Are you interested in starting a blog in 2019? You’ve come to the right place! I’ve been making money from my blog for a few months, and now I want to help you start a profitable blog as well!
Maybe you’re looking for a creative outlet. Or maybe you want to turn a blog into a part time or even full time income.
Whatever the case is for you, I want to help you to get started off on the right foot.
Regardless of what you want to blog about, or why you want to blog, I want to take the time to help you set your blog up for success from the start.
Still interested? Let’s talk about how to set up a profitable blog this year!
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure here.
How To Start A Profitable Blog In 2019
First thing’s first.
Take the time to think about what you want to write about. Think about what you’re good at, how you want to help other people, and what your own interests are. Whatever you decide on, be sure it’s something that you are passionate about and can create a lot of valuable content on.
Then, think about what domain name you want for your blog.
You might consider a name that isn’t too niche specific. That way, if you change your mind about what you want to write about, you don’t have to get a new domain name.
Whatever you do, don’t get caught in the trap of spending too much time thinking about it and never get around to doing it!
I will tell you right now, I wish I had gotten started earlier rather than thinking and researching it as much as a did.
Researching is a great thing to do, but the truth is even if you research as much as possible you will still make mistakes along the way. It will still take time to learn everything there is to learn. And it will still take time to put it all into practice.
So don’t overthink it–get started and learn as you go!
1. Set Up Your Blog
If you want to make money off your blog, you will need a domain name and self hosting. That’s really the only way to make any kind of legit money through blogging.
I personally recommend hosting your blog through Siteground. They are faster, more reliable, and more secure than other hosting companies. I have never had a problem with them!
Plus, if you are just starting out, they are inexpensive compared to the incredible service you will get through them. Right now you can get your blog hosted on Siteground for $3.95 a month, regardless of whether you want hosting for one, two, or even three years!
Many other hosting companies require you to sign up for three years to get their lowest price, but that obviously raises the upfront cost. When I started this blog, I wasn’t ready to commit that much money for three years of hosting!
What if I didn’t like it? What if I changed my mind? I researched a lot of other companies before going with Siteground. If you’re like I was and want to give blogging a try without paying a ton and committing to several years, Siteground is a great option!
And again, I truly believe that Siteground is the best hosting for bloggers who want to start a profitable blog in 2019.
If you want to start your blog on Siteground, you can use my affiliate link to get started for just $3.95 a month.
2. Install WordPress on Your Blog
Okay, now that you’ve got your hosting all set up, go ahead and install WordPress on it. You want to use WordPress.org, not WordPress.com!
If you took my advice and went with Siteground, then I have great news for you! Siteground offers easy WordPress installation.
The whole process of setting up my hosting and installing WordPress literally took about five minutes. They make it so easy–even if you have no idea what you’re doing. I know I didn’t!
3. Pick a Website Theme
Once you have WordPress installed on your website, you get to do the fun part and pick out and customize a theme.
When you’re picking out a theme, be sure pick one that looks profession. Preferably, you want one that allows you to have a lot of customization so that you can make it your own.
I personally recommend using the Unwind theme if you are looking for a free WordPress theme to get you started. Eventually, you will want to upgrade to a premium theme.
The more professional your site looks, the more likely it is that people will stick around and give your blog a chance. While I hate to say it, people judge books by their covers, and the same idea goes for blogs.
If you have an unprofessional looking theme, people are more likely to leave immediately before giving your blog a chance. It won’t matter if you have extremely valuable content if no one sticks around long enough to read it!
3. Sign Up For Affiliate Programs
Once you have your blog set up and looking like you want them to, it’s time to sign up for affiliate programs.
Affiliate programs allow you to make money by recommending products and services you use and love. Amazon is one of the most common affiliate programs, and is easy to sign up for and implement.
Once you’re signed up for a program, you will get special links to use when recommending products and services. These links allow the company to track sales made through your links. When a sale is made through your link, you get a commission from it!
After you are approved for an affiliate program, use your affiliate link in your blog posts. Don’t forget to promote your posts!
4. Promote Your Posts on Social Media
Every time you create new content, be sure to promote it on social media.
If you want a profitable blog, you should set up social media accounts for your blog on all the popular social media platforms.
Note: Try to focus on just one or two when you are just starting out. Trying to grow a following across multiple platforms can be time consuming and overwhelming. Focus on just a couple to start. But go ahead and reserve your name on all of them so they are ready when you are.
For me, and many other bloggers, Pinterest is my biggest source of traffic.
To promote your posts on Pinterest, create appealing, pin worthy images to display on your post. Be sure to pin them to your own relevant boards, as well as group boards.
In order to succeed on Pinterest, you also want to pin other people’s content as well. Try to pin ten or more times a day if you can.
I know, that becomes very time consuming. But the god news is that there is an easier way for profitable blogs to succeed on Pinterest.
If you find yourself struggling to keep up on Pinterest, I would recommend investing in Tailwind. This is an automatic scheduler for Pinterest, and makes it so much easier to keep up! If you use Tailwind to schedule your pins, you don’t have to get on multiple times a day to manually pin your pins. Instead you can schedule pins in batches and Tailwind will do the rest.
Additionally, signing up for Tailwind gives you valuable access to Tailwind Tribes. Tribes are sort of like group boards, but better and far more effective.
I can say from my personal experience that Tailwind Tribes have helped me to grow my Pinterest account far more than group boards (group boards are still good and useful though!).
If you want to try out Tailwind before committing to it, you can use my referral link to get your first month for free! I definitely recommend it. I think it is totally worth it, even if you decide to stick with the free version (because tribes are that good).
While I haven’t been on Instagram long, I have found it to be a great way to increase engagement.
Not only that, but it’s a great way to meet other bloggers and gain valuable blogging friends.
Again, this is an image driven platform, so be sure to use quality pictures and post consistently for maximum outcome.
Interested in seeing what it’s all about? I’d love for you to follow me and get a behind the scenes look at this blog and my life!
Lastly, be sure to also share your content on Facebook!
It doesn’t take long to set up a business page for your blog, and gives you another great outlet for people to follow you and engage with your content.
If you are just starting out, I have also found that Facebook blogging groups are a great way to help get your content out there. These groups are also great for learning from more experienced bloggers, and getting help when you need it.
Phew! I think that about covers the basics of starting a profitable blog in 2019. Are you interested in starting a profitable blog this year?
What’s holding you back?
Have you already started one? Drop me a line in the comments or tag me on Instagram! I would love to come check out your blog!
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