Overview : Starting a Blog to Make Money

There are 7 basic steps I follow when starting a blog to make money. If you’re starting a blog for your own entertainment or because you want to provide information to others, most of these steps would be unnecessary. Having said that, we do want to make money blogging, so we need to take the extra steps to ensure we’re successful. Here is the general outline that I recommend you use to start a blog to make money. For this discussion we’ll be looking at the Google Search Engine and data from Google. You could do the same thing for other search engines. The details would be different for other search engines, but the process is basically the same.

1. Research keywords you’ll use to target your blog

Keywords or keyword phrases are the foundation for driving traffic to your site. Search Engines are keyword driven, so we must carefully choose the keywords we’ll use to attract traffic to our site. There are many tools available to help you analyze keywords, keyword volumes and to estimate the possible potential of each. I like to create a list of at least 1,000 keywords and variations of keywords in a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet should contain the keyword or keyword phrase, the average monthly volume of that exact keyword or phrase and the average CPC (Cost Per Click) that the advertiser pays Google for that keyword.

2. Qualify the keywords potential monthly revenue

Yet another interesting subject concerning this theme. Using the keyword spreadsheet you developed in step 1, add a column that’s titled “Monthly Potential”. Create a formula that yields what you can realistically expect to receive for each keyword or phrase, assuming you can rank number one on the Google search results for that keyword. To do this you have to make some assumptions about what is possible. I am pretty conservative so my assumptions may not work for you, but use some consistent set of assumptions to quantify the results you believe are practical. Then implement this formula in your spreadsheet to create the Monthly Potential value for each keyword phrase.

3. Evaluate page ranking for your keywords

You should use the Firefox browser for your work here. If you do not have it, you can download it free from Mozilla. Install the Firefox SEO plug-in to provide page ranking on the Google results page. Search for each keyword or keyword phrase from your spreadsheet. Look at the PR (Page Rank) value for the first 4 ranked pages. If all 4 entries are ranked three or less, you can probably beat those pages and should keep them in your spreadsheet. If any one of the first 4 results are ranked four or more it is probably too hard for you to attempt to beat their ranking at this time. Reduce your list to keywords that are possible for you to beat.

4. Buy domain names for your blogs

Select 5- ten keywords or keyword phrases that you want to use to create five – ten blog sites. There are many reputable sites that will sell you a domain name. Try to use the keyword or phrase in the domain name you select.

5. Buy a hosting account.

You should only need one hosting account for all the domains you have purchased. Make sure the hosting account supports the blogging software you plan to use and that they provide a database for your use. Most of the hosting sites will let you have unlimited domains, unlimited storage and they’re reasonably cheap. You’ll need to point your domain at your hosting account. The hosting site will email you the names of the DNS name servers assigned to your account. You need to go to the site where you purchased the domain account and change the name servers to the name the hosting site provides. Provides.

6. Install blogging Software on your site

Select blogging software that’s easy to use, has a lot of blogging templates available and that your site supports. This makes it quick and easy to get a site up and configure it to attract traffic. You don’t need to be a software expert to install and configure the blogging software on your site.

7. Add posts to your site

I would add at least five posts to each site to get started. You can monetize the sites using PPC (Pay Per Click) advertisement, affiliate banners, sell advertising space, sell your own products and the list is endless.. Build as many links as you can that point back to your site. Backlinks are regarded as vote for the site by the Google Search Engine. Backlinks can raise your page rank. Raising you page rank gets traffic and, well you get the idea.

I know when I started reading about blogging, I was very confused by all the details without a process to fit them into. I hope this helps put the process of starting a blog in perspective for those of you who want to learn how to make money blogging.

Chuck writes articles that teach people how to start making money blogging [http://makemoneybloggingcorner.com/2009/04/starting-a-blog/] and how Internet Marketing [http://makemoneybloggingcorner.com/] works.