If you’re looking to monetize your blog, it’s important to know where to start.
I’ve been blogging since 2011, and there’s great news: there are more ways to monetize a blog now more than ever! However, while there are many different ways in which you can monetize a blog; the strategies that will work best for your site depend on what kind of content you publish.
In this article, we’ll walk through some popular methods for monetizing blogs. We’ll highlight the advantages and disadvantages of each one so that you can make an informed decision when choosing what type of ads or sponsorships to use on your site.
Take some time to read this article, think about your skillset and ideas, and then feel out which options are most aligned to you.
Best (and Worst) Ways to Monetize Your Blog
There are a variety of ways to monetize your blog, but not all of them will be effective for every site. THIS is the biggest mistake a lot of content creators make: they don’t take time to make sure the way they WANT to make money will actually work for their ideas.
The most popular methods include displaying ads, selling sponsorships or partnerships, and using affiliate marketing programs.
My most favorite way to monetize a blog is creating and selling your own offers. We will cover that near the end too.
Here’s a look at the pros and cons of each:
1. Advertising
Advertising is one of the most common ways to monetize a blog. There are two main forms of advertising available:
AdSense or other ad networks
Adsense and ad networks are something you’re probably familiar with even if you’ve never heard the term. These are the ads and small videos you usually see on high traffic blog and news websites. When the ads are shown, you can get paid for the impressions. You’ll get paid a much higher amount for any clicks the ads get.
Google AdSense and other ad networks display relevant ads that pay you most when someone clicks them. This is usually done through the use of banners, but it’s also possible to insert text-only units into posts as well.
When implementing Adsense for the first time, you can choose an option called “auto ads”. This is the easiest way to implement ads for the first time since you don’t need to choose where the ads will be displayed. However, this option isn’t always popular since you have little control where the ads are shown, and it may interfere with the readers’ experience. You can also choose to manually place the ads.
When your traffic is high enough, you can apply to work with a higher paying ad network. (One popular example is Mediavine, which requires you to have at least 50,000 monthly sessions).
Besides a much higher payout per impressions and clicks, Mediavine also helps the ads to display while interfering less with the user experience.
Sponsored posts
You can also sell advertising directly to individual companies or organizations. This involves including a sponsored post on your blog in exchange for compensation from the advertiser.
If you have a large audience that likes your content, some advertisers will pay you to write a post showing off their product. These types of sponsorships usually involve writing about certain products or services for the advertiser in exchange for compensation. This type of monetization can be very lucrative if you have a lot of readers.
The downside, however, is that it can be difficult to find sponsors who are a good fit for your blog. Not all companies are willing to pay you what your content is worth.
If you decide to go this route, it’s important that you disclose the fact that a post is sponsored somewhere near the top of the page or in an easy-to-find disclaimer on every page on your site where these types of sponsor posts are published.
2. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a way for you to make money by promoting other people’s products or services on your blog.
Affiliates include special affiliate links in blog posts that allow readers to purchase the items they’re interested in directly from the vendor. If someone clicks on the link and makes a purchase, you receive a commission from the vendor.
Affiliate marketing can be a great way to monetize your blog because it doesn’t require any additional work on your part once you’ve set up the links. All you have to do is write about products that you like and include affiliate links in your posts. Additionally, many affiliate marketing programs offer a wide range of different products, so you’re likely to find lots of items that your audience would be interested in purchasing.
The main downside of using an affiliate program as a monetization option is the fact that it can take awhile for commissions to start rolling in when you first begin writing about them.
The best way to decide which monetization option is right for you will depend largely upon what type of blog or website you have. Think about what type of content you’re currently publishing and what readers might be interested in purchasing. If you can’t think of anything off the top of your head, it’s always a good idea to do a little research online to see what other bloggers in your niche are doing.
3. How to Monetize a Blog on WordPress:
WordPress is a popular content management system that can be used to create both blogs and websites. There are a number of different ways to monetize a blog on WordPress, including the use of plugins, advertising networks, affiliate marketing programs, and more.
One of the best options available is to use a plugin that allows you to display ads in your sidebar. One of the most popular WordPress plugins for this purpose is Ad Inserter by Automattic, which is free.
You can also use a free service like Google AdSense to place ads on your site. Once approved, you simply add a few lines of code to your blog’s template in order to display the ads.
4. How to Monetize a Blog on Wix:
While a self-hosted WordPress site is the best option to monetize, it’s not the only option.
Known for ease of use and no-coding-needed, Wix is a website builder that also allows you to create a blog. And, as with WordPress, there are a number of different ways to monetize your blog on Wix.
One way is to use the built-in ad platform, which allows you to place ads in your sidebar or posts. You can also use Wix’s own affiliate marketing program, which allows you to sign up for programs like Amazon’s Associates program.
Further monetization options available with Wix include selling your own products via their store platform or through Google AdSense advertising revenue sharing. You can even create a link that sends users directly to the registration page of one of your courses.
5. How to Monetize with AdSense
If you’d like to know how to monetize with AdSense, here are a few quick tips:
Choose the type of ad that best matches your site. There are three different types – search ads , display ads and text links . You can select which one is right for your blog in the AdSense control panel.
Search Ads
Search ads allow you to show ads that link to search results on Google. This is a great option if your site focuses primarily on topics like technology, news and current events or speculation.
Display Ads
These display images alongside content in the form of banners , classifieds and more. Use these for blogs focused on entertainment and hobbyist interests such as home and garden, parenting, lifestyle, and more.
Text Link Ads
These are simple text ads that link to other sites. They work best with blogs that cater to niche audiences such as travel, music or hobbies.
To choose which keyword phrases you’d like your ad associated with, think about what search terms your audience might be looking for. You can also choose whether or not you’d like to show search ads on some pages of your site, but not others.
In conclusion, there are a number of different ways to monetize your blog – no matter what platform you’re using. By choosing the right approach, and by carefully targeting your ads, you can start generating some extra income from your blog content.
5. Monetize Your Blog By Selling Courses and Printables
My personal favorite way to monetize a blog is by creating and selling your own offers. Unlike affiliates and ads where payouts are usually small until you have a larger audience, you get to keep 100% of your income when you sell your own offers (minus processing fees).
Learn more about selling your own courses here.
Need more help?
If you want to learn more about working with me and how I can help you successfully monetize your blog, head to my free Facebook group!
