Blogging or content creation has become a popular thing, with social media as an impactful platform for communication. The attention you get from social media these days has made people raise questions about the value of a blog. However, the question remains as to how to monetize a blog?
If you only use social media as a means of promotion, you will be restricted at some point. There is no method to building awareness gained via social media without having a specific location where your followers can find all of your content. A blog is worth it and there are various ways to monetize a blog.
Apart from having a centralized area where you can propagate your ideas, a blog can make you extra money. Successful bloggers make a living from their blogs, and it all starts with an effective monetization strategy.
Monetizing your content from a blog is a great way to make money online, but how can you do it?
It’s important to know that you have to keep your readers engaged with a consistent offering of amazing content. However, it alone can’t bring you enough money.
This blog post will give you instant ideas about how to monetize your WordPress blog without changing your content creation techniques.
How to Monetize Your Blog – 8 Crucial Tips
You can read this guide on how to monetize your blog and start making money online.
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Advertising Through Ads
Monetizing blogs with ads; especially with banner ads, is a common practice on the internet. Although setting up ads can be a tedious process, they help blogs generate more revenue.
You can use banner ads that are subtle yet effective. Some ad platforms are good at blending in with your webpage, making the ads look like a component of your website’s layout.
It’s tempting for you to stuff the website with as many ads as possible. However, try not to bombard your website visitors with ads. Visitors who have been to your site for a long time might not like a sudden rise in banner ads, so start small.
You must avoid integrating pop-up ads as readers find them irritating. The last thing you want is to alienate your fans because of a poorly placed ad that detracts from your overall website experience.
You can resist the temptation of advertising through product or service endorsements, especially from those who share your niche. This could be the occasional mention in your blog posts or sponsored content.
In short, banner ads and sponsored content are two main ways to monetize your blogs.
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Write or Sell an Ebook
Assemble a few of your most popular blog posts and make an ebook. This may appear to be a herculean task; after all, writing a book takes a long time. Well, you may be surprised that an ebook can be as long as 20000–25000 words. So, you compile an ebook from your past blog posts.
Between five and ten of your posts could be standard blog content, with an introduction and conclusion.
You may already have the content on your blog you need for an ebook without even realizing it. If you have a lot of articles published on your blog, pick a few that cover the same topic. Edit and compile them into an e-book.
You can independently look to publish your ebook, or you can have the option of Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing. The money from royalty distribution is decent, considering the number of readers your work will be exposed to. If you discount the sales commission from Amazon, the service is free!
You might even decide not to publish an ebook at all. However, reserve it as an improvement for your blog’s paying members instead. This brings us to the next topic.
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Offer Exclusive Content
If you are an experienced blogger and writer of a specific niche, you can even monetize your blog articles as “exclusive content.” You must have gone through certain blogs that allow you to read only a few paragraphs. After that, they ask you to either pay to fully read the article or offer you a monthly or yearly subscription.
The good news is that you can also do a similar type of activity by integrating a plugin. MyCred is a WordPress plugin with an extension named “Sell content add-on,” which allows you to restrict your blog content. Restricted content can help you with monetization similar to how blogs are monetized.
How to Monetize Your Content through Gamification
myCred Sell Content Add-on is an enticing extension that enables you to sell access to your blog’s content in exchange for reward points. Once you sell the content, it will be replaced by adequate templates. However, as an author or admin, you can see the content in its original form as you have paid to get the plugin.
>Salient Features of the Sell Content Add-on
- You can sell parts of the content field instead of the entire thing.
- Purchase can last weeks, days, or even hours, after which the user will lose their access.
- Enable profit sharing, where a percentage of the sale is transferred to the content author.
- So, make your content exclusive to your buyers or subscribers and get an additional income stream through your blog.
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Give Affiliate Marketing a Shot
Making money from affiliate marketing is another interesting concept for making money online. If you want a product endorsement for your blog post, consider linking to them via a referral or an affiliate code. If your reader clicks the link in your post and makes a purchase, you will earn a percentage of the sale. The most renowned affiliate program these days is Amazon’s Associate program. It’s easy to join and free as well, as you only need a single approval for account activation.
You can earn an affiliate commission of up to 10% by linking to a product from your blog. A qualifying purchase will earn you that percentage if you redirect users to Amazon through your affiliate link. This suggests more traffic means more clicks on your blog and more chances of qualifying purchases. Amazon offers you the tools you need to set up your affiliate links to make the whole process easier.
There are different affiliate marketing options. All you need to do is to find the best way to monetize your blog.
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Earn Through Donations
Not everyone can pay for a membership regularly, so allowing people to donate is a decent way to get some money. There are different mechanisms you can use for donation, including complete-featured payment platforms that can manage recurring as well as one-time donations.
Patreon is among the well-known platforms that help content creators earn a periodic income. You can set up a Patreon account to accept recurring donations from their fans. You can also define benefits for every tier of assistance so that your readers can receive something for supporting you. Some content creators earn a major chunk of their income from platforms like Patreon.
Another technique for accepting donations is through the payment portal, PayPal. PayPal enables you to open a free account and send and receive payments over the internet. You can design a donation button on your site and add it to your website. Whenever a visitor clicks it, they can leave donations in the form of PayPal payments that will directly go to your account. If you already have a PayPal account, you can follow the steps to create a donation button for your website.
If you like the cryptocurrency style, you can give a donation link to your crypto wallet. For each cryptocurrency, the operational mechanism differs, so make sure you completely understand it before doing anything, as the process can be a bit confusing for newbies. Want to know how to set up your crypto wallet that accepts donations? Read the relevant documentation for the cryptocurrency.
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Offer Services
An amazing thing about owning a blog is that you can use it as a self-promotional platform. Irrespective of the skills you offer, a blog is an effective way to spread the word and entice clients.
If you sell a product or service related to your blog, promote it so that people know.
For example, you write an article about DIY plumbing. You may be a plumber or own a plumbing tools store. In that case, you can provide links from your blog to your store’s website.
Offering services is also one of the ways to monetize your Wordpress blog. It can serve you well to engage with new buyers and redirect organic traffic to your store website.
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Publish Sponsored Content
Sometimes a brand will approach you and ask whether you can plug in their product on your blog. If it’s relevant to your readers, approve them.
Some bloggers feel uncomfortable with the idea of tweaking their content to sneak in a sponsor’s product information. If you think the sponsor is interfering with your creative process, then ignore them. Otherwise, it could be a winning partnership.
Another type of sponsored material is a promotion or a competition that a sponsor wants people to know about. In return, the sponsor will pay you in some way. You can ask your viewers to join the contest.
Sponsored content differs from brand to brand. So, make sure you understand what you need to do and how you will get the payment before entering into this type of agreement. It is better to grasp the terms and conditions of the sponsorship deal before you repose your trust, as your readers can get hurt.
Another type of sponsored material is a promotion or a competition that a sponsor wants people to know about. You can urge your viewers to participate in the contest, and you can monetize your blog in return.
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Make Your Existence Felt
You might not realize it, but for your blog to stand out, it must be found easily. There are several blogs out there that publish articles similar to yours. This makes it hard to stand out in search engine results. If your blog is not appearing on the first page of Google, then your chances of being found are slim.
The key to getting your blog to appear in the top search results is search engine optimization (SEO).
SEO is like a way to make your website more search engine friendly. SEO-friendly blogs are easy for people to find. By optimizing your website for search engines, you can lure more readers.
Earning a high ranking is not easy while maintaining it also takes some work. You need to update your website with compelling and fresh content regularly. A blog’s visibility hurts in search results due to long periods of inactivity.
Final Words
Running and monetizing your blog is more than sharing your experiences and thoughts online. The above-mentioned techniques are some of the ways blogs are monetized.
A blog is a powerful medium with the potential to help you reach out to people, network with professionals, and make money eventually. With time, you can develop a sizable readership and use your blog to leverage different revenue streams.
If you need to take your blog in a profitable direction, any of the aforementioned tips could aid you. If you are considering starting a blog, the above list of how to monetize a blog can inspire a spark that will make it happen.
