How to Monetize Your Website’s Blog in 8 Simple Steps

If you have a blog on your website, chances are your blog page receives a significant percentage of the overall traffic that comes to your website. Let's consider the Hyperchat Social website. Our website hosted a total of 1,748 sessions and received a total of 3,146 page views in the month of August. 369 of those sessions were either on our blog home page or a specific blog post, and 460 of those page views were from views of our blog. That means over 20% of both our page views and website sessions were devoted solely to our blog! If your website has a substantial blog, then your Google Analytics will likely show similar stats, especially if you promote your blog on social media.

What's my point? Well, let me ask you - did you make money from any of the page views or blog sessions on your website last month? Did your company make any kind of sale because your website audience took the time to read your blog? If the answer is no, then this blog is exactly what you need to be reading right now.

Related: How to Write an Effective Blog

While one of the most significant purposes behind your blog is to connect with your audience and provide helpful tips, it can also be so much more than that! If your blog receives a lot of traffic, then you can use that traffic to really capitalize on the efforts your company puts into each post. Converting 20% of your website traffic into income won't exactly triple your sales in one year, but it can serve as a significant supplemental income. As a business owner, we know you constantly have ROI on the brain. You can easily get more bang for your buck by making some simple changes with your blog. We're going to give you some practical and easy strategies to turn your thoughtful words into income that you can use to further grow your business! Keep reading for our helpful tips.

Monetize Your Blog in 8 Simple Steps

Step 1: Google AdSense

One of the easiest ways to make money on your blog is through online ads. By hosting ads on your blog, you can generate income with every click on those ads. Of course, you want the ads on your blog to relate to your audience, and therefore drive clicks. If your blog revolves around personal finance tips, then host ads about other life improvement tips. Since readers are coming to your blog to see how they can improve their finances, then those same readers are highly likely to be interested in other ways they can improve their life. If your blog offers recipes and health and wellness tips, then your blog should host ads that revolve around those same topics; sports and fitness ads would be perfect.

Google AdSense makes choosing the right ads for your blog extremely easy. All you have to do is create an account with Google AdSense and you're all set! Click here to learn how to create a Google AdSense account.

Step 2: Charge for Premium Content

Have you ever been reading an article about a topic you were really interested in and suddenly stopped short because you had to subscribe to get the rest of the article? You're probably thinking of websites like the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. These websites charge a fee to access unlimited articles in order to create revenue for themselves. You can do the same with your blog! We recommend starting off with charging your readers for premium content such as a special blog post here and there. As you gain more subscribers, you can increase your premium content. Once you develop a significant subscriber following, you can start charging your readers for the majority or all of your content. Again, we recommend limiting your content gradually and not in one fell swoop. Taking all of your content away from your readers from the get-go can run the risk of losing your audience.

Step 3: Video Content

A great way to monetize your blog is, again, by offering premium content. The perfect premium content is video content! Among all types of content on social media, video consistently performs the best these days. By 2020, which is only a mere 4 short months away, online videos will make up more than 80% of all consumer internet traffic. 80%! That's crazy! If videos are performing so well on your social posts and email marketing, then it only makes sense that videos will instantly boost your blog engagement as well. Get ahead of the game now by filling your blog with video content. You can also offer this content as premium content and charge your readers to see it.

If you need a little more convincing, check out these stats:

• ⅓ of the time spent online is devoted to watching videos, according to Social Media Today.
• 45% of people watch Facebook or YouTube videos for an hour or more each week (Hubspot).
• Mobile video consumption rises 100% every year (YouTube).
• 82% of Twitter users watch tweets containing video content.

Wondering what social media stats have to do with your business? Well, the above stats directly impact business:

• Over 60% of social media users watch branded videos daily (Animoto).
• 64% of consumers say that watching a marketing video on Facebook influenced their purchasing decisions.
• Companies that market with video on social have a 27% higher click-through rate and 34% higher conversion rates than those that don't (Buffer).

That last statistic is huge! If you're not posting video content for your marketing strategy, then we highly suggest you start! What better way to begin than with the blog that you already spend your precious time on? If you need assistance with upgrading your blog, reach out to us!

Step 4: Amazon Associate

Everyone knows that Amazon is doing pretty well for themselves. Some would say they are reaching monopoly-level status in the e-commerce industry. Sounds like a partnership worth pursuing, wouldn't you think? And guess what? Amazon is actually eager to partner with bloggers because it believes blogs are a great strategy for boosting sales. If you have an Amazon Associate account, link it up to your blog to start producing sales from your posts. As an Amazon Associate, you can start displaying links and ads for Amazon products directly on your blog posts. If your readers make a purchase through the links on your blog, you get a commission. The fact that Amazon hosts a hugely diverse range of products sets them apart from other online affiliate programs. You can choose which products you want to promote on your blog - all you need is an active blog! For more information on how to incorporate your Amazon Associate account into your blog, click here.

Step 5: Secure Sponsored Posts/Write Sponsored Posts

This monetizing tip works really well for those of you who have lots of traffic on your blog. The more traffic you have coming to your blog, the higher the price you can sell it for. When you post a sponsored article on your blog, the most important thing to do is make sure you are as transparent as possible. You want to make sure your readers know that the post is sponsored. You can do this by adding in a quick tidbit at the beginning of your post that explains how the following article is sponsored by - you fill in the blank. The reason why we say transparency is so important is because Google penalizes websites that host sponsored links without saying they are sponsored.

While this is a great way to make money from your blog, it's not worth the risk if you try to trick your readers. We only recommend this monetizing tip if you are willing to be transparent with your readers.

Step 6: Sell eBooks

Another example of great premium content is eBooks. If your company is service-based and provides educational tips for your consumers, eBooks are a great avenue for your business. Instead of giving away your tips for free, put them in an eBook and charge your consumers to access your top-knowledge tips. EBooks serve as quality content for a business' marketing strategy today because they are a convenient way to provide knowledge to your audience. You can incorporate eBooks into your blog by pairing an eBook with a specific post. If you're writing a blog post about something that a lot of people struggle with, chances are high that an eBook will sell with that blog post. Problem-solving is always a smart route to take with your marketing strategy! You can promote your eBook directly on the post, or create a sales funnel and sell it on autopilot.

Step 7: Offer Personalized Training/Coaching

This monetizing tip goes hand-in-hand with selling eBooks. Offering training and coaching courses to your readers is simply another way to get your audience to pay for the information you can provide for them. Pairing this kind of content with a blog works well because, with each blog post, you are further proving your company as an expert in its field. Your blog is a perfect platform to promote coaching courses because it sets your company up as a trusted, knowledgeable source. Use this to your advantage by providing your knowledge for a fee. You'd be surprised at how many people are willing to pay in order to get their questions answered!

Step 8: Guest Blogging

Guest blogging can go two ways. First, you can host a guest post on your blog, and second, you can write a guest post for someone else's blog. While hosting guest posts doesn't produce income directly, it serves as an opportunity to bring more traffic to your blog. The more traffic to your site, the more chances you have of those individuals clicking on your ads, buying your content, etc. When choosing a guest blogger, make sure to choose someone that has a track record for producing quality content. You also want to get someone that has a lot of traffic coming to their blog.

The other way to make money from guest blogging is to charge other bloggers a fee to have you write a post for them. If your company is well-known in your area and you've developed a reputation for yourself, then you can easily make a lot of money by guest blogging. Check out these important tips for more information on guest blogging!

Monetizing your business' blog is just one step you can take to further your business' success and promote your brand. If you're looking for more ways to boost your brand, contact Hyperchat Social today and let's see how we can help you turn social into sales!