With how uncertain the job industry has become and the effects of inflation and other expenses becoming capable of ruining our finances overnight, building businesses and taking control of your income has become more critical than ever. In this article, I will show you how to start an online WordPress blog and make money and why creating a WordPress blog is the best online business model to get started with.
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Why Starting A WordPress Blog Is The Best Online Business Model
To know why I believe starting a WordPress blog is the best online business model you can start, you have to know my story. My name is Kevin, and I started building online businesses in 2018.
Throughout the last couple of years, I’ve tried building almost all the different types of online businesses. I’ve engaged in courses on building dropshipping stores, print-on-demand stores, YouTube channels, Medium blogs, and more.
Nothing stuck… except for the very first WordPress blog I started.
Over the last five years, blogging on WordPress was the only online business model that was profitable enough to stay in business. The first blog I started had repeatedly generated profits while other business models drained thousands of dollars from my wallet.
WordPress blogging is the best online business model because you own your website, the start-up and running costs are extremely low, and success is repeatable over the long term.
No matter what I have been doing, I always return to work on my WordPress blogs.
Over the last five years, many business models have risen and died. Dropshipping from Aliexpress is one great example. People catching on that dropshippers sold cheap products from Aliexpress at huge markups and extended shipping times made for terrible customer experiences that eventually killed the business model.
Cryptocurrency is another excellent example. There hasn’t been enough “real” value backing cryptocurrencies, so many coins have gone up in flames, erasing millions of dollars overnight.
People who run other business models that rely on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram are always at the edge of their seats, wondering if the next change will obliterate their livelihoods.
Blogging on your website that you created using WordPress, however, has been a business model that’s survived and thrived. The first WordPress blog I started only continues to grow and profit more with time.
You can see how effective WordPress blogging is as a business model by looking at the various gurus that teach people how to make money online as well.
The platform I recommend the most, Wealthy Affiliate, has been active and strong for over 18 years. That’s a long time for an Internet business, and it says a lot about the success of its members.
In this article, I will give you a brief guide to making money with a WordPress blog, but I highly recommend checking out Wealthy Affiliate for more in-depth step-by-step training on building a successful website.
==> Get Started Here With Wealthy Affiliate, No Credit Card Required.
The Four Steps To Making Money
Making money with an online WordPress blog is a four-step process:
- Choose a niche
- Create your WordPress blog
- Brainstorm and write valuable content
- Monetize your website and repeat step 3
Let’s start with choosing a niche.
1. Choose A Niche
The first question that comes to mind when you start a new blog is, “What should I write about?”
For WordPress blogging, I highly recommend that you start with a niche. Focus on one topic to write about and become an authoritative voice.
When choosing a niche, I would focus on something you’re passionate about. My trick for finding the right niche is to reflect deeply on what you can talk about for hours. Think about what topic you would be comfortable discussing without preparation on stage.
For example, the two topics I can discuss forever are self-improvement and making money. This blog post I’m writing right now is coming to me extremely quickly because I’m so obsessed with making money and online businesses.
You want to blog about topics you’re super passionate about because blogging is a long-term game.
I’ll be straight up about it. The downside of WordPress blogging compared to other business models is that experiencing instant success is very difficult. Succeeding in WordPress blogging will heavily depend on your ability to consistently and continuously push out content even when no one is reading.
If you write about a topic you’re not passionate about, it will be difficult to continue writing when nobody is reading. This makes it very easy for you to give up. The worst thing that happens all the time is people giving up just before their blog starts to take off.
Therefore, choose something that you’re passionate about. If you need help with your niche, feel free to comment below. Or even better, sign up for an account at Wealthy Affiliate, and you’ll have access to thousands of experienced bloggers who can help you with your niche!
2. Create A Website
The most fantastic thing about Internet businesses today is how easy website building has become. You don’t need to know any code to build a fully-functional WordPress blog.
Building a WordPress website only takes a few clicks, and it’s made especially simple if you are a member of Wealthy Affiliate.
First, buy your domain name. You can’t change this easily, so do think about what you want your website to be called. Just don’t get stuck on this part. Choose something good enough and move on.
Once you have a domain, enter a title for your website and choose a WordPress theme. Wealthy Affiliate will create your website within minutes, and voila, you’ve made a brand new website without coding or technical skills.
3. Brainstorm And Write Valuable Content
After building your website, the next step to creating a profitable WordPress blog is brainstorming and creating valuable content for people in your niche.
I highly recommend going the route that Wealthy Affiliate teaches, where you write articles on low-hanging fruit keywords. Don’t worry if you don’t know what that means yet; I’ll explain.
One of the best ways to build profitable WordPress blogs is to optimize your content for search engines. Instead of writing on random topics in your niche, look for what keywords people are searching for and write articles tailored to those keywords.
The low-hanging fruit part is that you also want to target keywords that don’t have as much competition. These are often keywords that get less traffic (but still get searches) but are much easier to rank for.
Writing a bunch of quality articles targeting low-hanging fruit keywords is the quickest way to get your website on the first page of Google. When you’re ranked on Google, you’ll start seeing people click on your website, and everything becomes easy when you have people visiting your site.
4. Monetize, Profit, And Repeat Step 3
Things start getting really fun when you have traffic coming to your website. The best time to monetize your site is after you have ample content and people visiting your website.
Monetizing your website is very simple. There are two primary ways (though nothing is stopping you from going beyond these two) to monetize a WordPress blog.
The first is affiliate marketing, and the second is through display ads.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to monetize your website because as you write content on various products, you can join the affiliate program of those products and earn a commission when people buy through your link.
For example, the Wealthy Affiliate links in this article are affiliate links. If you sign up using my link and decide to register as a paid member, ultimately, I will earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Another easy way to monetize your website is by using display ad networks like Google Adsense or, my personal favorite, Ezoic. This method involves putting ads on your website using the ad networks, and you will automatically earn money from people’s ad impressions and clicks.
Once you monetize your site, all you have to do to continue growing your profits and earn more money is repeat step 3. Continuously create great content, and your audience will grow. And as your audience grows, your income will grow as well.
==> Get The Step-By-Step Training To Building A Profitable WordPress Blog Here
Want Over The Shoulder Guidance And Mentorship?
Of course, there are more nuances and specifics that I cannot cover in the span of one article. And undoubtedly, you’re probably going to have questions as you start a new WordPress blog for the first time.
I greatly advocate mentorship and learning from people who already know what they’re doing. You will be infinitely more successful when you have successful people guiding you than trying to start a new business all on your own.
That’s why Wealthy Affiliate is my number one recommendation if you want to create a new online business.
Wealthy Affiliate isn’t just a course you take. It’s an all-in-one platform with everything you need to build a WordPress blog successfully. More importantly, it’s also a community of top affiliate marketers and WordPress bloggers who are within reach whenever you need help. You can also read my review on Wealthy Affiliate here for more information.
And the great news is that you can try out Wealthy Affiliate entirely for free. You can click the link below to create a starter account. No need to enter any credit card details, and you won’t ever be charged unless you upgrade.
==> Click Here To Get Free Access To Wealthy Affiliate And Start Building Your Income-Generating Website
I hope you enjoyed this article on how to start an online WordPress blog and make money. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them down below, and I’ll be happy to help!