Wondering how to start a blog and make money online? Or, make money from home and achieve your desired financial freedom in life?
First of all, Congratulations! The fact that you have decided to start your own blog makes you one step ahead of others. After all, blogging is one of the best online businesses you can start today.
What is a blog?
A blog is a website that contains information about a specific topic (or even multiple topics) and is run by an individual or a group of people.
When you search for something on Google, you get answers to your question within seconds! Thanks to all the blogs out there! Google uses a few algorithms to make sure the users get legitimate information only.
And hence you need to build up your domain authority and increase your trust score to rank on the first page of Google.
Why should you start a blog?
A blog is the best place to share your opinion and thoughts about a specific topic and earn money while doing the same! How cool is that?!
I am a camera-shy person. You cannot even find a single picture of me on this blog! And therefore, YouTube was not even my last option!
Similarly, if you are not camera-friendly, you can start your blog to express your thoughts.
What’s stopping you?!
But, is it possible to make money from a new blog in 2022?
Blogging is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Many bloggers quit within the first six months since they could not make any money out of it.
Some make money within the first month of blogging while some others take 4 to 6 months to make their first income. The blog income reports are overwhelming but at the end of the day, we all have our own journey!
Also, blogging as a hobby won’t make you a single penny. You need to treat your blog like a business. Just like a business, you need to make an investment in your blog too.
YES, it is possible to make a full-time income from blogging. You can literally monetize your passion and get paid for what you love doing!
Now, if you are ready to start your own blog, you can follow the steps below.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy for more information.
1. Choose a Niche:
The first step to starting a blog is to choose a niche. You have to decide what you want to write about. You should choose a profitable niche that you like to write about. Say, for example, if you want to start a food blog, you can write about your best recipes. On the other hand, if you are a successful entrepreneur, you can write about how to start a profitable business.
Some of the most popular and profitable blog niches are:
- Technology
- Health and fitness
- Finance
- Travel
- Crafts
- Beauty and self-care
- Food
- Parenting
- Business and marketing
- Movie reviews
- Education
- DIY
- Frugal Living
- Home Decor
Make sure to choose a niche you are interested in. Because, if you don’t like what you do, you will probably quit. You can quickly check the availability of the domain names here.
2. Purchase Domain and Hosting:
So, you have decided on your blog niche? Now, you have to purchase a domain and hosting. I recommend you to purchase them from Bluehost.
Suppose you are starting a food blog, you can get a domain like “www.foodlover.com” or “www.kitchenthings.com”. Similarly, if you decide to go with the travel niche, you can choose a domain like “www.travelqueen.com”.
The thing is that the best domain names are all taken. But, a nice domain name does not help in ranking a website! All that matters is valuable and useful content.
Make sure that your domain name is catchy and can be quickly read by people- something that people will remember.
You can check the availability of the domain names here:
Host Your Blog With Bluehost:
Now that you have selected your blog niche, it is time to purchase the hosting for your blog. As I said earlier, you need to treat your blog like an online business and just like a business, you have to invest in it.
You must be wondering about what is the need to buy a self-hosting when there are lots of free blogging platforms available?!
Let me tell you, you cannot monetize your blog if you use free blogging platforms like Blogger, Wix, etc. No one will ever take you seriously. Monetizing your blog will be impossible. Most of the affiliate networks and other ad networks will reject you.
Bluehost is the best and cheapest option available for beginners.
There are many reasons why you should use Bluehost:
- FREE domain for the first year
- Hosting at only $3.95 per month
- You get 24/7 dedicated support
- Easy step by step set up
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Go to the Bluehost homepage
Now, click here to go to the Bluehost homepage and click on “Get Started”.
Choose a Plan
The Basic plan is perfect for all beginners. It costs $3.95 per month. So, you can start your blog with less than $50 per year!
Choose Domain:
Choose a Domain name for your blog.
Add details:
Fill up all the details like your first name, last name, country, email id etc.
Package Information:
Make sure to choose the 36-month plan. Only then, you can get the hosting for $3.95 per month. It is best to register your blog for at least two to three years because that is the right amount of time needed to grow your blog. Many people register for one year and quit after that.
So, if you take the 36-month plan, there won’t be any confusion at the end of the year. Plus, you don’t have to worry about hosting for the next three years. You can focus on content, building your audience and making money from it.
Payment:
As you proceed, they will ask you for the payment information. If you don’t have a credit card, you can pay with PayPal by selecting “more payment options”.
Password:
Choose a Password for your account.
After you are done creating your password, you can finally log in and install WordPress.
3. Pick a theme:
After that, you can choose the theme that suits your blog niche. You can skip this step as of now, and proceed with writing articles for your blog.
There are plenty of good-looking free themes available in WordPress. Astra is one of the best free themes to get started. You don’t need to invest in any paid themes in the beginning. Once you start making money from your blog, you can upgrade to a paid theme.
4. Write Blog Posts:
Writing quality content should be your first priority since day one. The only way to drive traffic to your blog is to write informative posts which the readers will benefit from. If the readers don’t get help from your blog posts, they will simply leave the page.
Your blog should have at least 10 posts before it goes live. This will make your blog look more professional.
5. Publish Your Blog:
So now, it is time to publish your blog! Simply click on the “Launch your site” option in the Bluehost dashboard and your blog will go live.
6. Drive Traffic to your Blog:
The two best ways to drive traffic to a new blog are Google SEO and Pinterest. Out of the two, Google SEO takes 3 to 4 months time to be effective. But, with Pinterest, your blog can explode with traffic in just a couple of months. Hence, I suggest using Pinterest for all the newbies out there.
- Create a business account on Pinterest
- Follow some famous accounts related to your niche
- Create at least 5 boards to get started according to your niche
- Pin at least 3 times a day when you start. After a few months when you have more content, you can pin 5-7 times a day.
- Join some group boards related to your niche.
7. Make Money From Your Blog:
There are a number of ways to make money from your blog. You can place ads in your blog posts with Google Adsense and Mediavines. Another way to monetize is by Affiliate Marketing. Some of the best Affiliate networks that you can join are:
- ShareASale
- Amazon Associates
- Flexoffers
- Impact Radius
- Panthera Network
You can also monetize your blog with sponsored posts.
Final Thoughts:
That is all! Starting a blog is not as hard as it may seem. Isn’t it?!
I hope, you got a clear idea of how to start a blog and make money out of it.
I wish you all the best in your blogging journey. Stay consistent. Don’t lose hope and soon you will successfully convert your passion into a full-time business!
I hope this post was helpful for you. If you have any questions, you can ask them in the comment section below or you can mail me at thesimplecashblog@gmail.com anytime. I will be happy to help you on this journey.
Also, don’t forget to share this article with the ones who want to start a blog and make money online.
