How Do You Monetize A Blog

Posted on July 1, 2015 | updated: March 22, 2023

How do you monetize a blog? There are a few key items needed to monetize a blog. Do you have them? Here is a list:

Internet traffic

Short list eh? Well in the amazing Internet-age, you can sell traffic! However, traffic is cheap and better used for alternative revenue streams such as:

Product sales
Advertising
Donations
Affiliate sales
Upsales
Email list generation
Lead generation

Typically, PPC sales sell your traffic for pennies per click. Unless you are in a highly competitive keyword realm, it will be pennies. Is this worth it? If you’re selling a widget, wouldn’t it be a bigger return to sell the widget or obtain the visitor’s contact information for future opportunities at sales?

For example, if I was selling a widget for $20 and say one in 2000 visitors make a purchase it could be said that each visitor is potentially worth a dollar. However, the visitor is worth more than that. He or she could be a source of brand development.

How do you monetize a blog

Instead of selling that visitor for say $0.05 to a PPC, the better value is in presenting your widget brand in a positive manner. This way, that visitor may not buy today but perhaps in the future or the brand awareness can help your word-of-mouth sales. This is the power of social media marketing as well. Brand awareness. ok I’m getting off track.

How do you monetize your blog? Develop your traffic funnel. Is your upsale on every landing page? Is your widget “buy now” link or button easy to find? How about your logo? Do you have a brand?

If you have ANY traffic, you should be analyzing it. Use Google Analytics, AWStats, Webalizer etc. What are your visitors doing? Do they land then bounce or click a link or two? How long are they on your website? Lost opportunities are wasted opportunities.

This all being said, don’t go and overload your site with advertisements and popups, driving your customers away. There is a balance and you must find it. Create case studies, experiment with different ideas/methods then use what works! Good luck out there!