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Do bloggers make money or is it just another pyramid scheme? Here we look at all the answers and come up with some outstanding results

Estimated reading time: 22 minutes

Do bloggers make money?

Many bloggers are million-dollar earners and even more in the hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. However, this is a bit of a pyramid with most at the bottom level.

Blogging is a career and not a short-term project and many give up well before the dollars come in.

Furthermore, there are different ways that blogging brings income.
Selling products both physical and Virtual
Affiliate income
Advertising income

This all starts with your plan on what you want to achieve. When you have that firmly planted both in your mind and on paper you can understand when the results will start to roll in. However, the timing may be months or even years but you will be prepared for the wait.

What do bloggers actually do?

Bloggers write answers and solutions that the world is looking for. Every time you type into Google or ask Siri a question it will take you to a blog. The answer is written by people just like you and me that enjoy what they do.

Blogging is more a career than a short cash fix because it takes time to build a following and develop trust in what you write. The official umpire is Google and he/she dictates the terms on who gets read and in what order.

You may get many pages of answers to a simple question, probably, hundreds of responses however only those on the first page will gather an audience and build traffic.
That is unless you adhere to great SEO and keyword selection.
Blogging is an Art form that you need to learn.

Blogging for beginners

Where the heck do you start blogging? This is an easy question and in fact, has a very easy answer.

First of all, blogging is a marathon so you need to decide if you are in this for the right reasons. No, it is not getting rich quickly or even a way to easy money however the result may very well amaze you.
Therefore let’s look for a Niche (subject) that inspires you. Pick one that you won’t get bored with and simply drop out along the way. Even after writing a lot of words.
You can start broad and simply pick a subject;

Health

• Health
• Exercise
• Vegitarian foods
• Make money online
• Affiliate income
• Dining out
• Trecking, hicking, camping
• Water sports
• and on ann on untill you find the one that grabs your heart

Next, you will break this subject down to provide a more specific objective.

Hiking in the Andalusia Mountains.
Now the fun starts. You have a clear goal so the next job is to write more than 100 Keywords.
Hiking in summer, in winter, autumn, Spring, rain, sunshine, hills, valleys,
Cloths to wear, boots and shoes, tents, supplies, best foods
You can now see I have broken this one phrase into a dozen headings.
Boots can be for men, for women, kids, winter summer, cheap, best, etc.

Once you have done all this you are ready for the next step

How do I start blogging?

Now you have a niche and your keywords are all sorted out the next step is to choose your name. When we say your name we mean your URL or .com address.
This will be with you for the whole journey so it does need consideration.

It may be your name like I did mine at peterhanley.com

Perhaps what you are doing like ” onlinebusinessmarketing.info”

A shop like Bizbitspro.com

A location like best London pizzas.com.uk

A semi Government site like bicyclerulesinBerlin.gov.

Next is Dot following the name
.com  the first addresses meaning dot commercial and principally US-based
.com.au signifying an Australian-based site. Every country has its version.
.net was the second most popular but now there are all sorts of varieties.

If you are going for a brand name make sure that it can be registered in your country and have the same URL.
Verdi business messaging is www.verdi.net.au.
This all takes a bit of working out to get the correct balance but as we said it is with you for life so choose carefully.
When that is done the next choice is your carrier.

WordPress blogging

You can choose a WordPress-based site where you control your destiny or a paid blogger site like www.blogger.com, However, paid sites come with a downside and this was well explained in a site by another writer. Why is blogger bad.

I use a carrier called Wealthy Affiliate who does allow you to set up a free training site that lets you play using training wheels. When you are confident that you want to launch off just convert to a full paid site.

Sites vary enormously and you get what you pay for. Low-cost sites are cheap for a reason, they lack speed, security, and flexibility, and losing months of work is soul-destroying. Can it happen yes, and many of us have experienced the problem?

WordPress was designed for blogging, is free of charge, and comes with many extensions (plug-in) to enhance the features

Free blog sites

First of all, if you currently have a web page your posts can serve as a blogger site at no cost to you. After that, a free site is not worthwhile, except in certain circumstances.

Blogging is not getting rich quickly, it is a long-term project that builds on volume and trust. To lose all your work built over many months is a catastrophe none of us want to experience, in my case for a second time.

However Wealthy Affiliates do allow you one free site that you can start your journey with. This can be converted to a paid site at any time and gain all the extras you would expect in a premium site.

Opening speed is essential and ranks highly in the Google algorithms and without it, you will be penalized. Many cheap sites simply share channels and the more users they add the slower your site goes. This is a real problem.

It is one thing to save all your posts in a Word file or backup in Google but as time goes on the volume gets too hard to manage and change your provider.

As a trainer site, you may try Blogger which is owned by Google however the content remains theirs for the long run. A
You need to have possession of your URL and all your content at all times.
I summarize that cheap sites are just that for a reason and I would stay away from them where possible.

What is blogging and how does it work?

Blogging is often misunderstood as a writing style however it has a definite place on the internet and forms well over a billion articles. In fact over two million written every day on a vast variety of subjects.

Blogs are the backbone behind a Google search term. Searching is done by typing or voicing a query using Siri or Bixby
Google picks up the keywords in your request and tries to provide you with an appropriate answer. Google will provide many answers scattered over a lot of pages and will include paid advertising to get your attention.

What is important here is that few lookers go past the first three items on page one of a search term and you may have 100’s of pages following.

It takes time to get to page one and have gained the respect of Google and a reasonable following of interested people

Blogging is just answering questions or solving problems that readers will have an interest in.
If you sold Wood Saws as an example you would compete with a whole range of suppliers across the world who are well versed in Blogging for positions.

However, a question like “how to sharpen a Wood Saw with a Bastard file” will provide an answer to a question. (I did not swear it is a type of file)

Therefore someone that finds your blog on sharpening the saw and reads the article may well head back to your website to buy something.

Let’s face it we all blog for financial reasons of some kind. Affiliate income, selling product advertising-income even charitable donations for those that don’t aim at the money trail.

Therefore blogging supplies answers to the internet search term and earns income from linking to other sites.

Blogging and SEO

SEO or search engine optimization is Google finding your blog and putting it out for other people to read.
First of all, Google needs to believe you have the skills and authority to provide the correct answer in a format that he likes. Google is not an easy partner and he makes you work hard to get respect and consider you worthy of a front-page position.

However, once Google is your BFF you will get more and more page one listings. This leads to traffic and that leads to income.

Within WordPress, you can get SEO plug-ins that answer all the easy questions. Yoast SEO and AIO SEO are the two favorites and provide the many rules they believe will make a difference to your results.

Of course, you will get traffic from other sources as well and this traffic titillates Google into liking you a bit more and growing your SEO stature.
Things like Email, Websites, Social Media, Newsletters, friends, and family all add to the traffic flow.

Is authority necessary in blogging?

My question to you is would you sooner read an article on health from plain old John Doe or perhaps Doctor John Doe a Health Consultant recognized by the University.

Well, Google thinks the same and will Give Dr. John a position well before you provided of course he answers the questions.
A lawyer before a layperson, a Mechanic on fixing a car problem before a floor cleaner, and the list goes on.
However, you can borrow authority by convincing Google you have done sufficient research to back up your story.

You may reference DR John and other notable resources to back up your answer thus proving that your response is worthy of reading. Even the humble Wikipedia and the like are considered authority sites and one I often use.

When discussing Saw sharpening as an example you may reference the manufacturer terms where they indicate regular sharpening is necessary.

Therefore if you lack authority borrow some and use it wisely.

How to write a blog and is content important

Blogging is explaining how things work. It may be answering a question, solving a problem, or even doing product reviews or comparisons.

There are very few subjects not covered by blogs of some kind so this is why content does become important.

The SEO experts say short sentences, short paragraphs, and positive writing are the best way to tackle a Blog.
Readers may have short attention spans so it is your storytelling ability that will keep them on the page. Plus of course, a few relevant pictures, graphs, and lists.

Google wants clear and concise explanations that satisfy the reader and cover the subject searched.

If it is a question when do you answer it?

Here there are two sides to the story however it revolves around intent.
Many readers want a simple solution without a lot of padding.

What year was Putin born?  Answer 69 years born 7 October 1952

Who is Vladimir Putin?   A long answer is required and provides a lot of background.

When you answer the question in the first paragraph will your readers continue or bail out of the conversation.
However, if you work through a slow build and answer late in the piece you may keep them on your page a lot longer.

A product review, for example, ends with a conclusion based on all the facts provided.
However, you may say something like; this is a crappy product and I tell you why.

You have answered the question however in doing so you have built up some intrigue to encourage further reading.

Therefore my answer is pretty simple, write to the audience and forget all else.

How many words in a blog

Here you will find many answers with the correct one being 300 to 5000.
As many words as it takes to answer the question. What you are reading is a 4500-word blog based on the many questions asked about blogging. I wrote recently on writing a short blog and hit 500 words.
It is interesting that when you start your writing finding enough words may be difficult however cutting words back will be a problem later on.
Most blogs are questioning and answer opportunities so do just that with a bit of backup support.

Is coaching available for bloggers

Many of you want hand-holding to start the journey and have trouble with the written courses

A friend of mine Roy Carter is a gun at this and can carry you through the journey. Roy does not accept everyone because he only takes on capable students that have a chance but with my recommendation, you have a better opportunity.
There is a cost however it will be recouped quickly.

Are Keywords important in blogging?

There is no subject more important than this short explanation on Keywords.
Only with good Keyword selection do you have any chance of being read when relying on SEO for your traffic.

Keywords are search terms that people type or talk into Google to find an answer to a question, solve a problem or find out how to do something. They may also be product reviews and training notes or opinions on any subject.

It is important to note that page one of a search term is the only place to be. Over 80% of readers never get past the first three free searches on page one. Furthermore, YouTube videos will pull some clients and Google answers the balance. It is a hard battle but one you can win.

All Keywords have some traffic and this is important however they also have competition for a position so your challenge is using a Keyword Tool and a Google search to find a healthy balance.

Jaaxy

The keyword tool at Jaaxy.com indicates all the necessary ingredients to a good search term.

Where high traffic volumes may look enticing they will generally be associated with big competition so making page one is not likely.

The proffered ratio is one titled 50/50 where there are at least 50 searches a month and under the competition of 50-page placements. Remember fifty places you on about page five so a long way from the front.

To make things more difficult Google and Bing now treat keywords differently. Bing/Yahoo are still working on exact match terms so they look at people that search on a particular phrase. Therefore you will often rank on Bing and not Google.

Google has gone all techie and is using Artificial intelligence (AI) that tries to find a close match to the search term in the form of content. Your content needs all the qualifications to answer the question. Authority, history, word selection, traffic to name a few.

Linking to YouTube

This is an important element in your content structure. Some people love YouTube and enjoy being taken on a magic carpet ride through a range of high-interest videos.
We have all been there, cross to a Video and then find other topics that really must be watched, and then fifteen minutes pass and you are none the wiser.

The benefit is that time on your site is a Google ranking feature so as they go flitting through YouTube they are virtually still on your site.

You don’t need your channel. You borrow someone else and give them some clicks.
Although it is preferable to have your video where you can.

On any search term, you will generally see a link to a YouTube site. They get nearly as many search results as do Google and Yahoo and Bing combined.

YouTube is a massive market so use it or borrow it to your benefit.

Where to find the rules of blogging

Any new adventure requires a training period where you get to fall if the bike a few times.

Taking the time and effort to write a hundred blogs with no return is a heartbreaking experience. I know I have been there and it annoys me more every day.

I did a quick course at Wealthy Affiliate but was cutting corners where I could because I knew it all and was just missing a few pointers. How wrong was I? In fact, so wrong I returned and did the basic course a second time and this time did it properly.

In the end, I found that I was on the right track and just needed some adjustments that would make all the difference.

A blog will take an average of 3.5 hours to complete and more for slow typers like me.

Therefore you need a return to compensate you for all the effort you have put in.

An additional source of information will flow from like-minded forums where members' contributions provide a different slant on the basics.

I gathered a more solid education on the use of Keywords by comparing different methods and views than the traditional training provided.

Not everything is set in concrete and the internet is certainly a revolving business with constant change. The forum and advanced training at Wealthy Affiliate is the best available and can make a world of difference to your results.

Successful bloggers share their methods so that you can copy the ways forward.

How to make money blogging for beginners

First of all, get it out of your mind that this is a get-rich scheme and you can write a blog and reap the rewards. Life is not that easy.

Funnel Building is a quicker way to cash, blogging is a journey to sustained income.

Once you understand what you are doing and the rules you must follow then you can sell your skills to others thus gaining some income from your efforts.

Secondly, Website blogging may find some product sales with those readers seeking extra information.

Finally, product reviews can bring a return when written correctly and gather sales resulting from your recommendation. It is an interesting point that even bad reviews can earn income. Not everyone will believe your words of wisdom and they want their own experience with the product.

Long term blogging and the results

Blogging can be a full-time career path where it is possible to earn a six-figure income.
The top people may even return the mighty Million a year from their activities.
However, the pathway is a bit of pyramid-like multi-level marketing, where a few make it big and most stay on the bottom line.

Many systems are rigged against the bottom dwellers that have little chance of success because of the hurdles they need to jump.

Blogging is an open path for everyone.  However, you do need to apply continual effort to reap the rewards. A large majority will simply give up complaining it is just too hard when it is just a time-based exercise. However, the time may be in years and not just months of continual writing and gathering an audience that trusts you.

No one can provide the Golden challis however the rules are very clear and working with Google will see results come your way.
We all get frustrated at times and want more however we must be realistic in our approach.
If our Keyword traffic count is 50 a month and you get half of those you need a lot of posts to build a large following.

Do bloggers make money and is it easy?

The money path with blogging

Now your reading is getting interesting as we debate the income streams available to those that enter the financial path of blogging.

It is not a way one journey and fact a good blog may bring income from many
different angles at the same time.

Blogging for business

This is often an extension of the business website where you go into a greater depth on the products you take to market. It may be answering all the questions that people ask or comparing products to other suppliers.
Importantly these are not sales pages. They are an informative approach to bonding the client with the offer and sending them back to a page designed for the sales activity.

Business blogs serve a very valuable position. They add an element of trust to the buying decision and reinforce a loyalty bonding with the customer.

A good Business blog can increase website sales by more than 20%.

Reinforcing product values

Product reviews and comparisons are hosted on blogs to showcase both values and faults with the prime intent of selling products. However, they form a valuable opinion poll on those wanting informative data before making a buying decision.
The stretch may go beyond physical products to virtual items and services where nothing is sacred from the critic’s pen

Charitable contributions

Many times writers raise the concerns of charity and detail the important work of those donating time and energy in the support of the less capable.

Having a link to a donations line is an ideal closer because ongoing funding is always required.

Affiliate income

This is the big daddy of them all where you sell someone else’s product and get paid either a one-off commission or an ongoing royalty.
Affiliate marketing is a massive industry where companies rely solely on the sales of others to grow their business.
Amazon grew its market on affiliates as did many web hosting companies, data storage training, and other regular monthly cost businesses.

Organize your affiliate links around the path you choose and use a link Cloaker like Pretty Links to keep track of your traffic count.
My premium Affiliate site is with Wealthy Affiliate where you get income, training, and a great forum to answer questions.

Gathering Advertising income

This is a massive industry that can deliver a large paycheck. Others place advertising pop-ups in and around your blogs and pay you when someone clicks or buys from the ads.

However, most companies demand a high traffic count before entertaining you as a client.

Book reviews

This crosses over some of the other methods however it may include your eBooks or those of others that you wish to promote.

It could also include the promotion of speaking tours and public gatherings.

Flipping websites

This is one you may not have thought about but it is a way to get big returns. When you get bored with your blog or want to move in a different direction there will be buyers ready to pay good money to take over the rights to your blog.
A friend was recently offered over $30,000 for her site and refused. She said she could make that in a year anyway so why sell? The buyer then employed her to build his site for more than the offer so it was a great win for a home-based blogger.

All business starts with a plan

Blogging is a business that requires a forward structure based around your premium goal.

It will be a hard road until you hit the results curve which suddenly brings everything to life. This could be a hundred posts or a thousand but it will happen with time.

Staying focused on your objective in the early part of the journey is necessary however you may bring in additional content later. For instance, if you are Affiliate marketing get as many links as you can because volume generally brings success.

A cash flow may be necessary

I like to do a simple cash flow using an excel spreadsheet covering the total plan. Your expenses will be greater than your income for some time so it is nice to know what to expect along the way.
A side benefit is that it will make you think about buying those exciting offers you will come across along the way. Most will be of no benefit to you but at least they will get appropriate attention.

Blogging starts with intent

It is no use thinking about blogging. That is unless you are writing out your plans and getting those valuable links you need.
You need to take action and start the journey of learning as you go. Your early blogs probably will lack quite a lot but you will quickly gather all the fundamentals and start writing great content that gets read.

Conclusion

We have covered a lot in the post and hope that you have gained sufficient insight to start the journey forward.

1. Blogging is a long term journey
2. The results you can achieve are unlimited
3. The use of Keywords is paramount to your success
4. Write for your readers and give them what the ask for.
5. Plan your future and work your plan.

Do bloggers make money by Peter Hanley

• What is Web Blogging?
• What is a lifestyle blog?
• Creating a blog with WordPress is the easy way.
• Blogging Question and Answer
• Writing for a blog