One of the reasons a lot of people start a blog is because they'd like to bring in some money. For many, making money is the primary goal, while for others it would just be a nice reward for writing about something you're passionate about. Whichever camp you fall into, once you've started up a blog, you likely asked yourself “How do I monetize this?” 

If so, you're not alone. Many people who start up a blog are unsure of how to make money from it. Luckily, this isn't too complicated to do. There are a lot of different paths you can take, and you'll have to decide which one is best for you. Here are your options: 

Sell a Product

One of the most direct ways to make money through your blog is by selling a product. Let's say you've started a blog about photography. On your site is blog articles about shoots you've done, along with advice for photographers who are just starting out. Throughout your articles, you often showcase some of your work to highlight your main points. If someone comes across a photo they like, it would be great if they had a place to purchase a print of it. 

Selling a product through your website often requires a lot of other steps, but can also be one of the most financially rewarding options. You'll need to create the product, market it on your blog, find a way for people to order through your blog, and then have a process for shipping out all of the orders. It's a lot of work, but you may ultimately find that it's worth it. 

Add Advertising to Your Blog

When people think about monetizing a blog, their first thought is often advertising. Advertising is what we associate with other websites, and so it makes sense that you may want it on your own. To place advertisers on your blog, you have two main options.

First, you could have ads right on your blog, either in a place like your sidebar or within the content. By signing up for a program like Google Adsense, you just paste the HTML code they give you into your blog and then receive a small fee whenever someone clicks it. This option is great if you have a lot of visitors to your site, and don't have the time for a more time-consuming advertising method. 

You second option is through sponsored posts. With a sponsored post, someone else is paying you to write a blog post about their product or service. Let's say you're running that photography blog, and a camera manufacturer wants you to talk about their newest model. They can pay you, or send you a free camera, to write up a review. Sponsored posts are a great way to bring in an income while adding content to your site, but make sure you disclose the sponsorship to your readers. 

Incorporate Affiliate Links

Next, you could use afiliate links within your blog posts. Here's how an affiliate link works: On your photography blog, you mention a new camera that you're using, with a link to where your users can buy it. If someone ends up buying it because of your link, you get a small commission. Unfortunately, not every company has an affiliate program set up. However, Amazon and eBay both have affiliate programs you can sign up for, and these two sites cover hundreds of thousands of products. Whenever you include an affiliate link within one of your blog posts, you should disclose that fact to your readers so they know you could profit from it. 

Sell Guest Posting Spots

Finally, you could sell the ability to post on your blog. There are two major reasons why another person would want to post on your blog and would be willing to pay for that privilege. First, if your blog is receiving a high number of visitors, this would grant the poster more exposure. This is a great way to advertise their product, and by writing the content themselves, they can control what it says. 

Second, in order for a website or blog to appear higher in search engine results, it needs to have other websites or blogs linking to it. Getting these links can sometimes be difficult, and people are willing to pay in order to get them. 

If you're interested in selling the ability to post on your blog, create a page where interested parties can contact you. Make sure you maintain editorial control over anything that will be posted and alert readers that the post is from a guest. 

Tips for Monetizing Your WordPress Blog

No matter which method above you decide to go with, there are a few things you should keep in mind. For starters, it's better to choose one or two methods mentioned above, rather than trying them all. If you attempt to monetize your blog through all of these methods your blog will become saturated, and each method will be less effective. Instead, focus on one or two, and try to make them as effective as possible. 

Even if you stick to one method however, it can still be easy to go overboard with your monetizing methods. You want to avoid this, and remember to keep your blog focused on the content. If a user comes to your blog and all they see is sponsored posts, or an entire page filled with too many ads, they are likely to leave and not come back. 

When monetizing a blog it's important that you keep your focus on your blog's quality. If you have a low-quality blog, it won't matter how much advertising you do or what products you try to sell, as no one will be reading it. Instead, work on making a blog that provides value, then incorporating one or two unobtrusive methods for bringing in an income. 

Hopefully this post was able to shed some light on how to start making money from your blog. If you'd like more tips about earning an income online, or working with a WordPress blog, you can check out my YouTube channel here.