Starting a blog that's profitable can be a great way to generate a significant side income by simply doing what you love to do and discussing topics that you are passionate about. If you have insightful information that the world wants to read, then it is only right for you to make some money off it.
So why listen to me?
I made over $200,000 last month with my 2 blogs. I created Dr Piggy Bank as my third blog to teach other people how to find their own financial independence.
I definitely didn't think this was possible. I'm paralyzed and in a wheelchair so it takes me forever to do all my blog tasks.
If I can do it so can you!
If you want to read my my $200,000 blog income report then click here. But first, follow the instructions below and get your blog started. Especially since Bluehost has a price special going on.
7 Steps: How to Start a Profitable Blog
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Starting a profitable blog can quickly become overwhelming if you do not know what steps to take throughout the process, regardless of the quality of your content. Many who start a blog with the intent to generate income give up after making a mistake somewhere throughout the process.
By following this seven-step process, you can ensure your blog is properly set up with all of the necessary hosting, plugins, and it will have a beautiful user-friendly theme. Most importantly, it will get traffic and make money.
Step 1: Signup with Bluehost
The first step to starting a profitable blog is to sign up with Bluehost, which is easy to do and can be accomplished in just a few short steps.
After going to Bluehost's website, the first step is to click on the green “Get Started Now” button – which can be seen above. You will then be asked to select your plan from a list of four options, which include the basic, plus and choice plus package. They also offer a more advanced package, the pro package.
As you can be seen above, each package is slightly different, and the more expensive packages have more to offer. If you only plan to have one blog website with a single domain and less than 25 subdomains, then the basic plan is likely to suit you just fine.
If you plan to own a larger blog with numerous subdomains that takes up more than 50 GB of website space, then the plus, choice plus or pro package might be best. Also, the plus, choice plus and pro package offer website security – such as SpamExperts, CodeGuard Basic and Domain Privacy – that is not offered in the basic package.
I use the Choice Plus package for my websites because of the speed it gives my websites and the free website security is definitely worth it.
After deciding on a package, it is time to choose your domain.
A domain name is essentially your website's address on the internet. It is what is displayed in search results and what readers type in the search bar to get to your blog. While a creative blog name can certainly help, it is often best to stay simple and make it easy for blog visitors to remember (i.e. drpiggybank.com).
The next step in the process is to create your account.
The create your account page is broken down into three different sections. The first section simply asks for your account information, which can be seen above. The second section to fill out deals with the package information and extras.
In the second section, you will be asked to choose your account plan, which ranges from a 12 month to a 60-month plan. The cost per month goes down as the length of the account plan increases. The package section may look slightly different if you sign up for the more advanced packages as the tools offered in the extras are included in many of the more advanced plans.
After everything, you simply put in your payment information and you are finished with the account creation. You should then receive a welcome to Bluehost confirmation message, such as the one below.
After this, click on the green button to set your password. Make sure the password is at least eight characters, contains at least one capital and lowercase letter and at least one special symbol.
Step 2: Install WordPress on Bluehost
Congratulations! You have now reached step two. You are one step closer to your very own blog that brings in a profit each month.
Now it is time to install WordPress on Bluehost.
After your account and password are created with Bluehost, you should reach your Bluehost portal.
This portal is where you can manage your domains, check your email and access your WordPress website. To install WordPress on Bluehost, click on the blue “Log in to WordPress” button.
You should then be presented with a welcome to WordPress page and asked a series of questions that allow you to customize your website for your specific needs. After answering the questions(or choosing to customize at a later time), you should finally reach your WordPress admin dashboard.
The WordPress admin dashboard can easily be reached from the Bluehost portal by simply clicking on the “My Sites” tab and selecting your WordPress website.
Step 3: Design Your Blog
After WordPress is installed on Bluehost, it is time to have some fun! While designing your blog can, for many, seem overwhelming – leading many to pay website designers thousands of dollars – customizing your WordPress blog on Bluehost is actually very easy if you know the right steps to take.
The first thing to do when designing your blog is to find a theme that works best for your blog specifically. While WordPress has a selection of templates to choose from, it is perhaps best to find a theme outside of WordPress and upload the theme onto your WordPress blog.
There are several places to search for quality WordPress themes, but perhaps the best way to ensure you choose a theme that is responsive, captures the audience's attention and has all of the necessary features is to purchase Genesis Framework from Studiopress.
Genesis Framework offers a wide range of functional features that make designing your blog extremely easy. Without Genesis Framework, navigating WordPress and designing a beautiful blog website can be incredibly difficult, and you risk not being fully satisfied with the end result. When compared to the cost of a website designer, Genesis Framework is actually a great way to design a professional blog without breaking the bank in an effort to do so.
Genesis Framework comes with a set of templates to choose from. While some may be suitable for your exact needs, Genesis Framework is more of an essential designer tool than it is a specialty in WordPress templates.
In the event a theme from Genesis Framework does not appeal to your needs, be sure to check out Genesis Child Themes on Etsy after you purchase Genesis, which provide you with pages and pages of template options for your blog. Whether your blog is a travel blog, fashion blog or simply a personal blog of your everyday experiences, there is likely to be a wonderful Genesis Child Theme option available for you on Etsy.
After choosing your template and customizing the template inside of Genesis Framework, go to your WordPress Dashboard and click on “Themes” under the “Appearance” tab on the sidebar to the left. A page similar to the one below should then appear.
Simply click on upload in the “Themes” section at the top, and upload your theme. While there may be some customization required within WordPress, the theme should more or less be ready to go live after upload.
Step 4: Install WordPress Plugins
Now that your theme is successfully uploaded and all of your information is on your website, you are one step closer to generating a profit off of your blog, but there are several steps still left to complete.
The next task to tackle is to download the necessary plugins on WordPress. The extensive gallery of WordPress plugins can be found by clicking on the “Plugins” tab found on the left sidebar of your WordPress dashboard. Simply click on “Add New” under the “Plugins” tab, and the below page should appear.
The exact plugins needed are different for every individual, and it is important to distinguish exactly what all plugins are needed.
For example, if you are hoping to sell products on your blog – which is a great way to make your blog profitable – then you are most likely going to need the Woocommerce plugin, a payment gateway such as PayPal and an add on for your shipping method.
If you want to become a huge presence on social media – which is also helpful when monetizing your blog – then there are various social media add-ons that may be required as well.
There are a few plugins that all blogs need though and I listed them below.
Must-Have Plugins:
Step 5: Setup Google Analytics
After you have customized your WordPress blog site and downloaded all of the necessary and desired add-ons, you are almost finished and ready to go live.
However, there is one last step to complete before going live, which is to setup your Google Analytics account. Google Analytics helps you ensure that you are able to track your website traffic, keep an eye on key analytics such as bounce rate and where your visitors are coming from and fully optimize your blog for search engines to further increase your blog traffic.
The first step in setting up your Google Analytics account is to go the Google Analytics sign up page, which should appear like the image below. If you have already created your Google Analytics account, you can simply skip this step and start connecting your Google Analytics information into WordPress(see below).
After filling out your Google Analytics information, you should reach a page that includes your Google Analytics information.
The next step in the process is to click on the “Google Analytics Settings” button inside of your WordPress dashboard, which should appear at the very top of the screen as seen below.
After this, click on the “Authenticate with your Google account” button found at the top of the page and sign into the Google account that the Analytics is registered under. Click “Complete Connection,” and you should now have your Google Analytics account synced with your WordPress site.
Step 6: Drive Traffic to Your Blog
Your blog should now be ready to go live! However, your work is far from finished. The next step – and perhaps the most important step – is to drive traffic to your blog.
There are numerous ways to drive traffic to your blog, including paid advertising, social media and word of mouth.
However, one of the best ways to drive traffic to your blog is through Pinterest using the Tailwind app. Simply go to tailwindapp.com, create a Pinterest account if you have not done so already and sign in with Pinterest. You should then reach a page such as the one below.
The Tailwind app allows you to plan your social media posts well in advance and be more informed of your target audience, giving you the ability to fully capitalize on the best way to gain traffic to your site, which is social media.
I highly recommend signing up for Tailwind Tribes to get a ton more traffic on Pinterest.
Step 7: Monetize Your Blog
After you build an audience, you are then in a position to monetize your blog. Remember, the more website visitors you gain to your blog, the better chance you are going to have to make your blog profitable.
So far we have covered several key ways to monetize your blog, including selling products to your blog visitors. However, there are so many more ways to monetize your blog. Here are a few:
- Advertisements
- Affiliate marketing
- Sell Ebooks
- Sell a service
Perhaps the easiest way to monetize your blog is to simply run pay-per-click ads with Google Adsense.
While there is certainly some money to be made through advertisements on your blog – particularly if you have thousands of visitors each day – advertisements often do not generate as much as other avenues, such as affiliate marketing and selling a product or service.
If you discuss various products on your blog that you like, try and monetize them by becoming an affiliate of the products you are promoting. If you run a more informative blog, giving insight on specific topics, then consider offering a service or writing an instructional Ebook to turn your blog into a profitable one.
I like to create courses using Teachable or Udemy.