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Do Blogs Make Money in 2020?

So, the answer to the question is blogging still profitable in 2020 is a resounding, YES! If you’re chomping at the bit to get your blog up and running you can visit Bluehost and sign up for an account here. You’ll have your blog online fast and they offer low cost plans compared to other hosting companies.

If you want to start making money online, but aren’t quite yet ready for the challenge of blogging, why not create a free Swagbucks account? Get paid directly to your PayPal account for taking quick surveys, watching videos or just surfing the web. It won’t make you rich, but it’s easy money and you’d be surprised how fast it adds up.

If you’ve been researching ways to work from home in 2020 you’ve probably stumbled across plenty of spammy articles making bold claims of earning piles of cash every day without having to lift a finger…Really? Just how dumb do these people think we are?

These statements hold absolutely no truth whatsoever, but don’t fret, thecouchcommute has tons of legitimate work from home ideas and online money making websites that you can use in 2020 to add some extra digits to your bank account. Disclaimer: Does require a smidgen of work. The lifting of fingers onto your keyboard may be required :P.

In this article, I’m going to focus on making money online with blogging. Specifically, how to create a blog and use affiliate marketing to potentially earn thousands or more each month. I’m not here to mislead anyone, and while the earning potential for blogging can be very high, it requires a lot of hard work and patience. So, if you’re looking for something quick/easy, I’d steer clear of starting a blog and focus on paid surveys or perhaps getting paid to transcribe audio files.

Currently, it is estimated that only 5% of Bloggers are able to earn a full time income from their website, so as you can see, it will require a lot of hard work and perseverance to cement your own blog within that 5%,

This above link is an affiliate link, so I will get a commission if you sign up through it, and if you keep reading you’ll learn how to do the same. Keep in mind, I only promote companies I believe in and that are trustworthy, so you can rest assured that Bluehost has your best interests in mind when it comes to web hosting. Even with hard work and patience success is by no means guaranteed, but if you’re willing to put the work in and are looking for the highest-earning online side hustle then blogging is definitely for you.

Legitimate Online Side Hustles/Full Time Jobs for 2020 – Blogging

Keep Your Blog Game Strong

Making money from home as a blogger works best when approached as a long term investment. It’s not very well suited towards short term gains, and if you think you can start a blog and be raking in six figures in just a few weeks, well, you might want to sit down…I have some bad news for you.

Space out your articles and try to blog once a week, to start with. Missing the odd week is fine, and if you’re feeling burnt out it’s better to take a break and come back when you’re ready, refocused and ready to go, rather than quit and stop writing completely.

How To Start a Blog for Long Term Success

Learning how to start a blog in 2020 is the easy part. The first step is signing up with a reputable hosting company, like Bluehost. They have reliable up times with low cost plans and will give your blog a sturdy foundation on which you can begin building the ultimate website.

Sign up for a Bluehost account.

Okay, I have my hosting account, now what?

Choose a Blog Niche

After you’ve signed up for a hosting account you’ll need to decide what exactly your blog will be about. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, there are a few important things to consider before you start mashing away on the keyboard.

Pick a niche and stick to it!

A niche is the subject of your blog (travel, health, finance) and you’ll want to make sure you stay within the scope of your niche when writing articles. Targeting a niche with precision will contribute to better search engine placement, more clicks, more page views, and a more successful blog.

I recommend writing about your passions or subjects you’re familiar with. Here is a good article from entrepreneur.com to help you narrow down some profitable niches.

Okay, I have my niche, I’ve written some articles, how do I start making the big bucks?

Time to Start Getting Paid…In Your Pj’s…Nice!

Next, you’ll want to decide what your blog monetization strategy will be. This is just a fancy way of saying how your blog will earn money. There are a few options to consider, but for a new blog just starting out the most monetarily sound strategy is Affiliate Marketing.

Once your blog starts to drive some serious organic or paid traffic you can begin looking at advertising networks. Disclaimer: You’ll need a lot of traffic to your website before ad placements start to make sense. I’d recommend not junking up your blog with ads everywhere in the beginning. You won’t make much money from it (a few bucks at best) and it will take away from the aesthetic of your blog.

How Can I Make Money with a Blog and Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is the practice of recommending a product you trust and believe in and providing a link to that product for your readers to click on. For example, I love Bluehost as a hosting company and so I recommend their products to my readers. If someone signs up through one of my links I get a handsome commission, it’s that simple.

Find products or services you feel would be useful to your readers, visit that companies website and find out if they have an affiliate program, sign up to become an affiliate and once you’re accepted you can begin promoting products.

Pro Tip: Have your website built and stocked with some content before you start applying to affiliate programs. Any reputable affiliate networks will want to vet your website before accepting you.

Pro Tip 2: Avoid Promoting Junk. Seriously, this one is a biggie. There are tons of garbage products out there that offer huge commissions to those willing to market them. At the end of the day, a lot of these products (weight loss, get rich quick schemes) are unethical and predatory. They will prey on desperate individuals and you shouldn’t be promoting them. Always remain transparent with your readers, and have their best interests in mind as well as your own. It should be a mutually beneficial arrangement and if you’re screwing over your readers by promoting scummy products, well, your blog game needs a bit of work.

How Much Money Can I Make with a Blog?

Pinning down an exact figure is difficult. Each blog is different, and the click-through rates/conversion rates will vary. But, let’s simulate how much money you can make with 2 Bluehost sign-ups a week. Bluehost pays $50 – $75 in most cases per signup. So, 2 Bluehost sign ups per week = 8 per month. This means that if you can get a measly 2 sign-ups every 7 days you’ll be earning $400 – $600 each month with just that one affiliate. Add in a few more affiliate products and you can see how making thousands every month isn’t that far fetched.

Many established blogs earn six-figure or more every month, so while success is not guaranteed, the possibility to make some serious cash is there.

Blogging has by far the highest earning potential when it comes to making money online and the highest failure rate. The fact is most bloggers give up after a few months when they don’t see overnight success. Patients should not be in short supply when it comes to starting a blog and you’ll need to put in the work without much financial return in the beginning. The longer you stick with it the higher your chance of success will be.

The most important piece of advice I can give you is don’t give up. No matter how discouraged you feel, stick with it. Get started with Bluehost here and launch a money making blog in under an hour.

If making money online is something you’re interested in, but blogging isn’t your jam have a look around. There are tons of useful articles and resources to help you start earning some side cash or even a full time living from home.

Blog Promotion

Social media is your best friend when it comes to getting your blog posts noticed by the masses. Websites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest will be key in building your website up from a small time hopeful into a championship contender.

Personally, I have seen the most success with Pinterest when it comes to driving targeted traffic to my blog articles with Facebook bringing in a close second. Use a website like Canva to create eye-popping images that will attract readers.

If you’re not using social media to promote each blog post you write, especially when you’re first starting out, you’re missing out on a lot of traffic.

Lets Get a Little More In Depth – Current Blog Statistics

Here are some current statistics for blogs in 2020 to help give you a little perspective.

– There are an estimated 550 – 650 million blogs on the internet and roughly 34% of them are built using WordPress.

– Statista states that in 2020 an estimated 31.7 million Americans will blog at some point.

– Billions of blog posts are published every year and that amount will only rise.

– The average blog post takes roughly 4 hours to write and contains an average of 1236 words. I’m assuming this time includes the research that goes into an article and not just the time it takes to write it.

– Blogging daily is statistically proven to garner more success. I still maintain that taking breaks when needed to avoid burnout is in the best interest of every blogger.

– How-To articles have far more engagement than other types of written content.

– Articles that contain a featured image get far more views than those without an image.