Blog Monetization
You’ve probably heard that it’s a good idea to start blogging, no matter what niche you’re serving. But the question is, how do you make money with your blog? That’s what this tutorial will help you sort out.
Let’s get started…
Step 1: Know Your Options
The first thing to do is understand all the different monetization options that are available to you. These include:
Promoting Your Own Offers
This tends to be the best and most profitable option, because it’s both profitable upfront as well as on the backend (since you build a list of proven buyers).
Promoting Affiliate Offers
Many bloggers promote affiliate offers, which is a great option. You can promote infoproducts until you develop your own. It’s also a great option if you don’t intend to develop your own products (such as if you’re selling physical products).
Building a List
Some bloggers don’t promote anything on their blog, and instead focus on getting readers onto their mailing list. (From there, they promote their own offers and/or affiliate offers.)
Selling Ad Space
The key to this method is to vet all advertisers, ads and offers. That way, your blog doesn’t become associated with anything unsavory.
Inserting CPA offers
Here’s where you place a CPA (cost per action) offer on your blog, like Google AdSense (which is where you get paid per click). This is a last resort offer, as you can generally make more money using the other methods mentioned above.
TIP: You can learn more about Google AdSense here: https://www.google.com/adsense/start/.
Next…
Step 2: Select One Primary Method
Next, select one primary monetization method. For example, you might choose to sell affiliate offers, with the intention of switching to your own offers as you create them.
Step 3: Plan Your Content
Now that you know how you’re going to monetize your blog, you can now plan your content in a way that supports your monetization goals.
For example, if you’re selling affiliate offers, then you’d plan content that includes how-to and tips content (with soft sells embedded), case studies, product reviews and product comparisons.
Another example: if you’re building a list, you’d post a lot of useful content and then point people to your lead page to get your BEST content.
Step 4: Test and Tweak
Finally, the last step is to test and tweak everything to maximize response and profits. This includes:
- Testing headlines, calls to action, graphics and other parts of your ads.
- Testing the various components of your lead page.
- Testing which offers you promote.
- Testing placement of ads.
- Testing article topics and headlines.
In other words, test every major component of your blog and ad campaigns to boost response.
Conclusion
The key to monetizing your blog is to choose one main monetization method, and then create content designed to support this method. In other words, don’t haphazardly post content. Instead, every piece of content should be strategically created to help you establish your authority, impress your readers and presell an offer.
