An intuitive guide to on how to make money with a blog. I try to make things short and to the point. But some introduction before we move on.

Why blog?

Because search engines love it. And blogs allow more interactions from users, which is a feature of web 2.0 buzz. There are also more capabilities than static web sites, such as pinging and tagging etc. The freshness of content and personalization make blogs appealing.

If you haven't yet run a blog, read on and get one. It is the primary building block for the whole process.

Choosing a blog platform

I recommend using WordPress.  But you also need a hosting. Click here for an affordable hosting solution. And a domain name is also necessary, if you opt for a hosting plan without a domain name included. There are also other platforms like TypePad, b2evolution, movabletype and Nucleus. But WordPress has a huge user base and lots of plugins to enhance blogging experience. It is the best script for our purpose. For convenience, I would use wordpress as the basis for our discussion.

Definitely, you can also use free blogs hosted online. Visit WordPress.com for more information. You may also use Blogger, which is user friendly and features rich. And also Tumblr. However with free blogs, you have limited control over functionalities and customizations. Plus you have to follow their TOS. In particular, Adsense is not allowed on WordPress.com.  A hosted solution will be the choice.

The Three Stages to Succeed

Once you have a blog ready, we can move on to the core. To make money on blogs, three major components cannot be missed out. They are content creation, monetization and traffic. I will talk about them separately in details.

Create your content

Content is king. And it is the very method to retain visitors to stay on your blog. You should provide value to visitors by giving what they want. This is a direct and long term strategy to build your reputation.

Three sources to fill your blog with content:

1. Write the content yourself.
2. Outsource it to ghostwriters or use PLR articles. I recommend plrpro if you plan to buy plr articles.
3. Use content from articles directory. Will post a dedicated list of directories soon.

In using the content, try to include relevant keywords to get a better ranking in search engines. Basically, you need to include main keyword in title and first paragraph, and theme keywords throughout the post. To get keywords ideas, try the following sites:

http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Wait, you seem to miss out one thing, right? I know, market research. It is a critical area to determine your success.  Best way to test a profitable market is to engage it. A general guide to assess a market is outlined below:

1. There are sufficient google ads. Competition indicates profit from a niche.
2. High search volumes. Check with wordtracker see if there is a demand.
3. Related affiliate programs. You need to find products you can promote related to your niche.

Check out ebay pulse, shopping.com and google trend to get niche ideas. You should opt for a general interest that can target a wider scope of audience. Ideally the niche can attract people to revisit your site regularly. And it is easy to expand horizontally. Yes big niches are highly competitive, but they are much more worthwhile to pursuit than a tiny niche.

Monetize your blog

There are tons of ways to make cash from your blog. Here are a few possibilities.

Ads placement

Such as Adsense and Adbrite. If you can make one dollar from a click, congratulation, you have picked a high profile niche. But there are some points to bear in mind with adsense:

1. Remove the border of your ads to blend with the background. Match the background color as well. You will want to integrate the ads with your site seamlessly.
2. Blue links induce clicks. After all, we perceive blue text to be clickable links.
3. In general, skyscraper works better than banners.

Sponsored Posting

Make money by looking for sponsors to advertise on your blog post. Usually the blog post is a review of a product. Sponsored posting services include PayPerPost, ReviewMe and SponsoredReviews. If you are good at writing reviews, this can generate a substantial income. But the blog you submit for reviews should be well established in order to lure advertisers to bid on.

Product Promotion

Sell your own products or promote a good from another merchant. You can look for products to promote from marketplaces such as Commission Junction, ClickBank and PayDotCom. There is a paypal widget which helps you sell online at ease.

Sell Text Links

Sell links on your blog from links brokerage service or forums. Text link ads is out of google. I recommend TNX for such online service.

Traffic

Everyone knows the importance of getting traffic. Here are the possible ways:

Bookmarking sites submissions

Use SocialMarker to aid the process. Remember to give useful tags. A list can be found here.

Article Directories

Write articles and submit them with a link back to your site. Traditional marketing. My top favorites are ezinearticles, searchwarp and goarticles. Note that the directories usually allow you to include link at the end of an article or in your author resource box.

Site directories

Submit your site to web directories for inclusion. In particular, submit to blog directories like BlogCatalog.

Web 2.0 assets

Promote your sites on MySpace, Squidoo, Hubpages and so on. Many of these receive high ranking in search engine results and help you enter a niche.

Conclusion

Yes that are definitely more in details to cover in each area. I have just outlined an overall picture on how to make money from online blogs. These have to been dealt in depth in future posts. I will make updates with this post when necessary.