How to Start a Blog from Scratch and Make Money (6 Steps)

A Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Blogging Business


Updated 6 March 2023

So, you want to know how to start a blog from scratch and make money?

Great, because starting a blogging business has never been easier and more profitable, and it will be my pleasure to assist you in getting started!

You can use this guide for blogging business purposes, but you can also use it if you just want to know how to set up a blog for fun or for a hobby of yours.

Table of Contents show

What do I need to know when learning how to start a blog from scratch?

Starting a blog from scratch doesn’t have to be complicated, but you do have a few options and choices to make before launching your blog. Among other things, you need to decide what hosting, platform, and domain name to use.

But don’t worry, we will take it step-by-step. If you follow this guide, you’ll have your blog set up in 30 minutes or so.

Also, to get the most out of it, simply open a new tab in your browser, so you can easily switch between the two when setting up your new blog.

Let’s do this!

Picture of myself sitting with a laptop outdoors with water in the background. How to start a blog from scratch article feature image.

Disclosure: This article contains one or more affiliate links. I will be forwarded a small compensation in case you make a purchase. This is at no additional cost to you and it helps keep this website alive.

Can anyone start a blog?

Anyone who has access to the internet and has a desktop computer or a laptop can start and run their own blog or website from the comfort of their home.

In fact, you don’t need an expensive computer with all the latest features to run a blog. On the contrary, using a simple Chromebook computer will be more than enough.

It is also possible to set up a free blog these days. However, it is recommended to invest a little to secure your own domain name and web hosting. We’ll discuss why later in this article.

Can starting a blog make you money?

Setting up and running your own blog can be extremely profitable. It is important to know though, that starting a blogging business and seeing “blogging success” doesn’t happen overnight.

Getting your blog posts/articles to rank in Google and thereafter traffic (visitors) to your website/blog, takes time, hard work, and patience.

BUT, if you are ready to put in the time and work into your blog, it could very well be a life-changer for you.

As long as you keep publishing content, consistently, your blog can become a moneymaker and a solid business asset for years to come.

To illustrate this, I took a couple of screen dumps from some successful bloggers that publicly display their monthly blogging “income reports”, see below.

Of course, results are not typical, but it shows that a normal person can start and grow a blog to become a serious business venture for the long term.

Should you get tired of running a blog in the future, you can always sell it.

There is a huge market for buying and selling websites, and you’ll get paid well if you have good traffic and monetization in place (more on this in the last chapter).

Starting a blog from scratch in 6 steps

Alright, let’s get down to business.

Let us set up your very own blog together by following the six steps that I have personally used in setting up my own three blogs…

Remember, launching your blog or website is not rocket science, millions of people have already done it, and so can you 😊

Step 1. Choose a blog niche (Idea for your blog)

This very first step is exciting, it’s time to figure out what your blog will be about, and perhaps your field of business for many years to come.

A “blog niche” is a carefully chosen topic area that you will be concentrating your entire blog content around.

The best thing you can do now is to write down your ideas, passions, hobbies, and what your dream business could circle around.

Since growing and managing a blog is a long-term project, it’s wise to choose a topic for your blog that you will still feel passionate about ten years from now. 

Next, when you have chosen your topic/niche, it’s time to take that idea and do the following:

Check if the topic is popular enough

This is important to verify before starting a blogging business.

It is not fun to build an amazingly cool blog filled with great content, only to realize later that there was not enough interest in your topic.

I would not worry too much about this, since there are typically (but not necessarily) lots of people around the world with similar interests to your own.

But still, it can be a good idea to verify it by browsing around the internet for your topic. See if there are blogs, magazines, stores, YouTube channels, etc. around your niche. If you do find these things, then there is interest.

Tip: if you do a simple Google search for your topic, let’s say “garage cleaning”, then Google shows you what other people have also been searching for – perhaps as well longer phrases (long-tail keywords in blogging language).

Google search bar suggestions. Finding a niche or keywords

You can also scroll down to the middle of the search results page and see what else people have been asking for. Continue to the bottom of the page to check out Related Searches.

People also ask section in Google search results. Keyword research

These results combined will give you an idea of the popularity of your topic and some very good suggestions for keywords to put in the titles of your future blog posts.

Take a look at the competition

Competitors come with the game. In almost every niche you will find lots of competitors.

That doesn’t mean you can’t be successful as well. On the contrary, if a niche has competitors, that also means there is an audience and money to be made.

It also means there are people you can draw inspiration from in your niche.

However, it is good to take a look at the competition before starting a blogging business around a specific topic – to make sure the competition is not too crazy.

Still, I would rather blog about something I am passionate about, even if the competition is high, and it might take a longer time to see success.

Blogging about something you are not passionate about, just because there’s less competition, is not a good idea. I have tried it. You will get tired of the topic fast and lose interest in growing your blog.

With that said, how do we check if there’s a crazy competition or not?

Again, go to Google, do a search for a few keywords related to your niche and then take a look at all the search results on the first page.

If there are lots of well-established and authoritative websites in that niche, and maybe big newspapers featured on the first page, that means competition is likely very hard.

On the other hand, if smaller blogs are showing up, and perhaps forum or Quora posts, Facebook or Pinterest pages, that means competition is not that hard and you should be able to rank on the first page with a solid blog post.

blogging competition

How can it be monetized?

If you are starting a blog from scratch intending to make it profitable and turn it into a blogging business, then it is a good idea to think about what monetization options you have available.

We’ll cover this more in the last section of the article, but the main monetization options for blogs are usually ads, affiliate marketing, and creating your own digital products to sell.

Almost all websites and blogs can have ads on them, but it can be good to look into potential affiliate marketing networks and products in your niche and the prospects for creating your own products around your topic (eBooks and courses, etc.).

Step 2. Pick a name and register a domain

Now that you have an idea for your blog it’s time to pick a domain name for it. It’s easy to get stuck on this step, as we all want to have the perfect name for our blog.

Perhaps you already have a name in mind (if so, great!), but if not, here are a few tips:

  • Try to keep your domain name short and memorable, for example: ebikecentral.com, homeworkplus.com, annasmithblogs.com
  • It is complicated to change the name later, so if you’re not completely sure about your topic, maybe go for a neutral address such as annasmithblogs.com (with such a name, you can blog about different things in the future – but it might be hard to sell later on due to using a person’s name)
  • Even though it can be hard to find names that are not yet taken, try to choose a .com address, these look the most professional.

Alright, so how can we check if the domain name you have in mind is still free to register?

Easy, just use the address bar in your browser to see if a website comes up when you try your different ideas. Or better, write down all your suggestions in a document, and you can try them all when you’re getting your website hosting in the next step (recommended).

Also, a domain name normally costs around 10 dollars a year, but I will later show how you can get a domain name for free the first year 😉

Step 3. Get your blog online with hosting

Activating website hosting for your blog is a vital step in getting your blog online. Without getting hosting, you will not be able to build a professional blog, keep it running online 24/7 and turn it into a business.

I will show you a great and cheap hosting option that will let you start a blog from scratch and have it online within minutes.

Sure, there are free blogging platforms for you to choose from as well. You can always try Blogger.com or Tumblr.com.

However, these are not good options if you are out to create a serious blog that you can turn into a proper business.

If you have your blog hosted on a free platform, that means you are stuck with limitations on what you are allowed to do. You might not be able to have ads on your site, and they can shut your site down anytime they want for various reasons.

Great website hosting for bloggers

Every blogger needs a self-hosted and reliable option. Your blog will look ten times more professional this way and it is certainly the best solution if you want to be starting a blogging business for the long term.

The hosting company that I am using for all my blogs is Bluehost. They’re awesome. My sites run 24/7 online without any issues.

Bluehost is a cheap but extremely reliable option. Two million+ websites are hosted by Bluehost. They offer a free SSL certificate (https security) for new websites.

They are super helpful towards beginners and have 24/7 chat support, which comes in handy when you’re starting a blog from scratch – if you need assistance.

If you get your hosting from Bluehost, they will also help you register your domain name for free the first year.

Plus, you will also be able to install WordPress (market-leading website and blog builder) with one click straight from your account dashboard.

Website hosting usually costs around 8-10 dollars a month.

If you use the links on this page, you’ll be able to get hosting, domain name, and easy-to-install WordPress site builder for only $2.95/month right now (regularly $8.99 month).

Activating hosting for your blog

To make it easier for you to move forward with the setup of your blog, the steps and images below will illustrate what to do setting up your blog with Bluehost.

1. Get your discounted hosting plan

Click this invitational link to secure your discounted hosting package (Bluehost’s homepage opens up in a new tab)

After being redirected to Bluehost’s homepage, simply click the “Get Started” button:

starting a blogging business

On the next page, you’ll see the available hosting plans. I suggest you start with the basic plan if this is your first website/blog. Click the “select” button.

how to start a blog from scratch

2. Register your domain name (free)

Next, type in your preferred free domain name in the left box and click “next”. If your desired name is already taken, Bluehost will tell you so on the next page and also present some alternative names.

Perhaps you already have a domain name registered with Namecheap or Godaddy that you want to use? If so, choose the right box.

If you do not have an idea for your name yet at all, don’t worry, you can choose one later, just click the option at the bottom and move on to the next step.

Domain registration

3. Add account information

Simply add your personal info such as name, country, email, etc.

account details

4. Choose account plan

As seen in the image below, here you can select the account plan you prefer. I recommend you choose the 36-month plan, as this will give you the best price possible for the long term, and since starting a blog is a long-term project.

5. Optional package extras

You will have the option to add some extras to your hosting package. These things are optional and you really don’t need them when you are just starting out (it’s possible to add them later should you prefer).

You can uncheck these boxes and your overall package price will decrease.

I would however suggest that you get the Domain Privacy Protection as this will keep your personal contact information hidden from the global database of website owners.

6. Payment information

Fill in your payment info as seen in the image below. There are two payment options: credit card or PayPal. Then, tick the TOS box (that you agree to their Terms of Service) and click the Submit button.

payment info

Check your email for confirmation from Bluehost of your purchase.

You’ll also receive another email where you will be asked to verify your email address to activate your new domain name.

Congratulations! You have now successfully purchased domain and hosting for your first blog/website.

7. Create your account

Time to create your account so you can log in and start building out your blog.

create account

Step 1: Click on the “Create your account button”.

Step 2: Choose a good password and fill in all the info.

Step 3: Hit the “Go to login” button.

Step 4: Add info to the “Email or Domain name” and “Password” fields.

Awesome! Now we will finally move on to start creating your blog 😊.

If you didn’t get your hosting package yet, here’s your special discount again.

Step 4. Activate WordPress for your blog

Blogs and websites are usually built on Content Management Systems (CMS).

The most popular choice to build your website or blog is by using the WordPress CMS (which you can access easily for free via your BlueHost account).

At this moment, around 40 percent of all the websites in the world, are built on WordPress. This blog that you are on right now is using WordPress.

WordPress is great given that you can more or less design websites just as you want them, and add “plugins” for different functionalities. More on that later, let’s go ahead now and activate WordPress.

Log in to your newly created Bluehost account

Bluehost will now offer you a guided 4-step WordPress activation. You will also have the choice to skip this if you already have experience.

But, if this is your first blog and you’re not sure how to start a blog from scratch with WordPress, I recommend you choose the 4-steps, which I will show below.

4-step WordPress Activation

Step 1. On the first step, you’ll see three questions. I chose to answer that I am creating a personal blog for myself. You can answer the same or pick any other answer that suits your website better.

Step 2. On the second, you’re asked about some optional features that you would like to add to your blog. I suggest you click the “Blog” and “About Me” features, perhaps also the logo, before moving on.

Remember, these questions are asked by Bluehost so they can help install your basic blog structure from the start, but you can always add different features to your blog later as well..

Step 3. Next, you’ll be asked to type in the name of the blog, a potential tagline, and your level of experience with creating websites. Again, you can change this information on your site later on if you want.

Step 4. Here, Bluehost presents some free WordPress themes that you could use for your blog. Installing a theme for your blog is like choosing a design and layout.

You can of course change pictures on it and customize it, and you can change for another theme later on if you want. Pick one now or do it later, we’ll cover this further in a minute.

Great! Once completed you will now be taken to your BlueHost dashboard/account page. WordPress has now been installed and your basic blog structure is ready.

Step 5. When you’re now logged in to Bluehost, you can make a few preparational choices with settings to your blog. You can also then choose to click the “Launch my site” or the “WordPress” button (to log in to WordPress).

I would choose to log in to WordPress first since you can also preview your site from the WordPress Dashboard.

You can then make some changes to your blog layout, add some content, and then publish your site from within WordPress when you feel ready to do so.

So, click the blue WordPress button to log in to your WordPress dashboard.

There is also another way to log in to your WP dashboard (which is much more practical from now on) and that is by typing the following into your web browser search bar: https://yourdomainname.com/wp-admin

Simply remove the “yourdomainname” and write your own domain name and click enter or search.

Type your username/Email address and Password and click login.

Note: You now have two accounts to manage as regards your blog. Your Bluehost account for billing and hosting-related matters, and your WordPress account – where you will go to build and work on your blog.

You will seldom need to log in to your Bluehost account once your blog is up and running.

However, don’t forget to use the Bluehost 24/7 support function on their main homepage, if you get stuck and need human assistance.

Good work! Now the fun part begins, time to build your new blog!

Select a Theme and get creative

When learning how to start a blog from scratch, choosing a theme (design and layout) for your blog is a fun and exciting part. It is, however, important to have good functionality in mind as well.

There are free (thousands) and premium themes to choose from, and you can easily change your theme later on if you’re not happy with the one that you first settled with.

If you change your theme, your blog content (blog posts and images, etc.) will automatically follow the new theme.

It is also possible to preview themes before you activate them on your blog, but it can be hard to get a feeling for how the theme will eventually look on your blog if you have no content on it at the time of the preview.

If this is your first blog, I suggest you commence with a free theme while you are starting out, they work fine and will do the job for you.

Just make sure the theme you choose is responsive (mobile friendly) as a lot of your traffic will be coming from people surfing on their phones.

How to install and activate a theme

From your WordPress dashboard, go down on the left menu and hover over “Appearance” and then click “Themes”.

Now you see that I have a theme active called Astra, there’s a free version of it and it is a pretty good theme. If you hover over it with the mouse, you can click to read “Theme Details”.

There’s also another theme to the right, not active but it was pre-installed, called Twenty Twenty-One, it is a basic WordPress theme, good for beginners.

To look for more themes and make a selection for your blog, click on “Add new” at the top or on the right.

On the next page, where you choose and install new themes, you can see that I am looking at themes in the category “Popular”, where there are currently 4087 themes available.

Here, you can read about different themes, click to preview them, and also install them.

Try to find one that you resonate with and a theme that has the functionalities you desire.

Besides being responsive, it is also good to have a theme that is lightweight (not too heavy and slow to load in the browsers) and one that is SEO-friendly (developed with search engine optimization in mind).

You can also buy premium themes on a number of websites. In that case, you usually pay for it, download it to your computer, and then click the “Upload theme” button on the top Theme menu.

Again, you can always change the theme later on, so for now, just pick a theme, install it, activate it, and move on to the next step!

Customize your blog

When you have your new theme activated, you can start customizing your theme and blog. What I mean by that is adapting it to your preferences, likings, and your blog’s purpose.

For example, you might want to change the menus, add links, pages, sidebars, cover images, and more.

There are usually a couple of ways you can do this, but for now, it will be enough to familiarize yourself with the “Customize” option under “Appearance” in the left menu. Click on it.

Note: Different themes will have different customization options available.

Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with your theme’s customization options before moving on to the next step.

When you’re in the start-up phase with your blog, it is not necessary to have a custom logo. With most themes, you’re able to just write the name of your blog at the top menu, and that is fine for now.

However, as your blog grows you might want to get a unique logo for your site to stand out more as a brand.

You can make logos for free with tools such as Canva.com or you can just google “free logo maker” and you’ll see plenty of options.

There are also several websites to buy logos from, such as Fiverr.com.

Add essential plugins to your blog

Plugins for WordPress are like small add-ons with different purposes and functionalities. If you want your blog/website to have a specific feature, then there is most likely a plugin for that purpose.

There are free and premium plugins, but most plugins come with a free option.

It can be tempting to download lots of plugins for your site as you want it to have many great functionalities that you normally see on other websites.

However, it is good to keep in mind that, the more plugins you install on your site, the more loading time it will require (it becomes slower).

For SEO and Google ranking purposes, having a slow site is not good. Google likes fast websites and thus, it is good to keep your plugins limited.

I try to use under 10 plugins on my blogs. If there is one I am using that I don’t feel is essential anymore, then I will remove it completely.

You can check the loading speed of your new site with Google Page Speed Insights.


This is how you find and install plugins:

Go to the left menu again on your WP dashboard. Click on plugins, then click on the “Add new” button.

Then, you can browse the popular plugins or you can search for a specific plugin, to find it faster.

When you find it, you can read more details about it and then click the “Install now” button. Once downloaded, you’ll have the chance to activate it.

Just as with themes, there are also websites where you can download or buy plugins. In that case, you’ll download and upload it in your WP New plugin area by using the “Upload Plugin” button.

Here are a few great plugins that I suggest you consider installing:

Elementor Even though WordPress has its own Editor where you can write blog posts, some people find it not that user-friendly, including me.

As a great alternative block-building page editor, you have Elementor, where you can easily design pages and blog posts exactly how you want them. This post you are reading now is built with Elementor. Very recommended.

MonsterInsights Connect this plugin to your Google Analytics account (more on this later) and you’ll be able to keep track of and analyze your blog’s traffic.

RankMath is an SEO plugin for WordPress that will help you optimize your blog’s pages and posts for better rankings in the search engines. This plugin is extra helpful for beginners with limited experience of SEO and it is compatible with Elementor page builder.

Akismet Simple and essential anti-spam plugin. With no anti-spam plugins installed, your blog will most likely suffer from comment and contact form spamming.

Contact Form 7 Every website should have some kind of contact form available. Have website messages sent directly to your preferred email using Contact Form 7.

Social Snap is an easy-to-use social share plugin that lets you place social share buttons on your pages and posts. This allows your readers who like your articles to effortlessly share them on social media with the click of a button.

Updraft Plus When you have a blog that attracts lots of visitors, you can also attract hackers. In case of unpleasant events like these, it is wise to make regular backups of your blog. Updraft Plus makes backups super easy.

Step 5. Write and publish your first blog post

Finally, we have arrived at the “blogging part” of the guide. This is where the exciting part begins and you will actually start writing your first blog post.

Now, before you start writing, it is important to have your main keyword in place, and the title of your blog post.

Why? -you might ask. Well, if you’re not able to be found in the search results in Google for different keywords, then it will be hard for people to find your blog.

At the beginning of this article, I showed you how to analyze your niche and find some main and long-tail keywords via Google search.

You can use that same concept again (unless you already have some potential titles for a few blog posts written down).

Do manual keyword research and writing

  1. Do some searches in Google around your topic, and take a look at what people have already been searching for, see the “Related questions” and “People also ask” sections. Write down a few of these and do a search for them, one by one.
  2. Go through the search results and look at the competition for each keyword. Are the first results authoritative websites and magazines?
  3. Are there good articles in the 1-5 search results that have your keyword or variation of it in the title?
  4. If so, click on each one, copy their text, paste it in Microsoft Word or similar software to see how many words they have used and if the article is of high quality.
  5. If you find that the top articles only have around 1000-1500 words and are of medium quality, then perhaps you could do a better job? Try to write 2000-2500 words and do a better article.
  6. Do proper research (if necessary), then start writing. You can write in Microsoft Word to avoid spelling mistakes, or you can use the popular online spelling tool Grammarly, which works live in your browser and in WordPress.
  7. You can add (embed) good YouTube videos around your topic and images from sites such as Pixabay.com to make your post look richer in content.
  8. When you feel happy about your blog post, publish it (and your blog).

Keyword research is oftentimes the trickiest part of being a blogger. It takes time and practice to learn it and there are different ways to do it.

Not every blog post you write will rank on the first page of Google and that’s ok, you need to see it as practice and gaining experience.

Doing keyword research in a batch is a good way of doing it, perhaps you can collect 10 or 20 article titles in one sitting, then you can focus on writing.

In the beginning, your blog has zero Domain Authority on the web, and consequently, you will have a harder time ranking.

When your blog has been around for a couple of years and has a good amount of blog posts on it, the blog’s authority will increase and it will be easier to rank. So don’t give up, be patient and keep going!

Keyword research tools

There is also a shortcut to doing keyword research when starting a blog from scratch and that is by using a keyword research tool.

The benefit of doing keyword research this way is that you’ll save lots of time (and can focus on creating content).

You will also find better keywords with a higher chance of ranking for more articles, which is why pro bloggers usually use keyword tools.

There are several keyword tools on the market, some are very costly (100 dollars+ a month) but there are cheaper and even free ones as well.

When you’re starting out, I would suggest you try the free tool called Ubersuggest. The free plan has limitations, but it still works well.

Go to the website by clicking here, and type a keyword or topic you’re interested in (as I did in the image below):

Then, you’ll see a list of related keywords. You’d want to look for keywords that have low SEO difficulty – the green ones in the column to the right.

You also want to choose keywords that have enough estimated search volume.

For example, in my case below, I would choose to write a blog post where I will integrate the keyword “cleaning garage out” in the title (it has enough search volume and low enough SEO difficulty to be worth trying).

Perhaps I would title the article “Cleaning Garage out: 5 Steps from Start to Finish”.

Then I would make sure to include that main keyword a few times in the text of the article as well.

I would also most likely use some keywords from the “People also ask” section for my subheadings.

Using Google Analytics and Search Console

Google Analytics helps you monitor traffic and the number of visitors to your website and where they come from etc. You need to link this service to your website in order to use the Monster Insights plugin I mentioned earlier.

The video below shows how to link your site to Google Analytics (analytics.google.com)

Google Search Console is another service you’ll need to link to your website. Search console can find problems and errors with your site, and you can use this service to help get your new blog and blog posts indexed by Google faster.

The video below shows how to link your site to Google Search Console.

Step 6. How to monetize new blog

As written in the title of this blog post, the goal of this guide on how to start a blog from scratch and make money is to show you several ways to monetize your new blog when starting a blogging business.

Now, before even thinking about starting to monetize your blog, I would recommend that you have:

  • Designed your blog nicely
  • Completed “About Me” and “Contact” pages
  • Published 10+ blog posts
  • Linked your blog to Google Analytics and Search Console
  • Added Privacy Policy and/or Terms and Conditions (there are several free templates you can get for free and adjust, just by googling “Free Privacy Policy” etc.)

Get traffic to your blog first

Great, let’s say you have done all the steps above, but there are not many visitors at all to your blog yet. You feel disappointed and wonder what you’re doing wrong…

Don’t worry! -that’s perfectly normal. When starting a blog from scratch, Google doesn’t really trust your new website and will be hesitant to start sending you traffic.

This is sometimes referred to as being placed in the “Sandbox”. This means, your site will typically not see much traffic the first months in action, even though you consistently publish new blog posts.

In fact, when you publish new articles on a fresh blog, it can take up to 6-8 months before you will start to see traffic coming to those.

So, it is important to be persistent and consistent with your blog posting. If you are, you will see traffic coming your way sooner or later. Just keep in mind that it will take time and it is normal when starting out.

While you are waiting for organic traffic to be sent to your blog from the search engines, there are things you can do on your own to get traffic to your blog.

A blog that has a low volume of traffic will not be profitable, so it is key to understand how to increase visitors to your blog. This is what you can do:

Example 1. Use other traffic sources

You can, and should, leverage other online platforms and social media to drive traffic to your blog.

If you already have a social media audience, perfect! Go ahead and use it, post links to your blog posts and homepage.

I’ve put together a list of free traffic sources and how to use them. Take a look at this list and choose one or two traffic sources.

YouTube is a platform that is excellent to use for traffic purposes, it goes well hand in hand with a blog, and it is a great way to build your brand – by combining video and text content.

Another platform that is popular among bloggers is Quora. It is like a forum where people can ask questions on anything – and other people can answer them.

Search for, and answer a question, related to one of your blog posts, and include a link to your article for a more comprehensive answer.

Depending on your niche, Pinterest can also be a suitable platform to use for getting visitors to your blog. Many bloggers use Pinterest with great results, but you need to be consistent for a Pinterest strategy to work well.

Example 2. Content syndication

Another way for you to get traffic to your blog is by syndicating your blog content. There are major platforms such as Medium or LinkedIn that will allow you to post articles on your profile page.

A week or so after you have posted an article on your blog and had it indexed in Google using Google Search Console, you can copy parts of or the entire article. Post it on your Medium or LinkedIn profile with links to your blog.

By doing this, you will start seeing visitors coming to your blog from these platforms. Of course, this will work better if you have a following and viewers on these other platforms.

Example 3. Scale your content creation

Starting a blog from scratch and turning it into a profitable business requires frequent publishing of quality blog posts.

Publishing one blog post per week should be a minimum goal. Publishing two or more blog posts per week is even better, that would mean 100+ posts in a year.

You can become a professional blogger by writing all the content yourself. But you can become a pro blogger much faster by also outsourcing the writing of blog content.

Outsourcing content writing is especially useful if you do not have that much time for your blogging. Perhaps you have a 9-5 job and a family life when you come home.

For my part, as I have three blogs up and running, that would not be possible without me outsourcing writing for two of them. This blog you’re on now is just for fun and I write it myself.

Many successful bloggers do outsource their writing, or parts of it. To make your blog grow like crazy, you have to produce lots of blog posts.

By also outsourcing your writing to a ghostwriter, your traffic will grow faster, and you can start earning money from your blog quicker. 

Is it difficult to outsource the writing of blog posts?

No, it’s not. There are plenty of agencies to choose from. You just give them the title of your article, preferred length, and perhaps a few instructions.

In a couple of days, you’ll have a professionally written (by a native English speaker) article ready for publishing.

The reasonably prized agency I am using is called Buyselltext.com. You can choose between three price levels of quality writing with them, and they’re all good.

If you use this link right here, and write the coupon code jayp when checking out, they will give you 10% off your first order.

Affiliate Marketing for new bloggers

Implementing affiliate marketing for new bloggers on a fresh site is probably the easiest way to start earning your first dollars when starting a blogging business.  

Today there are literally hundreds of affiliate marketing programs to choose from, in any niche you can imagine.

If we use my Garage Cleaning demo website as an example, I could use Amazon’s affiliate program and promote cleaning articles and machines, etc. to earn some nice passive income.

It is easy to sign up for Amazon’s affiliate program and the millions of products you can promote and earn commissions from.

If you have a blog around a niche where there are lots of digital products, that could be even more profitable. You can promote all kinds of software and computer programs using affiliate marketing and earn recurring commissions.

To get started, just go to Google and type in “vpn affiliate programs” and you’ll see lots of options for promoting a VPN service (just as an example).

Place ads on your blog

Another common way of earning revenue through your blogging is by letting an ad network place ads on your blog.

When you have reached the minimum traffic requirements, you can sign up to have ads from Ezoic, Mediavine, or AdThrive on your blog (each network have their own requirements).

Google AdSense is another option but their payouts are much lower.

Basically, the more traffic you have, the more money you’ll make with the ad networks.

Sell information products on your blog

If you are good at something, in particular, you can create and sell digital information products such as courses and eBooks on your blog.

This can be extremely lucrative, as you can create in-depth courses and sell them for a high-ticket price.

However, this usually (depending on niche, etc.) requires a large amount of traffic and is something I would suggest you consider a bit down the line.

Once your blog and brand are well established and you are already making a profit from blogging, creating your own course about something you are passionate about is easy to do using a platform like Teachable.

Sell physical products on your blog

If you are creating, manufacturing or sourcing, and selling physical products for a living, then you will have a great opportunity to showcase and sell these on your blog.

There are plenty of themes and plugins available that will facilitate the selling of physical products on your site and that will make it look like an online store.

But don’t forget, creating lots of blog content is key, in order to increase traffic and produce sales.

Sell services on your blog

Perhaps you are working as a freelancer of some sort – your business might be centered around some kind of service you provide – then perfect, you can offer these services on your blog.

Again, there are plugins you can use to easily process payments for the services you are offering.

Just a few years ago, this used to be much more complicated, but nowadays it is easy to start selling your services on your website.

Create a paid membership for your blog

Building and growing membership sites can be a great way to create recurring income for yourself.

If you already have an audience or following online, it will be easier to get started with your membership site. But if not, you can still build a successful membership platform that is hosted on the same website as your blog.

You need to create some special content for your potential members or a place for exclusive discussion, to make it worth it for them to pay a monthly or yearly membership fee.

When the traffic to your blog slowly grows, it will be easier to offer your exclusive membership to more people.

Sell your blog

Buying and selling websites is today a common trade and practice. People are more than willing to buy websites and blogs that are well functioning and that have a steady stream of traffic and revenue, and they pay plenty for them.

Lots of people are starting a blog and making money from it simply by getting it up and running and then putting it up for sale. Next, they rinse and repeat.

As long as your blog is not named after your private name or otherwise linked to your person, you’ll be able to sell it in the future if you would get tired of managing it or simply just want to move on to other projects.

So how do you actually buy a website or sell your blog/website?

Simple, just go to Flippa and follow their instructions. You can also get a free valuation of your website by using their valuation tool. This way, you can check the profits of a potential sale and make a decision later.

Endnote on how to start a blog from scratch

how to start a blog from scratch

That’s it! congratulations on making it to the end of this guide.

There are obviously more things to learn when starting a blogging business.

But now you do know the basics of how to start a blog and make money from it.

You’ve learned how to set it up, how to select a theme and design, and what you need to do to make it grow and become profitable.

Doing keyword research and consistently publishing lots of content is my #1 advice when turning your blogging into a business.

Finally, if you ever get stuck on one of the steps, don’t worry, there is always help to get.

Contact Bluehost’s 24/7 support if it is about hosting or just google your questions or search on YouTube if it is WordPress related etc.

There are plenty of videos and articles that cover any kind of blogging obstacle you might come across.

Good luck with your blogging business!

Jay

Frequently asked questions

What is blog writing?

Blog writing, or “blogging”, is a popular and effective method of self-expression online, usually on a website of your own, about a topic you are passionate about. Many blog writers (bloggers) use it to make a living, while others pursue it as a hobby.    

If you are an expert in a particular field, blogging about that topic will be easy. You’ll have a good idea of what questions your audience is asking or wondering.

When blog writing, it is important to write blog posts (articles) regularly in order to stand out among the vast sea of content on the web. Though most topics have been covered before, you can certainly find a fresh and personal angle on a topic.

How do I start a blog with no experience?

Starting a blog doesn’t require any experience. Every blogger starts as a beginner and learns about blogging along the way. The first thing you must do is choose a topic. Your topic should be something you love learning and writing about.

Next, you need to choose a domain name (blog name), blog hosting, and blogging platform, as we have previously covered in this article.

The hardest part of starting a blog is perhaps creating content consistently.

How do beginner bloggers make money?

There are various ways you can monetize your blog. The easiest way to do this as a beginner is by leveraging Affiliate Marketing – which you can do for free. This means that you can promote various products on your blog and earn commissions in return. 

Beginner bloggers can also make money by placing advertisements. To earn money through ads, you must first sign up for an advertising platform such as Adsense, Ezoic, or AdThrive. By signing up, you allow advertisements on your blog. When someone views or clicks on one of your ads, you’ll get paid.

Another way to monetize your blog when you start blogging is to sell your own creations. A popular way to do this is by offering digital products. These include meal plans, planners, and guides, which are all relatively inexpensive to create with websites like Canva. These products can be sold through sites like Gumroad or Etsy.

If you’re a beginner blogger, you can also make money from a blog by providing a service. If you’re a professional, your blog doubles as a portfolio and can be very useful when pitching clients. By working for others, you can earn a steady income while developing other streams of income.

In the beginning, you’ll likely not generate much traffic, but over time, your blog will grow in popularity. Thus, it will most likely take some time before you start earning good money from your blog. It all depends on you and how much work you put in.

What makes a successful blog?

A successful blog provides value to readers. Don’t simply copy what other bloggers have to offer; provide authentic, useful content. Successful blogs also follow a set schedule and a consistent voice. The more quality content you publish, the more your audience will return.

Taking the time to do proper keyword research is equally important. You have to write about what people are actually searching for. When you provide what the market is asking for, that’s when you’ll start making money.

Finally, security is crucial when running a business online, to avoid it being targeted by hackers and criminals. Consider using a solid VPN service to protect your personal information, enhance your internet security and the integrity of your blog. A backup service for websites is also important.

How to start a blog for free?

You can choose to use WordPress.org or another platform such as Wix.com that offers free hosting. This way, you’ll be able to start a blog for free. However, you will not be in complete control of your content and you might suffer from the constraints of creative limitations.

It is very much recommended to instead invest a little and start a self-hosted WordPress blog.

How do bloggers get paid?

Bloggers usually get paid by showing display ads. To place ads on your blog, all you have to do is register with an advertising network and begin posting ads. Then, you’ll get paid through PayPal, bank/wire transfer, or by check.  

Bloggers also often promote affiliate products, and again they get paid by the affiliate networks through PayPal, bank/wire transfer, or by check.  

Other options include a membership site. If your content is of high value to your reader, you can charge a small fee for access to more content.

Additionally, you can also offer a service, then you can charge more for your time and effort. You’ll be able to earn more money blogging by providing a service such as coaching and get paid via PayPal or Stripe (there are other payment options as well).


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Jay Palin is a blogger, content creator, and online business enthusiast. He is dedicated to helping people find suitable side hustles and business ideas to launch from home.