How to Monetize Blogger: making money on your blog
When a writer decides to start a blog, their first choice is often blogger.com. If you want a free blog, that's probably the best choice, for one very important reason.
If you blog on a free site, your blog is never safe. If the site owner goes bust or sells the site, you will lose your whole blog. Don't think it can't happen - thousands of bloggers at Today.com lost their blogs overnight, when the owners sold the domain name.*
Of all the free blog hosts, Google is least likely to disappear - although you could still lose your blog if you break any of their Terms of Service, even innocently. Which is why I recommend anyone serious about making money online to take the plunge and set up their own, self-hosted Wordpress site.
A Blog You Can Monetize
However, if you want a free blog, blogger is the best choice for another reason - it enables you to monetize your blog. Many free blogging sites don't allow monetizing at all, or place restrictions on what you can do, or show their own ads in competition with yours.
"Monetizing" a blog simply means adding advertising so you can make money. It's done by signing up for PPC programs (where you get paid a small amount when someone clicks on an ad), or for affiliate programs (where you get paid a commission when someone actually buys something). So let's look at the options.
Adsense
Adsense is a PPC program. Google makes it so easy to add Adsense to your blog, that's often the first option bloggers jump at - but it may not be the best choice.
Because of a (contentious) phenomenon called 'smart pricing', it may not be a good idea to swamp your nascent blog with lots of Adsense ads while you're still establishing your content. If you end up with irrelevant ads, you could find yourself being penalized. Many internet gurus advise not using Adsense at all until your blog is well-established and starting to get decent traffic.
Like I said, not everyone agrees with that advice, so I leave it to you to do your own research and make your own decision.
There are alternative PPC programs out there, such as Chitika.
Amazon
Amazon is an affiliate program. There's a nifty feature on Blogger which enables you to monetize very easily using Amazon. Of course, first you'll have to sign up as an Amazon affiliate.
- Click the Monetize tab
- Click the Amazon Associates link
- Enter your Amazon associate ID
- Copy the code in the text box
- Click on the blue button "Visit Template Editor"
- Paste the code just before the </body> tag in the template. This should be near the end of the code, but it will depend on the template you're using. Yes, it can take a while to find it!
- Save the template
Now, try writing a new post. You'll see an Amazon box next to the post. As you write your post, highlight your keyword and click "go" in the Amazon box - and hey presto, it will suggest relevant products for you to feature.
Personally, I always choose the "link + image" option - which inserts an image of the product, plus a link, into the post.
The beauty of this feature is that every single blog post can become a selling opportunity - instead of having ads in your sidebar, which readers may not even look at.
The catch with Amazon is that their cookie is very short - basically, if someone clicks on your ad, you need them to buy there and then to make money. So you'd better do a good job of selling them the product in the blog post!
Skimlinks is a free service, so it costs nothing to give it a test drive. You can sign up here.
Skimlinks
There are many other affiliate choices, but no others which are automated by Blogger. If you're not comfortable with coding, there is one easy option - Skimlinks. With Skimlinks, you get instant access to all the big affiliate networks and thousands of merchants, instead of having to apply to each one individually for approval.
Setup is straightforward - you just need to get your blog approved, then copy and paste your unique code into a Gadget. After that, you simply create ordinary hyperlinks to any of the merchants or products they support, and they'll be converted to affiliate links automatically.
DIY
Skimlinks does take a cut of your commissions for their service - so if you'd prefer to keep all your earnings and are prepared to put in the extra time and effort, it's not that hard - if you know how to create a hyperlink, you can create an advertising link.
A good start is to Google "affiliate [your blog topic]". When you find a company with a product you'd like to promote, sign up to their affiliate program and you'll usually be given a choice of banners or text links to use on your blog.
You can post banners into the HTML/Javascript gadget, which you can position right across the top of your blog, or in your blog posts area, or in your sidebar - but be careful to choose a banner that's the right size for your chosen spot, they don't resize to fit! You can also embed text links in your blog posts.
Often, when you sign up as a merchant affiliate, you'll notice you're not signing up directly with the merchant - you're signing up with an affiliate network. These companies are in the business of managing affiliate programs for suppliers - so don't just sign up for the merchant who recruited you, take the time to search their database for other suitable products. The more products you can promote on the same network, the faster you'll reach payout.
Affiliate Networks
ShareASale is just one of those companies, but it's one of my favorites because they are so helpful.
I especially like their "create a page" feature, which automatically creates a whole page of products for your chosen advertiser. You can create a page on Blogger (go to Posting > Edit Pages > New Page), Remember to add a Pages gadget listing your pages, so your readers can find them!
Clickbank is another company that I use. It pays higher commissions than most - for instance, on one of the products I promote, I make $37 commission on every sale. But of course, there is a catch!
It's very easy to become an advertiser on Clickbank, and as a result, you'll find hundreds if not thousands of truly awful products on the site. There are good advertisers on Clickbank but you'll need to search for the needle in the haystack to find them. I only promote a couple of products from their whole range, and I only found them by accident (by seeing their ads on another site).
One of the challenges facing affiliate marketers is that these days, a lot of people have their browsers set up to delete cookies regularly. So even if an advertiser offers a long-lasting cookie, you won't get the benefit because the buyer deleted it! So I'm also a member of another affiliate company which uses a new and different tracking mechanism - AffiliateFuture. I'll be honest, I don't understand how it works, but so far it's working for me!
I've also joined Linkshare, but they don't have many products relevant to my sites. That's the bottom line, really - it seems to be a good company, but what matters is whether they have advertisers with products relevant to your topic.
Finally, I joined Commission Junction but found the site old-fashioned and clunky - plus I made no money - so I don't recommend them!
Other Options
I've only scratched the surface of monetizing a blog or website - but I've written this for new bloggers, and I think that's more than enough information to start with!
There are plenty of other options. You could also promote and sell your own product directly, or get into drop shipping, or you could sell advertising space or links. And you can use all the above techniques on a self-hosted Wordpress blog or website instead of blogger - which is what I do. But don't confuse that with Wordpress.com, which is a free blogging site that doesn't allow monetization at all.
Monetizing your blog or website isn't the end of the story, either. No matter how good your products are, or how well you've displayed your ads, you'll make no sales if you don't get traffic. As I wrote in my Hub on the reality of making money online, blogs don't attract readers simply because they exist. You'll need to learn all about self-promotion and back-linking too. But that's another story!
It's a big learning curve but there are rewards, too. Good luck!
*
Text copyright Marisa Wright. Google image by trekkyandy. Amazon pic by Aurelijus Valeisa. Affiliate banner photo by Affiliate.
This Hub was written for IzzyM.
* I'm grateful to Hospitalera for pointing out that all Today.com blogs were transferred to a new site at blogdog.com. However, that was scant comfort for Today.com bloggers - their content was still there, but that's all. Their blogs had a new name and a new URL, which meant their page rank had been wiped out and all their backlinks were now pointing nowhere. Not surprisingly, blogdog.com didn't last long!
Comments
Nice, Marissa. I always need a boot to get me going again. Thanks.
Thank you Marissa this is helpful and easy to follow. I have bookmarked it for future use. I also find the comments you leave in the forums very helpful and useful too. I have voted this up and also useful. Thanks.
Great hub Marissa! Just a bit of background info regarding today.com, they actually transferred all content to a new site called blogdog.com/, you can't beat their tagline "blogging has gone to the dogs" for involuntary honesty ;-) As for blogger blogs, Google has shut down such blogs in the past without warning, so they are not absolutely safe neither. But I agree, there are a great starting point for people to get their feet wet. SY
Thanks for this Marisa. Even though I've moved my main blog over to wordpress.org, I have a couple of old blogs on blogger that I was wondering about trying to breath new life into. This has given me some stuff to think about.
That's interesting, Hospitalera. In the days immediately after the closure, I saw several comments from Today.com bloggers claiming they'd had no warning and believed they had lost their blogs. Presumably they must have contacted bloggers after the event to notify them.
What is your opinion in regards to writing on Blogger versus writing on Hubpages? On blogger, you get 100% of the Adsense revenue on the clicks. But Hubpages (being more like a social network) is more likely to get you more traffic.
As a newbie, I have much to learn. Enjoyed the introduction to making money blogging. I had not considered...
This kind of information is why I follow you! I have gotten basically nowhere with AdSense on my blogs. I have added a couple more affiliate links (as it turns out, including one from LinkShare and one from Commission Junction), but too recently to get an idea of how it will work out. Maybe I should just take AdSense off for a while and add Amazon. I suppose I will have the option of placing ads on some posts but not necessarily all of them?
Thanks for that Marissa, I have just successfully added Amazon to my blogger account-thankyou for the help.
Great Hub Marissa. Thank you, I'm constantly looking for good information here and experienced writers like yourself always come through.
Best Wishes..........Ianto.
Thanks for all this blog information. I've made a few adsense dollars with Blogger, but the Amazon astores I promote have not sold a thing. Maybe it's too soon for them. Same with a few Clickbank products.
This was a great article. Full of information for people learning the ropes. I hope to continue to follow you. It was easy to understand and answered questions I had about earning $$.
@peacefulparadox, you're right for the wrong reasons. As a newbie on the internet, you'll make more money on HubPages because you'll get traffic without having to master self-promotion.
However, that's not because HubPages is a social network. The social side of HP is nice but it has nothing to do with the money-making side. Your paying traffic will come entirely through the search engines.
@allpurposeguru, yes you decide which posts to add Amazon links to.
@FGual, as I said, you need to have the reader convinced to buy the product before they click the ad - because if they don't buy there and then, you don't get the commission. So writing about cooking breakfast and advertising a lantern is pointless - you should either be advertising a cooking appliance, or writing about lighting.
I always learn so much from your hubs!! And I spend the time to research all of your links and ideas and suggestions - which always takes me off in other directions!! And then I have to find my way back - Thanks!!!
Marisa another great hub from you for a newbie like me......
Thank you for sharing this insights with all of us........
I have not known about AffiliateFuture before, thanks for sharing the information about it.
Nice thanks for this wonderful tips..very nice
Robert
Great information here. Thanks for sharing and I do have several blogs.
This if very useful information, thanks for sharing and being a leader for greatness.
Thanks for all the great information. This is very helpful for us beginners.
Thank you Marisa. This is a very interesting and helpful hub. I am bookmarking it.
I have a few blogger blogs and make a little money on the side. I have not used Wordpress yet, it seems a little more complicated.
I have also seen hubbers reccommending blogger blogs as a way to create more backlinks to hubs, especially if you write a lot of hubs on one topic. Any thoughts on this Marisa? (or anyone else?)
Karen, you should read some of Sunforged's Hubs on backlinking. Just creating a couple of blogs to link to your Hubs won't do much - it needs to be part of a strategy of multiple links.
Thanks for the useful information Marisa.
Namaste.
I started on blogger. However, I do like the format of hubpages. It just seems easier to use. Seems to have more bellsnwhistles.
Great hub. I have just created 2 new Blogs, My first 2, so I am on a learning curve here. I use the Google free Blogs. They are very easy to use and the Google ads are great. I have been looking to get some relevent links to affiliates so your information is perfect for me, thank you.
Thanks Marisa
This hub is what I have been looking for, your clearly know your stuff, I have voted this hub up and I am now a dedicated follower.
Thanks again
Wow great info Marisa. Bookmarked and saved! Thanks.
Great wealth of information, especially for beginners wanting to make money through blogging.
I agree with all you say about blogger, and the fact that it is useful, I do have a blogger blog, and it is something that while I have considered moving to another site, it has also been around for a while, so there is hope for my writing there... and the money is good too! ( Just takes a bit longer!)
Sorry Marissa but I voted you down on this hub, I am a big Blogger fan and I turned all my Blogger sites into domains, you young lady can write so much better than this, I feel I am reading something you rushed, I intend to write a similar hub and hey just watch and see wat I mean, loves ya though ; )
A bit confused on what you think I've done wrong here, Art, but will wait for your Hub and see.
Interesting hub, Marisa. I set up my adsense just after I set up my blog and it makes me money okay. Not millions of dollars but it sure pays, and proves that it can work. Blogger is a great system and it gets very high rating from Google for obvious reasons, But people have to create good content for their blogs in the first place. Nice is everything. Their Blogs are getting better. Webs.com and Weebly are good too. Blogger now has Amazon ads that blogging folks can avail of if they wish. Nice to have that option and income stream too. I am a happy Clickbank fan.
I suspect more people who blog out there want to have e-commerce options available for them. Its only a matter of time before we can sell things on our blogs subject to the terms and conditions, etc! I would like to even see it on Hubs! Why not!!!! Look at Facebook and Myspace with Music and Entertainment! Look at Youtube! Wow! That's surely the way to go. Hubs are a pretty safe bet these days!
Cheers!
Very detailed article. Nice job.
wow, excellent hub Marisa! thanks so much for sharing this. bookmarking for future reference. rating UP and useful.
@CheekyGirl, there's no evidence that blogger "gets very high rating with Google". In fact, Google knows that blogger attracts a lot of amateurs, so they know the quality is likely to be worse, if anything, than a proper domain.
I found my blogger blogs got no traffic without extensive promotion, whereas my Wordpress blogs started getting visitors with only a little help.
Webs.com and weebly may be good, but who owns them? Can you be sure they won't sell up and walk away one day?
Hello Marisa, Blogger blogs sure take a long time to get indexed too. Further, removing the navigation bar certainly helps a lot towards the blog not getting found!
As for WordPress, I have never experimented with it as I believe that WordPress does not allow links pointing to commercial sites. :)
@Quicksand, I was referring to my self-hosted Wordpress sites. You're right, the free Wordpress.com site doesn't allow any kind of monetization.
You have a lot of good ideas on the steps that need to be taken. Very insightful!
thx helpful hub
Blogger is good because it plays a favourite to google in page rankings. I not sure about that but I heard it from someone but it seems to be true.
No Taniel, it's an internet myth. People think it's true because it seems obvious that Google would favor its own product - but if they did that regardless of quality, their reputation as a search engine would suffer, so they can't afford to.
In fact, in my experience Google seems to favor self-hosted websites and blogs over blogger. I had blogger blogs which got no traffic. I switched to self-hosted blogs using Wordpress and started getting traffic even before I learned how to promote it.
oh really? I never knew that. Thanks for clearing things up Marisa.
nice hub really made well
Great hub as many others ones in the series, rated up!
nice one. Thanks a lot
hey thanks atleast i now know the available options
Zsuzsy Bee 23 months ago
Great hub Marissa. Thanks for sharing.
hope you're well
regards Zsuzsy