How Bloggers Make Money
Working with bloggers over the last few years has given me some really good insight on how bloggers are actually making money. It is so crazy to think that just a few years ago – blogging was just something people did for fun! I’ve seen first hand how much work goes into content creation and I’m glad that it is now not only possible – but likely – that you can make a full time income as a blogger, influencer, or content creator!
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Who is considered a blogger?
You might have a specific person in mind when you think about a “blogger” or “influencer” and feel like you don’t align with that term. But I’m here to tell you that if you have a website or blog – you are a blogger! Having a platform to create content gives you the opportunity to put yourself out there and eventually monetize!
Anyone with a website – whether it’s for business or just for fun has the opportunity to make an income. It may take a little strategy or a shift in your mindset but it is more than possible for you!
How To Make Money By Blogging
There are three primary ways that bloggers are making money. While one strategy might be the primary source of their income, bloggers who are making a significant income are likely leveraging all three of these tactics to diversify their income.
Ad Revenue
The first way that bloggers make money is through website or blog ad revenue. When you see image-based ads on a website, you can assume that the owner of that site is getting compensated for that placement. Advertisers know that their audience is spending a significant amount of time online, specifically on blogs, and are jumping at the opportunity to place an ad where their audience will see it.
How do they get ads on their site?
Bloggers or website owners will join an ad network that manages the ad negotiation and placement for them. Essentially, after they join, the ad network manages everything – negotiating with brands, where the ads appear, etc.
The blogger does have an opportunity to say what types of ads they want to appear (or what they don’t want to appear), but they don’t necessarily have control over which brands are displayed on their site. The ad networks work very hard to keep everything high quality, so this is often not a concern!
When it comes to getting paid, website owners will often be paid monthly based on how many impressions or clicks come from their website.
Why is this important?
If your income from ads is based on how many clicks and impressions you’re receiving, it is in your best interest to maximize the amount of traffic you’re getting. This could be from social media, email, or my favorite, search engine optimization.
Increasing your website traffic is extremely difficult to do when you are only relying on social media. This means posting swipe ups all day everyday and overwhelming your audience with content.
How Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Can Skyrocket Your Ad Income
Instead of relying on social media as your only means of traffic, creating a search engine optimization strategy allows you to grow your traffic consistently. No more living for the swipe up (which dies after 24 hours!).
By creating highly searchable content, your blog posts will appear in the ranking of Google indefinitely. People who are specifically searching for your content will find your blog posts and contribute to your ad revenue. As your organic traffic (traffic from search engines) grows, your income will grow as well. There is endless income opportunities by focusing on SEO instead of relying solely on social media.
Affiliate Links
Bloggers also make an income from affiliate links. When your audience makes a purchase from your affiliate link, you will receive a small commission from that sale. There are affiliate links for EVERYTHING – not just consumer goods. Affiliate programs exist for softwares and tools as well! If you’re not currently setup as an affiliate for your favorite stores and softwares, definitely check them out.
If you’re already using and loving an item or program, by sharing it with your audience you’ll be doing them a favor as well as making an income!
Here are some that I use and love:
- Amazon
- Rewardstyle
- Shopstyle
- SEMrush
- Kartra
How Bloggers Maximize Affiliate Income
Making money from affiliates is truly a numbers game. Since the commission percentage is so small, bloggers rely on high traffic numbers to increase sales.
Again, this comes back to the idea that relying on your social media audience as your only source of affiliate opportunity is exhausting! Posting swipe ups can take up your whole day. Instead, my clients are creating highly searchable blog posts (that have affiliate links throughout) to increase their traffic while making money from affiliates!
For example, a blog post titled “Best Amazon Dresses | My Top 10 Dresses From Amazon” will allow your audience to have all of your links in one place that can reference at ANY time. Not only will your social media audience be contributing to your affiliate income, but now that you have a highly searchable blog post, Google will also be sending people to your site! That’s a win-win!
How Bloggers Make Money With Brand Partnerships
Lastly, bloggers are making an income by partnering with brands to promote specific products. You are likely familiar with this strategy and see it in your own personal browsing.
What you may not know is that brands, just like your audience, love blog posts because they live on your site indefinitely. While IG posts and stories are also beneficial for exposure, their shelf life is super limited.
When you can approach brands with a blog strategy that will ensure them views over a long period of time, you have the leverage to charge significantly more than someone who doesn’t have a blog.
Having an SEO strategy matters!
Like I mentioned earlier, growing your website or blog traffic isn’t necessarily easy, but it is SO worth it from an income perspective. No matter how you make money from blogging, having a strong SEO strategy will propel all of your efforts forward and allow you to make an income without having to rely on social media.
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