How To Create A Simple Blog
This post contains affiliate links and Useful Roots will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links.
A blog is a great way to monetize your hobbies and passions, while teaching other people something you have expertise in.
Blogs can create additional income for your household, acting as a semi-passive side hustle.
They are one of the most freedom forward side-hustles out there, as you can build your blog anytime of the day, any day of the week, whenever the mood strikes.
When starting your blog, keep in mind it's not 100% passive income, nothing truly is.
You will have to maintain it.
Blogs require new content, broken link repair, updates to old content with new materials, audience engagement and more, but you can do all of it on your own terms.
If you’re starting a blog to make additional income while teaching others about something you’re passionate about, you’re in the right place. If you can think of at least one hobby or passion that you have experience in, there’s a solid chance you could build a blog around it!
The income you’ll make off a blog will take time and persistence to earn, but it will come. So as you learn the steps for creating your blog in this post, remember that your diligent efforts on your blog will pay off in the long run.
Below is a step-by-step process for the easiest way to set up your blog:
1 - Decide your blog’s theme
The best blogs have a brand theme - a topic area they specialize in. Specializing in a certain topic will help create your brand identity and help you rank for specific topics and keywords, increasing your chances of hitting it big in the blogging community.
What could you talk to someone about for hours and maintain your enthusiasm? What hobbies or areas of expertise do you have?
Choose one you could write about on both a micro and macro level, indefinitely.
How could you scale the blog’s topic 5 or 10 years in the future? Which related topic areas could also be on the blog down the line?
2 - Choose your blog’s name
This part is fun -
Get out a blank piece of paper or a whiteboard. Start to think about catchy names for your blog that are easy to remember and spell. Write down every kooky thing you can think of.
This process may take anywhere from 24 hours to 30 days, just keep at it until you find a blog name that has a ring to it - this could be your domain name.
If your domain name has already been selected, go back to the drawing board and repeat the process.
3 - Buy your domain name and hosting package
The domain name is the web address of your blog and the hosting platform is the interface through which users will experience your website. You need subscriptions to both services for any blog you’ll build.
These are separate because some web builders like the option of switching hosts or domain name holders sometime in the future, though we never have.
4 - Get a branded email address
A contact email is necessary for your website. It’s required that users have some way to contact the webmaster (that’s you) of any site.
Squarespace can offer you a professional email account at a discount through Google Workspace, which includes all the website management tools you could ever need, including Google Drive, for storing your blog’s articles and organizing them into spreadsheets.
5 - Create an email newsletter list
An email newsletter is the way you maintain contact with your audience independently of social media and search engine algorithms.
Through your newsletter, you can share new blog posts to increase your traffic and eventually, you’ll share promotions like sales and coupon codes.
Once added to your website, you can set up Grow to share recommendations with your audience and enable the Grow Automalier Newsletter List, which encourages your audience to subscribe via embedded opt-in forms.
Mediavine’s Grow then will send automatic weekly blog round up emails to your subscribers for no cost.
6 - Build your core blog pages
Now that you’ve set up the basics, time to start creating your blog content. Your blog will need 5 core pages to start:
Home
Blog
About
Contact
Privacy Policy
Over time, I suggest adding pages like Recommended Products and a “Search By” index page, but to begin you’ll want your blog to start out with these core pages.
Use royalty free photo tools like Pixabay and Pexels to add images to your pages. Fill in each page with engaging copywriting that tells your readers who you are as a blog.
7 - Start blogging
Now you’ll begin adding blog content to your blog. Aim to start with 2-3 posts that are between 500-800 words per month.
If you miss a month it’s okay, but you do want to sprint for a goal of your first 30 blogs. When you get to 30 blogs, race to 100 blogs, then 200. Keep going indefinitely.
The reason you want to be speedy at reaching the 30 and 100 blog marks is that you likely start seeing traffic between 30-100 blogs, since this is when search engines have enough information to properly index your site.
Traffic = earning potential. The more traffic you have the more dollars you can potentially earn.
Start by choosing blog topics organically. Write down several ideas you have in mind and Google them, look at the questions people ask about the topic and the types of related searches your idea brings up.
Build a blog post out around this research.
8 - Hook your blog up to performance metric tools
Now that you have some blogs on your site, connect your site to measurement tools, so you can identify the content your readers like most, which will give you ideas for new blogs to write.
Google Analytics and Google Search Console are the best performance measurement tools to start with.
When new blogs are published, submit them for indexing to Google Search Console. Every month, check your blog’s traffic growth using Google Analytics; use what’s doing well as a guide for creating more content.
9 - Set up advertising
We’ve made it to the best part… the sweet land of money, the monetization of your blog. The easiest and simplest way to monetize your blog is by allowing advertising networks to have some space on your site.
Google Adsense is the best entry level advertising network - you can set up your site with very little content and low traffic, so it is a great way to get started. It pays per view; you receive anywhere between $4-10 USD per 1,000 traffic views.
Both platforms pay out monthly once your earnings reach a threshold of $100 USD.
10 - Add affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is another way to add a semi-passive income to your blog. The best affiliate program to begin with is Amazon Associates. You can link to any product or service on Amazon to earn commissions and bounties.
After you set up your Amazon Associates affiliate account, look at your past and current blogs. See where you could organically add product links.
For example, if you’re talking about a recent project you finished, readers would want to know about where you got your supplies
Now expand your scope. Think about products you use and brands you like that you could share on the blog - see if they have affiliate programs. If so, apply to these programs and begin adding these brand affiliates to your blog.
Finally, it’s time to also build out your Recommended Products Page, and you guessed it - it’ll be filled in with your favorite affiliate linked products.
When using affiliate links, make sure that you follow the FTC disclosure guidelines.
11 - Add social media
Drive traffic to your site by promoting your new content on social media. I recommend starting with Pinterest. After that, choose one of your favorite social media platforms.
When you publish a new blog, share it on your social media with a backlink to your site. Social media is a free tool to market your blog and these platforms will help boost your blog’s visibility, which increases your traffic and ultimately, your earnings.
12 - Add products and/or services
Begin adding products and/or services to your blog.
You can add coaching sessions to privately teach others what you blog about. You can offer sponsored posts, to sell advertising spaces to other businesses. You can add physical goods, that spin off of your blog’s most popular topics, or digital goods, like eCourses that go into depth on your most popular blogs.
Select one additional monetization method and start launching it.
13 - Organize your blog’s finances
By now, you’re likely earning some income from your blog and you need to organize it.
Set up a business bank account; even if it’s just a separate checking account and put all your blog’s income in that. Begin to pull your expenses from that account if your cash flow can handle it.
Keep your blog’s financial records tabulated. A simple Google Sheet bookkeeping method of your income and expenses is a great way to begin. You have spreadsheets with Google Workspace from your email account.
Earnestly consider your income and expenses and keep it lean to start. You may have home office, internet or supply expenses that your blog’s income could cover.
14 - Decide your financial structure
There are two main financial structures you can choose between. These structures differ in how taxes are handled and liability.
You can choose to be a sole proprietor or become an LLC.
Sole proprietorship means your blog’s income is mixed with your income, and when your blog makes money it may put you in a higher tax bracket. It also means the blog’s liability is also your liability.
Creating an LLC helps keep things cleaner. Your personal money and your blog’s money are two different entities. The LLC has its own liability separate from yours, so the LLC also offers personal legal protection.
Select one. If you choose the latter, meet with an accountant to set up the LLC filing.
15 - Maintain your blog
Your blog is now rolling! You’re publishing blogs, connecting with your audience via your newsletter list and social media accounts, and monetizing the traffic.
You’re well on your way to making income from sharing your expertise with those who are looking for it. Continue to publish new blog content monthly, aiming for at least 2-3 new posts per month.
Periodically go through your existing blogs to repair broken links and update your old content to keep things fresh. Annually review high performing content for potential areas of growth and cut low performing content to make room for new ideas that may do better with your audience.
You’re now a webmaster. Welcome to the club. These are the basic steps for setting up your simple blog.
In addition to being an extra income stream, blog management is fun! You get to share your passion with others while bringing in some financial support for your household.
Currently, we run 3 blogs, each with their own theme and each of them bring in additional income. And with a commitment to your passion, a desire to share your expertise and a bit of organization, you can too!
Other Articles You May Enjoy:
As a Squarespace and Mediavine Affiliate, this site earn from qualifying purchases.
