How to Make More Money Blogging
A Winding Path of Trial and Error
I still remember the day I launched my blog.
I was unemployed at the time, hoping this little website would eventually replace my income.
Spoiler alert: it did not happen quickly or easily.
Growing a profitable blog takes time.
Lots of time.
Not to mention plenty of effort, experimentation and (cough) failure.
But if you stick with it and continue tweaking your strategy, blogging can become a significant income stream.
Let me walk you through some of the key lessons I’ve learned over the years…
Diversify Your Income Streams
When you’re first starting out, AdSense might be your only income source. But to maximize your earnings, you need to diversify.
Here are some options to consider:
- Affiliate marketing — Promote relevant products and get a commission on sales.
- Sponsored posts — Get paid by brands to feature their products/services.
- Selling your own products — Create an online course, ebook, or other digital product.
- Consulting — Offer your expertise as a consultant to businesses in your niche.
- Display advertising — Earn money by placing ads around your content.
- Email marketing — Build an email list and sell products/services to subscribers.
The more streams you add, the more potential revenue channels you open up.
It takes work to manage them all, but diversification is well worth the effort.
Now, where was I? Oh right, diversifying income streams…
Optimize Your Site for Search Engines
Want more site traffic?
Then you need to focus on search engine optimization (SEO).
The better optimized your blog is, the higher it will rank in search engines like Google — resulting in more visits.
- Keyword research — Find keywords and phrases people search that relate to your niche. Incorporate these throughout your content.
- Quality content — Search engines favor websites with regular new, high-quality content. So keep cranking out helpful blog posts, videos, etc.
- Meta tags and descriptions — Sprinkle keywords in your meta tags and descriptions to help search engines understand your pages.
- Backlinks — Build inbound links from other quality sites. This raises your domain authority in Google’s eyes.
- Technical site performance — Make sure your blog loads quickly and is mobile-friendly. Slow sites get penalized by search engines.
Optimizing for SEO takes time, but it’s a crucial long-term strategy for growing traffic and income.
Speaking of long-term strategies…
“If you want to increase your success rate, stand by a principle, but modify your tactics.”
— Bruce Lee
Build a Loyal Audience
Here’s the truth — money won’t automatically pour in just because you have a blog.
To generate significant income, you need a loyal audience who knows, likes and trusts you.
How do you build that loyal tribe?
- Consistently provide high-value content your audience needs. Don’t just do quick “content grabs” — create truly helpful posts.
- Interact with readers in your comments section, on social media, etc. Being accessible helps cement the bond.
- Share parts of your personal journey. Let readers get to know the real you.
- Reward loyal readers with exclusives like special reports, bonus content, etc.
- Survey your audience to find out exactly what they want more (or less) of. Then tailor your content accordingly.
Remember — money follows trust.
Earn your readers’ trust consistently over time, and they will become happy customers for the long haul.
Well, I think that covers the main points! Let me wrap up with a quote from Jeff Bezos:
“One thing I love about customers is that they are divinely discontent.
Their expectations are never static — they go up.
It’s human nature.”
