This post contains affiliate links. Click here to view my full affiliate policy
Things you must know to Start a Profitable Blog
Starting a blog can be very exciting. It is a way to make a difference by sharing your passions with the world.
There is also the possibility of making money on your terms, and being free to live and work anywhere.
But there are things that you must know to make your blog profitable.
Like all things, blogging has evolved to be very complex. If you don’t have any experience blogging there will be A LOT to learn.
There are many technical aspects to blogging, but it is also important to know what you are getting into when before you start your blog…
Things you should Know about Blogging before you get Started…
1) Blogging takes a lot of Time
Blogging takes time and dedication. While some people are able to make money right away, these people usually have experience and resources at their disposal.
Most likely you are not able to spend hundreds of dollars a month on seo tools and marketing right away.
And if you are starting a blog from scratch, chances are you do not have much experience.
There is a learning curb in blogging and the only way to really learn is by actually doing the work.
When I started my blog I had no experience whatsoever blogging. I did not know anyone had even tried to start a blog and I knew nothing about building a website.
There is a lot of work involved in blogging…
To give you an idea of how much work is involved, I started this blog a year and a half ago and have spent a least 20 hours a week (often 40) making it what it is today.
While I am very happy with what it has become, I still have a normal job and do not have the luxury of travelling the world full time.
I only mention this because I know so many people give up blogging because they think they will never make money if they don’t see any results in less than a year.
Is is important to know in advance that blogging takes a lot of time to avoid disappointment later on.
2) Blogging is like being in School
Building a blog like being in business school. Like being in school, there is a lot to learn and you often don’t start making money until you learn those things.
Many people spend more than 100,000 dollars for college training.
They spend four years studying and stressing out without any guarantee of ever getting a high paying job. And this is considered perfectly normal
Whenever I get frustrated I remind myself that I am in school, and by working on my blog I am learning skills that will be extremely beneficial someday.
3) Blogging can be Lonely
If you start a blog you will most likely be spending a lot of time in your own head trying to figure things out.
I personally enjoy spending time by myself but I still feel isolated from time to time. It is also hard not to have anyone’s brain to pick when I get stuck.
Of course there is you tube and many online groups. I highly recommend these, but I am pretty old school and would prefer to be around people in person.
4) Blogging does cost Money
While blogging is much cheaper than having a brick and mortar business, there are costs involved. I recommend having at least 500 dollars saved when you decide to start your blog.
I had to hire a website developer to help me in the beginning because I had no clue whatsoever what I was doing.
Necesary Costs of running a Blog
1) Hosting and Domain:
This is around 200 dollars a years. I recommend bluehost when you first get started because it is linked to wordpress, one of the best blogging platforms.
2) Legal Pages:
There is so much work involved in a blog that it would be absolutely devastating to have it jeopardized due to not following the law.
I highly recommend getting your legal pages in the beginning to avoid any problems in the future.
You need a privacy policy, disclaimers, and terms of condition in the footer of your site.
I used this bundle of legal pages from a self guru for my website. I was able to embed the pages in my site in minutes.
3) Apps and Services
Many apps that make running a blog much easier are not free. Although they are not that expensive, these costs can easily add up.
Just think about your streaming services!
Technical things you must Know to Start a Profitable Blog
There are a lot of technical things to know if you want to be a blogger.
Here is a list of essential things to know if you are serious about blogging.
1) Basic Website Design
Creating and designing a website is not nearly as complicated as it used to be, but if you don’t have any experience it can take a little bit of time.
How to start a Blogging Website
- Pick a host: There are many hosting platforms. I personally use bluehost and so far it’s been easy and intuitive to use.
2. Pick a Domain: If you are unsure of a nice place I recommend using your name. That way you can change subjects if you want.
3. Pick a Theme: I absolutely love DIVI by Elegant Themes. I started out with a few free lesser known themes that didn’t work out. Then bought one on etsy that looked really cute but didn’t work with my site.
I ultimatley chose Divi because I like design and I could purchase one time and use for a lifetime for multiple sites.
2) Legal Disclaimers:
Even if you don’t plan on making money right away, it is essentially to protect your website.
I used this legal bundle from a self guru to protect my website. The forms were easy to fill out and I was able to protect my site in minutes.
3) Writing Articles:
- easy to read
- sorrect grammar
- using H1, H2, and H3 Headings.
When you first start writing your articles I would recommend not worrying too much about SEO.
I spent a ton of time trying to learn about SEO only to realize that ranking on google is nearly impossible when you first start out.
Just make sure your articles are easy to read, have correct grammar, and use H2 and H3 heading to keep things organized.
Make sure your paragraphs are short, ie. one to two sentences long.
When you first start writing articles they will not be perfect, but they will improve the more you do it.
5) Pinterest
Pinterest is so important to learn to market your blog. You can write the best articles, but if no-one sees them you will not make any money.
I recommend getting started on pinterest as soon as you start writing articles.
I slacked on pinterest for awhile because it was so overwhelming but finally found this PInterest Course and it was game changing.
6) SEO
If you want to have a chance ranking on google you will have to learn SEO.
Although it will probably take a long time to rank it is a good idea to start implementing seo after you have learned the basics of blogging, that way after google starts to trust your site you have a chance to rank.
When I decided to get serious about SEO I purchased this course and it put everything together for me.
7) Back up your Website
I use and app called updraft to back up my website because it is a lot easier than doing it manually. (???)
8) Google Search Console
Google search console will tell you how many people are clicking on your site from the google search engine.
It is not necessary to worry about this right away.
9) Google Analytics (GA4)
GA4 is the latest google analytics platform. It will tell you how much traffic you are getting, and where it is coming from.
This is not something you need to do right away.
10) Setting up an Email List
So many people recommend setting up an email list. I don’t disagree that it is a good idea. However, you do have to make sure you have all the legal pages in place first.
I personally tried to set up an email list when I first started but could not figure it out.
It was too frustrating for me, so I decided to just wait until the time felt right.
There are many email services.
I personally found mailerlite to be the most intuitive.
11) Ad Agencies
When you have enough page views per month you can apply to an ad agency.
You can then place ads on your website.
This is also not something to worry about right away.
12) Affiliate Marketting
If you have a reasonable amount of page views you can apply to be an affiliate, which means that you get a percentage of sales that you drive to other websites.
You much have a disclaimer on your footer as well as clearly stating your policy on the page of the links.
This may seem like a lot and that’s because it is!
This list may seem a little overwhelming, but remember you don’t need to learn everything at once!
When I first got started I read many articles and watched many videos on starting a blog, but I had no idea that starting a blog was actually pretty easy.
Keeping up momentum was the hard part!
I developed a simple method to avoid information overload when starting your blog. It is a method I wished I had followed when I first started my own blog. You can download it here for free…
Happy Blogging!