I know you have probably heard about the word blogging and how others are enjoying this career. You may be wondering, can blogging help me get a decent income to support myself and my family? How do I even start on this blogging path? What is the best way to start a blog in 2020?
If these are your questions, then never worry. I am here to guide you through and show you step by step on the best way to start a blog in 2020 and monetize it.
Before we jump into it, let me tell you some of the benefits you are going to get as a blogger aside from the monetization aspect.
Blogging gives you a voice, exposure, career, audience and stable income to live happily with your family in the comfort of your home. You don’t worry about waking up in the morning preparing for work, spending long hours in traffic and a whole lot of inconveniences.
You Can Start A Blog In 2020
I know as at now you are anticipating to know the best way to start a blog in 2020. But probably you may be asking yourself, can I do this?
The answer is YES! You know what; I also felt the same way when starting my blogging journey. I had a lot of questions back then about this whole concept. Let me share a few ones with you if you also feel the same now.
- Can I be a blogger?
- Can I monetize my blog and get a stable income?
- How do I start and where will I find the best help?
- What are some of the best blog sites I can imitate?
- Should I go for the free hosting plans or paid hosting plans?
But look at me now writing hundreds of blog posts including what you are reading now. So no worries I will be your personal assistance and help you from scratch till you set up your blog and start generating income for your blog. I will teach you the best hosting site to choose, how to install WordPress, the best plugins to install, and also the best blogging tools you will need for your journey.
So without further ado, let’s jump in and let me show you how to start creating your blog website.
What Is A Blog?
According to Wikipedia’s definition, a blog is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). A few years back, blogging was just another type of hobby that some people did in addition to working full-time jobs. But it has totally changed today. In 2020, blogging has become a profitable online profession and many people are streaming into this noble profession day in and day out.
Just like any profession, there are different levels of bloggers who are earning anywhere from $1000-$2 million a year and you can also be added to this number. But let me ask you, what is your main aim now of starting a blog?
Why You Should Start A Blog Today?
Do you have something you are very passionate about? Like cooking, sports, business, animal life, and so on and so forth?
If your answer is yes, then you have to start a blog today! Why don’t you share your passion with others?
By doing what you love most you will in addition make a stable income out of it. Do you now see why you should start blogging today? It doesn’t matter if you are old or young, you can still start blogging today. In the US alone, we have more than 32 million bloggers in the year 2020 and just imagine the total number of bloggers in the world. Despite these huge figures, people read all of these blog post day in and day out. So you can also help people with your blog post today. But where do we start?
Select Your Blogging Niche
Before you travel, you should know your direction or destination you will be going to. Without a specific direction, you will just be roaming about.
If you want to start a blog you need to come up with a goal or a particular idea. Your idea doesn’t have to be revolutionary but it has to be unique in some way.
Remember you have a distinct voice to share with your audience. You own a vibrant personality that will grab the attention of friends, family, and followers. Because of this, there are some vital questions you need to ask yourself before selecting your niche. Also, I have a special bonus for you after I explain this.
- Is the niche your area of expertise?
- A subject you will love to talk about?
- A specific field you will want to cover?
- Something you take interest in and want to learn more about?
- Can the niche be monetized?
If you answer yes to all these questions about a particular niche you have selected, then you are good to go. But I understand that sometimes as a complete beginner, it will be difficult to know the answers to all these questions. To make your life simple for you, I am giving you this special bonus. The Top 100 Blog Niches. Download it and let it be your guide to select the best niche and a niche that can earn you income as you grow your blog.
Choose A Blog Hosting
The second step in starting a blog is actually getting your blog online. You need a place to store your files, images, videos, and the likes. That’s what a web hosting company will do for you. In this step, you’ll be selecting the blogging platform and web hosting plan you’ll use to get your blog online and that is the best way to start a blog in 2020. Below are some questions we are going to cover under this topic.
What is web hosting?
How much does web hosting cost?
What is the best web hosting service available today?
The combination of blogging platform & web hosting that is very much recommended (and that most other bloggers use including this blog website you are reading) is a WordPress blog, hosted by Hostgator Read more on this in this article HOW TO START A NEW BLOG WITH HOSTGATOR.
WordPress is a free publishing platform that’s been around since 2003 and now powers more than 60% of all blogs on the Internet. Hostgator is one of the most established, reliable companies in the blog hosting industry. This combination is what we’ll be using to start your blog. Now, let’s get your hosting set up.
Use my Hostgator affiliate link to start the process. If you use my link, you will enjoy 60% off the actual money you will use to purchase your hosting plan. Interestingly enough, you even don’t need to install WordPress from anywhere else. Hostgator will automatically install it as soon as you follow the next steps after clicking on my Hostgator link. For a step by step process of installing WordPress, see this article HOW TO START A NEW BLOG WITH HOSTGATOR and install your WordPress website or blog.
Disclaimer: Please note that this post includes affiliate links which provide some commission to me but at no cost to you. Meanwhile, these links are for the best software and tools you need to start a successful blog or website.
Reasons Why You Should Use Hostgator
We have a lot of hosting companies that you can use for your blog website. You may ask, why am I recommending Hostgator? Not just that I have my website on their platform, but their customer support is one of the best ever found. They have 24/7 customer support and their platform is very user friendly especially for beginners.
The Truth About WordPress
Now, one thing you need to be careful of is that WordPress comes in two very different platforms. They are WordPress.com and WordPress.org. They have almost the same name, but there are very big differences between the two:
- Is free to use (with heavy restrictions)
- Doesn’t let you pick a custom domain name
- Limited SEO and analytics
- Has very limited monetization options (you can’t sell your own ads)
- Doesn’t let you upload plugins (for email capture and other things)
- Has limited theme support so you’re stuck with very basic designs
- You have to pay to remove WordPress branding and get your own domain like yoursite.com
- Fully customizable design with unlimited plugin options.
- Total control over your own monetization efforts.
- Powerful SEO features (so people can find your site easier).
- You can start or add an eCommerce store or membership site.
- Small monthly fee (from the web hosting company).
I think you now have a bigger picture to make your own decision. But if you want to take full advantage of your blog, be able to have it grow with you, and eventually make money from it, WordPress.org is the way to go when learning how to start a blog.
If you want to know the best themes to use when starting a blog, read this article Best WordPress SEO Optimized Themes For Blogging. Now that you have learned about the best way to start a blog in 2020, let’s jump in and talk about how you can make money blogging.
How To Monetize Your Blog
Now that you have learned the best way to start a blog in 2020, let me show you how you can monetize your blog post efficiently.
There are various methods that you can use to monetize your blog. Depending upon your level of blogging and the kind of blog, you could pick the method that matches your style. Let first show you the various ways you can use and then take my time to explain into details.
- Ad Networks
- Direct Advertisements
- Affiliate marketing
- Paid reviews
- Sell Digital products (eBooks)
- Launch an Online Course
- Offer Services based on your skills
Apart from the normal forms of advertising, you can work on other monetization hacks. Instead of just adding ads to your blog post, work on adding value for your advertiser.
AD NETWORKS
There are ad networks that are the simplest and widely used method for monetizing a blog.
The two Ad networks which are the most popular and also recommended are:
- Google AdSense (Offered by Google)
- Media.net
Before you get approved, you need to have a blog. They show ads automatically based on the context of your article and also based on user interest. That is the very reason why you must provide good and quality content on your website. Most of the new bloggers use these methods to monetize as it gives recurring income. Since the ads shown are of high quality, they don’t affect the user experience or drive your users away from your site or blog.
If your blog is having less than 300 views per day, you may not qualify for this service, then there are other ad networks that are listed here that you can use. However, your goal should be getting AdSense or Media.net approval as soon as you could by producing quality content your audience will love.
AFFILIATE MARKETING
The second way I will talk about is affiliate marketing. Affiliate advertisements are one of the best ways to make money, especially for beginners since a single sale will make you a lot more money than a single click on a contextual ad.
It’s been used by most of the bloggers these days and one of the most profitable avenues to make money from a blog. The best part of this is that you don’t need money before you can sign up to the hundreds of affiliate companies. They are all free to start which makes it very good for beginners.
Here are some of the popular Affiliate marketing companies that you could join:
Another great thing about Affiliate marketing is, you can use this technique on any blogging platform such as Wix, Squarespace, WordPress, or even on social media platforms.
All you need to do is, share your unique affiliate link of the product you are recommending, and when someone makes a purchase, you will end up earning a huge commission of the sale amount.
Affiliate marketing is the way, how a lot of bloggers are making millions of dollars every year from their blog.
SELL YOUR OWN EBOOKS
If you notice, the business model of top bloggers has to do with selling their own products such as an eBook. This is good because it is easy to do and very effective way of monetizing your website as a complete beginner in the blogging industry.
All you need to do is pick a topic, compile an eBook on that topic, and put it on sale on your blog or on Amazon. Once you are used to this process, you can earn a decent amount of money by selling eBooks online on autopilot.
Moreover, having your own product to sell is the best thing that you can do to generate passive income.
One best way to get this book is that, you can compile your articles into a well-structured book and sell it on your blog or on other platforms such as Amazon or just google ‘bestselling eBook websites’ and you will find hundreds of places you can sell your eBooks to earn money. This will also give you the credibility of becoming an author.
You can also consider selling physical products on your blog using WooCommerce.
LAUNCH ONLINE COURSE
Can you convert some of your detailed blog post into a video format that will be very useful for your audience?
Can you create a 1 to 4 hour video course?
If your answer is yes, then this method is definitely for you. With advanced technology, now launching an online course is as easy for anyone and if you are giving the unique course, your chances of reaching a $ 1 million goal is really high.
You can use platforms like: Learn Dash (WordPress) or Teachable to create and sell your online course.
DIRECT ADVERTISEMENTS
It is true that AdSense is the best advertisement program for bloggers, but it has some limitations. The biggest limitation is the amount you get paid per click.
If you manage to grab direct advertisements, replace those AdSense units with direct ads instead.
The best way to get started with the direct advertisement is by trying different networks and adding a page on your blog called “Media-kit or Advertise with us” to get new deals.
You can also use a plugin like WPAdvancedAds to manage the ads on your WordPress.
The best way to do it is, create a professional email address like ads@domain.com using Google apps.
SPONSORED REVIEWS
Sponsored reviews are a great way to boost your monthly income. You can quickly make $15 or more from a small review post you create.
Services
Depending on your skills, you can offer various services to your audience. Depending on what you are good at, you can offer content writing, logo creation, SEO, and web design and the likes.
In fact, launching your own services is pretty easy. All you need to do is create a page on your blog and list the services that you are offering. Make it easier for your audience to contact you and inquire more about your services. As you deal with your first few clients, you will have ample ideas to improve the sales process of your services. In fact, you will be able to automate some of the things like payment and follow-ups.
I trust with these ways of monetizing your blog, you can achieve your aim of getting a stable income for your blog journey. Read this article The Best Steps To Start a New Blog and Grow Faster for additional information on the best way to start your website or blogging.
Feel free to contact me for any personal help you may need in building your website or blog and also monetizing it through info@rapidentrepreneurs.com.
