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How to Start a Blog in 2022: 7 Easy Steps

You might not think so, but trust us, starting a blog in 2022 is just as valuable as starting a blog was back in 2002.

Why? Well, these days, knowing how to start a blog is much easier and faster, thanks to website builders like Zyro.

It’s also more valuable for your business as many companies use their own blog to communicate directly with their customers.

Sure, you can still make money blogging about your favorite products, movies, or sports teams. 

This blog post will teach you how to set up a blog that will really convert in 2022.

We will cover all of the following easy steps:

  1. Choose a niche for your blog
  2. Choose a name and register your domain 
  3. Get web hosting 
  4. Design your blog
  5. Write and publish your content
  6. Promote your blog
  7. Monetize your blog

So, with that said, let’s get started and learn how to start a blog in 2022.

How to start a blog: video tutorial

If you prefer visual learning, why not check out this quick and easy video tutorial on how to start a blog with Zyro — it only take a few minutes.

Step 1. Choose your blog’s niche

Choosing your blog’s niche is one of the most important steps to think about when understanding what it takes to run a blog that will make money.

A successful blog should be focused on something specific because having a niche makes it much easier to build an audience of people who are interested in your content.

Think about it from a monetary standpoint — if you want return visitors (and you do) you should keep talking about the same thing that got them hooked in the first place. That way, when it comes to advertising or offering affiliate products, you will already know the things that will appeal to your readers (but more on that later).

When you have a niche, you can be pretty certain that readers who are interested in specific blog posts will also be interested in others and that will help you to build momentum for all your other content.

Choosing your niche isn’t as difficult as you might think. Here are five basic tips to help you get started:

  • Choose a topic you know plenty about
  • Make sure you’re passionate enough to write about it every day
  • Check to see that other blogging platforms haven’t cornered the market
  • Consider the viability of affiliate marketing in your niche
  • Find out if you will be able to rank for your biggest keywords

No matter what niche you pick, the first thing you need to do is brainstorm some ideas to start your blogging journey.

Brainstorm ideas

If you can say yes to the five key points listed above then it’s time to start brainstorming ideas in preparation for your first blog post.

Starting a successful blog isn’t easy, but if you pick the right blog theme it will definitely make your life in the blogging world much less stressful.

Here’s some handy advice on proven ways to brainstorm successful blog ideas:

  • Scour your hobbies
  • Check Google Trends for consistent search volume 
  • Choose a specific industry
  • Look for reliable data that can support your niche
  • Run a content gap analysis
  • Consider your customer base
  • Create a list of possible affiliates
  • Consider the viability of search engine optimization

You should be able to add information about every idea that you come up with on each of the previous criteria. If you find that there is plenty of data, you could be looking at your new blog niche.

But, most importantly, make sure that you make a list of topics and ask yourself if you will really enjoy learning about that topic and make sure to stay away from generic words and topics as you will never rank for these on Google.

Areas that are a good starting point for your blogging journey could be:

  • Life experiences
  • A personal blog
  • Hobbies 
  • Passions

Pick the topic you are passionate about

Blog post ideas shouldn’t be hard to think of. Remember, you’re probably going to need to write a new blog post everyday so it stands to reason that you should pick something that you are passionate about.

Your blog content needs to be consistent and your blog posts need to be interesting and informative so for that reason you should pick something you enjoy talking about and also pick something where you won’t run out of ideas.

Ask yourself: 

  • Will I be able to have consistent blog content?
  • Can I create (or become part of) a loyal blogging community?
  • Who are the other bloggers in my niche that could write guest blog posts?
  • Do I know enough to start blogging and be specific, actionable, and become a thought leader in my field?

Good examples of topics to start blogging about could be your favorite football team, a particular music genre, or a growth industry.

If you’re already a successful blogger and you know the ins and outs on how to start a blog, why not start a blog about starting a blog — after all, that’s what we do here at Zyro.

Tracking data on a computer screen

Do the market and keyword research

Even the best idea on paper might not be supported by the data and if we have one huge tip on how to start a blog for success in 2022 it is this:

Follow the data.

Across the world, big data is dominating the narrative so why would things be any different if you want to start a blog?

Before you write your first blog post, you need to do research to see if it’s something others are interested in as well.

No matter what blogging platform you want to use when starting a blog, or your shortlist of blog content — the fate of your entire blog theme and all your blog posts relies on the data and here’s how to find it.

First and foremost, you need to use Google Trends.

Google Trends eCommerce graph

Google Trends is your friend because it allows you to search your topic on Google and check the results.

More than that though, Google Trends offers insights on search volume over time, basic keyword information, and related search terms that you can use to think of new blog posts and ideas that your community might be interested in before you start.

When you are ready to dive deeper into the viability of your blog post ideas, you should use Adwords Keyword Planner.

Adwords Keyword Planner is a free tool from Google that will help you choose the right keywords for your blog post. 

You need to create an account and do your research on this platform before you start blogging to find out if your blog is going to be viable, but also profitable.

Check if it’s profitable

Knowing how to start a blog is one thing, but knowing how to start a blog that will be profitable in the long run is another thing entirely.

You can forget about writing that first blog post and building the blog of your dreams if you can’t definitively say yes to this one simple question:

  • Will I be able to profit from this topic?

It might not be romantic, but in the era of the gig economy and the side hustle the question of how to start a blog is intimately related to the question of how to make money blogging (don’t worry, we will be covering that in detail, too).

So, before you decide to install WordPress choose a fancy WordPress theme – or any other blogging platform for that matter – and start blogging, you might want to take a second to look at products on Amazon and consider if you could make money blogging about them.

Ask yourself:

  • Could you sell this product with an affiliate link on your own blog?
  • Are other bloggers already selling products like this one?
  • Is there scope for you to one day make your own product and sell it through your blog?
  • Will you be able to sell advertising space to leading brands?
  • Is there room for content marketing?
  • Do other bloggers in your niche have a solid monetary framework?

If the answer to all these questions is yes, then you could be looking at the topic for your very own blog.

But, before you pull the trigger on your first blog post and start blogging full time, you need to stop and think about some vital administrative concerns.

A person typing on a laptop indoors

Step 2. Choose a name and register your domain 

Okay, we know that you are desperate to get that first blog post online, but there is no point in starting a blog unless you are sure that you can secure your blog name with a custom domain that readers will flock to.

So, now that you know your niche, you need to figure out your new blog name and lock down that domain.

Here are some simple tips on what makes a great new blog name and how to choose a domain name:

  • Your new blog domain name needs to be descriptive. Let your readers know exactly what to expect with a domain.
  • Your new blog domain name needs to be on-brand. It doesn’t matter which blog platform you choose if your domain doesn’t make sense for your brand. All the Google Analytics in the world won’t help you increase your traffic if you choose a poor blog name.
  • Your blog domain name should consider your target audience. Think about specific themes that are meaningful to your new blog audience.
  • Your new blog domain name should be easy to pronounce and spell. New bloggers need to know that their own domain is the core of their business. Make sure people can find it online by making it easy for your audience to understand.
  • Your new blog domain name should include keywords. If your new blog posts and blog post title have keywords in your new blog domain needs keywords, too. Adding keywords to your domain will help readers find you online and help you to publish content that will stay on brand.

Okay, now that you have considered all of the factors above, it is time to get creative with your domain.

If you need inspiration, why not try Zyro’s own AI powered Business Name Generator. Simply, enter some keywords related to your blog theme and our free tool will generate loads of SEO friendly blog title ideas in just a few clicks. 

Register the domain name

If you want to create a blog, you’re going to need to know about registering a domain name.

Luckily, your blogging platform of choice probably also sells domain names and Zyro is no exception. 

On Zyro, you can find your dream top level blog domain name, register it, get blog hosting, create a blog, and bring the whole thing online in just a few minutes. It’s what makes Zyro the perfect choice for new bloggers and old hands alike.

First off, you need to check if your blog name is available as a domain name and you can do that by entering your desired name in our domain search tool.

Zyro domain name generator landing page

From here, you can see all of the top level domains that are available for your choice such as .com, .net, and more.

Usually, top level domains like these cost more than domains like .xyz, and .biz. When you are starting a blog, time is money and every penny counts so listen up — you can get a free domain name for your blog with Zyro and here’s how.

Free domain names are part of the package at Zyro. When you sign up for any website plan for more than 12 months we will give you a free domain name, it is as simple as that.

Your free domain will be yours to keep for the first year of your subscription and after that (once your blog is self-sufficient in terms of money) it will renew at our market-leading prices.

Now that you have got your domain name wrapped up you need to secure blog hosting. Blog hosting, and web hosting generally, can be tricky to navigate, but with Zyro you can get free hosting for your blog posts forever.

Step 3. Get reliable web hosting with Zyro

Choosing the right hosting provider is just as important as choosing the right blogging platform when you’re starting a blog.

Your hosting provider needs to be reliable, scalable, safe, affordable and more and that is where Zyro comes in to help you get your blog online.

Zyro offers all users free web hosting forever (unlike any other web hosting company) and we guarantee that your free hosting plan will scale with your blog as it grows and it will always be reliable, fast, and secure.

Advantages of using Zyro for web hosting

All web hosting companies offer different benefits depending on your individual needs. That said, your web host and hosting plan should make some basic guarantees.

Zyro, on the other hand, is a great option as a hosting company because every hosting plan is secured by Hostinger, one of the world’s largest, most reliable, and most trusted blog hosting providers.

Here is exactly what you can expect from Zyro blog hosting:

  • 99.9% uptime 
  • Cloud VPN server safety
  • Lightning fast speed
  • Instantly scalable
  • 24/7 live customer Service
  • Unbeatable price (it’s free)
  • Free domain name

Costs of Zyro blog hosting

It’s free, forever, as soon as you sign up to any Zyro website plan. 

Sure you can find free blogging sites out there but you will only be able to create a blog with limited functionality and you will still have to pay for your hosting plan and for your domain.

With Zyro, you can build a professional website from just a few dollars per month and you can get free hosting and a free domain with annual plans. You just can’t beat that level of affordability when you want to start a blog.

Even though you can’t beat free hosting for affordability, let’s take a second to compare with some of the most popular website hosting companies on the market.

How much do web hosting plans cost?

It might sound obvious, but the short answer is that website hosting costs are different depending on the hosting company that you choose.

There are plenty of variables to consider such as whether you are going to choose shared hosting or a dedicated server.

The subscription period also makes a difference and paying yearly is often cheaper than paying monthly.

Here are some blog hosting account costs:

  • Inmotion shared hosting starts from $5.99/month
  • HostGator ranges from $2.75/month to $5.95/month
  • A BlueHost account starts from $2.95/month
  • A2 Hosting starts at $2.99/month

So, whether you want to open a BlueHost account or go with a self-hosted WordPress blog, you can still expect to pay more in total when you consider domain costs and website builder fees than when you get an all-in-one package from Zyro.

Zyro plan pricing

Zyro website pricing is some of the most affordable on the market with website plans starting at just a few dollars per month and eCommerce pricing starting at just under $10 per month for users that want to start an online store.

Whichever option you choose, we guarantee free web hosting for life and we will automatically scale your website hosting package as your website grows so you will never have to worry about upgrading your service — it will always be included.

Starting a blog with Zyro is not just the most affordable option, it’s the easiest and fastest way to do it, too.

If you do want to start a blog with Zyro then you’re in luck because we are about to guide you through everything that you need to know, step by step.

Person drawing web design flows by hand

Step 4. Design your blog

Let’s talk about blog design. Blog design can make or break a successful blog and when you are starting a blog for the first time it is natural that blog design is going to be at the top of your mind.

At Zyro, we want to make every aspect of starting a blog as easy as possible and that is why we have developed a website builder that will let you create a blog in under one hour — you can’t say fairer than that.

After you register with Zyro, it is time to start work on the design of your blog (don’t worry, your first blog post isn’t far away).

Design is important, very important actually, and it’s not just about looks, either. User experience, SEO, and navigation are all elements that you need to consider in blog design.

That might sound daunting to some people that are looking to start a blog and that is why Zyro will take care of all of that for you.

You might not know this but the design of your blog can actually impact your SEO and how likely it is that search engines will find your blog.

When you start a blog you need to make sure that you keep the layout clear and simple, have well-linked pages, and offer an intuitive user interface on mobile devices and desktops.

Google and other search engines are able to track all of those things and that is why Zyro uses designer-made website templates to make sure all of those issues are sorted before you type a single word.

Every blog template on Zyro is there to help you start blogging fast and grow your audience as quickly as possible with high-quality website traffic.

Zyro blog vs WordPress blog

So, one of the big questions for anyone looking to start a blog is “what platform should I use?”

Well, there are several answers but the one that everyone has heard of is WordPress. Even if you’ve never blogged before in your life you probably know that most of the world’s websites are made with WordPress and that is why so many people think of it first when starting a blog.

But, for beginners and new starters, a WordPress blog isn’t always the best option. 

It can be complicated to install WordPress, get to grips with the WordPress dashboard, find a suitable WordPress theme, and make sure you’re installing only safe WordPress plugins (more on that later). And what about a self-hosted WordPress blog and WordPress.ord vs WordPress.com?

It’s complicated and we will explain why in just a second but first let’s think about what makes Zyro a great option for anyone starting a blog in 2022.

Starting a blog with Zyro

The easiest way to understand why starting a blog with Zyro is easier than starting a blog with WordPress is for all the issues we just mentioned above about starting a WordPress blog.

On Zyro, everything is taken care of for you in one affordable package. That means free web hosting that is automatically connected to your website. A free custom domain name for your brand new blog, and the ability to add a blog section to any website.

You don’t need to fuss around finding the perfect WordPress theme. Instead, you only need to select a blog template and drag and drop the elements and features that you want to see on your website.

What’s more, you can get it for as little as a few dollars per month, now that’s a bargain when you consider that some WordPress themes can cost upwards of $100 and you don’t even know if you will like it or not.

That’s the difference between website builders and WordPress. With a website builder, you don’t need to install WordPress. You don’t need to install anything at all because when you start a blog with a website builder everything is in one place.

Just take a look at these inspirational blog examples built on website builders to get an idea of the possibilities when you don’t start a WordPress blog.

Zyro blog template landing page

Select the template

Before you go any further, the first thing you need to do when you start a blog is to choose a template.

On Zyro, a blog template is similar to a WordPress theme on a WordPress blog but it is much easier to edit and won’t cost you anything either.

When selecting a design to help you start the perfect blog there are a few things you should keep in mind:

  • Readability. This is number one. There’s no point going all out on the design if no one can read the words of your blog.
  • Clear design. Similar to point one, you don’t want to distract from the text with too many moving parts. Many WordPress themes can become distracting, especially free WordPress themes which have not been professionally designed.
  • Comments. They say never read the comments but this is where you’re going to grow audience engagement and keep people coming back for more.

Now, those are the basics, but there are always more things that you can want from your website. 

The great thing about Zyro is that you can add any element to any template you like. Just because a template is listed under “Photography” doesn’t mean it can’t be a blog. You just have to add a blog page (more on that soon).

To choose a template for your blog, visit our templates and choose from the newest designs, and most popular themes, or search for a template that will suit your blog topic.

Customize the look

Once you’ve found your dream template, it is time to customize the design. 

On Zyro, it couldn’t be easier to customize your blog exactly the way you want. Our drag-and-drop editor lets you customize absolutely everything about your chosen template by simply clicking it to move it around or edit it in any way you like.

Just click on any element to edit colors, fonts, shapes, sizes, images, videos and so much more.

Zyro builder mockup

You can even double tap on any element to edit its settings. Whether that is a small thing like the font size or important SEO settings like image alt texts.

Of course, the most important parts to edit will be your blog images and your header. For that, you’ll need a great logo for your blog.

Luckily, that’s where the Zyro AI Logo Maker comes in handy. With our free logo maker tool you can generate hundreds of professional logo images for your blog in the blink of an eye.

Zyro logo maker mockup

Simply enter a few keywords about your blog and give the logo maker an idea of your niche and it will take care of the rest. 

Zyro is all about giving you the tools you need to get your blog online faster. We know that when you have an editorial calendar to worry about the faster you can create an eye-catching professional blog logo the better.

Step 5. Writing blogs and publishing your content

So, it’s obvious that we recommend Zyro, but really, you can use the content management system or website builder of your choice. 

Once you have picked it, the rules about how to write blog posts and publish them are very similar, no matter which one you choose.

Brainstorm blog post topics

Before you start writing, it’s good to take some time and come up with a list of different topics for potential articles

This way, you’ll be able to start planning your content schedule and can group similar topics together. 

A simple Google search helps you understand the types of keywords your topics could cover, but can also simply help you get inspired in the first place. 

By planning and researching your various article ideas, you’ll be able to link to other relevant articles and use data to back up your points. You don’t want to get called out for not having checked the facts before publishing, right? 

At this stage, it’s also good to keep an eye out on what competitors and other sources who cover the same topics as you are doing. 

Competitor research helps you gather ideas for the overall outline and structure of your post, but it can also help you get a clearer idea of what doesn’t get covered by others writing about the same topic. 

Create a compelling headline

A good headline helps you catch the attention of readers. Ideally, you want your headline to give readers a reason to click on your post and keep reading. 

But how do come up with a showstopper of a headline, then? 

One easy way to get past writer’s block is to use Zyro’s blog title generator. Simply tell the AI the category of your post, and it will auto-generate different headlines to choose from. 

As a general rule of thumb, good headlines are topical and describe how the audience benefits from reading the piece. If you’re using a listicle format in your content, it’s a good idea to indicate this in your title, too: 

❌ Popular cat toys for cats of any age 

✅ 10 most popular cat toys in 2022 

Know your audience when writing blog posts

You shouldn’t just be writing for yourself when you’re blogging. Sure, you’re not churning out essays for school, but your blog isn’t a diary, either – you should keep your readers in mind at all times. 

Start by defining the type of content you’re wanting to publish and your ideal reader. What do they value? What do they struggle with? How can your content help them move towards their goals? 

Ideally, your blog should be adding value to your readers and offer them actionable and tangible solutions to things they find challenging. 

On top of dishing out knowledge to your readers, you want to develop your unique voice and generally create original and interesting content. 

Being honest and transparent are important attributes for building a strong brand for your blog. Make sure you’re clear about any promotional content you’re sharing in your blog, and make your audience aware of any affiliate links, for instance. 

For maximum effect, it’s also good practice to use images and other visual aids as part of your articles. This way, you’ll make the reading experience more user-friendly, and can demonstrate abstract concepts easier. 

Letters SEO on White Background

Remember to optimize for SEO

You should also remember to keep your blog SEO-friendly

This way, you’ll be able to make your content seen by people who are looking for articles discussing the topic they are searching for in the first place. 

Keyword research

Start by understanding the types of keywords people type into Google that relate to your blog and the content you want to produce. 

The point of keyword research is to identify the right search terms that you want to include in your piece. This way, Google can better understand that your content is relevant to a particular search query and should be served as the top search result for the user. 

The best keywords are usually highly relevant to what you’re writing about, fit naturally into your content, and have the right level of traffic and difficulty when it comes to ranking. 

This means that if you write about cars, you’d have a better chance of ranking for long-tail keywords like ‘best four-wheel driving cars’ rather than simply ‘cars’. 

Tools like Ahrefs are useful for conducting research on the keywords you could target and those that your competitors are ranking for.  

Meta tags

Once you have identified your keywords, it’s important to not just include them in your copy, but also in the metadata of your web pages. 

This helps Google to understand the content of your page, and display it accordingly in the search results. 

Plus, as the meta title and description are the first things potential readers see of your article, meta tags can also be used as free advertising real estate for your blog overall. 

Most often, you should include your focus keyword in your meta title, URL, and the meta description.

Use meta length checkers to ensure that you’re not exceeding the character limits and get the most out of your meta tags in the first place. 

In the eyes of Google, the more links there are to and from your web page, the better. 

This means that you should prioritize linking to relevant articles within your blog, but also reach out to other websites and blogs and ask them to link to your piece, too. 

A good way to include the right internal links in your articles is to introduce a list of related reading on the topic in each post, and regularly go through your posts and add links to newer content. 

Check things work on mobile

Last but not least, it’s important to make sure your blog both looks and works as it should on smaller screens.

Since Google places a lot of importance on mobile-friendliness, not optimizing your blog for mobile devices could seriously hurt your changes of ranking at the top of the search results. 

The good news is that all Zyro websites are mobile-responsive by default, meaning that you simply need to toggle between desktop and mobile views in order to double-check your content looks nice before you publish. 

Tablet on a table next to a plant, glasses and a coffee cup

Step 6. Promote your blog

You’ve published your blog, and you’ve got enough content scheduled for the next few weeks, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get promoting. 

The better you can promote your blog, the more traffic you will drive to your site. And more traffic equals money-making opportunities. 

With plenty of digital marketing options to choose from, you can get started with a low budget or spend a bit upfront to get your blog off the ground.

Share your blog with friends, family, and colleagues

Don’t shy away from getting your inner circle buzzing about your blog – instead, encourage your friends, family and other acquintances to share your site with their friends. 

Referral marketing can be a powerful tool when it comes to building an engaged audience. 

Since people tend to trust a testimonial or recommendation from a friend, getting your inner cicle buzzing about your blog can help build credibility for your content in the eyes of a distant acquaintance. 

Social media

Reach new users and start building a community around your niche by promoting your blog on social media. 

Instagram content screenshot

Consider opening social media accounts for your blog specifically, even if you already use your personal accounts to share your new content with your loved ones. 

With blog-specific accounts, you can build a brand around your blog, partner up with other businesses, run giveaways and engage with your readers. 

Email marketing

By collecting email addresses through your blog, you’ll be able to build an email marketing list and set up an email marketing strategy for your blog. 

Running a newsletter makes it easy to let readers and your blog community know when you’ve published new content. 

Plus, it lends itself well to promoting affiliate campaigns or running competitions and giveaways – after all, you’re interacting with an engaged audience. 

Just remember to make sure you’re transparent when it comes to third-party content and promotional material. Be careful when picking email marketing campaigns: make sure they fit your values and overall niche well. 

It’s also important to be explicit about what readers sign up for when they subscribe to your newsletter. If you plan to use your email list for marketing activities, make sure people know they will receive marketing communications from time to time. 

Paid ads

If you’ve got a bit of money to spare, consider paying for advertising space on various websites and social media sites. 

Google ads

While paid ads do require some upfront spending, they are usually a great tool for driving traffic to your blog at the very start, helping your site grow. 

By paying for ad space, you’re also able to make a wider range of people aware of your blog, that you might not otherwise reach. 

Guest posting

In essence, guest blogging or guest posting refers to the practice of writing an article on someone else’s blog or website. 

It’s a popular way of promoting your blog, as it helps you get noticed by people who probably haven’t discovered your blog yet, but are interested in the same topics that you write about. 

Most commonly, you’re in charge of producing and writing your guest post or reworking an existing piece of content to suit the blog or website you’re guest posting for.

Often, guest posting is free, too, making it a great way to promote your blog, gain natural traffic and links back to your site. 

With millions of articles published every single month, it’s not easy to get noticed by bigger audiences. By guest posting at bigger publications, you’ll be able to showcase your expertise in your niche and give readers a reason to visit your blog in the first place. 

Online forums

Similar to choosing a niche for your blog, rather than writing about everything and anything, targeting particular online forums and communities can be a more effective way to promote your blog. 

Often, the right dedicated online communities are already interested in the topics you write about. Not only will you have better chances of getting repeat visitors to your blog this way, but you will also be able to spark meaningful conversations and build a community around your blog, too. 

Facebook is a great place to start. Focus on Facebook Groups with more than a few thousand members, or shift through related tags on LinkedIn, subreddits on Reddit, or other standalone forums on the topic. 

Just remember to be mindful: forums and niche groups aren’t a place to spam with links to your newest articles. You should always aim to provide extra value with your content to your audience.

Becoming an engaged member of the community with something valuable to add to the conversation is usually a better way to go about promoting your blog on forums. 

Plant growing from a pot of money

Step 7. Monetize your blog

Once you’ve got a steady stream of traffic to your blog, it’s time to start making money. 

There are many ways to turn your traffic into a side income stream or make blogging your full-time gig. 

Become a freelance blogger

If you enjoy blogging, why not make it your day job? 

As a freelance blogger, you’re able to earn money while writing articles for various clients. On top of just writing, freelance bloggers are also responsible for researching, structuring, and producing content, and addressing clients’ comments in the review and approval process. 

Most often, it’s wise to specialize in a particular writing niche – this way, you can build topical expertise and market your services to a more focused target audience. 

Freelance bloggers can also specialize in content updates, case studies, SEO research and consulting, content planning, ghostwriting, and copywriting – basically, the world is your oyster. 

As a freelance blogger, you’re basically a one-person content marketing agency.  

Sell and create online courses

Creating and selling online courses through your blog can be a great way to generate passive income. 

For example, if you blog about marketing, you could think about setting up a digital marketing course for beginners. 

Start by researching the topic you want to base your course on and determining how popular and in-demand it is at the moment. Ideally, your course should be related and relevant to your blog niche, helping you establish yourself as a thought leader within your niche. 

Once you have a solid course idea, think about heh format you want to offer your course in. Video courses require more work and skills to produce, but can be often sold for a higher price compared to text-based courses. 

You need to also consider whether you want to host your course somewhere online, or make it a downloadable product to sell through your blog. 

Looking for more inspiration?

Sell Digital Downloads: 6 Ideas to Start Making Money 💸

How To Create Digital Products That Actually Make Money

Enroll in affiliate programs

Affiliate programs are a wonderful way to make some cash on the side, with relatively little effort. 

Zyro affiliate program landing page

Affiliate marketing is basically based on referrals: you promote different products and services on your blog and get paid for each successful referral or sale. 

Most affiliate programs are commission-based, meaning that for each sale you get a small percentage of the total order value. 

Getting started with affiliate marketing is easy: start by determining the types of affiliate campaigns that suit your niche and complement your content overall. You want to avoid featuring affiliate campaigns that don’t suit your blog – this results in a poor user experience and probably few, if any, sales. 

Instead, look for campaigns and programs that are a natural fit to your niche. For example, if you blog about travel and have a post about your favorite camping equipment, you could include affiliate links to the different types of camping gear naturally. 

However, if you encourage readers to visit a skin supplement store in the same article instead, you’re unlikely to see any conversions. 

Offer banner ads

You could also monetize the empty space on your website and sell advertising space for banner ads. 

Start by determining your prices and overall pricing structure. Do you want to charge advertisers based on the number of views an ad gets, or get a cut every time someone clicks on the banner instead? 

Consider also the positions available on your blog for ads, and how valuable different sections of your website are. For example, a big banner ad on the home page of your blog could be worth more than a small banner at the bottom of an individual page or article. 

It’s worth creating a separate page on your website for advertisers: this way, you can detail the different types of ads you support, include information about pricing, and so on. 

Selling ad space can require some outreach work, but you can also register on different networks as a publisher, meaning the network can place different types of ads on your website based on a selection of criteria you have for the ads. 

Sell sponsored posts

It’s also not a bad idea to monetize your actual posts. 

Especially if you’re already enrolled in a few affiliate programs and sell banner ads, putting a price tag for companies to publish sponsored advertorials on your blog is a great way to generate revenue. 

Start by doing some market research and getting an idea of how many blogs that are a similar size to yours charge for sponsored posts. 

Like with all advertising, make sure the sponsored content you accept suits your niche and overall values. Since the sponsored articles will be published on your website, your audience will expect that the content generally fits your blog.  

Sell products

You could also sell your own products on your blog – it’s especially easy with platforms like Zyro.

If you’ve worked towards building your blog into a brand in its own rights, you could whitelabel or use a dropshipping platform to create your own merchandise line. 

Or, if you want to create and sell unique products, start by conducting product research and getting in touch with different manufacturers. 

It’s true that running an online store can mean a little more work: on top of keeping the online storefront neat, you need to also sort out order fulfillment and shipping, and keep inventory of your products, among other things. 

But if you have a dedicated audience willing to spend, you could look at making a serious profit from a couple of well-made merchandise pieces. 

Ready to start your own blog?

You should now know exactly what you need to do in order to become the next blogging phenomenon. 

By choosing the right niche and platform for your needs, you’ll set yourself up for success in the long run. And by consistently creating and publishing new content, and promoting your work to your audience and beyond, you should see your blog take off in style eventually. 

Looking for more inspiration? 

17 Blogging Tips for Beginners: Stand Out and Cash In

How to start a blog FAQs

When you want to start a blog it is natural to have a few questions. That’s why our experts have compiled a list of answers to the most common questions on how to start and run a blog in 2022.

How do I start a blog for free?

There are many platforms that will allow you to start a blog for free. 

However, these platforms will either ask you to put large adverts all over your content, restrict your storage and bandwidth, or ask you to pay the second that you want to publish your first blog post. 

At Zyro, we’re upfront about our prices. For a few dollars per month, you will get access to unlimited resources for your blog as well as our whole suite of SEO and AI tools to help you grow your audience.

How do bloggers get paid?

Bloggers get paid in a lot of different ways. These days, one of the most common ways for a blogger to get paid is by offering affiliate links in their content. 

Once a blogger has built a loyal audience in a certain niche, they monetize their content by offering recommendations of products that they think their audience will like. Each time a reader buys that product, the blogger will take a cut. 

Many bloggers consider this to be a more natural way to make money than on-site advertising. However, there are also many subscription and donation options available to bloggers through platforms like Patreon. 

In order to make money blogging, the main challenge is building a large and loyal audience. That’s why platforms such as Zyro are so useful as they will help your blog grow much faster.

Does it cost money to start a blog?

Yes, it will always cost money to start a blog. Even if you opt for one of the so-called “free blogging” platforms there will still be a price to pay. 

For example, you could create a free blog with a self-hosted WordPress account. But, to get that blog online you would need to get hosting, that would mean paying money for a Bluehost account or a similar service. Finally, you’d need to pay a yearly fee for your domain. 

With Zyro, all of that is included in the regular fee of just a few dollars per month. No hidden fees and you will get a lightning-fast website, free reliable hosting, and a free custom domain name included in the price. 

It’s all part of what we believe makes a Zyro site better than a WordPress site when you want to start a blog — no hidden extras and no coding problems.

How do I choose a name for my blog?

Choosing a name for your blog can be tricky but the best way to do it is to take a moment to think about your niche and the topics that you will be writing about. 

Will your blog name resonate with your audience? If the answer is yes, then you can move on to asking yourself: is my blog name catchy? Will it stick in the minds of my readers? 

A good way to solve that problem is to look for keywords in your target area with a keyword tool like Google Keyword Planner. After that, try to make sure that it is easy to spell and remember so that people can find you online and check that there are not many competitors with similar domain names. 

If you’re still out of luck you can use the Zyro AI business name generator to help you find the perfect domain for your blog. Once you’ve found it, head over to Zyro domains to secure it today.

What if my domain is taken?

Don’t worry, if your dream domain is already taken there are several ways to get around that and find an even better name. 

Of course, the first tip is to return to step one and start brainstorming another domain name for your blog but if you don’t want to do that there are other ways to get around this problem. You could start by using Zyro’s AI business name generator or alternatively, Zyro’s AI Blog Title Generator might help you come up with some new ideas. 

Some people might recommend that you simply choose a new ending for your domain name but be aware that this option may cause originality issues and your audience may confuse your blog with a different business which could reduce your traffic. 

Worse, you may not be able to rank with that domain name and in the worst-case scenario, you could be using a trademarked brand name which could bring unnecessary legal issues for your blog. 

If you ask us, the best method is to brainstorm with our tools and find your new favorite domain name, then secure it as quickly as possible.

How do I optimize my blog for search engines (SEO)?

Optimizing your blog for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the most important aspects of starting a blog. 

There are many important factors to consider when trying to improve your SEO but the most important one by far is finding the right keywords. Keywords are the most commonly used terms when people write content on a certain topic. 

For search engines to agree that your content is worthwhile, they check whether you are writing about something relevant by looking for keywords in your content. To find keywords you can use a tool like MOZ, Google Keyword Planner, or Surfer. However, this can be pricey and time-consuming. 

An easy way to optimize your blog is to use a trusted website builder. Trusted website builders benefit from great code structure and mobile-friendly websites which is a huge advantage for SEO as search engines can tell when a website is poorly built. 

With a website builder like Zyro, you simply don’t have to worry about that because our code is top notch whatever you do – you just have to drag and drop. Once that is sorted, you should use SEO tools on every page to set the meta-titles and descriptions so that search engines know what each page on your blog is about. 

Finally, start writing great content. As you write more high-quality content, search engines will view your site as more trustworthy and you will start getting backlinks from other trusted websites. You can speed up this process by reaching out to partners in your field with good domain authority.

What should I blog about?

You should blog about what you know and what you are passionate about. 

That is the simple answer because building a blog requires that you publish good quality content as regularly as possible. Many successful blogs publish new content every day. That is a tight editorial calendar and not strictly necessary. 

If you can prove that you can create an incredible in-depth 15,000 blog post on marketing, for example, people will wait around for another one. It’s all about finding a balance between output quality and quantity. 

If you’re stuck for ideas, one good way to write engaging content that will resonate with your readers is to check your Google Analytics account and see where your readers are coming from. Got a sports blog and you see huge traffic coming from Facebook? How about a post about how Facebook is changing sports content? 

It’s a safe bet that this kind of content is going to engage readers because you can see how it directly impacts their day-to-day experience. At the end of the day, the more engagement and interactions that you get with your blog posts the more successful your blog is going to be in the long run.

Is blogging worth it in 2022?

Yes, blogging is definitely still worth it in 2022. 

The reason that people ask this question is that blogging has changed a lot since it became popular in the late 90s and early 00s. Back then it was much easier to find a chunk of the internet that you could make your own simply by writing whatever is on your mind. 

These days, blogging is definitely more business-minded and for many people it is a business in itself. Many companies use blogs to provide extra context and a direct line of communication to their customers. 

Most successful blogs offer insights into tertiary industries like marketing, business development, technology, and more. In this way, blogs can piggyback off the huge success and proliferation of these industries, offering insider tips as well as making predictions for the future. 

Many successful bloggers are considered thought leaders in their respective fields and their content is in high demand. Whether by subscription, advertising, or affiliate marketing, bloggers can still earn a lot of money in 2022. 

Another added benefit? Once you have built a successful blog you can count yourself as a self-taught SEO expert and you can either blog about that or offer your services as a consultant. There are plenty of hidden benefits to blogging that many people simply don’t talk about.

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Author avatar

Matleena

Matleena is a seasoned eCommerce writer, with a particular interest in emerging digital marketing trends, dropshipping, and growth hacking. She’s addicted to coming up with new eCommerce business ideas and making them a reality; she deserves her nickname of ‘print on demand business mogul.' In her free time, she enjoys cups of good coffee, tends to her balcony garden, and studies Japanese.

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