Setting up a blog

I think it goes by key words, that would be used by adsense and how your blog would relate to a certain topic and views.

http://support.google.com/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=42534

Sounds like a good idea, wish you all the best

francohoops wrote: »

Hi
I plan to set up a blog and update weekly, mainly just for enjoyment, but I understand that you can actually make some cash through ads etc.

Does anyone have experience of this? What sums are we talking about?

Any suggestions about the best blog providers? I was looking at Google, but I'm very new to all this.

Thanks in advance
F

Blogs can be a fun way to get your message out there and to tap in to an audience that would otherwise be unknown. You can either use the free or paid option with blog businesses like -

Wordpress.com
Blogger
Blog Yahoo
Google Sites
Blog.com

You can monetise your site either through Google ads or product promotion via the Amazon or CJ affiliate scheme and there are good commissions available if you choose a popular niche and carefully selected keyword phrases.

I've had a blog for a few years, though I'm not terribly active. My wife on the other hand pretty much earns a living from hers.

Advertising probably won't earn you much unless you get huge traffic, which will likely take years and a heck of a lot of hard work.

However, there are other ways to earn decent money from blogs;

1) 'Affiliate' links - you earn when someone makes a purchase after clicking your link and making a purchase. These work best when included in reviews and 'general' posts - i.e 'slipped in', rather than being blatent.

2) Sponsored Posts - you're not likely to be offered these until you've got a decent amount of content on there. I think it was about 6 months before my wife was offered one, but now she gets offered 4 or 5 a day - though she only accepts 1 or 2 a week. Depending on your stats at that point, you can get anything from £60 - £200 per post. However, there are a few rules you should follow - firstly, try to ensure the content is relevant. Second, ensure your post ratio is good - i.e at least 3 non-sponsored post to every sponsored post. Thirdly, write the content yourself, based on the sponsors guidelines (i.e they will likely specify the keywords they want to be used). If you simply post what they give you, you'll get duplicate content penalties from Google. This also gives you the opportunity to tailor the content to fit your audience too though, which is good for building repeat traffic. Finally, declare them - a lot of people don't, but you should. Simply adding 'This is a sponsored post' at the end is sufficient.

3) Freebies! I'm forever amazed at the stuff she gets sent every month - and I'm talking thousands of pounds worth. Obviously the companies sending this stuff want the publicity for it, but it's often worth the effort doing a decent review of the stuff she is sent. Depending on the item, and whether she has any long-term use for it, she may then sell it on. Again, this is usually something that takes a while to kick in - you'll be offered little things (usually things like snacks) to start with, but once your content is established it will start building up.

For all of these, it's important to build up a social profile to go with your blog - be active and engaging on Twitter and Facebook, even YouTube. Advertisers and PR companies look for this a lot now, because they know they get not only blog publicity but also social media publicity.

Join some of the relevant blog networks / trackers too, especially ones that are relevant to your target. These will not only bring you extra traffic, but a lot of the ad agencies and pr companies contact you via these - especially in the early days. From there, you'll build up 1-to-1 contacts with the agencies who will come directly to you when they know you better.

Getting back to advertising, my wife once pointed out to me that the reason she does as well with it as she does is down to the fact she doesn't have any 'obvious' advertising (i.e adsense, banner ads etc). When she did run it, it was only earning her pennies - but aesthetically it made the blog look crowded, and also put off some PR companies that worried some ads could interfere with the content or company they were trying to promote - so that's worth considering too.

In terms of where to do it - the obvious ones like wordpress have already been mentioned above. Also take a look at Typedock (www.typedock.com), mainly because in true MSE style, it's free (even if you use your own domain name - which I'd recommend, incidentally!) - but also because they have a optional revenue system that seems to work pretty well without being 'spammy' like others I've seen.

Finally, as I'm reminded about the domain thing - it's definitely worth having your own domain (i.e francohoopsblog.com) rather than one of the free ones. Firstly, it looks better and secondly it gives companies confidence you're going to be around a while and not just abandon it (of course, some still do - but it seems more people remain active when it's their 'own' blog).

Wow, I can waffle! Hope it helps, and good luck :-)

ChillPill is Typedock your wifes blog ? It sounds like you're trying to sell it.