‘How much do bloggers make?‘ is one of the most asked questions in the ‘blogosphere.’ This article covers the topic in-depth and highlights ways to make money through blogging.
Blogging is not a new ‘profession’ as it has come a long way. The popularity it enjoys now cannot be compared to what existed in the past. In fact, the term ‘blogging’ is used almost as often as the term ‘internet.’
There are stories of people who have become millionaires and even billionaires through blogging. People like Mario Armando Lavanderia, Brian Clark, Pete Cashmore, Rand Fishkin, Arriana Huffington, and many others.
These stories, combined with the passion for blogging, give people the extra push to start blogging.
Do you have a blog, or are you thinking of starting one and are looking to discover how much bloggers make and how they make it?
Are you researching bloggers and their income level?
This article is designed to help you understand different things about blogging and money-making and how best to make money from blogging.
I cannot overlook the fact that many people love and embrace the idea of working from home. This work-from-home adoption increased with the coronavirus pandemic, which forced many to work from the comfort of their homes.
Imagine a scenario where you make $25 an hour from the comfort of your home.
How much do you end up making in a year?
I know that you are doing the math already, and it is blowing your mind!
It would be farfetched to say that you can make 10,000 dollars a month if you apply the blogging-for-money tips I will highlight in this article.
I am not saying that it is impossible; after all, some people make as much as $1 million monthly from blogging. However, it is best not to have wild imaginations as a beginner blogger.
When you fully master your craft, there is no stopping your imagination.
It will blow your mind when you hear how much professional bloggers make per month. The figures should, however, motivate you instead of demoralizing you.
Some people might say that if they can make a lot of money from blogging, they will not need to work for life again. One thing you should know – blogging is not a poverty alleviation scheme but a passionate art that would flourish with your input.
It is not all about inquiring and wanting to know how much bloggers make, but ensuring you are passionate about blogging. That is the only way you can meet up with high earning bloggers.
And when do you meet up with successful bloggers? When you become successful as a professional blogger.
If you have been looking for how to become a professional blogger, this article will highlight some steps for you.
Before I talk about making money from blogging, I will discuss how to determine a successful blog.
How to know your blog is successful
These are some ways to know that you are running a successful blog:
- Keyword Ranking
- Referrals
- Shares
- Traffic
- Blog Comments
Keyword Ranking
Bloggers are happy when their blogs come out amongst the top websites when people search for specific key terms.
Imagine your blog being on the third page of a search engine?
That is not a good sign as people hardly go past the second page when searching for information from search engines.
However, if your website is among the top three on the first page, you know that readers would click on your link. This assures you that you are doing something right as a blogger.
It may seem like a small factor, but it is something that would skyrocket you to success.
In fact, it is one of the ways you can stay above your competitors.
A well-ranked blog gets tons of traffic, and a well-visited blog is considered a successful blog.
Referrals
Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels
How happy will you be when you scroll through a random conversation on social media or a website, and you see someone refer to your blog or use it as a positive case study?
I know, right?
Definitely, you will be happy.
Being referred to by others means that you are doing an excellent job as a blogger.
If you put in the adequate blogging effort and people resonate with your content, they will not waste time referring it to others.
Readers always like to make referrals, but they will not if you do a terrible job.
The higher your referrals, the more likely it is for you to be successful as a blogger.
Shares
I know that it is easy to mix up referrals and shares, but there is a difference.
A good blog should always have the share and like buttons. This way, readers can like the content if they feel good about it and share it on their social media pages.
This way, your content will be shown to a broader audience.
On the other hand, with referrals, your readers can bring up your blog or website in a random conversation.
While content sharing entails the reader making the extra effort to put it up on their social media page, referrals don’t.
The more your content is shared, the more likely you are doing a great job as a blogger.
Traffic
Photo by Isaque Pereira from Pexels
No matter the number of shares and referrals you get, if there is no steady inflow of persons to your blog, it might mean that you are not doing something right.
You might need to fix up.
A blog that does not have adequate readers cannot rank high amongst its competitors.
If there is little traffic on your site or blog, it could mean that people do not like your content.
It may be that you are not focused on the right audience, or you are missing that wow factor that would compel the audience.
It could also be that the information you are publishing is incorrect.
And so many others.
Always evaluate your blog and know what you are not doing right. Adopt smart strategies to grow blog traffic, and you may be on your way to having a traffic boost.
The more ‘relevant’ traffic you get, the more success you reflect.
Blog Comments
Don’t be tempted to downplay the importance of blog comments. A blog with numerous comments appeals to the audience more than one with fewer comments.
Having a comment section where people can give their views about your posts is always refreshing. Some comments can be further insights and questions, while others will point out your content’s flaws.
Sure, you do want to reply and appreciate every comment. After all, the negative comments will help you get better.
Furthermore, the praises your readers give can be a motivation for you to do more.
If there are no comments on your post, it could be that your audience does not find it interesting or that your CTA is not strong enough to pull them to action.
When comments start popping on all the posts on your blog, it means you are doing a good job, and you should not relent on your effort.
With ‘how to know your blog is successful’ covered, you noticed one thing.
The points all revolve around getting traffic and doing things that will, directly and indirectly, lead to increasing your traffic.
The big question is, ‘how do I generate traffic for my blog.’
To help you with that, here are ways to generate traffic for your blog.
How to Generate Traffic on your Blog
Here are some simple yet effective methods to increase your blog traffic;
- Continuity and Consistency
- Sticking to a Niche
- Keyword Optimization
- Networking
- Images and Visuals
Continuity and Consistency
There are many cases of people who start blogging but give up along the way.
These people will visit their blog at convenience, and the number of times they give attention to it is less than the times they stay away from the blog.
Of course, this is not helpful as you need continuity and consistency to generate traffic on your blog.
Understandably, you might get a creativity block at some point.
However, this should not hinder you or make you take a long and unreasonable break from blogging.
If you are always posting, it will get readers’ attention, but your readers will move on immediately if you are not consistent.
Sticking to a Niche
This is one of the topmost blogging tips, and I will still reiterate it.
There are cases when you visit a blog and find it hard to determine the blogger’s theme focus as you will see posts cutting across different niches.
When this confusion sets in on a reader’s mind, they will exit and not want to come back.
And sure, they are unlikely to make referrals or share your posts.
If you are going to generate ‘niche-specific, high quality’ traffic to your blog, you should stick to a specific niche.
You could be a lifestyle, fashion, sports, or travel blogger.
There are different niches. It is left to you to pick a suitable one.
Choosing a niche will help you streamline your content and reach out to a target audience.
Keyword Optimization
It is one thing to have a niche focus for your blog and another to attract niche-specific, high-quality traffic.
The big question is, ‘Are you writing content in a way it will rank high on search engines?’
Have you heard of on-page Search Engine Optimization (SEO) before?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and it is a way of writing and optimizing your content to be amongst the first that would come up when people search for related terms on search engines.
I mentioned keyword ranking earlier. The more keywords you rank for, the more likely your traffic and chances of being successful.
Get relevant keywords related to your topic and niche and infuse them in your content.
If you are looking to write an article that generates mind-blowing traffic, you might want to consider SEO.
When your blog starts ranking high on search engines, it will generate traffic.
Networking
People say that there is power in togetherness, and this claim is valid when it concerns blogging.
As a blogger, you should not be an island; there is no harm in reaching out to fellow bloggers.
If you are part of a blogging community, you will learn things from others, and it can help you rake in traffic.
How?
Members of the community can assist in promoting your blog on their website, giving you more visibility.
We know that networking involves going out of your comfort zone, but it is always necessary and something you should do to make money as a blogger.
Images and Visuals
Pictures tell stories better than words.
I am not saying that writing will not pass your desired message to your target audience. I am saying that there is a higher power when you include images and visuals in your content.
Images stick to readers’ minds, and they will recall it faster than they would remember your words.
Thus, people go more for blogs that add images to their content than one that is bland. Images compel readers to continue till the end, so you should factor that in if you want to generate traffic to your blog.
There are various other ways to generate traffic for your blog, but I will stick to these mentioned above for now.
I hope you are taking down these points as they are essential buildups to ways to make money from blogging.
How do Bloggers make money from blogging?
There are various ways to make money from blogging. Some of these money-making blogging avenues include;
- Publishing Sponsored Posts
- Affiliate Marketing
- Sales of Products or Services
- Ads Publishing
Publishing Sponsored Posts
Publishing sponsored posts on your blog is amongst the top ways to make money as a blogger.
However, this is not something you start enjoying immediately when you start blogging. It takes hard work to get to the point where brands will contact you to publish their posts on your blog.
The higher your blog ratings and traffic, the higher the rate at which companies related to your niche would seek you out for sponsored posts.
Organizations are always looking for ways to promote their products and services, and they pay bloggers to make this happen.
If you are a beauty and lifestyle blogger, a makeup company can contact you to review their product on your blog.
Your creativity comes into play as you need to do it in a compelling way to generate the conversion they need.
You can do this through story writing, or you may go through the practical method and do a video.
Whatever works best for you should be applied as long as it is outstanding.
Affiliate Marketing
It should not be heard that a blogger does not know affiliate networks or affiliate marketing, as it is one way of making money off your blog.
Affiliate marketing involves promoting a product or service for an affiliate network and ensuring that you make sales from the promotion for a specified commission.
The product/service owners give you a unique link to their products, which they use to track anytime you make a sale via your link.
You can use this link anywhere you please, especially on your blog.
The nature of affiliate marketing makes it necessary for you to be creative and strategic in how you promote the links.
This way, you can appeal to readers’ buying consciousness.
Amazon is one affiliate network that always comes through for bloggers. Jumia affiliate program is another affiliate program that is cool for bloggers in Nigeria.
Sales of Products or Services
Sure, you might have personal products and services and do not want to promote for others via affiliate marketing.
If your blog is up to standard, you can sell your products and make money from it.
One of the mistakes bloggers make is that they do not put much effort into marketing personal products and services as they would if an external organization contacts them.
You do not always have to wait for companies and organizations. You can market your product and services.
The best part is you are the boss, and you can validate any claim you make. Thus, people are sure of what they are buying from you.
Ads Publishing
This is almost similar to affiliate marketing.
There are ad networks a blogger can sign up for to get the full ads package. These ad networks display ads on your blog, and you can get your money either through readers’ impressions (seeing the Ads) or via clicking on the Ad.
In case you have heard these terms before but do not understand them, here is what they mean.
Pay per impression means the Ad network pays the blogger based on the number of times the Ad was seen.
Pay per click means the blogger will be paid based on the number of times people clicked on the Ad.
Undeniably, many will prefer the pay per impression arrangement.
You should know that Ad networks make it easy for bloggers as the Ads are not always the same for everyone.
Different people see various items based on their interests.
Thus, you are sure that the Ads will interest your readers.
Google’s Adsense is one of the popular Ad networks, and Guru’s Coach has a guide on how to make money with Google Adsense.
Concluding Words on How much do Bloggers Make
This article has been encompassing, and I hope that you now understand that a blogger can make as much as he or she desires.
It is all dependent on the work and effort you put into blogging.
The highest-paid blogger in the world as of 2020 is Arianna Huffington, with an income of over $450 million per year.
The highest-paid blogger in Nigeria is Linda Ikeji, with a net worth of over 3.2 billion Naira. She set the pace for blogging in the country.
With that said, the question should not be ‘how much do bloggers make,’ but ‘how much are you ready to make!’
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