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How to make a blog for free and earn money.
You want to start your own blog, but you also want to do it for free and make money? That’s a tall order, but don’t worry, I got you covered.
In fact, many bloggers, like myself, started out just like you and now we’re earning money. So where to start?
In this post, I am going to talk about how you can do just that.
In a nutshell, these are the steps you need to take to start a free blog and make money:
-Set up free hosting.
-Choose a domain name.
-Choose your niche and start blogging.
-Promote your blog content.
-Monetize your free blog.
Set up free hosting.
You can make a blog for free using Blogger. Just go to http://www.blogger.com and create an account. Then, follow the instructions to create your blog. It’s that simple!
Choose a domain name.
Now you need to get started with a domain name. A domain name is like your blog’s email address (example: myblog@blogspot.com).
If you have already set up your Blogger account (which is owned by Google) then you have all the free hosting you need to get started.
You have two options for setting up your free blogs domain name: custom domain vs. subdomain. This is where you need to make the decision. Are you truly determined to go free with a subdomain name or are you willing to part with $10-$15 for a custom domain name?
A custom domain is a specific name like myblog.com while a subdomain is derived from another site’s name, like myblog.blogspot.com.
I recommend using a custom domain because it looks more professional and readers are more likely to remember it.
If you choose to use a custom domain name, you’ll need to point your custom domain name to your free Blogger blog.
This is a little more complicated, but you can find the relevant steps to point your custom domain name from your Domain Name Registrars Servers (where you buy your custom domain name) to your Blogger’s servers.
In fact, you can even buy your custom domain name through Blogger and Google Domains.
To connect either your Google bought domain name or if you’ve bought it through another Domain Name Registrar, click here to learn how you can connect it to your Blogger account.
Choose your niche and start blogging.
Now it’s time to start blogging. After you have your domain name sorted and have set up your hosting, it’s time to start writing. But, what should you write about?
This is the perennial first question every would be blogger asks themselves once the technical aspects are set up. The simple answer is to, “just write what interests you.”
It doesn’t have to be about something you are an expert on. It can be about anything that interests you or that you know how to do well.
As you blog, you’ll get a better feel for what your readers want and how to write posts that are popular.
-Be consistent with your publishing schedule.
If you say you’re going to blog twice a week, then blog twice a week. If you’re going to post once a month, then post once a month. But don’t go back on your word or your readers will lose trust in you.
But make a commitment and decide how often you want to post and how much time you can put into it each week. Then follow through with your commitment by sticking to a publishing schedule.
-Be creative with your content.
Think about how you can make your blog interesting and different from all the others out there. Maybe you could post photos, videos, or infographics.
-Engage with your readers.
Write in a unique voice and use humor to engage your readers.
Promote your blog content.
Engage with other bloggers.
Comment on other people’s blogs,
When you post articles on your blog, be sure to include keywords that people might use to search for your topic.
If someone left a comment on your blog about how to make the best casserole ever, you could reply with how to make it even better by using chicken instead of beef!
Use Social Media.
Be sure to promote your blog content on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, maybe set up a YouTube channel.
You can also use hashtags (#) to help people find your content. For example, if you tweeted about how to make the perfect pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, you could use the hashtag #Thanksgiving. This would help anyone looking for Thanksgiving recipes to find your tweet.
You can also use Twitter’s advanced search feature to find tweets that include a certain hashtag. This is a great way to find content related to your blog topic.
Guest Post.
Another way to get your content in front of more people is to guest post on other people’s blogs. Find popular blogs in your field, email the owner about how you could contribute content.
If they like what you have to say, maybe they’ll let you guest post!
Keep working at it.
It’s not realistic to expect overnight success, so keep trying new things until you find something that works for you. If you keep at it, you’ll eventually start to see results in the form of readership and traffic.
Monetize your free blog.
Now that you know how to set up a blog for free, what about making some money? Well, there are a few ways to do so.
There are a variety of ways you can make money with a blog, even a free one.
Here are the 3 most popular ways to turn your free blog into a money making machine:
-Selling your own products and services.
-Sponsored posts/blogs.
-Display Advertising.
-Affiliate Marketing.
Selling your own products and services.
One of the best ways to make money from your blog is to sell your own products and services. You have complete control over the pricing, how you market them, and how you deliver them.
You could create an ebook, a course, or even physical products to sell.
To set this up, you’ll need a shopping cart and/or payment processing system like PayPal.
Sponsored posts.
Another way to make money from your blog is to do sponsored posts. This means that you write a post about a company or product in exchange for money. Your readers may find value in the products and services you promote, or they may not.
The amount of money you can make from this will depend on how much traffic your blog receives and how well your posts are received by readers.
The amount you can charge for a sponsored post will vary based on the above, but it’s usually a few hundred dollars on up, again depending on the amount of traffic your blog gets and how focussed that traffic in relation to a company’s products or services..
To begin, start approaching companies and websites that offer products and services related to your niche and offer to write a few posts for them about the great products and services they offer.
Display Advertising.
Another great way to monetize your blog is through display advertising. This is where you allow companies to place ads on your site in exchange for a commission on the sales generated from those ads.
The two most popular types of display advertising are Google Adsense and Media.net.
To sign up for either program, simply create an account and add the code to your blog template.
Affiliate Marketing.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money from your blog without having to produce any of your own content.
This involves partnering with other companies and promoting their products and services in exchange for a commission on the sales generated.
There are a number of affiliate networks that you can join, like Rakuten or Commission Junction. Or, of course, the most popular affiliate program on the planet, Amazon.
All you need to do is add links to the products you’re promoting and track the sales.
These three way can be very useful because it helps you to start earning money from your blog from the get go.
How to make a blog for free and earn money. Conclusion.
There are other ways to make money blogging, but I’ll save those for another post. In the meantime, start using these methods to make some extra cash from your blog straight away.
Making money with a free blog may take a little extra work, but it’s definitely doable. Just follow the simple steps above and you’ll be on your way to earning some extra cash.
As you can see, setting up a free blog is relatively easy and making money with your free blog isn’t too difficult. It just takes time and patience even though you’re doing the same work as other professional bloggers.
The best way to make money with your free blog is to keep writing high-quality content and build up your readership.
So what are you waiting for? Make your free blog! Start blogging and earning today!