As the internet continues to compress global economics into the digital space, more and more businesses find themselves treading the crucial path to digitization. But it’s not only businesses that are taking advantage of a new era. Many individuals are also exploring the profit potential of building their own digital empires.
Check out today’s mortgage rates!Indeed, nowadays, one can find plenty of ways to earn money via the internet. Paid jobs that only require remote work are appealing to those who don’t want to be shackled by the 9 to 5 convention. Content writing, social media management, and answering surveys are some of the most common ways that freelancers earn money online. While many of these might be lucrative, most of these jobs are one-time and require active engagement most of the time. If you have a full time job but still want to make passive income, however, monetizing a blog could be your way to go.
Many online guide articles on how to monetize a blog needlessly sugar coat the true commitment that one needs to dedicate in order to create a successful blog. Because here’s the thing: there’s no money in being a blogger – at least in the beginning. A blog with good views and efficient returns do take time and patience to set up. But once you’re on the path, it could really gain sufficient income.
Starting your own blog
Starting a blog is a two-way process. First, you need to be efficient of the technicalities that come with managing and maintaining a website, scheduling posts, learning about SEOs and even analytics, etc. Second, you need to be able to integrate your technical knowledge into your creative approach.
Here’s a breakdown of the process of starting a blog. Follow these steps and feel free to insert your own input if you think they will help you attain your goals easier.
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Determine your niche.
What would you like your blog to be about? What would you like to write about? The niche is your unifying theme and determines what kind of content will be found in your website. It should be something that you are knowledgeable about if you want to save too much time in researching. You can also write freely if the subject is already familiar to you and can engage in more meaningful interactions with your audience who want to discuss the topics you are tackling.
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Name your domain
There are certain things that you need to keep in mind when choosing a domain name:
- As much as possible, include your site’s main keyword in your domain name
- Choose a domain name that is no longer than 15 characters and is not longer than three words
- Choose a domain name that does not contain a hyphen
- Stick to the dot com extension if you can. This more generic extension has more reach than other second-level extensions such as .info or .net. Avoid country-specific extensions as much as possible.
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Choose a host.
A website hold essentially helps you get your site online. At the start, you don’t really need a high capacity account. You just need to make sure that you have enough amount of space and bandwidth that will be able to support your site’s traffic. Before you decide on a site, compare offers, read reviews, and watch out for any accompanying affiliates.
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Select your content management system.
There are various content management systems available today though the most common is WordPress. If you want to opt out of this popular CMS site for some reason, you can explore other systems such as Drupal, Joomla, Magento, Blogger, Shopify, and Wix.
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Configure AMP pages.
Internet speeds are not uniform in all countries. If your site is too heavy, chances are loading time will take forever in countries with slower internet speeds. Most viewers just abandon sites that take too long to load. Configuring the AMP or Accelerate Mobile Projects helps you get around this problem. Generally, AMP specifications help thin down a page and remove minor elements that cause slow loading times. If you don’t know how to set it up yourself, you can ask for hired help online or perhaps ask a developer friend to help you out.
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Set up Google Analytics.
An Analytics systems helps you monitor your site’s traffic and see where your views are coming from.
Though there are other analytics systems in existence, the most popular one is Google Analytics. It’s also easy to set up. After you create an analytics account, use your Google Task Manager plugin or install an Analytics plugin to configure and link everything.
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Write good content.
And by good, I mean keyword-focused, SEO’d content. There are plenty of rules to follow in writing good content but the most generic advice are summarized as follows:
Write with a punch. Depending on who your target audience is, you should use devices that will keep them engaged from the first sentence to the last. For those writing for a general audience, a conversational tone with short, direct-to-the-point paragraphs typically works.
Don’t veer off topic. Stay focused to what you are trying to convey. It’s important that you do not overwhelm your reader either with too much information or too much narrative – unless used in a good way.
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Pick an income stream.
Making money from the content you’re making, though viable, will not happen in an instant. For some, it could take years. For those whose spirits are easily dampened by quick episodes of failure, that may not happen at all. The important thing is to keep going. In the meantime, you can hope to earn some from running ads, or selling eBooks or other merchandise to monetize your website. Though it may not be lucrative in the upstart, incurring income from small purchases can surprisingly add up into some serious sum.
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Set up a marketing strategy.
If all goes well and you suddenly find yourself with hundreds of subscribers, you need to start reaching out. A way to do this is to set up your own email marketing campaign. It’s an avenue to create more value while crafting opportunities to gain more site views and clicks. But once you’ve reached this point, you need to make sure that you will have the time and the capacity to be consistent with your emails.
If your audience base has gone up to the thousands, you can create a subscription program with a fixed subscription price. If your content is really reputed to be good, fueled actively by your consistent email marketing, it could very well be a lucrative endeavor.
Don’t expect that there’s no competition online. It’s a game of technicalities and above all, persistence. Integrate your social media knowledge to promote your site, share your content, and most importantly, never lose sight of your goal.
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