Does this sound familiar?
You’re a brand new blogger, and you just got done writing your first handful of posts.
Incredibly proud of your accomplishment, you check your analytics after a week to see how many adoring fans viewed your post and left insightful comments.
Your heart drops a little as you realize that not a single person has read one of your posts.
At this rate, you won’t be able to quit your day job and retire to Bora Bora anytime soon.
This is a common occurrence for new bloggers, and it serves as a bit of a reality check.
Creating content takes a lot of work, and if you want to make any money, you need to know how to monetize your blog properly.
In addition, the best monetization strategies only work if you consistently generate lots of targeted traffic.
The good news is that you’ve just identified your two main problems: A) no monetization strategy and B) no way to generate lots of organic visitors from your target audience.
At The HOTH, we have the remedy for both.
We’re search engine optimization (SEO) experts, which is the best way to drive lots of vetted traffic to your blog. Not only that, but we’re here to teach you the most effective ways to earn money blogging, so stay tuned.
Generate Targeted Traffic with SEO
Why is SEO so effective at driving traffic to your blog?
While it’s a bit cliche to mention at this point, it’s still true that 93% of web experiences begin on a search engine.
Anytime users are looking for the answer to a question, want to find a product, or want to educate themselves – they take to search engines like Google and Bing (you’ve likely done the same).
Whenever they reach the search results pages (SERPs), the #1 result generates the most clicks BY FAR. As this graph illustrates, the number of clicks for positions #2 – #10 is significantly lower, and it only gets worse from there.
That’s why businesses compete so hard to obtain the #1 spot for their most relevant keywords (the search terms related to their products and services).
As a blogger, your goal is to rank as high as possible on the SERPs for keywords related to your niche.
To find which keywords to target, you can use our free keyword planner tool.
It’ll let you know which keywords your audience is searching for the most which you should use to inform your content strategy.
What do we mean by that?
Well, if you notice that your audience is searching for a particular keyword, it’s a sign that they want a piece of content surrounding it. As such, whenever you publish a blog post on said topic, you know that your audience will want to read it. This is called matching search intent.
SEO encompasses a lot more than we can fit in this article, though, so be sure to learn more from our guides on Technical SEO and On-Page SEO.
With a proper SEO strategy in place, you’ll generate enough traffic for the following monetization strategies to work their magic.
Show Me the Money!
Now that our mini-SEO crash course is complete, it’s time to learn the most effective strategies for monetizing your blog.
After all, you probably didn’t start a blog strictly as a hobby.
No, you want to start a lucrative side hustle or earn full-time income, so let’s learn how.
Senator, we run ads
A great way to start generating revenue from your blog is to allow advertisers to take up space on your website.
There are many digital ad networks that you can leverage to run targeted ads on your blog, which can be profitable.
Google AdSense is the most popular of these networks, but there are a few requirements to become eligible. As long as you treat your blog like a professional business, you shouldn’t have trouble qualifying, even if your blog is relatively new.
While display ads are an excellent way for new blogs to start earning a few dollars, they do affect your user experience, so don’t go too crazy.
Affiliate marketing programs
Becoming an affiliate is arguably the best way to profit from your blog, given that your niche has a desirable (and profitable) affiliate program.
When you become an affiliate of a specific business, you’ll receive an official referral link.
From there, you can promote their products on your blog using said link, and you’ll receive a cut of the profits.
Not bad, right?
Also, Amazon Associates is a MASSIVE affiliate program, and since their website sells virtually everything, the chances are high that you’ll be able to promote something that falls within your niche.
Pro tip: Always hit your affiliate links with a nofollow or sponsored tag, as this is in accordance with Google’s guidelines.
Selling digital products and services
Are you the GOAT SME (subject matter expert) in your field?
Then, you should write an in-depth eBook and sell it to your readers.
Or you can offer virtual coaching/consulting services, which are both excellent ways to make money.
The best part?
There are no percentages here, as you get to keep 100% of the profits.
Oh, and how could we forget the mother of online monetization, online courses?
Piecing together an online course in your area of expertise can be extremely profitable as long as your curriculum provides real value.
Platforms like Udemy are great for developing online courses if you don’t have the resources yourself.
Creating a paid community
This tactic is for blogs that already have established followings, as it’s not a good idea for brand-new blogs to create a paid section right off the bat.
Yet, if you have a loyal following of readers, you can offer paid membership where they gain access to exclusive perks like:
- One-on-one sessions with you
- Additional videos and educational resources
- Unique newsletters packed with insider info
- Webinars, workshops, and reports
Earn Your First Dollar Blogging Today
Now that you know multiple ways to earn money from your blog, what are you waiting for?
Start running a few tasteful ads, become an affiliate, and start drafting an eBook so you can transform organic visitors into dollars in your bank account.
If you need expert help setting up a killer, SEO-friendly blog, don’t wait to check out HOTH X, our renowned managed SEO services.
