will need to do to get your blog started

  1. Pick a focus for your blog ($0)
  2. Brainstorm a great name for your blog ($0)
  3. Register your blog name (domain name) -$14.95 with a web host package
  4. Get Web Hosting ($47.40 annually, paid up front)
  5. Set up WordPress ($0)
  6. Choose and install a theme ($0-$100)

 

Bonus: All the steps you need to set up your blog to make it ready to be launched! (ALL steps linked towards the bottom of this post)

Pick a focus for your blog.

There are lots of options to choose from, but you generally want to focus on blogging about something that you find interesting, are passionate about or are knowledgeable about. Some examples to consider include:

how to start a blog to make money

These are just a few examples of what you can blog about. The opportunities are endless and will ultimately be up to you and what you want your blog to be focused on.

 

Brainstorm a great name for your blog  (domain name)

 

In order to start your blog,  you will need to come up with a name for your blog (or what is technically referred to as a domain name)

You want this domain name to be as catchy as possible but also simple to spell and remember.

Here are a few guidelines to follow when thinking about a domain name for your blog.

  • Choose a catchy name. Something that visitors will remember.
  • If you can, make it short. When I started my blog in September 2016, I choose the domain name (sheblogsaboutjobs.com). This domain was not very brandable or memorable. I have since changed it to smartnancials.com which I like a lot better.
  • If you can’t brainstorm a name that you like, you can also consider using your name. For instance Dawngreene.com.

I’ve said all this, but please don’t over-complicate this step. As nice as it is to have a great domain, it doesn’t really matter all that much. Your blog will still be profitable if you create great content that people really enjoy and can benefit or learn from.

For instance, I made money from my blog when it was called sheblogsaboutjobs.com and I still continue to make money from my blog now that it’s called smartnancials.com.

Register your domain

The next step to starting a blog is registering your domain.

What is a domain name? This is the address of your blog. It’s what people use to identify you on the internet. For example, the domain name for this blog is www.smartnancials.com

To register a domain, you can simply go to godaddy.com and purchase it for a few bucks.

However, I recommend that you get it together with your web hosting package as I will show you in the step below. Doing it this way will make the process of getting your domain name and hosting package 100% easier for you.

 

P.S. Sometimes the domain name that you really want might not be available, in cases like this, you simply brainstorm another domain that is either close to your first choice or describes your blog focus well. You can also consider using your name since this might more than likely be available.

 

 

Get a web hosting package

What is web hosting?

According to website.com

Web hosting is a service that allows organizations and individuals to post a website or web page onto the Internet. A web host, or web hosting service provider, is a business that provides the technologies and services needed for the website or webpage to be viewed in the Internet. Websites are hosted, or stored, on special computers called servers.

This may sound a bit confusing, but all it means to you is that a web hosting package will allow your blog to become visible on the internet so that people can access it.

Every blog needs a host and there are tons of them online. They usually cost anywhere between $1-$20 monthly (billed yearly).

 

I recommend that you use Siteground web hosting to start your blog.

To set up your blog with Siteground web hosting follow these simple steps: (click a link within this post to receive 60% off your web hosting)

 

First,  go to Siteground.com (open in a new window so you can follow the steps outlined here)

 

1.Click on web hosting and select shared hosting as indicated in the image below
start a blog to make money

 

2. Choose a web hosting plan. Since your blog is new, you can start off with the cheapest plan as seen in the image below. Just click Get Started to select the plan you want.

how to start a blog to make money

 

3. Add the domain name you brainstormed in the given space as seen in the image below.

start blog make money

 

After this step, you will be taken to a page where you fill in your billing information. Then you click on the blue Pay Now button!

That’s it~ You have successfully purchased your domain name and web hosting plan.

 

Click my special link here to get 60% off site ground web hosting plan to start your blog. 

 

 

Install WordPress.org (Takes a few minutes)

After you’ve completed your domain name and web hosting purchase, you will need to install WordPress.

What is WordPress.org?

This is a web software that you can use to create awesome blogs, websites or apps. It is completely free to use and has tons and tons of functionality.

Installing WordPress.org is FREE, simple and takes only a few minutes to complete. Follow the steps below to get this done the right way.

 

 

STEPS TO INSTALL WORDPRESS

1. Using the email and password that you indicated when purchasing your domain name and web hosting plan, log in to Siteground dashboard.
2.Navigate to the My Accounts tab and click on the orange button which says ‘Go To Cpanel
3. Click on the blue button that says ‘WordPress Installer’ in the section called WordPress Tools
4. Click on the blue Install button.

 

After you click on the blue Install button, you will be taken to another page. You can fill in the values below:
how to start blog make money

 

 

Now, use the username and password you choose in the previous step to log into your WordPress dashboard using your Administrative URL. which looks like this:

http//:www.yourdomainname.com/wp-admin

 

STEPS TO SET UP YOUR BLOG

After logging into your WordPress dashboard, you will notice that your blog is mostly empty, save for a few default placeholders.

You will need to follow those steps outlined below to get your blog fully set up. The setup process may take a few days or a month (depends on how fast you work and how much time you have to devote to setting up your blog each day)

I have created a checklist below which outlines all the mandatory steps to set up your blog. Each item on the checklist links to a helpful resource that will help guide you through each step.

Pick Your Brand Colours

Choose and Install A Theme

☐ Design a logo

Create and Install a Favicon

Add Plugins to your blog

Create Your First Few Pages

Create Your First Few Posts: Write 3 or more great posts that set the tone for content you will have on your blog.

Set up Main Navigation Menu

Create a Drop Down Menu

How to add widgets to your blog

Create XML sitemaps

Submit Sitemap to Google

Set up Google Analytics

 

Install Google Analytics on your blog
Miscellaneous
Remove footer credits (if you use a free theme)
☐ Join Facebook Blogging Groups

Now that you’ve learned how to start a blog to make money, I would love to share some of my favorite resources that I have used to learn how I can earn money from my blog each.

These important resources that can help take your blog from just launched to successful and making money in a few months.

 

1. Make Money Blogging

One is an e-course by Michelle, a blogger who has taken her blog from $0-$100,000 per month. She shares her secrets in her course called Making Sense Of Affiliate Marketing. You should read more on this e-course if you want to make money blogging.

 

2. Pinteresting Strategies

The other is a course I recently purchased which has helped me go from struggling for page views each month (12,000 per month) to over 45,000 page views per month in just 1 month and 3 weeks and it keeps growing!

I know you might be thinking that this doesn’t apply to you since you’re super new to blogging, but, looking back at my results in my first 3 months blogging, I recommend that you get it simply because it will help you promote effectively on Pinterest from the very start of your blog. Indeed, anyone who goes through the trouble of learning how to start a blog to make money needs to understand how important traffic is to the income that you will make from your blog. It’s virtually impossible to make money from your blog if no one is visiting your blog!

I wish I had come across this e-course earlier since it would have helped me out in the beginning of my blogging journey. I would have wasted a lot less time working almost fruitlessly on Pinterest as I did in my first 3 months of blogging. The course costs $47 and you should definitely check it out if you want to start promoting your blog the right way on Pinterest. You can check out the course here.

 

I hope this guide has adequately explained to you how to start a blog to make money from the internet.

I’d love to offer my help in any way I can so feel free to reach out to me if you have any additional questions

 

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2 thoughts on “How To Start A Blog To Make Money – Beginners Edition

  • May 26, 2017 at 1:41 am
    Permalink

    Thanks for your help!

    Reply
    • May 26, 2017 at 2:34 am
      Permalink

      Hi Nana! You’re welcome and I’m really happy I was able to help you out!

      Reply

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