I also can't believe that I'm writing the fifth blogging income report for WebMonkey.

Five years is a longer time period than when I was in college. And I've never even had the same job for close to five years during any point of my life.

This year has also been a bit all over the place in terms of making money online, career changes, and living situations.

In 2022, I joined the workforce for the first time in a few years and then quit it once again. I also spent time living on five different continents, diving into the digital nomad and blogging lifestyle.

Overall, it's been a wacky, weird, but awesome year. And I have everyone who reads WebMonkey to thank for it.

Five years ago, I thought WebMonkey would just be a fun side project that talked about phone farming and passive income apps. I would never have guessed that the blog could turn into a full-time business and reach millions of people.

So, thank you to everyone who reads and follows along each year. I'm truly grateful for it all, and I hope that these blogging income reports help other people out there find their start in earning money online.

Time to dive into the 2022 blog income report!

Want to follow the journey from the beginning? Checkout:

• 2018 Blogging Income Report – Making $1,700.
• 2019 Blogging Income Report – Making $7,000.
• 2020 Blogging Income Report – Making $22,000.
• 2021 Blogging Income Report – Making $92,000.

Why I Write Blogging Income Reports

Like last year, I want to start off with a quick disclaimer before getting into all of the blogging income and expenses for the years.

Every year, I write a blogging income report for the sake of transparency and record keeping.

I love sharing data with other people about the process of growing a money-making blog. And I also like to look back on previous years to track the ups, downs, and lessons along the way.

I don't want these income reports to ever come across as an opportunity to brag or to push blogging down people's throats for the sake of affiliate sales.

Really, I want these reports to provide an honest look at what growing a blog can look like, as well as some tips for other bloggers.

There are so many blog income reports out there that promise quick results, big income, yet never share any income proof or screenshots. That's why I think it's important for more bloggers to be transparent so people know what to expect.

Of course, plenty of blogs earn way more than WebMonkey or have very different approaches to making money.

But, hopefully, some of the strategies and lessons I've learned over the years help you find success in whatever blogging niche you happen to be in.

2022 Blog Income Report – Making $272,712 From Blogging

In my 2021 blogging income report, I said that it was the first year that WebMonkey truly felt like a business. But in hindsight, I guess 2021 was really the year for testing proof of concept.

As for 2022, it was really the year of scaling that proof of concept on all fronts.

My two income sources are still largely the same: display ads and affiliate marketing. But there's been some exciting updates for both sources that I'd like to share.

Note: The following figures are in USD, but some affiliate income has been converted from CDN to USD for the purpose of this blog income report. Additionally, I'm sharing all major screenshots of earnings but have omitted a few smaller programs so this post isn't stuffed with images.

Mediavine Income – $152,297.74

In 2022, Mediavine ads made over $152,000 for WebMonkey. This is more than double the amount of last year, and I'm consistently blown away by the quality of Mediavine's network.

This income is equivalent to making $400 a day or so. And for the entire year, my average Mediavine RPM was $40.88, which is pretty remarkable in my opinion.

For newer readers, Mediavine is a premium advertising network that's known as one of the best in the blogging business.

When I started blogging, I was using Google Adsense and then Monumetric. But after switching to Mediavine in 2020, my display ad revenue on the site has been steadily increasing year-over-year.

This year, Mediavine also had a massive announcement with the release of Mediavine Pro.

This program is for Mediavine publishers who earn at least $100,000 per 12 months. It provides a 10% payout boost, alongside some other perks, which has been a really nice surprise for WebMonkey.

All-in-all, I think Mediavine is the best display ads publishing option out there for bloggers. It's tech is amazing, it's working on first-party data collection for when cookies are no more, and it pays publishers extremely well.

Mediavine requirements have changed since I joined, and you need 50,000 sessions to apply now. But if you're a newer blogger and need a major goal to set your sights on, I definitely recommend aiming for Mediavine.

Affiliate Income – $116,915

Affiliate income is the second main category for WebMonkey. And in 2021, it only made up about 33% of my total blogging income.

This was a massive improvement from prior years. But since advertisement rates are highly seasonal, I wanted to boost my affiliate revenue in 2022 for diversification and scaling purposes.

Now in 2022, WebMonkey made approximately $116,915 from affiliate income.

Most of this income came from gig apps like DoorDash or paid survey sites like Branded Surveys. I promote these offers through Impact Radius, which is my favorite affiliate marketing network that has thousands of brands for bloggers and influencers to promote.

I also promoted more passive income ideas in 2022, like rental platforms like Neighbor or investing apps like Fundrise.

Overall, the content strategy was largely the same as 2021: write long-form listicles and reviews that are packed with research and real user experiences to gain trust with readers.

However, I'm really happy with the number of new partners I'm working with since I think diversification helps reduce income risks.

Anyway, Impact Radius was the main affiliate network I used. But I also scaled income on other networks like Aragon Premium and MaxBounty.

Here's a snapshot of my Aragon Premium revenue, which totals to $13,792 for 2022:

And here's some MaxBounty payments coming in. I earned just over $15,000 with MaxBounty in 2022, but it's hard to get a report from the dashboard that shows all the payments in one tab.

Both of these networks have excellent offers for finance bloggers. And MaxBounty has thousands of offers in other niches and a great team as well.

Aside from that, some other small affiliate income channels I used in 2022 include:

• Rakuten ($2,550 total) – My favorite cash back extension that pays $30 per user you refer.
• Printify ($2,127 total) – This is the print on demand company I used to launch my Etsy POD store, so it's what I suggest to readers.
• Adbloom ($1,980 total) – Another affiliate network with lots of nifty reward apps to promote.

I'm not going to include a screenshot of every single affiliate program for the sake of space. And the combo of Aragon Premium, MaxBounty, and Impact Radius is where most of the income comes from anyways.

Plus, like last year, affiliate networks like Amazon Affiliate only paid about $300. And I didn't make much from promoting blogging platforms like SiteGround or BigScoots either.

I'm totally okay with this since WebMonkey's goal is to help people start making money online or with the gig economy. It's not a blog about blogging or one that's meant for Amazon Affiliate.

Sponsorship Income – $3,500

I had massive plans in 2022 to launch some digital products like ebooks and courses. And, while they're in the works, I completely failed at reaching this goal this year.

Honestly, the blame is fully on me and for procrastinating this long.

Living in about seven different countries this year certainly didn't help on the steady content production front. But I'm going to emphasize digital products in 2023 and actually pull something off.

I know, I know…I say this every year! But I mean it this time

That said, WebMonkey still landed two small sponsorships this year resulting in $3,500 in income. This isn't massive, so sponsorship opportunities are also something I'm keen to scale with the new year.

Blogging Traffic & Growth

In 2022, WebMonkey earned almost 300% more than in 2021. The main reason for this is increases in traffic for the site throughout the year.

Here are some quick stats about WebMonkey's 2022 traffic:

• 3.1 million users
• 3.8 million sessions
• Approximately 220 posts published

The fact that WebMonkey reached over 3 million people in 2022 is mindblowing to me. And I think publishing a lot of new content played a massive role in this.

Publishing 200+ posts in 2022 took a lot of resources and time. But a lot of this content is ranking and growing now, so it was well worth the effort.

I've also stepped up the update schedule, averaging about an update a day (or sometimes more) during the week.

Updating content is incredibly important for giving readers the most current, valuable information. And Google also likes freshness, so that's an added bonus.

Aside from that, the blog was on the winning and losing side of the many algorithm updates that seem to come regularly these days.

After going through plenty of updates, I think the lesson remains the same: writing well-researched, valuable content wins at the end of the day.

This was actually a large part of my content strategy in 2022. I spent a lot of time and energy writing reviews about various gpt sites and apps, often taking the contrarian view of other blogs by calling out scammy apps.

Sure, this approach isn't great for getting affiliate income from companies like Solitaire Cash, Bingo Cash, and the dozens of other apps some finance bloggers shill.

But in terms of building trust with readers and providing the best content possible, I think honesty is the ultimate guide bloggers should stick to.

2022 Blogging Expenses & Profit

Like last year, my main blogging expenses for 2022 are from content creation costs. But this is perfectly fine with me since I view each article as an investment that has the potential to pay itself off, and then some, over the coming months.

Here's a snapshot of my main blogging expenses for the year:

• Content Writing: $13,132
• BigScoots Hosting: $624.
• Sucuri Security: $300.
• Pinterest Marketing Help Plus Tailwind: $740.
• Various Plugins: $250.
• TOTAL EXPENSES: $15,046
• TOTAL PROFIT: $257,666

This is actually about the same operational expense as what I spent in 2021 on WebMonkey. So, I'm pretty happy the profit margin has scaled so well.

I'm also immensely happy since the WebMonkey team has grown by a few people. And I'm very grateful to work with such awesome bloggers and freelance writers.

But other than this content expense, everything else is more or less the same. I'm still with BigScoots, and my plugin stack has actually gotten smaller which is pretty nice.

I ended up scrapping my Pinterest marketing help and Tailwind subscription. It simply wasn't driving enough traffic despite tons of testing and solid designs.

I think the lesson here for other bloggers is to not be afraid of reinvesting some income into growth.

For me, paying for a blog redesign in 2021 and paying for content writing help has been a game changer. And I plan to invest similar amounts into the site for 2023.

2022 YouTube Income & Expenses

I didn't include YouTube income or expenses in the blog income report data above since they're separate businesses. But I like to mention YouTube in these reports since both platforms promote one another.

For some context, I started my YouTube channel in 2020 to diversify income and to also try something fun and new.

Since then, it's grown to over 15,000 subscribers. And it earns about $30 to $50 a day in advertisement income while funneling about 1,000 to 1,500 readers a month to WebMonkey.

Here are my YouTube income and expense stats for 2022:

• YouTube Adsense Revenue: $14,451.
• YouTube Views: 750,000.
• Videos Published: 19.
• Editing Expenses: $4,500.
• Thumbnail Expenses: $320.
• TOTAL EXPENSES: 
• TOTAL PROFIT: $9,631.

The profit margin for YouTube vs blogging is much lower in my case. But I'm okay with this since YouTube is largely chugging along as a semi-passive side hustle at this point.

And spending money on an excellent video editor has been a massive help in publishing more videos. Same goes for working with a talented thumbnail designer.

I've fallen very short of my 2021 goal of 50,000 subscribers and $20,000 in income. So, I don't think I've cracked the YouTube code quite yet. But I also need to publish videos more regularly and go for some trending content to grow faster.

For 2023, I think adding in some short-form content and, regrettably, a bit more clickbait content, is going to be keys to growing faster.

Tips For Other Bloggers

Now that the blog income and expenses are out of the way, I want to wrap up this blogging income report with a few tips for other bloggers that I've found helpful this year!

Honesty Is Key

I always want WebMonkey to provide honest information about side hustles and ways to make money online. And I think this has helped a lot of my recent reviews rank well since they provide real information about various money-making apps and hustles.

It does feel a bit weird having so many 1 and 2 star reviews on the site. But at the end of the day, I want to make the best content possible to help people, so I think this is inevitable.

Doesn't always help for landing sponsorship deals, but hey, I still think this is a must-have for any blogger.

Author Authority Is Becoming More Important

If this year has highlighted anything for me, it's that author authority is becoming more important than ever for bloggers.

Blogging competition increases every year. And content production is ramping up as people use AI tools. So, the only way to stand apart from the crowd (in my opinion) is to develop personal authority in your blogging niche.

This can be done in several ways, including:

• Getting more backlinks
• Gaining more real world experience and accreditations
• Being featured in videos, podcasts, and other forms of media

I think this goal is especially important for newer bloggers, and it's also an area I want to continue developing over time.

Keyword Research Is Still Important

In 2021, I think most of my blogging gains came from increasing my publishing schedule and targeting low-competition keywords.

In 2022, it's pretty much the same story. A lot of large wins and posts that generate thousands of visitors a month are posts from this year. And the only way I found the topics to write about was through consistent keyword research.

Personally, I use SEMRush for my keyword research needs, and it's what I suggest to other bloggers.

I've also used free tools like Google Keyword Planner and UberSuggest in the past, so you don't need to spend money to get started with keyword research. And I've been lucky to get an SEMRush account from work and a friend.

However, if your blog is earning income or you're willing to invest, keyword research is one of the first investments I'd suggest.

The amount of time you save by using premium keyword research tools is significant. And again, if organic traffic is your main traffic source, finding winning keywords is how you can scale and earn more.

SEMRush has a 7-day free trial, and the free version also lets you make up to 10 keyword searches a day, which might be enough for beginner bloggers.

A Personal Update

Like I said in the intro, 2022 has been a very interesting year for both business and personal changes.

At the start of the year, I was living in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. It was a fun way to practice some Spanish while living with friends, and I scooted back to Colombia and Florida before heading home for a Canadian summer.

I also learned how to surf during this time, and the first half of the year was pretty jam-packed with travel, family time, and new adventures.

During this time, I also paused freelance writing and actually accepted a regular job offer as a commercial writer for a company called XLMedia.

At the time, I was feeling pretty burnt out from so much freelancing and blogging. So, I thought a stable job, benefits, good pay, and vacation time was a much-needed change.

And don't get me wrong: it was an awesome change. I got to pump out content for a site called Investor Junkie, all while working with some of my best friends that I've come to know after a few years in the personal finance world.

I even got to attend another conference this year and headed down to FinCon 2022. It was an awesome experience to meet my fellow teammates and to meet some famous finance bloggers and YouTubers.

But after a few months in Canada, I started to get the itch for new scenery again. And I was actually feeling even more tired from working a 9-5 job while putting in a few hours a day at WebMonkey.

So, for the last part of the year, I went all-in on blogging once again and quit my job after about 6 months. I guess I'm still allergic to having a rigid schedule.

I also booked a one-way flight to Cape Town, South Africa. And it's hands-down the most beautiful place on earth that I've ever seen.

If you like nature and hiking, Cape Town should be on your bucket list. And the time I spent exploring mountains, meeting other people, and surfing out there was one of the happiest times I've had.

After a month of that, I meandered over to Portugal for a few weeks to focus on work while checking out some new cities. And then it was time for another 20-hour flight to spend a month-and-a-half in Thailand and Indonesia.

It's been a pretty wild year with a lot of flights to say the least. But for now, I'm really enjoying the digital nomad lifestyle and roaming around random places, making money with a laptop.

I think 2023 is going to contain a lot of travel as well. But I'm excited to have more time to blog while I'm on the road, and I'm hoping to document more of the travel fun on YouTube if you feel like joining along!

Extra Reading – The Best Easy Online Jobs.

Final Thoughts

Well, that about does it for this 2022 blog income report.

I honestly can't believe how 2022 turned out, or the fact that this is the first time in my life I'm just blogging for a living.

When I started out blogging, earning $1,700 in that first year was amazing to me. That was money to help cover groceries and other expenses, and it came from writing words on the Internet!

I never would have guessed that I'd be blogging for a career one day. But I hope that this 5+ year process highlights how it's very possible to grow an online business over time if you stay consistent.

Yes, there are wild ups, downs, and plenty of mistakes. But at the end of the day, I believe there's so much immense opportunity to make money online if you play to your strengths and keep at it.

And for everyone who has read this year or from the beginning, thank you so, so much for the continued support. It truly means the world!

Now, I like to wrap up every blogging income report with some goals for the new year since I like to hold myself accountable and work towards something,

My 2023 blog and business goals include:

• Scale blogging revenue to $400,000 (I'm hoping for half to come from Mediavine and half to come from affiliates and sponsorships)
• Scale YouTube to 50,000 subscribers and $25,000 in income (the same goal as always)
• Launch and sell an eBook
• Launch and sell a course
• Start posting short-form shorts and reels

I really think and hope diversification will be the name of the game for 2023. And I'm excited to finally launch some digital products, assuming I don't procrastinate for another 12 months lol.

Anyways, that's all for this 2022 blogging income report.

I'd like to wish everyone who's made it this far a year full of health, happiness, and financial success. And to my fellow bloggers, I hope this income report has provided some useful tips or information to help you scale your own blog this year.

Thank you, and I'll catch you guys in the next one.

Tom from WebMonkey.

Want to start making money online? These posts are a great place to start:

• The Best Ways To Make Money Online For Beginners.
• The Best Easy Online Jobs.
• The Best Online Jobs That Pay Daily.

The post Blog Income Report 2022 – Making $272,712 From Blogging appeared first on WebMonkey.

I know it was my dream when I started blogging back in 2018. I read plenty of Mediavine reviews and income reports, and it seemed like Mediavine had the power to change people's lives.

Fast forward to today, and I've been with Mediavine for over 2 years. And because of Mediavine, WebMonkey made $92,000 in 2021.

This premium ad network also let me quit my job and blog full-time.

But, reaching Mediavine requirements can seem like a monumental task for new bloggers.

Additionally, there have been some changes to Mediavine requirements in the last year that are crucial to know.

That's why this post is covering the Mediavine requirements for bloggers as well as the strategies I used to reach Mediavine's traffic requirement.

Let's get to it!

Mediavine Requirements For 2024

Many bloggers think Mediavine's only requirement is how large your site is and how much traffic you get per month. However, Mediavine is a premium advertising network that is very selective with the publishers it accepts.

In reality, there are numerous Mediavine requirements bloggers need to know about if they want to join this leading blogging advertising network.

Mediavine Traffic Requirements

Mediavine requires 50,000 sessions within the last 30 days to get into its advertising network. This is an increase from Mediavine's previous traffic requirements of 25,000 sessions within the last 30 days.

Additionally, it's worth noting that Mediavine is talking about sessions here, not pageviews.

Here's the difference:

• Sessions: A session occurs when one single user visits your website.
• Pageviews: A pageview occurs whenever someone views a page on your blog. A single session can have multiple pageviews, but multiple pageviews are still one session.

In other words, 50,000 sessions for Mediavine is probably around 60,000 to 70,000 pageviews depending on how many pageviews you get per session.

Note: Mediavine counts the last 30 days, not monthly sessions, for its traffic requirement.

Content Quality

Another main Mediavine requirement is to have high-quality, original content on your blog.

You can join Mediavine with any blogging niche, and it's a misconception that you can only join Mediavine if you're a food or lifestyle blogger.

In fact, Mediavine accepts blogs from plenty of niches, including:

• Entertainment
• Finance
• Fitness
• Lifestyle
• Parenting
• Technology

However, you need to have high-quality content regardless of your niche to pass Mediavine requirements.

This means you can't just spin content from other bloggers and expect to get in; you need original, well-researched content that actually adds value to your readers.

Good Standing With Google

One absolutely critical Mediavine requirement is for your website to be in good standing with Google.

This means your website can't be blacklisted by Google or have a Google AdSense ban.

And this is the case for your domain, not just your blog, so you need to ensure your domain name doesn't have a shady history and is a nasty surprise waiting to happen.

Here are some official tips from Google on how to keep your blog in good standing:

• Don't click on your own Google AdSense ads
• Don't send bot traffic or fraudulent traffic to your site
• Follow Google Webmaster best-practices
• Don't ask people to click on your ads
• Don't try to trick users into clicking on ads
• Make sure your privacy policy is accessible and up to date

In short, if you're not doing anything to game the system, your blog should be in good standing with Google, so you're in the clear for this Mediavine requirement.

Long-Form And Engaging Content

One Mediavine requirement that's also crucial for blogging success is to create long-form, engaging content.

There are a few reasons this is so important, so it's honestly a good Mediavine requirement to stick to even after you're in this ad network.

For starters, long-form content usually adds more value to readers and better satisfy user intent than very short content.

This isn't always true, and you shouldn't write fluff just to expand articles. But you should write informative content and the best content on the web if you want to get into Mediavine.

Secondly, longer content that's engaging keeps readers on your page for longer.

In turn, this helps your website rank slightly better and also helps you make more money with Mediavine ads (or any other blogging ad network for that matter.)

Stable Traffic Sources

While this isn't an explicit Mediavine requirement from the company, you need relatively stable monthly traffic to get into Mediavine.

In other words, if your site explodes in popularity because of a viral Pin or post on Reddit but then drops right back down, Mediavine is less likely to accept you.

Generally, Mediavine accepts high-quality sites that get a mix of blogging traffic, including:

• Organic traffic
• Social media traffic
• Email marketing traffic

I've chatted with Mediavine about this question and have heard this from other bloggers as well, and it's basically an unofficial requirement.

In 2018, I did email Mediavine asking about running Facebook and Google Ads to help bolster traffic, and a very helpful Mediavine representative basically said some paid traffic is okay but it has to be very targeted.

So, don't go experimenting and buy cheap traffic sources or bots to try and meet Mediavine's traffic requirement.

Ideally, focus on Google organic traffic spread across a healthy number of articles.

This last point is important too: another loose Mediavine requirement is to have a decent spread of traffic across your articles.

In other words, if a single blog post gets all your monthly traffic, this hurts your application chances.

Website Age

One final Mediavine requirement to note is that your domain name needs a bit of site history to get accepted.

Now, I have friends who have gotten blogs into Mediavine within 8 months or so.

But if you start a new blog and blast it with traffic from social media or paid ads, it's probably not going to get in because there's not enough time to prove your traffic is stable.

Plus, brand new sites can't really get organic traffic too easily, which is important for getting into Mediavine.

Tips For Meeting Mediavine Requirements

Now that you know the different Mediavine requirements for 2022, I want to cover a few of the tips I used to get my blog into Mediavine and to grow it to 400,000 monthly readers.

1. Focus On SEO Content

I know lots of bloggers who got into Mediavine by using Pinterest traffic or a large social media following to get 50,000 sessions.

However, my advice is to focus on writing content that targets low-competition keywords you can rank for on Google.

There are two main reasons for this:

1. Value: Organic traffic is usually more valuable than social traffic because it's comprised of readers who are looking for a specific answer to their question (and therefore are more engaged and have higher-levels of purchase intent.)
2. Volatility: Social media platforms like Pinterest have been nightmares for bloggers, and traffic can disappear from these platforms overnight. In contrast, while organic traffic can be volatile due to Google updates, it's typically not as much of a roller coaster.

Plus, building this sort of organic traffic is very formulaic and steady. This is one reason I prefer blogging over YouTube.

Just take a look at how WebMonkey's traffic has grown over time by targeting low-competition keywords to rank for on Google:

Again, this process takes a long time, and it took me over 2 years of writing to get into Mediavine.

However, since you need long-form and original content anyway to meet Mediavine requirements, you might as well focus on SEO at the same time.

Plus, you can use tools like SEMRush to make the process so much easier.

My greatest blogging mistake was honestly not investing in keyword research tools like SEMRush or Ahrefs sooner.

I use SEMRush to find all my low-competition keywords, and most of my top posts have come from the keyword research I do with this tool.

SEMRush also lets you research your competitors, and a lot of my content strategy involves stealing blog ideas from my competitors.

This sounds shady, but I'm being honest here: people poach keywords from other bloggers all the time, but as long as you're doing your own research and writing better content and not paraphrasing, there's nothing wrong with doing this.

SEO is insanely competitive after all, so I think the amount of data you unlock with tools like SEMRush really helps you stay competitive with other bloggers in your niche.

If you want to learn more about SEMRush or try out the software, you can try SEMRush with my link to help support the blog!

2. Write Consistently

Another tip to meet Mediavine requirements is to write more content.

This sounds obvious, but it's much easier said than done.

But by pumping out more content that targets low-competition keywords, you're building up your traffic base more quickly so you can meet the 50,000 session requirement.

Plus, publishing more content gives you more content to promote on social media and in email blasts (more on this later.)

When I was near Mediavine's traffic requirement a few years ago, I dedicated an entire month to blogging every night after work.

This was one of the longest and toughest months ever, but writing tens of thousands of words in content and new posts provided the boost I needed to get into Mediavine.

3. Update Old Blog Posts

One of my favorite tips for getting into Mediavine more quickly is to update your best old blog posts.

Updating blog posts is actually an official recommendation from Mediavine to make more money.

This is because “freshness” is a ranking factor on Google, so keeping your content up to date helps it rank higher over the competition.

This makes sense. After all, fresh content probably includes important information about updates that benefit readers more than old, out-dated content.

So, my advice is to look at your Google Analytics and Search Console data to find your best posts that have dropped off in ranking in recent months.

Here's an example from my own Search Console dashboard for my post on the best gig apps:

As you can see, the post used to get around 50 clicks per day, so I updated it.

After the update, the article got 100+ clicks per day until falling off over the next few months. But another freshness update has helped the ranking return again.

All of these updates took 15 minutes as well, so it's a low-effort way to get more blog traffic.

I try to update two blog posts per week, but I know bloggers who spend most of their time updating once they have a large enough base of hundreds of articles.

4. Leverage Email Marketing

Email marketing can be extremely powerful for driving more traffic to help you reach Mediavine requirements.

And, email marketing is also one thing I'm very bad at.

But if you can convert your readers into email subscribers and get them to consistently visit your blog, you don't need to do as much heavy lifting on Google to get 50,000 sessions.

My advice here is to build a simple and free email lead magnet like an eBook for your niche.

Next, you can use email marketing providers like ConvertKit and MailerLite to build email automation flows that send your best content to new subscribers.

I'm finally doing this, so new subscribers now get a series of content-based emails that share my best blog posts.

This might not accomplish much if you have a very small email list, but hey, every bit counts when working towards Mediavine requirements.

5. Use Social Media The Right Way

One common mistake I see bloggers make when trying to get into Mediavine is to spend too much time on social media.

Don't get me wrong: social media is a great traffic source, and viral posts can help you reach 50,000 sessions.

But again, Mediavine cares about stable traffic and really likes organic traffic.

Plus, a lot of bloggers who were relying on Tailwind and Pinterest traffic have found they can't get any traffic anymore, so they're now starting from square one after years of work.

My advice is to still focus on organic traffic but to use sources like Reddit, Quora, and niche Facebook groups to boost your traffic when you're close to Mediavine.

Here's an example for another blog I own where I'm trying to meet Mediavine's requirements.

I just shared a single blog post on a relevant Reddit community. The result was an extra 1,000 sessions or so in traffic, and this is just from sharing one post!

It's these sorts of social media tricks that can really help you get towards Mediavine's traffic requirement, and this doesn't take much time at all!

6. Ask Other Bloggers For Help

One final tip for reaching Mediavine's requirement is to ask your fellow bloggers for help.

Blogging is competitive, but I think networking with bloggers and making friends is important for long-term success.

I did this back in the day, and some blogging friends shared my content on social media and even in one email blast.

Just make sure you return the favor here somehow or pay it forward to more beginner bloggers!

How Do You Apply To Mediavine?

If you've reached Mediavine's requirements or are very close to the 50,000 session requirement, you're ready to apply to the best ad network out there.

And yes: you can be close to the 50,000 session requirement and potentially get in, especially if your site is super high quality and is trending upwards.

Here's how you apply to Mediavine:

• Go to Mediavine's ad management page
• Click “Apply Now”
• Complete a Google Form with your name, email, site URL, monthly sessions, CMS, and if you've worked with Mediavine or any competing ad networks before (like Ezoic and Monumetric.)
• Wait for an email confirmation from Mediavine Publisher Support that you've been accepted into Mediavine

If everything goes well and you get that acceptance email, the next step involves sharing some Google Analytics access with Mediavine so their tech team can check behind the scenes.

From there, you basically pick a launch date for your Mediavine ads, and you're off to the races!

Note: Some ad networks require giving them 30 days or more notice if you're leaving.

This happened to me when I switched from Monumetric to Mediavine, so make sure you're following the rules or you might have some ad revenue withheld from your previous ad network partner (although this doesn't really matter if you're currently making peanuts!)

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are The Mediavine Requirements For A Second Site?

Mediavine used to have a lower traffic requirement for your second site if you were already in its network. However, new sites now have identical Mediavine requirements to your original site. Furthermore, if you purchase a Mediavine site from another blogger, you have to resubmit it for review because it's under new ownership.

How Long Does It Take To Get Into Mediavine?

How long it takes to complete Mediavine requirements and get 50,000 sessions depends on your skills, niche, effort, and some luck. Many bloggers I know get into Mediavine within 1 to 2 years, but it's easier if you know SEO already and have blogging experience.

Once you're approved for Mediavine, it generally takes around 30 days for ads to go live on your blog.

How Much Does Mediavine Cost?

Mediavine doesn't cost any money to join, and you don't pay an installation fee either like you do with some ad networks.

This is because Mediavine makes money by using a revenue-share model that splits ad revenue with its publishers. You keep 75% to 90% of Mediavine ad revenue depending on how much traffic your website gets per month and how long you've been with the network.

How Much Can You Make With Mediavine?

How much money you make with Mediavine depends on your niche and blogging traffic. Personally, I make about $10,000 to $12,000 per month thanks to Mediavine ads.

However, I know some bloggers making much more than this, while many brand-new Mediavine bloggers usually make around $50 per day or maybe a bit less.

Ultimately, there's no limit to how much money you make with Mediavine. And in my opinion, Mediavine is the best ad network for bloggers because of its awesome support team, tech, and the high RPMs you usually get.

Extra Reading – The Best Passive Income Side Hustles.

Final Thoughts

I hope my ultimate guide on Mediavine requirements and tips for getting into this ad network helps you get your blog to the next level.

Honestly, Mediavine has changed my life, and I think it's the best ad network you can ever work with.

Yes, reaching Mediavine's traffic requirement is tricky. But with hard work, SEO knowledge, tools like SEMRush, and patience, it's definitely possible.

Plus there are other ways to make money online  and earn passive income with your blog in the meantime, like affiliate marketing, that you can explore.

In any case, best of luck on your quest to reach Mediavine's requirements!

Looking for more ways to make extra money? Checkout:

• How To Make Money With Creative Writing.
• How To Make Money With Freelance Writing.
• Podcast vs Blogging – Which Option Is Best?

The post Mediavine Requirements 2024 (+6 Tips For Getting Accepted!) appeared first on WebMonkey.

I also have friends who have been running different podcasts over the last few years, and have even spoken on a few shows.

Both platforms provide incredible opportunities for making money online, growing an audience, and even landing a new career.

However, when it comes to the blog vs podcast debate, it can be difficult to know which option is best for you.

That's why this post is breaking down the difference between blogs and podcasts, how you make money with each platform, and what factors determine which route is right for you.

Blogging vs Podcasts – Which Option Is Best For You?

Blogs have been around pretty much since the Internet began.

In contrast, starting a podcast is a newer trend that's developed in recent years.

Interestingly, if you look at interest-over-time for blogging vs podcasting, you see that both mediums now have a similar level of interest.

In short, blogging is slightly less popular these days than back in the early 2000's. Similarly, more people want to start a podcast than ever before.

However, it's important to consider different factors before choosing between starting a blog or podcast.

After all, if you want this side hustle to be a success, you need to play to your strengths and pick the right platform for your brand and goals.

Skills You Need

The first consideration in choosing between podcasts vs blogs is the skills you need to launch either one.

You can always learn new skills of course, but blogging and podcasts definitely require different types of creative skills.

Blogging Skills

I've been blogging since 2018, and let me tell you, blogging definitely has a learning curve.

For starters, launching a blog on WordPress, the best content management system for blogging, requires a bit of technical know-how and some patience.

You can always hire someone to set up your blog for you off of Fiverr, but at the end of the day, WordPress is a blogging skill you're going to learn at some point.

But really, the two main skills you need to succeed with a blog are writing skills and search engine optimization (SEO) knowledge.

Written content is the foundation of a blog, so if you have a knack for writing, blogging definitely makes more sense than podcasting.

For context, I usually write 2,000 words of content per day for WebMonkey, plus another 1,500 to 3,000 for freelance writing clients.

Granted, writing skill and writing at volume are two muscles you develop over time, but you should definitely enjoy writing if you want to start a blog.

And in terms of learning SEO, there's a wealth of resources online that teach you how to find different blogging niches and topics to write about.

Podcast Skills

One similarity between blogs and podcasts is that you're basically telling a story with your content.

However, since a podcast involves audio and is often recorded live with guests, you need to have great communication skills to run a successful podcast.

This also means knowing how to interview guests, spur additional discussion, and how to listen as well.

And this is definitely a soft skill that's easier said than done.

I mean, if you look at the largest podcast in the world, Joe Rogan's podcast, you see that he's able to interview guests from all walks of life and industries.

Rogan isn't an expert in many of the subjects of his episode, but as a great podcast host, he's able to create a unique and informative listening experience.

Aside from this skill, a successful podcast host knows how to record crisp audio.

Again, this is something you can learn online, but if you're a bit of an audiophile and like tech, starting a podcast instead of a blog could be the right choice.

The Verdict: You need very different skills for blogging versus podcasting, but both require excellent communication abilities and hard work.

Blog vs Podcast Income

Alright, time to get into the most interesting aspect of starting a blog vs podcast: the income potential.

It's possible to make millions of dollars with a blog or podcast, and you can turn either platform into a full-time job or decent passive side hustle.

That said, making money with a blog or podcast is quite different, so let's break down the potential revenue streams.

Blogging Income

I started blogging in 2018. After my first year, I made abou $1,700 in revenue.

Fast forward a few years, and WebMonkey made $92,000 in 2021.

Blogging has an incredibly high income ceiling as long as you can grow your website traffic and attract enough readers (more on that later.)

This is largely because there are many different ways to monetize a blog:

• Running advertisements with companies like Mediavine and Monumetric
• Affiliate marketing
• Selling sponsored posts
• Selling online courses or physical products
• Offering online coaching

For WebMonkey, Mediavine ad income and affiliate revenue make up the bulk of my revenue.

In fact, with Mediavine alone, WebMonkey can make $400 a day or so, and this is largely passive income at this point!

Granted, it takes a while to meet Mediavine's requirements, but it's well worth the reward.

The bottom line is that blogging has so many creative ways to make money, and this is definitely one advantage over starting a podcast as we're about to explore.

Podcast Income

One of the main differences between blogs vs podcasts is that podcasts have more limitations when it comes to making money.

Podcasts typically make money in two ways:

• Selling advertisement slots during portions of episodes
• Affiliate marketing by giving listeners unique referral codes to different products and services

The main challenge here is that you need a lot of listeners to get advertising offers or affiliate marketing deals.

In contrast, you can make $100 a month with a blog or more pretty easily just by growing some basic traffic and enabling Google AdSense.

Granted, podcasts typically pay more per viewer than platforms like YouTube or blogs because listeners are so dedicated and high-value.

However, when you're starting out, don't expect to make money fast with a podcast.

That said, podcast monetization is getting slightly easier because podcast hosts are helping hosts with more monetization tools.

For example, Buzzsprout, one of the best podcast hosts out there, has a free affiliate marketplace where hosts can find offers to plug into their show.

The Verdict: Monetization is one massive difference in the blog vs podcast debate, and the edge goes to blogging here.

Startup Costs

One more factor you should think about when choosing to start a blog or podcast is the startup costs for each platform.

Thankfully, you can launch a podcast or blog without spending a fortune.

However, it's still important to have some realistic expectations for initial and ongoing business expenses.

Blogging Costs

There's a common misconception that you need to spend thousands of dollars to start a successful blog.

In reality, you can launch and grow a blog into a business and only spend around $150 to $250.

Here are the main blogging costs you should expect when starting out:

• Domain Name: You need your own domain name to start a blog, but you can often find domains for $9 to $20 per year.
• WordPress Theme: You can buy a sleek WordPress theme from Theme Forest for around $30 to $75 depending on how you want your blog to look like.
• Blog Hosting: You need to host your own blog with WordPress, and I recommend SiteGround for beginner bloggers. This normally costs around $5 to  $8 per month for your first year and is more than enough to grow your blog into an income source.

These were basically my blogging expenses for the first year or two, during which time WebMonkey grew to over 30,000 readers per month.

After a while, I invested in a blog redesign and also reinvested earnings from my blog into outsourcing writing.

However, at its core, you can likely launch a blog for around $150 to $250.

Start your own blog with SiteGround today!

Podcast Costs

Like blogging, the great news about starting a podcast is that you don't need to spend thousands of dollars.

The main ongoing cost for a podcast is your podcast host subscription.

A podcast host helps you host your podcast online similarly to blog hosting. It also lets you list your podcast on popular streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

You definitely need a podcast host to start a podcast.

However, you don't have to spend money while you get up and running or even that much per month once you're growing your show.

For example, Buzzsprout has a free plan so you can launch your podcast as a trial run.

Afterwards, Buzzsprout paid plans start at $12 per month which is pretty similar to a lot of blog hosting plans.

Plus, Buzzsprout gives new podcasts hosts a free $20 Amazon gift card after trying out a paid plan, which is a nice sign-up bonus.

As for other podcast costs, you're mostly looking at equipment and tech costs to actually host your show.

Here are some expenses you should expect:

• A quality podcast microphone like the Rode NT-USB Studio Quality Microphone: Around $160
• Potential sound-proofing acoustic panels if you’re building a small podcast studio: Around $50

You also need some sort of editing software for your show, but many people use free editing software or something affordable like Wondershare Filmora.

The Verdict: Podcasts and blogs have similar startup costs.

Growing Your Audience

One final factor to consider in the podcast vs blog breakdown is how difficult it is to grow an audience.

The size of your audience is largely what determines how much money you make, as well as how effectively you monetize your audience.

And on this front, I think blogging has some serious advantages to podcasting that are worth noting.

Growing A Blog

I grew WebMonkey from 0 to 400,000 monthly readers in four years.

It took a lot of trial and error, setbacks, and patience. However, I've found that growing blogging traffic is really formulaic and just a matter of learning SEO and creating great content.

This is because writing great content that targets low-competition keywords is a realistic way to build your online blogging audience over time.

Granted, this process takes months or years, but it's very much a “slow and steady wins the race” sort of approach.

And you don't have to be an SEO guru to figure this stuff out.

I mean, there are plenty of free SEO keyword research tools out there. You can also try premium tools as well to take things to the next level.

One SEO tool that was a massive difference maker for me is SEMRush.

SEMRush helps me find low-competition keywords that I know I can rank for on Google.

So, I essentially make a content roadmap of 50-100+ blog posts, write them over a few months, and then promote them on social media and wait for Google traffic to trickle in.

Of course, the writing part of this still takes a lot of work and consistency. Furthermore, it takes time for a new blog to get noticed on Google and to attract backlinks from other sites.

However, if you like a formulaic approach to building an online business, blogging is definitely for you.

And again, tools like SEMRush can dramatically speed up your progress here, and it's definitely one research tool I wish I started using much earlier on in my blogging career.

If you're wondering how to use SEMRush and if it's worth it, you can also check out my review video above!

Growing A Podcast

I have several friends who run podcasts. And unfortunately, many of their podcasts aren't running anymore or have been put on the backburner for the foreseeable future.

In my opinion, growing a podcast following is much more difficult than growing a blog.

This is largely because the top podcasts in each niche dominate most of the audience; I mean, how many podcasts can you have about history before the top 10 podcasts capture everyone's attention?

There's also way less opportunity for things like SEO or keyword research with growing your podcast.

Really, successful podcasts grow through word of mouth, social media marketing, and by having awesome guests who share captivating stories.

So, if you're very passionate about a certain niche or have an interesting network of people who could be guests, podcasting is definitely worth considering.

But if you're looking for quick wins and a more formulaic approach to growing your show, know that podcasting is quite hard.

The Verdict: Growing a blogging audience is easier than growing a podcasting audience.

Extra Reading – Podcast vs YouTube – Which Option Is Best?

Pros And Cons Of Blogs Vs Podcasts

Now that you know some of the main differences between starting a blog or podcast, here are some pros and cons for each medium you should consider.

Blogging Pros And Cons

Blogging Pros:

• Very low start-up costs
• More monetization options than a podcast
• Easier to grow and audience than a podcast
• It's easier to sell your blog down the line than it is to sell a podcast

Blogging Cons:

• WordPress has a pretty steep learning curve
• You need to handle your own tech (like blog hosting, security, and backups)

Podcast Pros And Cons

Podcast Pros:

• Podcast subscribers are some of the highest-value subscribers possible
• Podcasts typically pay the most for sponsored ads
• You get to expand your professional network by chatting with interesting guests

Podcast Cons:

• Podcasts have fewer monetization options than blogging
• It's harder to grow a podcast following than it is to grow a blog
• Learning how to record crisp audio takes some practice and cost

Which Option Is Best?

It can be difficult to choose between starting a podcast or blog because both platforms have so much potential and can be incredibly enjoyable.

However, I think it's important to play to your strengths and to also not stretch yourself too thinly.

For example, I was blogging for about 2 years before I started making money on YouTube, and this is because it takes time to get an online business up and running.

So, if you have limited bandwidth, I suggest picking one or the other and not launching both.

That said, here's how you can decide if blogging or podcasting is right for you:

Choose blogging if you:

• Enjoy writing
• Want to learn how to run a WordPress site
• Aren't afraid of technical challenges

Choose podcasting if you:

• Love chatting with people and hearing their stories
• Aren't interested in making money quickly
• Have an interesting network or social media following where you can find guests for your show

Extra Reading – 20+ Best Jobs That Pay $5,000 A Month.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's The Difference Between A Podcast And A Blog?

A podcast is an audio-based show where a host discusses a topic by themselves or with guests for their listeners. In contrast, blogging uses written and visual content to explain concepts or share stories with readers.

What's The Difference Between Audio Blog vs Podcast?

An audio blog involves turning a written blog post into an audio file. Many bloggers do this and convert written posts into MP3 files. This basically turns a blog post into a podcast episode and lets readers enjoy blog content in audio format.

Final Thoughts

I hope our blog vs podcast breakdown helps you decide which online platform is right for your income goals and business.

Again, both blogging and podcasts have incredibly high income potential, and you can turn either platform into a serious income source.

My final advice is to just play to your strengths and to pick what interests you the most so you can stay excited and avoid burnout.

Best of luck!

Launch your own podcast with Buzzsprout or start a blog with SiteGround today!

Looking for other ways to make money? Checkout:

• The Best Ways To Sell Your Skills Online.
• The Best Jobs That Make $10,000 A Month.

The post Blog vs Podcast – Which One Should You Start? appeared first on WebMonkey.

WebMonkey is somehow celebrating its fourth birthday!

It seems like only yesterday when this blog was nothing but a small college side hustle and ramble of articles on phone farming.

This year has definitely been insane, both for worldwide events but also for this blog and some personal changes.

In 2021, I took the complete plunge into freelance writing and blogging after quitting a startup I was working at (no more paid advertising work, woohoo!)

I also lived abroad for about half the year, jumped out of an airplane, and met even more awesome bloggers and writers along the way.

2021 also marks the first year in which WebMonkey has really felt like a full online business and main income source, not just a little side hustle.

So, to anyone who reads my content or checks in on what's happening at TOW, thank you.

This past year has been absolutely incredible, and I have all of you to thank for that.

I never thought life would end up like this when I started blogging back in college, and I just hope that these income reports serve as a useful resource or source of inspiration for anyone else who's trying to make money online.

So, without further ado, let's dive into my 2021 blogging income report!

Want to start from the very beginning? Checkout:

• Blogging Income Report 2018 – Making $1,700 From Blogging!
• Blogging Income Report 2019 – Making $7,000 From Blogging!
• Blogging Income Report 2020 – Making $22,000 From Blogging!

Why I Write Blogging Income Reports

One quick note before getting on with my blog income report.

The reason I write one of these reports every year isn't to brag or to try and promote anything.

Rather, I think it's important to write these reports in the name of transparency.

I remember reading about blogging and other side hustles when I was in college and really wanted to make more money. It was nearly impossible to find accurate information, let alone blog income reports that even shared screenshots to prove the earning figures.

In my opinion, this lack of honesty and transparency is one of the main problems of the side hustle niche.

So, I hope that by providing my blogging income data and actual screenshots of everything important, you get an idea of what's realistic and possible after four years of consistent blogging and work.

With that out of the way, let's dive into the numbers!

Blogging Income For 2021 – Making $92,614 From Blogging

I'm going to cut to the chase here and start with the total amount WebMonkey earned in 2021.

WebMonkey made $92,614.42 in 2021.

I'm honestly still blown away by this figure since this is about a 400% increase from last year's $22,000 year.

There were quite a few factors at play that explain why revenue jumped so much, as well as some sheer dumb luck.

But before getting into all that, let's break down each income source for a bit more granularity!

Mediavine Income Report – Making $61,807.94

I've been using Mediavine ads to monetize my blog since 2020.

And, in 2021, Mediavine earned $61,807.94 for WebMonkey.

This income is a result of:

• 1.44 million sessions
• A $42.68 average RPM

Mediavine is a premium ads network, and it's honestly an amazing company to work with.

It's a way higher-paying advertising network than something like AdSense, and it's also earning much more than when I was with Monumetric, another ads company.

Mediavine is excellent to work with because it's always improving its ad tech, so bloggers can effectively monetize with display ads without ruining user experience.

It also offers amazing publisher support, and I don't think I know of many ad networks that could deliver such a high RPM!

I mean, earning $45 to $50 RPM during quarter four is just insane, and I even had a five-figure month with Mediavine in December which was crazy to see.

Affiliate Marketing Income – Making $30,806.48

The second source of blogging income for WebMonkey is affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing has always been something I've struggled with because I don't want to sound too salesy in my content.

However, 2021 was a massive improvement from 2020's results, during which time I earned about $6,000 in affiliate income.

In 2021, WebMonkey Earned $30,806.48 from affiliate marketing income.

Here are the main affiliate networks I use to find and promote offers, as well as how much each network or offer paid me:

• Impact Radius (my favorite affiliate marketing network): $26,848 Canadian, or $21,057 USD.
• Aragon Premium (great for finance bloggers): $5,143
• Max Bounty: $1,346
• Rakuten (my favorite shopping extension): $831
• Printify (my favorite print-on-demand company): $1,458
• AdBloom: $514
• SiteGround Hosting: $100
• Shopify Hosting: $87
• Amazon Affiliates: $76
• Flex Offers (I use this affiliate marketing network much less now): $194.48
• Total Income: $30,806.48

Now that the income is broken out by affiliate network, here are some screenshots just to verify the earnings are legit!

Note: I'm including screenshots from the main earners just so there isn't a wall of images for ones that barely made $100 in income.

Here's a snapshot from Impact Radius, my main affiliate marketing network:

And here's the revenue from MaxBounty, which I joined halfway through the year (this network has lots of awesome offers!)

These are the affiliate payouts from Printify:

Here are some PayPal payments from Aragon Premium (I can't capture all of them in the screenshot since Aragon pays with PayPal cash):

And finally, here's the Adbloom income:

As for what offers I'm promoting, some of my highest-paying affiliates for 2021 include:

• DoorDash: I write about this gig app a lot in posts like my DoorDash driver review or post on DoorDash tips and tricks.
• Fundrise: A nifty real estate investment platform that I mention in posts on passive income ideas.
• Instacart: Another driving gig I talk about in content like my Instacart Shopper pay article.
• Mistplay: A popular app that pays you to play games I mention a lot.
• Drop: One of my favorite reward apps.
• Steady: Another gig economy app that helps people find new side hustles.

I think the thing I'm most happy about with affiliate income in 2021 is that it's way more diversified than any previous year.

I've also written a lot of listicles this year that are sort of cash-cow articles.

For example, posts like the best gpt sites or the best beermoney apps and websites are basically full of various affiliate links, so they're very valuable posts once they rank.

I've also spent more time working on content that meets user intent.

For example, a post like DoorDash driver tips and tricks, while useful, is only catering to readers who have probably already signed up for DoorDash.

But, my content like how to DoorDash for the first time or DoorDash vs Instacart are probably capturing people who are still deciding if they should sign up to Dash, so there's more affiliate income potential.

So, if I can give one tip to other bloggers, it's to consider the user intent for articles when doing keyword research.

Reviews and listicles are great, but targeting specific question keywords is also a very lucrative strategy if you get people right before the buying stage.

YouTube 2021 Income – Making $7,158.67

I don't include YouTube money in my blog income, but I think it makes sense to add it in at the end here since YouTube and WebMonkey funnel traffic to one another.

Here are some quick stats about my YouTube channel in 2021:

• Views: 498,800
• New Subscribers: 4,800
• Total Subscribers: 12,737
• Revenue: $7,158.67

This was honestly another great result in my opinion, and the channel is trending upwards so I'm very excited for what 2022 has to bring.

I'm also excited since YouTube and blogging made about $100,000 in revenue for me in 2021.

This is also in USD which is even better when living in Canada or abroad where the strength of the U.S. dollar can get you pretty far.

Now, the channel did have some expenses for video editing, thumbnails, and YouTube SEO software.

Here's how the costs break down:

• Video Editing: $1,270
• Thumbnails: $400
• Tubebuddy SEO Software: $108
• Total: $1,778

This brings the channel's total profit to: $5,380.67

I set a goal of hitting 50,000 subscribers in 2021. I don't think this was unrealistic, but I don't think I made nearly enough trending content to deserve getting close to this goal.

I'm very excited to have crossed the 10k mark, but until I make more trending content or better content in general, I think getting to 50k might be a bit slow.

That said, I still think I made some cool videos in 2021.

My favorite is probably my Dubai vlog since that's where I lived for a few months this year (more on that later!)

I also had some videos pop off a bit, and overall, I'm happy with the 1,000 to 2,000 sessions YouTube sends my blog every month as well.

I've started paying for video editing help as well, so this has really sped up how fast I can create videos and my whole enjoyment of YouTube as well.

For bloggers, I think video content is only going to become more important every year.

So, if you want to stay ahead of the game, I recommend starting your own channel. You can also check out some content I have on YouTube like:

• Blogging vs YouTube.
• How To Get Your First 1,000 YouTube Subscribers – My Case Study.

Blogging Expenses For 2021

Alright, now that the fun part is out of the way, it's time to dive into the bookkeeping part of all of this.

I've started treating WebMonkey like more of a business this year, but I also had a goal of improving the profit margin from last year.

Anyway, this year was much better in terms of my blogging profit margin, and here's how my blog expenses look like:

• Content Writing: $12,702
• BigScoots Hosting: $634
• Pinterest Virtual Assistant Help: $1,875
• Tailwind: $119.88
• Sucuri Website Security: $299.99
• Website Redesign: $450
• Total Cost: $16,098.87
• Total Blogging Profit: $76,515.13

Content writing was my largest blogging expense by far, but working with Daniel and Selena on WebMonkey has been a great experience since they are both very talented writers and are awesome to work with.

As for hosting, BigScoots has been performing way better for me than SiteGround. If your blog is growing and you want to invest in speed, I definitely recommend making the switch.

My website redesign this year has finally gotten WebMonkey to look and feel like I wanted it to.

The homepage has way more high-value static content, and being on Gutenberg and Genesis also helps with speed and performance.

My redesign actually coincided with my blog benefitting from a Google core algorithm update (more on that in a tad), and I don't think that's entirely a coincidence.

Anyway, other costs were pretty much the same as last year in terms of website security and Pinterest marketing.

I'm going to ditch Tailwind next year since Pinterest traffic has fallen off a cliff since the company went public, but hey, that's $115 less in annual costs so perhaps it's for the best.

For next year, I definitely want to double-down on content production and to reinvest more earnings into some other blog projects (more on this down below!)

Strategies That Helped Increase Blogging Revenue

2021 was a massive leap for turning WebMonkey into a business.

So, I wanted to cover a few of the factors that contributed to my blog income growth in case any other bloggers are struggling with monetization currently.

Way More Content Production

Something finally clicked in 2021 that honestly took me way, way too long to realize.

Here's what I learned: most blogs have a traffic problem, not a monetization problem.

I used to be so fixated on finding new affiliate programs, optimizing my placements, and figuring out how to squeeze as much money per pageview as possible.

But here's the thing: the simplest way to earn more blogging income is just to get more traffic. So, naturally, this means pumping out more SEO-rich content.

So in 2021, I basically updated or published a new blog post every day or so. WebMonkey is now at 410 posts!

Every post targets a low or medium competition keyword I think I can rank for in 2 to 6 months.

The result has been a steady increase in monthly traffic, and right now, WebMonkey gets around 200,000 monthly sessions and 250,000 to 270,000 pageviews.

This is basically a 4-5x increase from last year, so for now, this content production strategy is working!

Playing The Google Game

Google had a series of minor and core algorithm updates in 2021.

In Summer, there were also two updates: one in June and one in July.

Like other core algorithm updates, these updates basically help content that better matches search intent perform better on Google.

These updates have also considered metrics like site speed and author authority as well.

Anyway, June is where WebMonkey began taking off, so I was clearly on the winning side of the Google game this year.

Here's a snapshot of how my traffic looks, and you can see it's been ramping with the subsequent Google updates since this past summer.

The moral of this story is that long-form content with valuable content and proper keyword research still works.

I think adding in more primary research and testimonials/reviews from real users is also helping my content rank better, but that's just a hunch.

YouTube might also be playing a role, and I've started writing for a lot more personal finance sites, so perhaps my authority has gone up in the eyes of Google.

Whatever the case, I urge other bloggers to keep an eye on Google updates and to play the Google game if you can.

Email Marketing Improvements

One improvement I've made to the blog near the end of 2021 is to actually start email marketing.

I'm still awful at consistently sending email blasts. However, I finally built some simple email automation flows so new email subscribers at least get a few weeks of emails and content delivered to their inboxes.

I also created a blogging SEO checklist downloadable report that I'm using as a new pop-up to capture emails for readers who want to learn about making money with a blog.

This email capture and automation flow is growing and slowly delivering more traffic, so I'm excited to keep testing new email ideas and to grow my email list in 2022 and beyond.

If you're running your own blog, I definitely recommend using some email marketing provider to at least set up a basic automation flow.

You can use ConvertKit or MailerLite to get started. I use MailerLite for WebMonkey and have used ConvertKit on client websites back in the day, and both are very beginner friendly and quick to set up!

Better Keyword Research

Another factor that helped WebMonkey make more money in 2021 was using a new keyword research approach.

I used to use Keywords Everywhere and a lot of manual searching to find new keywords.

This method is decent, but after using my friend's SEMRush account for the past year, I have to say I'm blown away by this SEO tool.

SEMRush gets you so much useful keyword data, and you can also spy on your competitors to poach their keywords and attack areas of weakness they might have.

I actually recorded a SEMRush review video for a new YouTube channel I'm starting with my friend Ben called Bunny Media:

I've been using SEMRush to collect hundreds of blog post ideas, and it's also helped me find many of my now most popular blog posts.

SEMRush is pretty expensive at around $120 per month, but you can always use the free trial or pay for a month to do all your research and then cancel after.

Anyways, this tool was a massive time-saver for 2021, so I definitely recommend trying it out!

If you want to support WebMonkey, you can always sign up for SEMRush with my link as well.

A Personal Update – A Year Of Nomadism & Adventure

I didn't really have set plans for 2021, but I have to say, I'm really happy and grateful for how the year turned out.

The start of the year wasn't easy due to a poor work-life balance and some personal problems. And I think the last two years have also put a lot of people in a general funk anyway.

After quitting the startup I was at in late January, I booked a one-way flight to Dubai since I had heard it was fairly open and not locked down.

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect when heading to Dubai.

For one, it's a city that receives a lot of criticism for being built off the back of cheap labor.

On the other hand, Dubai is pretty much a vacuum where insane skylines, nightlife, and opulence is around every corner.

Whatever the case, it was nice to explore somewhere new…to try new foods, to work remotely in a different part of the world, and to just go somewhere completely alien for a change.

Anyway, I lived in Dubai for nearly three months, blogging in random cafes while drinking way too much Arabic coffee (with cardamom, of course!)

I also got to see some frankly breathtaking landmarks like the Burj Khalifa and the Palm Islands.

Seeing the desert was surprisingly beautiful. It was also nice to try new foods and see what another part of the world is like.

Plus, meeting people from all over was pretty cool since Dubai is such an international hub.

My Dubai trip was also when I really felt like this blogging thing is a reality.

It was sort of like the culmination of going all-in on blogging and freelancing and confirming that it's really possible to just make money with your laptop!

To me, this is the coolest part about blogging and trying out the digital nomad lifestyle; you can truly make money from anywhere and live your life the way you want to.

Anyway, after Dubai I headed back home for several months before heading down to the land of the free…AKA Florida!

Florida is honestly my happy place, and it was nice to wrap up the year with another trip somewhere warm.

Overall, this year felt like the first true leap into being a digital nomad and working for myself.

I also feel much more secure than I did during my Colombia adventures when I was just dipping my toes into this whole digital-nomad-blogger thing.

I still plan on diversifying income more in 2022, but if there's one thing the last four years have taught me, it's to trust the process and to do more of what's working.

I'm hoping to spend a bit less time working in 2022 since 2021 was an absolute grind, but then again, I find this stuff exciting so it's nice to put in the hours.

It would be nice to spend more time with friends and family as well since I'll admit, traveling alone for a while can get a bit lonely.

But hey, I think your early-mid twenties is a great time to grind and explore and occasionally do stupid things, so I'm sure 2022 will have plenty more of that.

Career & Blogging Plans For 2022

Alright, so what's around the corner for WebMonkey, other blogging plans, and freelancing for 2022?

Well, for WebMonkey, the plan is going to follow a sort of “if it isn't broke, don't fix it” approach.

This means more steady content production, focusing on SEO, and affiliate income diversification.

I'm also going to finally launch my blogging course (this was a goal for last year, but I procrastinated and got caught up in other projects…keep an eye out for this course coming in Q1, 2022!)

Aside from that, I also plan on growing my YouTube channel to expand WebMonkey's reach.

My 2021 goal was 50,000 subscribers, and again, I hope to hit this next year but I know I'll have to change my content style to accomplish this goal.

I've also started a few new fun side projects and some new professional projects as well!

The one I'm most excited to announce is that I finally started a new blog!

Yup that's right: there's another blog in the mix now, and I'm actually running this blog with my friend Daniel from Modern Teen.

The blog is called Manly And Modern, and it's a dude blog that covers topics like fitness, dating, and lifestyle topics.

Honestly, it's been refreshing to write content in a niche that's not personal finance.

Manly And Modern has been on the backburner for about one year, and it's sitting at around 30 posts right now and is actually in Monumetric!

If anything, I think this project proves it's possible to start and monetize a blog in a short amount of time, even if you don't have much spare time.

Anyways, that does it for most of my personal projects that are going on.

This past year has also been exciting on the freelancing front, and I'm working a lot closer with clients like The Motley Fool and some awesome crypto websites like Cult of Money.

Overall, I feel very lucky and happy with how 2021 has gone. If you're thinking about branching into freelancing to diversify your income, my advice is to start now!

It can be intimidating to start a blog or freelance side hustle, but with time and effort, I firmly believe you can grow both types of income streams into meaningful ones.

Wrapping Up

I honestly feel like last year was a complete blur.

But, I'm also extremely grateful for all of the growth this blog has experienced. So, once again, thank you to anyone who takes the time to read my content or watch my videos!

My goal with these blog income reports has always been to remain transparent and to prove that it's possible to make a full-time living online.

It might take months or, in my case, years to become a reality, but I think there's more opportunity to make money online than ever before.

So, if you want to start a blog, YouTube channel, or some online business, my advice is to take the plunge!

What starts out as a small side hustle might become a full-time job one day, so you never really know where you'll end up after trying something new.

Anyways, I also think it's important to set professional goals when a new year roles around, so here's what I'm hoping to achieve with WebMonkey and other properties in 2022:

• Blogging Income: $175,000 (I want to aim for $150,000 in blog revenue and generate the rest from courses and digital products)
• Course Launch: Quarter 1, 2022 is when I plan on launching my blogging course, and I really mean it this year!
• YouTube Subscribers & Revenue: I still want to aim for 50,000 subscribers which I hope will bring in $20,000 in revenue.
• Freelancing: I want to maintain my freelance writing relationships this year and also branch more into freelance video production for clients.
• Travel Plans: Mexico is coming up soon, and I think this year will have more travel than any year before, which is very exciting.
• Personal: I want to spend more time with family and friends and work fewer weekends.

Anyways, that's all for my 2021 blogging income report!

I hope you've found some of the income information or blogging tips helpful if you're looking to grow your own blog this year.

I really think blogging is a marathon and not a sprint, but hey, the results are worth it if you put in the effort and have some patience.

Thank you again for your readership. I hope everyone has a 2022 that's full of health, happiness, and wealth.

Sincerely,

Tom from WebMonkey.

Looking for more blogging-related content? Checkout:

• Mediavine Requirements For Bloggers (+ Tips For Getting Accepted).
• Blog vs Podcast – Which Options Is Best?

The post Blog Income Report 2021 – Making $92,000+ From Blogging! appeared first on WebMonkey.

But, if you're trying to make money online through blogging, this popularity might sound scary. After all, a popular blogging niche just means more competiton, right?

Well, as a personal finance blogger who made around $22,000 from blogging last year, I can tell you that niche competition doesn't mean you can't make money.

But, if you're wondering how to become a food blogger or are curious how to make money as a food blogger, are you in for a treat!

Today, we have an interview with Sam from the keto and low carb food blog Mouthwatering Motivation.

If you want to learn how to create a successful food blog and thrive in one of the most competitive niches out there, this is absolutely the post for you.

Let's get to it!

How To Become A Food Blogger – How Sam Went Full-Time

I'd like to thank Sam for taking the time to share her insights and journey on becoming a full-time food blogger.

In this interview, we're covering:

1. Why Sam started a food blog in the first place
2. How long Sam has been blogging for
3. How Sam makes money as a food blogger
4. What specific traffic and monetization strategies work best
5. How much do food bloggers make
6. If starting an Instagram food blog is viable
7. If starting a food blog in 2021 and beyond is still a good idea

Take it away, Sam!

About Sam & Mouthwatering Motivation

Hi! I’m Sam. I’m a 25 year old full-time food blogger and recipe creator.

To get an idea of where I started, I went to school for Foods and Nutrition at Brescia University-College.

During this time I also competed in a figure competition. I met most of my friends at the Western Rec Center since I spent the majority of my day there outside of classes!

I also worked as a baker/cashier at a French Bakery & Patisserie in London, ON. Following school I took a job at a supplement store where I further increased my nutritional knowledge.

 When & Why Did You Start Mouthwatering Motivation? 

It’s a long story, but I’ll do my best to condense it!

I was actually a big art nerd in high school. I had no interest in working out and nutrition at the time.

But in 2011, I was diagnosed with scoliosis. It came as a huge shock as I’d never had any serious health conditions before.

It was so severe I had to have surgery as soon as possible since I could run the risk of my ribs puncturing my lung if I continued to let it progress.

So, that same year, I had spinal fusion. I came out on the other end 2 inches taller with 2 titanium rods and 20 screws in my back (I really love singing “I am Titanium”).

This resulted in a whole lot of reflection time (and sitting in a chair trying to pick things up with a plastic claw my parents gave me).

Ultimately my surgery really changed my outlook on life. I valued being able to walk, run, lift things.. etc, a lot more than I did prior. I no longer took my health for granted.

This is also when I started blogging. I actually wrote about my surgery first and about my experience to try and help others.

But as I grew stronger and was able to get back to normal physical activities, I started getting into weight-lifting and began eating a higher protein diet.

I was determined to replace the lost muscle in my back, and in-doing so, I unknowingly started a whole new path of life.

I changed courses in high school. I decided to take more courses related to nutrition. I asked what grades I needed to get into the Brescia Foods and Nutrition program and I made it happen.

Then, the following year, I started a food blog called Mouthwatering Motivation (My Dad wanted me to call it ProteinQueen – very thankful I went a different route).

Originally it was a high protein recipe blog as I’d starting to gain a small following online and some friends had asked for me to share my recipes.

My first recipe was actually a Pizza Frittata, and it’s still up on my old site today if you’d like to see where I started.

I continued to post on my free WordPress food blog for about 3 years before I actually learned you could make money blogging.

So for me, starting a food blog was the result of a passion. It was never about making money as a food blogger when I started.

However, when I finally monetized my blog, I was able to start making money quite early on since I did already have a following. But it was still a difficult road to making any sort of livable income.

As the years went on, my blog eventually became a fully low carb, gluten free website due to my growing interest in the ketogenic diet and my love for those specific recipes.

How Did Your Food Blog Change Over The Years?

Oh man, it’s been a rollercoaster.

Seriously. I could go on forever about the amount of times I’ve screamed at my computer screen, cried when a 4000 word post didn’t save (I re-wrote that post TWICE that same day due to a site error, LOL…Note to all bloggers, back-up your work outside of your blogging platform!)

I’ve had weeks and even months where I was ready to give up on my blog. I actually abandoned it once for about two months and said it wasn’t for me.

But I felt lost without running my food blog. It always seemed to pull me back in. especially when someone would leave a nice comment on an old recipe.

After my brief pause, I slowly started posting again after those 2 months and I’ve been going strong ever since (still with the occasional moments of panic and frustration of course). I don’t think I could have kept with it this long if I didn’t love it.

Overall, my blog has grown immensely over the years. Not only in size and following but in quality of the content. I’ve learned SO much and I am still learning something new each day.

In terms of actual stats, my blog had 1773 monthly viewers and made 0$ in the entire year of 2012.

That’s not bad for my first year of starting a recipe blog.

But, fast-forward to recent years, and I’ve received between 1.8M – 3M+ views in a single year. It still blows my mind that that many people are interested in what I make!

When it comes to other social media platforms, I’ve seen quite a bit of growth there as well.

I started my Instagram around the time I started my blog and it now has 14.3K followers at the time of writing this post (I will say I’ve only focussed on Instagram and really taken it seriously in the last 1 year).

My Pinterest account is my largest traffic source and has always been one of my biggest achievements.

I grew it to 1M monthly viewers in just my first year  of creating an account (I think around the year of 2018) and at its peak it was at 7.1M monthly viewers.

Recently, Pinterest made some changes to their algorithm, so my traffic is back down to 3.2M and I’m working on a new strategy to bring it back-up!

I’ve also expanded into other social media platforms because I’d like to rely less on Pinterest. I think this is an important tip for anyone trying to create a successful food blog since the diversity can help you grow your following.

I’ve also had a YouTube channel for years but never took it seriously until the past 2 1/2 months.

In the last month alone I’ve gained over 400+ new subscribers putting me at almost 3000 so I’m excited to see where that takes me!

I also share content in Facebook groups. I receive a small amount of traffic from them but more-so I find it’s a great place to meet people and connect.

Lastly, I will say that my traffic has sky-rocketed and crumbled and sky-rocketed again over the years.

It’s never completely consistent. The internet is constantly changing and you have to learn to adapt to keep growing a food blog. But I think that’s what makes this job so exciting.

Extra Reading – How To Make Money With Pinterest.

How Did You Become A Food Blogger & Go Full-Time?

In the beginning, I grew my blog almost exclusively with Pinterest and sharing in Facebook groups for the first 3 years.

I knew nothing about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) or how to properly structure a blog post.

I find Pinterest is best for beginners because you can rank and get discovered almost immediately if you have good-quality images or enticing pins. It’s also easier to start seeing traffic than Google, so if you create content often I’d highly recommend it.

Pinning your own content to a variety of well-named boards often is what can really grow your site quickly.

Pinterest used to focus more on re-pinning content already on the platform but in 2021, it's looking for more fresh content.

This can also mean, creating multiple Pinterest pins (images) for the same blog post. I use Canva to create all of my pins and would highly recommend it.

However, although I mainly focussed on Pinterest and I think it’s a great way to grow your blog quickly, don’t skip out on SEO.

You’ll thank yourself later if you focus on creating SEO friendly blog posts early-on.

There’s plenty of YouTube videos and blog posts explaining it so do your best to educate yourself on the topic if you want to start ranking on Google.

Extra Reading – Is Tailwind Worth It For Bloggers?

How Does A Food Blogger Make Money?

Food bloggers make money in all sorts of ways!

But the most common methods I’d say are:

• Display ads with networks like Google Adsense, Monumetric, Mediavine, or AdThrive
• Affiliate sales
• Sponsored posts
• Selling products (whether that be food products or cookbooks!)

We can also make money through other platforms such as TikTok and YouTube!

In terms of what works and what doesn’t, I’d say all revenue streams I’ve mentioned “work” but it’s just the amount of effort you are willing to put into each one and which ones best suit you and your blog.

A combination of multiple revenue streams is always optimal so if one declines, you can put more effort into your other revenue streams to continue making a steady income!

Also, growing an email list early on is one of the most important things you can do!

Your email audience will be your most loyal audience because they TRUST you.

This is a huge asset when it comes to launching products and affiliate sales in the future! (Look up “how to create a lead magnet and email list” for a better idea of where to start).

Extra Reading – How To Make Money On YouTube.

How Much Do Food Bloggers Make?

Food bloggers can make anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to six figures or more each year. It really just depends on the level of effort and where they are at in their blogging journey.

I would DEFINITELY say not to compare yourself and not to expect income right away or even in the first year (though it is possible start earning something).

It’s best to focus on growing your food blog traffic and social media presence early on, creating content people love, and building a name for yourself before you aim to monetize your blog.

You can see my first blog here to get an idea of where I started vs now: www.mouthwateringmotivation.wordpress.com  (It was rough, but I grew an audience because I put out content regularly!)

You can technically monetize your blog with ads right away, but with a small amount of traffic, you really won’t earn much and it’s not worth it to cover your site with ads if you don’t have to.

In my opinion, it’s best to wait until you are receiving enough traffic to the point where you can apply for a high-end advertising platform such as Mediavine or Ad Thrive. It might take a bit longer to get there but it’s so worth it!

Plus, instead of ads, try focussing on affiliate income and virtual products early on like printables or ebooks! This is a great way to earn a little commission and motivate yourself to continue creating content!

Can You Start An Instagram Food Blog?

It's technically possible to become an Instagram food blogger.

If you focus solely on growing your following and earn income with sponsored posts, you could grow an Instagram food blog and make money.

BUT,  I think starting a food blog where you have your own website truly establishes your brand and opens up so many more opportunities.

A website is great for selling your own products and sharing longer content than Instagram (this is especially important for more complex recipes).

Owning your own blog also lets you earn more from affiliate links and sponsored posts as well!

Lastly, I think it's easier to grow your food blog than figuring out how to grow your Instagram food blog.

But, I think the decision comes down to what works best to you and what sort of food blogger you want to become.

Is Starting A Food Blog Worth It?

YES! Becoming a food blogger is so worth it!

I also think there is no better time. So many people search for recipes online now.

I do think things have changed in terms of Google, Pinterest and other platforms, but change isn’t always bad. A lot of food bloggers are also now using Tiktok to grow their platforms, which was never available to us in the past.

Any Final Advice For Anyone Trying To Make Money With A Food Blog?

If you are starting a food blog, make sure you love it.

Make sure it’s something you truly get exciting about and enjoy doing.

If you're just in it for the money, you’re not going to maintain the motivation long-term to get to the point where you are earning a steady income.

There’s so many struggles and little things you have to overcome along the way. If you truly enjoy what you are doing, like anything then you WILL make it. My mindset going into blogging was to share what I already loved doing in my free time.

Another piece of advice I would recommend to anyone is to remember every issue you encounter or time when everything seems to be going wrong is there for a reason.

In other words, think of each challenge as a test.

It requires you to think outside the box to progress. This thinking outside the box is what takes you to the next level of your journey. Every single time something has gone wrong with my blog, something better has come out of it.

As they say, “When one door closes, another door opens.” There is ALWAYS a way to keep moving forward, regardless of what you encounter.

If you have anymore questions about starting/running a food blog, I’m always happy to answer them if you want to shoot my an email at: [email protected].

I also want to thank Tom for taking the time to reach out and interview me. It was a pleasure to share my thoughts and experience!

Final Thoughts On How To Start A Food Blog

Once again, I'd like to than Sam for taking time to share her story on how she became a full-time food blogger.

I think Sam's blogging journey is a pretty incredible one.

Despite various setbacks, algorithm changes, and wondering if food blogging was right for her at some point, she stuck with blogging and even went full-time.

If anything, I think Sam's story proves that making money from a food blog is possible, even in 2021 and beyond, provided you put in the time and effort.

If you're wondering how to become a food blogger, I also hope Sam's story and advice gives you the inspiration and tips for your next steps.

I highly recommend checking out Mouthwatering Motivation for some awesome recipes ideas and to see what Sam is up to.

You can also find Sam on Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube as mentioned throughout the interview.

She's also launching a new product soon, so if you're a fan of her work and want to see what's around the corner, I definitely suggest following her on all platforms!

Thank you again Sam, and best of luck to everyone out there who plans on starting a food blog!

Ready to take the plunge into food blogging?

I always recommend SiteGround hosting for new bloggers since it's reliable, affordable, and easy to use to launch your first blog!

The post How To Become A Food Blogger – How Sam Became A Full-Time Food Blogger appeared first on WebMonkey.

I also considered not writing one for a while since, frankly, this year has sucked for millions of people around the world.

And I'm not talking about the kind of suck where people can't travel, or find their favorite product at the grocery store, or watch their favorite sports team.

I'm talking about the kind of thing like losing your job, going into debt, and having a myriad of other personal problems.

However, there are ultimately two reasons why I've still decided to write a blog income report for 2020:

• One of WebMonkey's goals has always been to provide transparent income reports so people understand the realities of making money with a blog.
• I want to highlight the positives that have come from this mess of a year because they still exist.

This isn't going to be a post that tries to convince everyone to start their own blog or begin making money online because I don't think these options are always viable, especially if you don't have much money right now.

Instead, this blog income report will provide a completely honest look at what WebMonkey earned in 2020, the cost of doing business, and some personal updates since this year has definitely been a wacky one.

Before we start, I'd also like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read, comment, share, and even email me your thoughs over the years.

I feel like I'm a very different person since I started this website back in college, and I'm grateful WebMonkey is something people actually care to read.

Anyway, without rambling on, let's get to it!

Want to start from the beginning? Checkout:

• 2018 Blogging Income Report – Making $1,761 From Blogging.
• 2019 Blogging Income Report – Making $7,000+ From Blogging.

My Blog Income Report – Making $22,000+ From Blogging In 2020

This year has been the most dramatic increase in my blog as a business, and I think it ultimately highlights the fact that creating a profitable blog is a marathon, not a sprint.

It takes time to nurture a blog into a profitable business.

However, you'll sometimes find that it just takes that one lucky break for your blog to really start rolling.

For me, the big break in 2020 largely came from switching up my display advertising provider to show more profitable ads on my website.

I'm going to talk about that income stream and every other major stream of blog income for 2020 in the name of transparency, so let's get to it!

1. Display advertising

In 2020, my blog earned $15,085 thanks to running Mediavine advertisements.

I've written about Mediavine before in my Mediavine review, and this is undeniably the most significant change I've made to my blog to-date.

It also represents how blogging is very much a case of putting in months or years of effort in order for something to finally click.

When I started blogging, I used Adsense, Google's advertising network, to make money.

After over a year, I switched to Monumetric and increased my blogging revenue by 400% compared to the pennies I was earning with Adsense.

I then used that extra income to redesign my website, outsource Pinterest marketing, improve SEO, and funnel the revenue into growth.

That growth helped me reach the 25,000 monthly session requirement for Mediavine (it's 50,000 now sadly but they are working on a lower-tier product as well for smaller bloggers).

So, in reality, getting into Mediavine was really just a series of smaller steps and advertising networks…not such an impossible feat when you look at it that way!

2. Affiliate Income

Alright, time for the second major category of blogging income I rely on: affiliate income.

I've honestly always struggled with affiliate income, so I'm pretty pumped that this year has shown much stronger signs on the afiliate side of things.

There's really two main reasons my affiliate income has improved, and this is what I suggest other bloggers consider too:

• I have more variety in my affiliate offers.
• I have more affiliate links on my website.

This might sound like stupid advice, but it finally hit me this year that in order to really earn affiliate income, you gotta get some hooks in the water and actually get those clicks!

So, this year, I've used the following affiliate networks to make money:

• Aragon Premium – $1,553.16
• FlexOffers – $1,496.92
• Impact Radius – CA $1,801 or $1414 USD,
• Rakuten – $705.
• Hosting ones (SiteGround and Shopify) – $174.
• CJ affiliates – $25.92 (lol).
• Monumetric Referrals – $245.59.
• Printifty (from my post on starting an Etsy POD store) – $325.37

Total: $5,939.96

In 2019, I basically spent all of my efforts promoting SiteGround and Shopify, and the results were okay.

However, this year, I work with way more partners, and I do a better job at actually promoting links on my page.

One strategy I've started is plugging related affiliate offers at the end of some post intros.

For example, in my Pei app review, I wrap up the intro by pushing readers towards Drop and Capital One Shopping, two lucrative affiliate offers I promote:

I'm not even an affiliate for Pei, but the post gets organic traffic and then pushes people towards offers I do make money on.

Anyway, those are my little tidbits for any bloggers out there who are trying to grow their affiliate income.

Now, time for some more proof!

As you can see, here are my earnings from Aragon Premium, my new favorite financial affiliate network:

Posts like my Mistplay review and list of the best reward apps have been great for various affiliate offers.

My post on Uber Eats vs DoorDash is also doing great thanks to some FlexOffers links:

Finally, direct affiliate programs from things like Rakuten, Printify, and Monumetric have also done well this year:

Monumetric referrals are also pretty awesome since you get 2% of the publisher's revenue for the next 12 months!

Another affiliate program I'm very happy with is Printify, which I promote from my post on using Printify with Etsy.

The number of people who read that post and then actually make money with POD (using Printify, which then pays me a cut) is pretty neat.

Ultimately, my advice for other bloggers is to take a few weeks and dedicate it to diversifying your affiliate networks and offers.

You don't even have to rank for highly-competitive affiliate posts; sometimes, pushing affiliate offers in less competitive but related posts works just as well!

3. Writing On Medium

Making money on Medium has been a frequently mentioned topic on this blog.

After all, my Medium post is one of the most popular posts of all-time.

Plus, Medium helped diverisfy my income early on and has even recently gotten me mentioned in places like The Penny Hoarder!

Anyway, these days, Medium is still slowly chugging along and earned $1,169.45 dollars in 2020.

Again, this is basically all syndicated content, and I barley publish on Medium these days (so I'm categorizing this as blogging income).

It's a nice source of passive income right now, but hey, every little bit counts!

The earnings are falling off lately, but I might try a bit of original content and some more syndication in the future to liven up the account.

I Started A YouTube Channel!

All-in-all, I earned $22,194.41 dollars from blogging in 2020.

However, strangely enough, one of the most exciting things I tried this year is starting a YouTube channel to promote WebMonkey.

I didn't really know what to expect when I started, and I had never really tried audio recording or editing videos before.

However, for the sake of traffic diversity and trying to make money on YouTube, I figured it was finally time to give things a go.

Somehow, what started with a terrible quality video I made in the middle of Medellin, Colombia eventually turned into a humble channel that's approaching 8,000 subscribers for the year!

Not too shabby!

Additionally, the channel earned just shy of $4,000 for the year which is absolutely insane since most of this revenue came from one video that's still chugging along.

I've probably spent about $2,000 at this point between trying two cameras, editing software, lights, and various YouTube channel expenses.

However, this new side hustle has been so fun, and I've also met some pretty cool people in the process as well.

Plus, it's also cool to see that over 400,000 people ended up watching a video!

I've written about blogging vs YouTube and decided they each have their merit, but I'll definitely say the viral potential of YouTube is pretty awesome.

If you're a blogger who wants to tackle a new traffic source in 2021, my advice is definitely to give YouTube a go!

Extra Reading – How To Get Your First 1,000 YouTube Subscribers.

Blogging Expenses

Okay, time for the most interesting part of my 2020 blog income report (in my opinion).

The one thing that has always infuriated me about other income reports is that they rarely show proof of income and they just brush over expenses.

And, while it's nice to believe you can make $50,000 per month blogging (without proof lol) and have a profit margin of 90% or something, let's be real…blogging is an expensive game.

Google is the most competitive traffic source out there. To compete with the big players, you need to work and spend smart.

So, the main change for blogging expenses in 2020 was beginning to work with two awesome freelance writers to help beef up my content output (again, more hooks in the water…this might be the theme here).

Aside from that, hosting upgrades, outsourcing Pinterest, and a SEO overhaul were some of my significant expenses.

My 2020 blogging expenses include:

• Freelance Writers – I paid $5,689 to four different writers in 2020.
• Pinterest Marketing – I pay approximately $1,750 per year for my Upwork Pinterest VA.
• Tailwind for Pinterest – $240 per year due to a Tribe Upgrade. Ditching this in 2021.
• SEO Overhaul – $550.
• SiteGround Hosting – $255.60 since I upgraded to SiteGround's GrowBig plan. This cost won't continue for 2021.
• BigScoots Hosting – $99 – I switched to BigScoots in October so there's been three months of added expenses for hosting.
• YouTube – $564 on things like Thumbnails, some software, graphics for channel, music, and TubeBuddy.

Total Expenses: $9,147.60

Total Blogging Profit: $13,046.81 (58.78% profit margin, not too shabby!)

And not one Bluehost sale! I'll be damned!

Now, a few things I want to clarify here!

Firstly, the two freelance writers I'm working with are unreal, and the money I've spent on articles is certainly money well-spent.

My strategy with them has been to give them low-competition keyword articles to write, and I'm definitely seeing the impact slowly but surely of the increased content output.

Secondly, I suggest checking out my Tailwind review to see why I don't advise new bloggers to pay for Tailwind and for existing bloggers to consider if the annual cost is worth it or not (Tailwind kinda sucks right now).

Thirdly, for my SEO overhaul, I paid Grayson Bell's team at iMark Interactive about $550 to help improve my website.

Grayson's team is very respected in the Mediavine blogger community, and the work they did was pretty stellar!

Finally, the reason I'm currently paying for two hosting plans is because I have switched to BigScoots instead of SiteGround (but prepaid for the entire year of SiteGround).

The reason for the switch is because BigScoots is faster than SiteGround and has more room to grow.

Since speed is so important for ranking, I figured the extra monthly price is worth it.

If you're looking to upgrade your hosting, I definitely recommend looking into BigScoot's plans!

Anyway, that's the gist of how much I spent on blogging costs in 2020!

Overall, it's been awesome getting to work with new and young freelance writers and to take on a more editorial approach sometimes.

Of course, you don't have to spend money out of the gate to run a blog, and sweat equity goes a long way!

However, spending money on these things has helped me keep up with my full-time job while still blogging and let me dabble with YouTube. Sometimes, you just have to buy yourself more time!

Want to start your own blog?

I always recommend SiteGround for new bloggers because of their cheap hosting plan, reliable uptime, speed, and amazing support team.

Website Growth & Traffic Numbers

In 2020, WebMonkey received 559,388 sessions.

Holy smokes.

As for the breakdown, traffic was roughly comprised of:

• Organic – 78%.
• Social and Referral – 10%.
• Direct – 12%.

For social, Pinterest, YouTube, and Reddit certainly make up the majority of traffic.

For organic, it's the same old Google show as it is every year.

Google has actually been pretty crazy this year with a series of broad algorithm updates.

Thankfully, I wasn't hit too badly except for a slight dip earlier in March, and traffic has been holding fairly steady since.

I'll admit, I'm a bit discouraged by some stagnant growth, but it's definitely better to hold your rankings than to plummet.

Plus, I'm optimistic 2021 will see more organic traffic, and hopefully YouTube as the #1 social traffic source.

My tip for other bloggers really hasn't changed too much: focus on quality, write for SEO and users, and be honest (honesty is somehow a competitive advantage, which is crazy to me).

Favorite Reads & Blogs

I've kept up with a bit of a tradition over my previous blog income reports and mention some of my favorite reads throughout the year.

However, this year is going to be a bit shorter because I've done an embarassingly low amount of reading this year despite how the year has gone.

However, some of my favorite bloggers and books this year include:

• Reverse The Crush – I've been blogging friends with Graham, the owner of Reverse The Crush, since my early days of blogging. RTC is awesome because it's Graham's real experience about becoming FIRE though blogging, dividend investing, and passive income. Graham's also an incredibly nice guy and his dividend income reports are an inspiration to checkout. My favorite post from him this year has been on why you might pursue barista fire.
• Best Interest – Jesse's blog is the real deal and he has so many awesome posts on personal finance topics and also adds in some nice history tidbits. He's even guest posted on WebMonkey about flipping MTG cards for profit. My favorite post of his this year has been on the true cost of car ownership.
• Modern Teen – Daniel is a fellow twenty-something-year-old blogger who runs an awesome lifestyle blog for teens. Daniel also writes for WebMonkey, so you may have seen his author bio at the end of some posts lately. My favorite post from him this year was on 18 things to do when you turn 18.

As for books, I actually did a lot more financial reading this year compared to anything else.

A large reason for this was to create a YouTube video on my favorite personal finance books of all time:

I'm hoping to spend more time reading in 2021 and want to spend less time on my phone and more time with a book before bed, but we'll see how that one goes!

Personal Update – I Guess I'm A Wanabee Digital Nomad Now?

I want to wrap up my 2020 blog income report with a bit of a life update since this year has been anything but normal.

At the start of the year, I actually quit my digital marketing job back home and moved to Medellin, Colombia for two-ish months:

During this time, I went all-in on making money with freelance writing, blogging, and figuring out how to make money online in general.

Living in Colombia was interesting.

It's a beautiful country with warm, welcoming people. In fact, the Colombia most people conceptualize is, to a large extent, set in Escobar's time and not reality.

There's still some sketchy behavior, but hey, that's any major city.

Anyway, between trying to learn Spanish, meeting new people, and loitering around in cafes and random Airbnbs making money with my laptop, I have to say it was one of the cooler experiences of my life.

After Colombia, I decided to head home before borders got crazy and wound up in Daytona Beach, Florida once again.

Florida has always held a special place in my heart, especially since it's where I tried my first remote working experience in 2019.

While it's not a digital nomad hotspot like Medellin, I love that Florida always marches to the beat of their own drum.

After two months of festering in the sun, I then returned home for a brief period before one last digital nomad stint for the year in Montreal, Canada.

I actually got to go to Montreal with six other friends, three of whom I spent my childhood growing up with.

Between living in an absolute trap house of an Airbnb, working out in parks (the city was in lockdown), and eating way too much poutine, the entire trip was a nice way to round out the year.

And hey, I even made a day-in-the-life video about the whole thing and turned 24 in that city!

I honestly had more travel plans for 2020, like trying the digital nomad life in Europe or Thailand, but I can hardly complain at what this year has brought.

Plus, if we can find a silver lining to this year, it's truly that remote work and making a living online is only going to become more common.

So, if you and your friends are still working remotely when travel opens up again, my vote is to go make some memories in a Airbnb, far, far away from home.

2020 Blogging Goals & Reflecting

I've always been amazed at the fact that if you write something down, it has a much higher chance of becoming reality.

Here's a snapshot of my 2019 blogging goals from my previous blog income report:

Travel and launching a course were flops, but I'm still immensely happy of how things went overall.

Blogging income was hit pretty much on the dot.

As for YouTube, I'll take 8,000 subscribers and daily growth towards that 10K!

I also quit my day job and now full-time freelance, so it's been a pretty insane year from a career development perspective.

Here are the new goals for 2021:

• Blogging Income & Traffic – Scale to $30,000 – $35,000 (hoping to get WebMonkey to 75,000 monthly viewers and continuing to scale affiliate income). We'll see how this one goes!
• Launch a Course – Okay, I actually mean it this time ;P I have a great idea for a course and I hope to start filming content for it in February.
• YouTube Subscribers & Revenue – 50,000 subscribers and $15,000 in revenue. I know this sounds insane, but I want to try more trending content and go for some viral hits, so I have high hopes!
• Freelance Stuff – Maintain freelance writing income and continue work with digital marketing agency.
• Travel Plans – Florida and Europe are on the list but we shall wait and see!

Again, thank you all for your support and for following the journey so far.

Final Thoughts – Is The Grass Always Greener?

I know I don't normally share too much about my personal life, but this year, I feel like I've depended on WebMonkey more than ever.

Honestly, this is because there were a lot of stressful moments during the transition of a regular job to full-time freelancing.

However, I'm very fortunate that other income streams like making money on Upwork, YouTube, and working for a new digital marketing agency worked out quickly.

Anyway, throughout this career change, I pretty much developed the habit of working 60 to 70 hours per week.

I'm working on things I enjoy for the most part, but if there's one major lesson I've learned over the past year that's only hitting me now, it's that it's easy to fall into a trap of always thinking the grass is greener in another pasture.

See, the funny thing is that, when I started blogging, getting into Mediavine and making a living online was everything to me.

After all, I wanted nothing more than to quit my day job, become a digital nomad, and tromp around the globe with nothing but a laptop and backpack to my name.

This mental obsession caused me to eventually detest going into the office every morning.

I also ended a relationship because I had different life goals and then worked tirelessly to grow WebMonkey into what I thought it needed to be.

Anyways, at some point this year during a particularly stressful work week, I found myself daydreaming once more about a new scenario and how it would be so much better than what I was currently stuck doing.

And sure, while becoming a full-time YouTuber and living in a Dubai highrise would be sweet, I'm sure there's some sorry fool living that sort of life right, miserably wishing they were doing something else.

I also realize there's plenty of people who lost jobs this year and would love the chance to work 60 hours a week at any type of job.

The point is, humans are great at setting goal posts and then moving them right as we're about to score.

It doesn't matter if it's a six-figure job, a flashy new car, or becoming a digital nomad; these financial milestones or lifestyles aren't garaunteed to make you happy.

In fact, I'm increasingly finding that the things that make me happy and excited to get out of bed in the morning relate to broader life goals and almost always involve other people.

After all, in the words of vagabond Christopher McCandless, “happiness is only real when shared.”

So, my ultimate piece of advice (from my oh-so-wise 24 year old head) is that you need to remember the grass will always be greener in your head; especially when it comes to the different ways to make money online.

You can spend 60-70+ hours per week chasing an online business idea or promotion, but you better have some idea of what you want to do with the freedom that money ultimately unlocks.

Set ambitious goals and work hard to obtain them, but also take a moment to chill out and enjoy the progress and when you finally accomplish something!

Furthermore, don't forget to take a step back to focus on other people and family.

Personally, I thought digital nomadism was the thing for me, but I'm not so sure anymore…maybe 2021 will have the answer somewhere!

All I know is that I'm grateful for everything I have, everyone who reads this blog, and for your continued support.

Thank you for three awesome years!

If you've had a tough year, I hope that things get easier for you and that you're also excited about a world that is becoming more remote-friendly.

Hopefully, 2021 is full of new opportunities and plenty of new money-making ideas!

My bet is things are going to change for the better once the craziness is over, and I think it's important to always remain optimistic if you can.

Anyways, that's all for this 2020 blog income report!

I'll catch you guys in the next one.

-Tom from WebMonkey.

The post Blog Income Report 2020 – Making $22,000+ From Blogging appeared first on WebMonkey.

Now, I've worked in paid advertising for more than 3 years, and let me tell you, a profitable Google Ads PPC campaign or Facebook campaign is a beautiful thing.

After all, with paid ads, scaling is easier, you can reach your customers instantly, and your decision making process is much faster since you accumulate meaningful data fairly quickly.

But, obviously, not every business has a budget for paid advertising. Additionally, plenty of free traffic sources often deliver higher quality leads and customers with high levels of purchase intent.

So, today we're going to look at 8 different free traffic sources bloggers and business owners alike can leverage to start growing their online presence.

Let's get to it!

But First – What Is A Traffic Source?

If you're new to digital marketing, you might be unfamiliar with the term ‘traffic source.' Depending on who you ask or your industry, you'll also get different answers.

A website traffic source is really just a category of users coming from a source on the internet. When classifying traffic sources, you can stay pretty general or get granular depending on your goals.

For example, paid advertisers often distinguish between broad website traffic sources like paid, social, and organic. However, they can also be very granular and get down to elements like mobile device type, geo-based traffic sources, or other narrow categories.

For this list of free traffic sources, I'm going to include a mixture of broad and narrow ideas, but keep this range in mind when coming up with your own marketing strategy.

Time to break down some free web traffic sources you can start investing time into nurturing.

1. Reddit

Reddit is a news aggregation and discussion website that was founded in 2005. If you're an avid internet user, you've probably stumbled upon Reddit before.

On Reddit, communities are divided into what's known as ‘subreddits,' or subs. Subreddits make it easy to subscribe and follow specific groups on Reddit, and Reddit is home to an absurdly wide variety of subs.

What makes Reddit an awesome free traffic source for marketing is that simple fact; subreddits literally group your target market in a single, easily identifiable place.

If you understand how to engage with a specific subreddit and provide value to readers, you can start pushing some serious website traffic.

Now, Redditors are known for being more tech savvy and quick to spot a marketing ploy than most sites. In fact, Reddit users are actually the least valuable user group out of any social media platform.

This is largely because Reddit is not immensely ad-heavy, and many users have ad-blocker or a disinterest in advertising in general.

But, while paid traffic isn't always easy to pull-off on Reddit, we're luckily talking about free traffic sources in this post.

Here are some important tips to know about marketing your website on Reddit for free:

Read Subreddit Rules – Some communities allow self-promotion or link sharing, but many don't. Be sure to read the rules of any sub before you share content to avoid getting banned from subs.

Actually Use Reddit – Many subs require an account to have a certain amount of Karma before posting. You gain Karma by receiving content or comment upvotes, so you'll need to add some value to Reddit in order to actually unlock certain features. Get your name out there in a particular subreddit by being a valuable member and staying active.

Look For Weekly Self-Promotion Threads – Many subs have weekly self-promotion threads where you can shamelessly plug your content. Find threads that pertain to your niche, and jot the days in your calendar. This can easily score you a few free opportunities to link drop throughout the week, potentially leading to thousands of free visitors per year.

Don't Just Link-Drop – If you just post a link to your latest blog article, expect to get some negative feedback. Reddit is a value-add game. I suggest including a comment with your link posts to explain what readers can gain by clicking on your article, and ask for feedback/offer help. Basically, don't spam and add value.

Understand That Redditors Are Basically Private Investigators – Many bloggers use fake names on Reddit to disguise the fact they are self-promoting. Honestly, this is mostly a waste of time. Reddit makes it easy to analyze a user's post history, so unless you do an excellent job at burying your link posts in a sea of other content, people will figure out you're self promoting from a mile away. It's better to be honest and upfront from the start.

2. Quora

I've covered Quora marketing quite extensively, so I'm not going to dive into this one too much.

But, I want to tackle two new Quora marketing strategies that I've been using lately, especially since there have been some changes to the platform.

Firstly, Quora doesn't display thread view counts anymore, only question followers.

I still recommend answering questions with high follower numbers where you can since this is more effective than answering questions nobody is looking at, but you'll have to go a bit deeper to find the really juicy (and trending) questions.

If you create a free Quora Ads account, you can actually use Quora's paid advertising platform to find high visibility questions to answer.

Quora Ads lets advertisers target specific questions on Quora and provides a “potentially weekly impression” metric to give advertisers an idea of the audience size.

This is a potential goldmine for a free traffic source. Just type in questions relating to your niche, make a running list of high visibility questions, and then get to work and answer them (while tactfully linking back to your resources along the way).

Want another idea on how to maximize the value from this free web traffic source?

Look for Quora threads on the first page of Google and answer those.

If they rank on Google, you already know the thread is getting some traffic, so that's an easy way to cherry pick additional Quora threads that are worth your marketing attention.

3. Medium Content Syndication

I've always been an advocate for syndicating your content on Medium because it's free, fast, and you can make money on Medium by doing so.

There's nothing really groundbreaking here, but your style might differ based on your business type.

I think bloggers should simply make use of the import a story function to quickly syndicate their content on Medium to increase their reach and funnel back to their blog.

However, if you run a major publication or a business that isn't a blog, you might want to consider starting your own Medium publication to bring a bit more professionalism to this traffic source.

For example, Hubspot, The Economist, Twitch TV, and The Atlantic all have their own Medium publications and pretty substantial followings.

At the end of the day, Medium is a massive platform with high domain authority and tonnes of readers.

If you have limited resources, starting a blog or publication for your business on Medium might be an easier path to driving traffic and sales than building a blog from scratch on your own website.

4. YouTube

I blog in the personal finance niche, and it seems like a lot of content creators and massive publications alike are trying to diversify through video these days.

I think starting a YouTube channel while blogging makes a lot of sense once you have the resources to outsource some of your workload.

Let's face it: video content is more engaging (when done right) than your average blog post.

Plus, converting a how-to article or listicle to video format is pretty easy; your blog posts basically act as scripts for your videos!

I only started my YouTube channel in March, but I'm already seeing bits of referral traffic coming to WebMonkey from my videos and people are sticking around for a decent amount of time:

It's pretty easy to generate some sort of traffic on your videos, even as a beginner. To get traffic on YouTube, I just use other free traffic sources like Reddit or Quora to promote new videos as they go live.

By using an intro screen in my video that includes my blog URL and by linking to my blog numerous times in my video description boxes, I think there should be a fairly linear relationship between how my channel grows and the referral traffic it drives.

Only time will tell, but I think starting a YouTube channel is an excellent way to diversify your reach, get some free traffic, and possibly make money down the line as well.

5. Email Marketing

Now I'm no pro at using email marketing to get free website traffic.

But, I have definitely learned a lesson or two and made several mistakes over my time running WebMonkey.

A properly managed email list is a valuable asset to have for any webmaster. It doesn't matter if you blog or sell a service, an email list can help prop up your traffic if you take a hit on organic or social channels.

So, the first lesson I learned after more than a year of blogging was that if you want to grow your email list, you actually need a strategy.

And no, that email subscription box in your footer is not a strategy!

After neglecting my email list for so long, I eventually signed up with Mailer Lite and made a free eBook grab. The eBook is a list of 50 ways to make extra money, so it's pretty relevant to this niche.

MailerLite, or pretty much any email marketing platform, lets you fire a pop-up email grab to help collect subscribers.

I have mine fire after a minute of a new user being on the page, and it doesn't re-fire for an IP address for the next 90 days if they decline.

Here are the stats of the email grab so far:

It's a pretty low conversion rate, so I plan on creating new email grab offers down the line and segmenting them based on article topic.

For example, I want to create a free blogging checklist for how publish stellar blog posts, and I'll have that fire on any blogging related content. The make money E-book can fire on everything else. You get the idea.

I've just started making an effort with sending out weekly or biweekly emails, and this is probably the second mistake I've made.

An email list is only a source of free traffic if you nurture it and actually give your readers something of value for giving up their email.

I'm trying to include free resources, job postings, and ways to get free gift cards in my email blasts, alongside my own content. We'll see if this pays dividends down the line!

But long story short: don't neglect building an email list, and don't wait until you have a dip in traffic to start nurturing your list!

6. Guest Posts, POdcasts & Collaborations

Another nifty free source of website traffic is to produce guest posts on other websites or to collaborate with a host of a podcast or YouTube channel.

Now, this is a tricky source of traffic to develop generally since unless you land a feature on a massive publication or channel, you probably won't get much traffic.

For most people, I think the process of guest posting or collaborations is a bit of a snowball effect…you want to generate more buzz about your website or business each month until something catches.

This strategy definitely works. I mean, guest posting hundreds of times is how Buffer acquired their first 100,000 users.

As a completely new blogger or business owner, this free traffic source is also not easy to develop since outreach will be difficult. People don't really want guest posts or to feature someone who is brand new with nothing to share, after all.

You can overcome this if you have a crazy story or you share your success from one industry to help break into a new one.

I see new bloggers coming from the Amazon FBA or investing world all the time who use their business success to help network in the blogging game, but you can go either way with this.

My only advice here with guest post/appearance outreach is to really know who you're pitching to when you send an email.

If I get a guest post pitch that reads “dear admin” or “hey!” I don't reply.

It takes 30 seconds to read my about page or to figure out who runs WebMonkey, and that's the case with most blogs or podcasts as well.

7. Social Media

Social media is the second largest source of free website traffic for WebMonkey, and this is probably the case for a lot of blogs or businesses.

Now, there's no cookie-cutter answer I can give on what social media platform is best, or how to leverage each one.

Truthfully, I mostly focus on Pinterest and Tailwind to drive free traffic, and I don't really use Facebook or Twitter much except for networking purposes.

I know other bloggers out there who drive decent traffic from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or even random websites like Mix.

Whatever you decide, I think there's 2 main lessons I've learned about using social media to generate free traffic.

The first is to simply not stretch yourself too thin.

When I started blogging, I wanted to be everywhere. Ultimately, for many people, I think this results in just half-assing a bunch of platforms. This is why I mostly stick to Pinterest now and SEO.

Secondly, make sure you choose a social media platform where your audience is already active or one that caters to what you're selling.

I use Pinterest for blogging because personal finance pins do alright and can be a bit clickbaity to generate free traffic.

In contrast, when I ran a dropshipping store or my Etsy POD store, I made niche Instagram pages instead since Pinterest or Facebook wouldn't be as easy to reach a very narrow audience.

If I was selling a course, I'd probably spend time building a Facebook group for course members to provide additional value and to use it as a selling point for the course…you get the idea!

We only have limited time, so make sure you use it wisely with whatever social media platforms you decide to use.

8. SEO & Organic Traffic

I left search engine optimization, or SEO, until the last point in this list of free traffic sources for a reason.

Don't get me wrong: SEO is awesome. In fact, organic traffic makes up the bulk of traffic for WebMonkey.

But, I'm hesitant to call SEO and organic traffic completely free because the reality is, at a certain point, this traffic source becomes paid (and quite expensive).

You can only bootstrap your SEO game so far before you can't keep up with the competition in your niche. Eventually, you will probably have to reinvest into something to improve your SEO game.

For a lot of people, this means optimizing their website speed or hiring a link building service to improve their backlinks…or both.

This is a tonne of money, and it's an ongoing operational cost as well since you need to stay ahead of the competition.

So, I think it's fair to categorize SEO and organic traffic as a free traffic source, but only to a point.

SEO is a business, and at some stage, it truly does become pay-to-play.

However, I think investing some time into basic SEO and content isn't a bad idea for business owners…especially if the alternative of paid advertising is expensive in your industry.

Free Traffic Sources I Don't Recommend

As I mentioned, our time is clearly valuable, so there are a few free traffic sources I really don't recommend spending too much time on (or any time, really).

9. Spam Blog Commenting

Commenting on blogs you read and enjoy is an awesome way to network and to potentially generate a bit of free traffic and awareness for your own website.

Spam commenting on other blogs on the other hand…absolute waste of time.

I probably get 5-6 spam comments a day on WebMonkey, and it boggles my mind that this is still a thing these days.

In fact, I had to turn on comment approvals recently because of stuff like this:

I don't know if people are trying to link build, get free traffic, or how much of it is even automated. However, whatever the case, don't try to use blog comments as a way to improve SEO or gain traffic.

Use comments to network and learn or to just be a decent human being and connect with someone.

10. Social Share Exchanges

I used to use a website called Viral Content Bee when I started my blog, and there's a few other websites out there with similar premises.

The idea is pretty straightforward.

You gain credits for sharing content, and posting your own content for other people to share costs credit. It's a social sharing exchange that is designed to foster reciprocity. 

It's not that these channels don't do anything, it's just that I think the opportunity cost might be a tad too high.

Sure, it's awesome to have your content retweeted for free or to have a post that gets shared on Facebook, but from my experience, you don't get much free traffic in exchange and this makes sense.

After all, pages with massive followings wouldn't be giving away their mentions for free or spending their time on random exchanges…this makes it highly unlikely you ever get your content shared for free to a wide audience.

Just my opinion on social share exchanges, and I recommend that you always consider the opportunity cost of whatever platform you end up using to generate website traffic.

Final Thoughts

Nothing will ever really beat the speed and scale of paying for traffic.

However, there isn't always room in the budget for paid ads. As a blogger or business owner, sometimes free traffic sources are truly all you have.

Plus, I think a mixture of organic, social, and paid traffic is truly the ideal scenario to create a diverse web presence that helps reduce the risk of one Google or social media algorithm update tanking all your traffic overnight.

As long as you don't bite off more than you can chew, I think there are plenty of free traffic sources that you can leverage to help your business grow.

Personally, I stick to Reddit, Quora, Pinterest, and SEO. But again, there's no cookie-cutter solution out there.

Play to your strengths and focus on the traffic sources where your customers/readers are. There's no need to be everywhere at once as long as you excel at a few of the platforms you operate on.

Thanks so much for reading! If you have a favorite free traffic source or trick to get website visitors, I'd love to hear what it is in the comments!

Catch you guys in the next one.

The post 8 Free Traffic Sources + How To Leverage Them For Your Online Business appeared first on WebMonkey.

I've seen this type of question pop up on forums countless times, and I've even gotten a few emails asking for advice over the past 2 years.

Now, I will say there is no cookie-cutter method for choosing a blog niche. However, this is probably the most important part in starting a blog, and there are quite a few things to consider.

So, this post is going to tackle the topic of how to choose a blog niche, as well as some blog niche ideas for 2020 to help inspire you.

What Is A Blog Niche? – Why You Need To Pick One

A niche is defined as a “distinct section of a market.” In terms of blogging, a niche is basically the topics you decide to write about on your blog.

Picking a blog niche is a frequently discussed topic because it sets the entire outline for the future of your blog. Plus, there are a number of things to consider when making this decision.

Bloggers often talk about the concept of “niching down” when deciding to start a blog. There are two main reasons why this is very valuable advice:

Scaleability – As a single person operation, it's unlikely you'll be able to cover multiple niches with your writing in a timely manner. In other words, if you write about multiple topics, your blog will have very skeletal categories for a long time.

Readability – It is very difficult to build a readership that shares the exact same interests as you if you write about a wide range of topics. Choosing a blog niche helps narrow your focus and attract a specific audience more easily.

So, that, in a nutshell, is why it's a good idea to pick a blog niche.

Time to break down some other important considerations.

How To Choose A Blog Niche – 7 Important Questions

Before selecting a niche and launching your blog, there are 7 questions I suggest spending some time on.

Write out the answers if you need, and take a few days to think things over. Don't be afraid to ask people for their advice as well or to leave a comment on this post!

If you're already prepared to launch your blog, you can also checkout SiteGround's affordable hosting plans to get the ball rolling!

1. Are You An Authority (Or Can You Become ONe?)

A lot of people think the most important aspect about choosing your blogging niche is if you love the subject or not.

This is a factor, but, it's actually not the most important one.

Undoubtedly, the most important factor in picking a niche for your blog is if you are an authority or not (or if you can become one).

Here's the thing: Google, the absolute best source of blogging traffic out there, gets more competitive every single day.

Additionally, author authority is one of Google's most important ranking factors.

Google uses EAT, or Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust, in their ranking algorithm. If you aren't an authority, it will inevitably be harder to rank on Google with your blog posts.

If you think about it, this is absolutely fair. After all, you wouldn't want to search for health advice and find content on the first page of Google that isn't authoritative.

Now, you don't necessarily have to be an authority before starting your blog or picking a blog niche. This is because you can become an authority in your topic over time (depending on your niche)

For me, a major turning point in getting my blog off the ground was having my phone farming guide rank #1 on Google. 

Personal finance is a very competitive niche. However, by actually buying phones and running a phone farm during my time in college (and publishing honest income reports), I became an authority in that field.

Google rewarded me, I got dozens of free backlinks from people mentioning that post, and my overall authority in the whole “passive income apps” world grew as well. I now rank well for quite a few app related posts.

This is an example of picking a blog niche and becoming an authority over time. However, this isn't always realistic.

For example, if you decided to start a blog about being a pilot, the only way you can really become an authority on that subject is to start flying planes…you get the idea.

So, the first question you have to ask yourself is if you're an authority in what you're going to write about or if you can become one.

2. Is It A YMYL Topic?

Part of Google's EAT algorithm update (which rocked WebMonkey way back when) is heavily related to YMYL.

YMYL, or “Your Money, Your Life” refers to topics that can have a direct impact on your happiness, health, safety, or finances if information is not accurate.

Google takes YMYL content very seriously, and this is again why authority matters so much.

Here's what Google has to say specifically about YMYL websites:

Now, don't let this page on YMYL guideliens scare you.

But, consider it in great detail before picking a blog niche.

It is possible to write in a YMYL niche and find success if you stick to what you're an expert in.

Again, this is a personal finance blog, but I stick to passive income ideas and side hustles, not topics I'm not qualified to talk about (like investing or retirement planning).

The only one I'd really caution you against here is health.

Unless you're a doctor or certified dietitian, I wouldn't touch the health blogging niche with a 10 foot pole.

Niching down to something like yoga or personal training would work if you're qualified, but again, be cautious here and figure out if your blog niche idea is considered YMYL.

3. Would You Write About Your Blog Niche For Free?

Most bloggers don't make significant income from their blog.

In fact, about 50% make between $0 and $200 according to a blogger survey from Digital Nomad Wannabe.

This was definitely the case for me as well. It took roughly 6 months to steadily earn more than $100 with WebMonkey, and 18 months to surpass $500 per month.

I now make more than $1,000 per month from blogging, largely thanks to Mediavine, but there's no denying that the path to blogging revenue is a long one.

So, is blogging worth it?

It is, if you enjoy what you write about, work hard, and have patience.

Don't get caught up on how to choose a profitable blog niche or try to figure out which blogging niche has the most money on the table.

Would you write about it for free? Because, chances are, you will be writing for free for at least a few months!

4. Can You Come Up With 50+ Blog Post Ideas?

A great way to validate your blog niche idea is to make a content map of 50 to 100 posts.

If you hit a brick wall 10 post ideas in, this might be a sign your blogging niche is too narrow.

In contrast, if you hit 100 blog post ideas, look at your list, and can't explain what the website is about within a second, your focus might be too broad.

Pick your overarching blog niche idea, and a few sub categories.

For example, I selected the finance niche, and then came up with some possible categories like making money online, saving money, and money apps.

Go through this process for your blog niche idea, and don't be afraid to adjust your scope.

5. Will It Be Relevant In 5-10 Years?

This isn't always an easy question to answer, but hopefully, the answer is painfully obvious to you either way.

Industries evolve all the time, and blogs can keep up for the most part.

But, if you choose to blog about a single company, website, or service (I've seen plenty of blogs dedicated to a single app or platform before), know that this is a risk.

Even the biggest companies can fail, and if your blog niche goes under, there isn't usually a way to pivot in time.

6. Is Your Monetization Strategy “All-In?”

This is a bit more of a sophisticated consideration, and you don't need to worry about it if you just blog for fun.

However, if you want to pick a profitable blog niche, this is an important question.

An “all-in” monetization strategy means using only one source/approach to make money with your blog.

Amazon affiliate sites are a pretty common example of this strategy.

Similarly, I've seen plenty of blogs that are dedicated to a single type of affiliate offer or specific product. There's nothing wrong with this approach, but again, it limits flexibility and is a business risk.

Affiliate programs end or change rates all the time, and I personally don't like all-in approaches for making money with a blog niche.

So, when trying to find a profitable blog niche, consider exactly what options you have to actually generate revenue.

7. What Are Advertising RPMs Like?

Again, this is a higher-level consideration, but I think it's very important for anyone who wants to make money with blogging.

Ads are an awesome way to monetize your website. However, not all niches are created equal in this regard.

Your blogging niche has a direct impact on your ad RPMs. In other words, different blog niches are more profitable in terms of ads than others.

To get a rough idea of what to expect from your blog's niche RPMs, take a look at this advertising chart from WordStream:

This graph shows the average Google Ads cost-per-click, or CPC, for different industries in 2018.

Now, this isn't a perfect translation to blogging, but it's an indicator of what to expect.

Plus, the data makes sense. After all, if a certain industry is more expensive to advertise than others on average, that should usually translate to more competition and expensive CPMs for display ads.

Some blog niches with historically strong ad RPMs include:

• Finance.
• Legal services.
• B2B.
• Technology.

Blog niches with historically lower ad RPMs include:

• Advocacy and charity.
• Travel.
• Health and fitness.
• Certain types of Ecommerce websites (think coupons sites, not ecommerce software blogs).

Again, there are exceptions to these rules.

Furthermore, optimizing your ad unit placement or using a premium ad network like Monumetric or Mediavine will make a difference.

Things like seasonality of your blog niche will also impact your ad revenue, so keep this in mind.

Blogging about something you are an authority in should be the ultimate deciding factor when figuring out how to pick a blog niche. However, don't discount monetization viability.

Factors That Matter A Bit Less

There are a few other popular recommendations I've seen when it comes to picking a profitable blogging niche, as well as some other frequently asked questions on this topic.

In my opinion, the 7 questions I just listed at the most important. But, here are some other considerations that are worth thinking about.

What Is Keyword Volume Like?

I don't suggest spending weeks agonizing over keyword research and competition scores because paralysis by analysis is a real threat to getting your blog off the ground.

However, taking a quick peek at tools like Google Trends (to see if your blog niche idea is trending upwards) or keyword volume for post ideas isn't a bad call.

But, don't waste time looking at keyword volume for the most competitive or obvious topics in your niche.

Frankly, you probably won't rank for those posts for a very long time, and that's completely fine.

Rather, look up keyword volume and competition scores for your area of authority.

Here's what my search with Google Keyword Planner would have been back in the day since I started WebMonkey by writing about phone farms and passive income apps:

As you can see, this lets me identify 2 different potential post ideas (phone farming, and phone farming apps) that have 100-2,000 monthly searches and really low competition scores.

This is really all the proof of concept you need.

I had the experience to be an authority on phone farming, the keyword volume is good enough for a beginner blogger, and the competition is low.

The result?

Over 9,000 clicks, and this is just the last 16 months, so we're missing a decent chunk of time as well.

Plus, this post helped get WebMonkey off the ground and to obtain a tonne of backlinks.

Sure, I'll never rank on the best cash back credit cards or some other mega competitive term.

But, I can rank on content like this and then funnel users to higher-value posts or collect emails to do the same thing.

You get the idea.

Check keyword volume and competition for the area you want to be an expert in. Don't sweat the volume for the more competitive topics in your niche at the start.

What Is Google Doing?

Again, organic traffic is the life blood of many successful blogs. Therefore, it's a good idea to keep your ear to the ground for possible Google algorithm changes or policy updates.

I'll give you one subtle example that actually destroyed a lot of blogs in the celebrity entertainment niche or “net worth” tracking websites: featured snippets.

A lot of celebrity blogs used to drive a tonne of easy, organic traffic by tracking celebrity net worth.

Then, Google made their search engine look like this:

No one is clicking that link anymore because the featured snippet tells you everything you need to know to satisfy your search query.

This is Google's entire mission…they want to keep users on their search engine for as long as possible to make money with ads, and they also want to provide the best experience possible.

We're seeing changes to SERPs impacting other niches slowly but surely.

Travel is another prime example. Look at my search result for “things to do in Bucharest,” which gets nearly 7,000 searches a month:

You have to scroll past Google recommendations and related questions before you get to the first organic result…which is also National Geographic, so not fun to compete with.

Google is increasingly encroaching on the travel niche to push their own products.

This doesn't mean travel isn't a viable blogging niche idea, but keep these sorts of changes in mind.

For travel specifically, it seems like niching down to become an absolute authority is becoming more important since very generic posts are getting eaten up by Google.

Do You Want To Be Associated With Your Blog?

If you woke up and saw your blog and your face on national television together, would you be happy?

This sounds like a stupid question, but it's honestly something I struggled with for a while.

For the longest time, WebMonkey was anonymous and had a stock image for my author bio. However, in the sake of transparency and trying to boost my authority, I changed all that a while ago.

I wouldn't care if TOW got a lot of attention. But, if you blog about a touchy subject, give this one some thought.

Blog Niche Ideas & Examples Of Successful Blogs

Alright, now that you know how to identify your authority and validate your blog niche idea, it's time to get to the meat and potatoes of this post.

If you want to find some high demand blog topics or profitable blog niches for inspiration, checkout the following list.

I'm going to break down this section into overarching blog niche ideas and then provide some examples of hyper-niche blogs that are making a killing or stand out from the crowd and have a tonne of potential.

Let's get to it!

Finance Blog Niche Examples

Since my website is about finance after all, I want to highlight some awesome blogs in this niche first and foremost.

1. Credit Cards – The Points Guy

This finance niche blog ended up doing so well its been acquired by Bank Rate.

There's nothing special to say here other than this is a prime example of how to dominate a niche and stick to what is profitable.

The Points Guy started in 2010, which isn't actually the longest time-frame in the blogging game. Time, backlinks, and awesome content are definitely the recipe for success here.

Competitive Advantage – Strong SEO and clearly defined niche. Caught this blogging niche at a great time.

2. FIRE Blogging – A Purple Life

The FIRE movement has seen a boom in FIRE related content, podcasts, and blogs. However, niche saturation doesn't mean this isn't a viable blogging topic or worth considering.

One of my favorite FIRE oriented blogs is A Purple Life.

A Purple Life isn't the most pure FIRE blog out there since there's some content of food, fitness, and hobbies.

However, what makes this blog stand out from the crowd is incredible branding and honesty.

Purple is on track to retire at thirty, which is absolutely insane, even by FIRE standards.

By outlining her progress towards FIRE with a countdown clock and plenty of updates, Purple does a great job of making readers feel like they are part of the journey.

Plus, her social media game is on point, especially on Twitter, and I think this blog is a great example of how to integrate yourself into a niche and thrive.

Competitive Advantage – Branding and networking within the FIRE community.

3. Frugality – Little House Living

A lot of frugal bloggers end up straying from their mission as time goes on; I've stumbled across a tonne of “frugal” blogs that are really just a cluster of credit card offers and online survey websites.

There's nothing wrong with branching out, but it can be hard to keep a strong identity when doing do.

Little House Living is a blog that absolutely nails the frugality niche. With a variety of recipes, DIY hacks, frugal advice, books, and a podcast, this is all-encompassing frugal resource.

Competitive Advantage – Incredible content depth and multiple platforms (books, podcast, blog).

4. Side Hustles – Financial Panther

Financial Panther isn't a pure side hustle blog. The blog is run by Kevin, a former lawyer, and you can find content ranging from credit card reviews to loan advice.

However, where Financial Panther shines is its monthly side hustle reports.

Kevin has left law behind and now makes a bulk of his income from various gig economy jobs.

Each month, Kevin puts out a report that summarizes his income from various hustles and some advice.

You simply won't find this level of transparency on a lot of side hustle blogs, and this lends immense credibility to Financial Panther.

Competitive Advantage – Transparent monthly income reports.

5. Dividend Investing – Reverse The Crush

I've known Graham, the owner of Reverse The Crush, for a while now. RTC is hands down one of my favorite dividend investing focused blogs around, and I think Graham does an excellent job with making his blog niche very clear.

RTC is all about achieving financial independence through blogging and investing.

Through dividend investing reports and other awesome content, Graham documents his progress towards FI.

Graham also does a great job at appealing to a younger audience, and his social media game is pretty killer.

Competitive Advantage – Diligent income reports and strong social media presence.

6. Student Finances – Wallet Wise Guy

I met Clint in 2019 and he has been instrumental in helping me get my freelance writing career off the ground.

But, Clint isn't just a great writer; he also runs a very strong blog in the student finance niche.

On Wallet Wise Guy, Clint shares resources and tips for students to make, save, and manage their finances.

Clint's blog is unique for a few reasons as well, and this is why I think the blog is a good example to look towards.

Firstly, Clint is an immensely successful freelance writer, but that fact doesn't consume his blog or niche. Rather, Clint incorporates it into his content in a way that adds value (he has a pretty awesome guide on freelance writing I recommend checking out).

Secondly, Clint spent his early adulthood working as a Pastor.

In Clint's words, this means that their “success wasn’t due to high income. For the first 7 years of our marriage (until June 2019), I was a pastor. So we never made anywhere close to six figures. Instead, we just put tried and true financial principles into place, and it resulted in financial peace.”

Overall, this blog is a great example of how to use your professional and personal experiences to help solidify your blogging authority and identity.

Competitive Advantage – Professional and personal life experience of the blogger. Awesome content as well.

7. Dealing With Debt – Dept Discipline

Debt Discipline is a blog that helps people tackle debt, and if you want authority, this blog is overflowing with it.

Brian, the owner of Debt Discipline, documents his journey to paying off more than $100,000 of debt and becoming debt free and shares tips for other people to pay of their debt as well.

He's been featured on Good Morning America, U.S. news, Business Insider, and dozens of blogs, podcasts, and media appearances.

Plus, Brian's content is solid, so there's really no weak point here.

Competitive Advantage – Perfect example of using personal experience to gain authority and land media appearances.

Affiliate Blog Niche Examples

Some bloggers, myself included, make the bulk of our blogging income from advertisements.

In contrast, some blogs have a heavy reliance on affiliate revenue.

There's nothing wrong with this approach, of course, but there are a few examples of affiliate blog niches and approaches I want to highlight in this section.

8. Amazon Affiliate Blog – Roasty Coffee

Let me start by saying that you can start an Amazon affiliate website about legitimately any product category that is sold on Amazon, so this is a tough one to pick.

However, Roasty Coffee is undoubtedly one of the best Amazon affiliate blogs I've seen.

With awesome SEO, in-depth buying guides, and a super clean design, it isn't hard to see how this site has found success.

What's cool about the site is that is was only started in 2015. Despite getting hammered by Amazon (this is a prime example of why affiliate-only sites are a risk), the owner still sold the site for $55,000. Not bad at all.

Competitive Advantage – Strong editorial team and a clear SEO-driven mission for growth.

9. Category Affiliate Blog – Outdoor Gear Lab

Alright, I challenge you to find a category affiliate blog that is as high in quality as outdoor gear lab.

These guys absolutely dominate the world of outdoor product reviews in terms of depth and value.

With a ‘scientific' approach to gear and product rating, Outdoor Gear Lab knows how to cater to their audience of crazed outdoor enthusiasts.

This blog is really the perfect example of why you can't fake expertise, especially in the affiliate world.

Once you read a single product review on this site, there's no doubt that the editors and writers are flannel wearing, outdoor adventurers who absolutely have a love for what they do.

Competitive Advantage – Most in-depth and authoritative product reviews.

10. Niche Affiliate Targeting Blog – Ordinary Moves

I have to say, I absolutely hate this blog.

But, I can't help but marvel at how good the owner is at SEO.

See, Ordinary Moves has 4 posts in total…each one targeting a high-value affiliate offer like Rakuten, Ibotta, or Honey.

Yes, you heard me correctly…4 posts. No about page, social links, or clutter. Just 4 affiliate articles.

The blog owner also has sites in other niches where he does the exact same thing. The premise is simple, but executed to perfection.

Basically, Ordinary Moves has an unreal backlink profile.

It's a pure SEO play that targets high-value affiliate offers, and the model has been duplicated in other niches as well.

Again, I hate how good this guy is at SEO, but hey, consider me impressed. Go spy on his backlinks if you want to see what link building can do.

Competitive Advantage – This guy knows how to get backlinks.

Travel Blog Niche Examples

I mentioned that the travel blogging niche is becoming harder to get into and that Google updates are a threat.

While this is true, there is still money to be made in the travel niche (not right now, but once travel is viable again).

Here are some examples of travel niche blogs that are nailing it.

11. Solo Female Travel – A Blonde Abroad

This blog is really the perfect storm of strong content and a killer social media presence.

Kiki, the owner of A Blonde Abroad, has done an incredible job at monetizing her blog while simultaneously turning her lifestyle into social media clout.

There's really not much to say here other than the fact that this blog is the whole package.

Kiki travels to cool places, takes awesome photos, and is an influencer. Not a bad model to chase after if you're getting into the travel niche and have a social media following.

Competitive Advantage – Perfect example of an influencer with a blog.

12. Digital Nomads – Goats On The Road

With an immensely catchy name and some stellar SEO-content, Goats on the Road is one of my favorite digital nomad oriented blogs around.

Nick and Dariece, the owners, have been featured on practically every media outlet under the sun.

The duo is on a quest to help people turn travel into a lifestyle.

With their content, ebooks, and courses, they provide plenty of ways for people to learn about the digital nomad lifestyle and to fork over some cash.

Competitive Advantage – Strong SEO and multiple monetization methods.

13. Niche Travel – Van Clan

This blog is dedicated to sharing tips, inspiration, and guides for van life, a minamilistic living/travel lifestyle that is sweeping the globe!

Van Clan does a lot of things right. Branding is on point, the site is easy to navigate, and the SEO fundamentals are all there.

Plus, Van Clan is diversifying quite well on YouTube and social media, so this is really a great example of how to build a niche brand and community.

Competitive Advantage – Strong branding and community.

14. Travel Gear Blog – Pack Hacker

In my opinion, Pack Hacker is an awesome example of how to find your place in the travel niche.

Pack Hacker publishes informative, user-friendly guides on how to pack smarter and make the most out of your travels.

With a great user interface and strong SEO, I wouldn't be surprised if you stumbled across this site organically in the past. I know I did when I was prepping to go to Colombia.

Travel is competitive.

But, if you can find your niche (or specific city/region) to call home, you can set yourself apart from the crowd.

Competitive Advantage – Outstanding niche selection and SEO.

15. Adventure Travel – Adventure Junkies

Aside from the perfect name, this blog is a great example of a professional, well-rounded travel niche blog.

The website is stunning and clearly organized by category depending on the type of adventure you're into. However, this site also has a heavy focus on building a membership base, which is a pretty cool and rare strategy to turn to.

Ultimately, I don't think memberships are a good idea for beginner bloggers.

But, from a design and branding perspective, this blog is worth studying!

Competitive Advantage – Branding and membership base.

Gaming Blog Niche Examples

Gaming is an incredibly tricky blogging niche because news and trends change rapidly.

For the most part, this blogging niche idea is dominated by major publications, or exists on other platforms like YouTube or TwitchTV.

However, you can still carve your way into this market if you niche-down and play to your strengths. Here are 2 cool examples:

16. Small Gaming Publication – The Game Fanatics

The Game Fanatics caters to “geek culture,” and offers an eclectic mix of video game reviews. gadgets, and even anime and cosplay content to attract readers.

With under 20 staff, I think The Game Fanatics is an awesome example of what a smaller but hungry team can accomplish.

If you and a few friends decide to start a gaming blog, I'd use a similar model to find your footing.

Competitive Advantage – Authentic content and decent presence on social media, YouTube, and Twitch.

17. Handheld Gaming – Tiny Cartridge

In terms of niche gaming blogs, I think Tiny Cartridge is the best example around.

This blog focuses solely on handheld gaming, offering readers daily posts and a simplistic design that is free of ads.

Patrons can support the blog by joining “Club Tiny,” and overall, this blog just has a wholesome feel that makes it pretty clear this is one awesome passion project.

Competitive Advantage – Clearly a labor of love.

Profession-Based Blog Niche Examples

Sometimes, your blogging niche idea is sitting right in front of you.

There are a surprising number of highly successful blogs that are based on a specific profession, and the room for creativity here is also immense.

18. Doctor Blog – Physician On Fire

The idea behind PoF is actually genius…doctors make a lot of money, so why not make a blog to cater to doctors and their patients about reaching FIRE?

Picking a narrow niche like this sounds scary, but if you think about it, blogging from the perspective of your profession is a barrier to entry…how many FIRE doctor bloggers can there really be, after all?

PoF isn't dramatically different than a lot of other FIRE blogs.

However, the perspective is still unique, and that's a competitive advantage right there.

Competitive Advantage – Highly profitable blog niche and great branding.

19. Teacher Blog – Cool Cat Teacher

Despite the slightly antiquated look, this blog really has a lot going for it.

Strong content, a newsletter, free teacher resources, a podcast, and a regular post schedule are the strong points for Cool Cat Teacher.

Ultimately, I think this blog is the perfect example of a way to build a blog around a profession and to provide immense value to anyone looking for specific resources.

Competitive Advantage – Wide range of free resources and lots of media attention.

Example 2 For Teachers – Senior High Hustle

I'm expanding this niche example because I think this second blog, Senior High Hustle, is a really creative way to start a blog as a teacher.

Senior High Hustle provides resources and tips for teachers and high school students.

The blog is a perfect blend of teaching resources and tips, as well as entrepreneurial inspiration and ideas to motivate students.

I haven't seen other teaching blogs that provide value to both audiences quite like this, and I think this is an awesome blog to study if you want to start a blog as a teacher.

Competitive Advantage – Awesome content that appeals to students and teachers alike.

20. Nursing Blog – The Nerdy Nurse

This blog is another excellent example of how to provide value (and to thus build a readership) to a specific group of people.

The Nerdy Nurse has a host of free resources and tips on how to become a nurse. Plus, this site also has tonnes of content for how to manage the nursing lifestyle or ways to make your life easier.

It's a clean site, the author clearly displays that she is a registered nurse, and this is just a solid blog with multiple monetization methods.

Competitive Advantage – Clean design and multiple revenue streams.

Lifestyle Blog Niche Examples

Creating a ‘lifestyle' blog isn't exactly easy because organic traffic is not always your friend.

I mean, as much as you would love to write a blog post about your morning routine or weekend plans, no one on Google is really searching for that stuff.

This is why a lot of “lifestyle bloggers” mostly subsist on Instagram, Pinterest, or YouTube.

Not that there's anything wrong with this, but those are challenging platforms in their own perspective.

However, you can still launch a successful lifestyle blog if you stick to somewhat of a niche and know your audience.

21. Lifestyle Blog For Young Professional – Living Like Leila

I've been following Leila for a while. In fact, she's even taken part in a Young Money Interview on WebMonkey!

Leila's blog is a refreshing take and example on how you can still be a lifestyle blogger without solely depending on Instagram or YouTube or some form of insane clout.

Leila does a great job at using multiple traffic sources (Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, and Google) to drive traffic to her Mediavine blog.

Plus, her scope isn't all over the place, and there's a common theme of personal development and health on her site.

Competitive Advantage – Multiple traffic sources and overarching theme.

22. Lifestyle Blog For Teens – Modern Teen

Daniel, the author at Modern Teen, also writes for WebMonkey. But, although I am biased, I really love what Daniel is doing with his blog.

Daniel recognized that while there are tonnes of blogs out there on college or teen advice, a lot of it is not written by young adults…let alone young men.

His blog does an excellent job at providing teens with resources on finances, health, and general life advice.

If you also want an example of how to crush it on Pinterest, definitely check out Modern Teen!

Competitive Advantage – Killer Pinterest presence and unique position in the niche.

23. Blog For Men – Art Of Manliness

The Art of Manliness is probably in my top 5 favorite blogs of all time, and it's a blog I try to read as frequently as I can.

This blog does so much right.

In a day and age where a lot of media focus is on toxic masculinity or other topics that appeal to morons, this blog sticks to what it's designed to do: to help men become better versions of themselves.

This blog nails branding, SEO, and audience building. I also love that it's sticking to the original mission and aiming to help men with self improvement.

Competitive Advantage – Honest content and a strong brand.

24. Blog For Women – The Every Girl

I think this blog is an awesome blog because it truly has a wide range of resources and content to appeal to every reader.

Finance, career development, health, tech, and fashion are the main categories on this site. There's a clean design, strong content, and some solid SEO to boot as well.

This is definitely a larger publication with an impressive social media following.

However, I think smaller bloggers can still learn lessons from studying what makes this blog so successful.

Competitive Advantage – Content depth and strong SEO/social mix.

25. Parenting – We The Parents

I didn't include mom blogs or dad blogs on this list of blogging niche ideas for 2020 because those two categories sort of irk me. Like we get it…you are capable of procreating!

However, I like the idea of parent blogs because so many other blogs out there just focus on a single parent. I'd argue the duo is much more interesting in terms of a blogging perspective.

Anyway, We The Parents does an outstanding job of branding. This site is clearly a hub of info for parents, and the site has a very clean design.

With Mediavine monetization and a strong affiliate presence, this blog is a stellar example of how to monetize a niche parenting blog as well.

Competitive Advantage – Clear branding and simplistic site design.

Health & Wellness Blog Niche Examples

I also mentioned that health and wellness is a tough blogging niche to break into due to YMYL concerns.

However, if you have the authority to write about health content and know how to prove it, this niche isn't a lost cause.

Here are some health and wellness blogs that are a great source of inspiration.

26. Mindfulness – Zen Habits

Zen Habits is undoubtedly one of the most famous blogs in existence.

This blog is probably one of the first blogs that went the minamilistic design route. And, guess what, it absolutely works.

This blog is an unbelievable example of how to brand and build a following. I'm sure you could write case studies about Leo Babauta and how he cultivated his website to what it is today.

Competitive Advantage – An innovator and long-term player in the blogging game with high quality content and loyal readers.

27. Personal Development – Tiny Buddha

Tiny Buddha is another long-time player in the blogging game; this blog launched in 2009!

But, while Tiny Buddha has been in the game longer than most blogs, it's still a great resource to study.

This blog is an example of what happens when you mix great SEO, age, and audience development over the course of 11 years…Tiny Buddha has more than 5 million followers and a tonne of traffic.

This site also has a robust forum, which is immensely hard to build and maintain as a blog (RIP Rockstar Finance, you will be missed).

Competitive Advantage – Forum for user-generated content and massive following.

28. Niche Fitness – Nerd Fitness

Nerd Fitness is a blog that caters to nerds and average, everyday people alike.

In a world where a lot of fitness content is geared towards serious athletes or gym-goers, I think this particular niche is quite clever.

Nerd Fitness uses a mix of awesome SEO and content to build readers.

Plus, the site also monetizes with an academy system and through various courses, so it's interesting to see this monetization strategy in the mix for a change.

Competitive Advantage – Great niche positioning and awesome content. Testimonials also help to sell the courses.

29. Running – Run to the Finish

Run to the Finish is a book and a blog that absolutely owns the running niche.

What I really like about this blog is that is plays the niche well. Here's what I mean.

A lot of running blogs are, frankly, owned by absolute maniacs.

I'm sorry, running is awesome, but I refuse to run barefoot through the Appalachian trail on a sabbatical to help “get in touch with my roots” or whatever.

Run to the Finish does a great job of using science and sports training resources to appeal to serious runners without completely freaking out new readers who might just be getting into the sport.

I think this blog niche is the perfect example of how to write about what you're passionate about but to keep it enjoyable for a wide audience.

Competitive Advantage – Scientific content that appeals to serious runners and newbies alike.

Hobby Blog Niche Examples

What would be better than to get paid to blog about your favorite hobby?

Hobby enthusiasts are often insanely passionate about their given hobby, and this is always a good sign if you want to start a blog and build a loyal following.

Here are a few examples of some awesome blogs in the hobby niche.

30. Board Games – The Dice Tower

You would be amazed at how much competition there is in the board game niche.

Between Ecommerce giants like Amazon and a plethora of game review sites and channels, it's a very saturated market.

Plus, board game enthusiasts know what they like and don't like, so good luck convincing them to follow your advice.

The Dice Tower does an awesome job at using blog content, social media, YouTube, and a podcast to get their name out there.

These guys are clearly passionate about board games, and I think if you want to survive in this niche, this has to be what you live and breathe.

Competitive Advantage – Multiple platforms and their love of board games is abundantly clear.

31. Sailing – SV Delos

I worked as an intern at a marine satellite company back in college, and let me tell you, the sailing niche is weird.

On the one hand, you have veteran sailors and media outlets that still stick to print, don't know how to work an iPhone, but are miraculously still sailing around the world and are absolutely cool people.

And, on the other hand, you have a younger generation of tech'd-out sailors with all the bells and whistles.

It's a weird mix, but, undeniably, the one thing all sailors have in common is a love of sailing and new adventures.

SV Delos does an amazing job at appealing to new and experienced sailors alike.

With a strong YouTube channel and multiple monetization strategies, I really think SV Delos is a great example of how to maximize the potential of a niche hobby blog.

Competitive Advantage – Mixing in YouTube to grow their brand has been amazing for SV Delos. I think this is a great call for anyone in the travel or adventure blog niche.

32. Crafts – A Beautiful Mess

A Beautiful Mess was founded in 2007, but the blog has certainly undergone a redesign due to its modern and inviting feel.

This blog is the real deal.

It was founded by sisters for a wholesome backstory, it has awesome resources, tonnes of free content, and it's monetized in a wide variety of ways (ads, courses, books, sponsorships, you name it).

Craft blogging is a competitive niche. However, A Beautiful Mess is an example of what's possible if you take a craft blog to its ultimate form.

Competitive Advantage – Long-time blog with all the right foundations. Hard to find a fault here.

33. Golfing – The Jazzy Golfer

Note: I did include this golf niche blog under hobby blogs and not health and fitness blogs. This is intentional (play a real sport!)

Jokes aside, golf is actually an incredibly competitive niche in the world of digital publishing.

Pretty much every golf magazine has a website, and there are tonnes of golf enthusiasts with blogs out there as well.

The Jazzy Golfer is an awesome example of how to defy norms and really make a splash in a niche.

Jasmine, the owner of The Jazzy Golfer, is both young and female; not your average demographic for the game of golf.

Now Jasmine doesn't really have a blog. Rather, she uses a mix of YouTube and Instagram to generate attention, and her blog is really just a way to get in touch for business deals.

Regardless, I think this is an awesome example of how to find your market share in a crowded niche.

Competitive Advantage – Refreshing content in the golf niche.

DIY Blog Niche Examples

The entire concept of DIY is incredibly popular. From TV Shows to books, there's always going to be a demand to learn how to do something yourself.

DIY is an awesome niche because you can apply it to so many categories…home improvement, brewing beer, fixing your car…whatever.

I've found a few examples of some DIY bloggers that are doing very well, so turn to them for some insight if you want to start your own DIY blog!

34. DIY Remodeling – Remodelaholic

This blog is an incredibly popular DIY blog that aims to help anyone remodeling their house.

My favorite part about this blog is simply how easy it is to navigate. You can find DIY projects by room, by project type, and also enjoy a host of other free resources.

Photography and clarity of instruction play a large role in how enjoyable DIY content is to consume, and Remodelaholic does great in both regards.

Competitive Advantage – Clean interface and awesome guides.

35. Vintage DIY – Vintage Revival

Vintage Revival is another awesome DIY blog with a great name and clear mission.

This blog has a nice mix of builds, art projects, renovation ideas and craft ideas. Plus, the “DIY gone wrong” section is pretty hilarious.

I truly think this blog is a great example of what you can achieve as a duo DIY blog team.

This blog is in Mediavine and has a decent social media/YouTube following, and the owners clearly love the projects they take on.

Competitive Advantage – Fun and friendly site that is easy to navigate. You don't feel overwhelmed with options when visiting Vintage Revival.

Food Blog Niche Examples

Food blogs are probably one of the most popular categories around. Personally, I think this blog niche is a tough one to crack into, especially in 2020.

Due to competition, most food bloggers that do well take awesome photos and know how to cook very well.

I won't say these are requirements for success, but they are barriers to consider.

However, there are still plenty of successful food bloggers out there. My only recommendation here would be to really niche down if you pick this blogging niche.

Note: I'm not including a “general” cooking blog in this list of examples because I think you definitely need to go narrow for a food website in 2020.

Extra Reading – How To Become A Food Blogger.

36. Vegan Cooking – Avant Garde Vegan

How do you know someone is vegan?

They'll tell you.

Alright, I couldn't resist that one.

But, in the case of starting a vegan blog, this joke is actually pretty important!

From my experience, vegans seems to flock to other vegans. It's kinda cult-like, but hey, this should help you if you can nail your branding as a vegan blogger!

Alright, jokes actually aside, Avant Garde Vegan does everything right.

This blog states its purpose, has awesome photos, and provides killer recipes. This is truly the perfect example of how to build both a blog and brand.

Competitive Advantage – Profession recipes/photos and killer branding.

37. Meat – Smoking Meat

Step aside Avant Garde Vegan, it's time for some MEAT.

Smoking Meat is a pretty nifty niche blog idea because the site focuses on a method of cooking rather than a certain dietary lifestyle.

Now, I already know you were planning to launch your blog “The Ultimate Guide to Pickling Things in your Basement,” so by all means, don't put that plan on hold.

Sticking to a specific type of cooking is an awesome way to niche-down when starting a food blog. I think that this genius idea is why this site has found such success.

Competitive Advantage – Narrow focus and stellar content.

38. Frugal Cooking – Budget Bytes

In terms of food blogs, Budget Bytes is the real deal.

This blog has everything. Branding, an awesome design, a clear mission, and tasty recipes.

The site even offers meal plans and has an IOS and Android app. It's hard to find a food blog out there that is this comprehensive in terms of what it offers readers.

Competitive Advantage – Insane amount of value-add for readers.

Fashion Blog Niche Examples

Fashion is another tough nut to crack in terms of picking a profitable blog niche because blogging isn't the most friendly format for this topic.

I mean, between Instagram, YouTube, and entertainment television, people are already inundated with fashion content.

However, once again, by sticking to a bit more of a narrow niche, you can find success!

Here are some prime examples:

39. Fashion For Short Men – Modest Man

Modest Man is a blog dedicated to fashion for short men. Yes, this is the niche, and it's absolutely brilliant.

My favorite thing about this blog is it tells you exactly on the homepage if you should get out or stick around: 5'8″ and above just have to dress like the brutes that we are I guess and go without some modern fashion advice!

Modest Man does an amazing job at branding, and the SEO is off the charts.

Plus, the blog also publishes income reports, which I think is pretty nifty.

Competitive Advantage – Clearly defined niche and awesome site layout. Crazy SEO skills as well.

40. Plus Size Fashion – Curvy Fashionista

Again, this blog is an awesome example of how you can make it in the fashion niche if you narrow your focus and provide real value to your audience.

Curvy Fashionista provides an awesome mix of fashion advice, beauty tips, and lifestyle guides for curvy individuals. Again, they know their audience and they create valuable content that keeps readers coming.

This site is monetized with ads and affiliate offers, and it's definitely making its own way in the world of fashion.

Competitive Advantage – Clean design and content depth.

41. Senior Fashion Blog – Advance Style

Now, let me just say that this blog is a complete enigma.

Advance Style is a very popular blog in the senior fashion niche. However, the owner is actually a 35 year old photographer.

The blog has been running since 2008, and it's really a collection of photos and outfits…oh, and there's a documentary.

If anything, this blog really proves that age is not always a restriction when picking a blogging niche.

Competitive Advantage – Great photography and a strong social media following.

Productivity Blog Niche Examples

Productivity is another popular blog niche that really encompasses a wide variety of angles.

There are blogs that take on a organizational/rational approach, and others that emphasize tools or software to help readers work more efficiently.

Then, there's also blogs that touch upon topics like bio-hacking, or even ways to use mindfulness or minimalism to boost productivity.

All in all, it's a bit of a mixed bag with this blogging niche.

But, if you can clearly define your focus and find a way to stand out from the crowd, you might be able to find the same level of success as the following blogs.

42. Study Hacks – Study Hacks By Cal Newport

Study Hacks is a productivity niche blog that is run by Cal Newport, a computer science professor who focuses on deep work and productivity.

This blog is interesting because it reflects the highly analytical mind of a programmer and how they systematically approach productivity optimization and deep learning. It's actually pretty neat.

According to the about page, Study Hacks aims to answer 2 questions:

• How do people reach elite levels in knowledge work careers?
• And of equal importance, how do they do so while keeping their work a meaningful and sustainable part of their life?

It's a refreshing balance of tangible advice without going overboard Gary Vee mode.

I think this is also an awesome example of how to blend your own personal experience or professional background into a productivity blog.

Competitive Advantage – Unique perspective and awesome writing style.

43. General Productivity Blog – Productivityist

This blog has been featured in so many national media outlets or other productivity blogs, and it's one of the most popular blogs in its niche.

Like a few other niche ideas I mentioned in this list, Productivityist is just a great example of how to build an audience and monetize in different ways,

The blog has coaching, a book, a podcast, and newsletter to generate revenue. If anything, study this blog to get some post ideas and to take a sneak peek at their SEO efforts.

Competitive Advantage – A wide range of products to make money with and strong SEO.

44. The Best Organization Blog – A Bowl Full Of Lemons

A Bowl Full Of Lemons is the dream niche blog of anyone with mild OCD like me!

This blog focuses on organization, cleaning, and budgeting. The entire concept behind this niche is to help readers organize and manage every aspect of their life.

A Bowl Full of Lemons uses ads, affiliate links, and printable resources to generate revenue.

It's a clean and simple example of how to niche-down and provide value to readers.

Competitive Advantage – Great example of how to expand on a niche topic without going to far.

Bonus Blog Niche Idea Time!

Alright, time to wrap up this list of some of the best blog niches in 2020.

Struggling to come up with an idea for your first website?

Check this out.

45. Blog About A Person – Lil Wayne HQ

Yes, here we are, the absolute pinnacle of blogging niche ideas.

Lil Wayne HQ is the definitive resource for any Lil Wayne fan.

Now, I'm unsure if Lil Wayne has filed a restraining order against Danny M, the main writer on Lil Wayne HQ.

Regardless, this site is hilarious, and it has more social clout than you'd guess.

With over 3.5 million fans on Facebook and a steady stream of traffic, this anomaly of a niche blog is, I guess, an example of how narrow you can get in focus.

Now my Elon Musk blog is coming in 2021, of course, so don't steal that idea.

But, if you are truly out of ideas for what to blog about, I guess this creepy option is still on the table.

Competitive Advantage – I can't even begin to take a stab at this one if I'm honest.

Final Thoughts

Wow, that was definitely the longest post I have ever written on WebMonkey.

I know the idea of getting started with your own blog can seem intimidating…I was on the fence myself for a while before starting TOW.

However, it's truly important to not suffer paralysis by analysis and to pull the trigger at a certain point.

When choosing a blog niche, don't spend weeks agonizing over the decision.

Pick a niche, signup for blog hosting, launch your blog on a free or cheap theme, and get that first article out as fast as you can.

Write about what you're an authority in, do some basic content planning and keyword research, and just start.

You don't need unique blog ideas or to write about something that has never been talked about before. As long as you add real value to your readers, you will find success.

You will make mistakes in the beginning, but that is how you learn. As long as you stick with your blog, you'll be surprised at where you end up with a few years of hard work. 

Anyway, I hope that this guide on how to pick a blog niche has provided a bit of insight into how you can approach this aspect of starting a blog.

I'm no expert, so don't be afraid to find your own path or to try something new.

But, whatever you do, don't steal my Elon Musk niche blog idea!

Catch you guys in the next post!

Related Reading:

• How to Start A Successful Blog.
• The Road to A $100/Month Blog.
• The Road to A $500/Month Blog.
• Is Blogging Worth it in 2020?

The post How to Pick a Blog Niche (+45 Profitable Blog Niche Ideas & Examples) appeared first on WebMonkey.

And, like many other bloggers, I ended up realizing this process takes an insane amount of time…like, multiple years sort of time (unless you're some sort of marketing guru or SEO god).

Now, as I've shared in many of my blogging income reports before, WebMonkey was stuck at around $500 of monthly income for quite a while. I found it incredibly hard to scale my website, and I could never afford to outsource that much work or to pump money back into growth.

All of that changed the second I got approved for Mediavine.

Within a month, I doubled my blog's monthly income from display advertising and surpassed $20,000 per month!

If you want to learn more about why Mediavine is my favorite ad platform, Mediavine's requirements to join their network, and my tips for getting approved, be sure to read this Mediavine review until the end!

Let's get to it!

What Is Mediavine?

Mediavine is a full service ad management platform that aims to “build sustainable businesses for content creators.”

In a nutshell, Mediavine acts as a website's ad manager, allowing the website owner to focus on content. Once you're approved for Mediavine, you simply have to install its script and let their tech team handle the ads on your website. It's as simple as that.

In return for this service, Mediavine splits advertisement revenue with its publishers. This symbiotic relationship is what has enabled Mediavine to partner with thousands of publishers and become one of the largest ad management services around.

Mediavine has also been in the publishing game since 2004, so they understand where bloggers are coming from. Mediavine brands include The Hollywood Gossip, TV Fanatic, Movie Fanatic, and Food Fanatic.

After Food Fanatic launched in 2013, Mediavine opened the doors for other publishers to come along for the ride.

Mediavine Income Report – My Results After 3 Years

I joined Mediavine in December of 2019. In my first few months, I was able to make over $1,000 per month just from Mediavine display ads. And since then, my Mediavine earnings have surpassed $20,000 a month and let me become a full-time blogger.

In fact, in 2022, WebMonkey made $272,000. Mediavine income accounted for approximately $152,000 of this income.

I made a YouTube video that shares more insight on my Mediavine income report and my other blogging streams. But for some context, here are my all-time stats in terms of Mediavine income as of June 2023:

• Sessions: 8.8 million.
• Mediavine Income: $354,800.
• Mediavine RPM: $40.14.

My Mediavine income has been life-changing. I'm now a full-time blogger thanks to the company, and I now get to travel the world, making money with my laptop, blogging along the way.

I also have to say just how impressed I am with Mediavine's performance and how quickly it scaled my blogging income.

When I switched from Monumetric to Mediavine, my RPM increased significantly and I started making over $1,000 per month in Mediavine revenue. It wasn't long before I was making $10k a month, and more recently, I've passed the $20k a month mark quite handily.

My Mediavine RPM is around $35 to $40 depending on the time of year and what pages people read on my site.

It's been an insane experience to watch the ad revenue grow as my blog scales, and honestly, Mediavine has been the best company to work with along the way.

Its publisher support is incredible, and I always get timely responses when I ask questions over email.

Furthermore, Mediavine continues to innovate, adding new ad optimization settings and other tech to help publishers make more money while keeping readers happy.

I have to say, Mediavine changed my life and helped me create a career, and I truly believe this is the best ad network for bloggers (I'm obviously a bit biased, but still!)

I hope this Mediavine income report inspires you to grow your blog if you're not currently a publisher, or to even scale your traffic if you're currently with Mediavine!

Need help finding winning keywords? I suggest using SEMRush for all your SEO needs.

Mediavine Requirements

Mediavine has several requirements in place to ensure only high quality sites are allowed into the program.

However, Mediavine is not just for massive websites, and I believe it is possible for hobby bloggers to get into this ad network with 1-2 years of smart, hard work.

Traffic Requirements

As of June 15th, 2020, Mediavine has new requirements for publishers looking to join this ad platform. Mediavine now requires 50,000 sessions per month to apply, which is double the previous amount.

This is for applications moving forwards, so if you've already applied and are waiting, you're not subject to these rules.

And, if a website changes ownership, the new owner must re-apply. This is a big deal for anyone considering website acquisition, although clean sites shouldn't have a problem getting in again.

According to Mediavine, recent events have accelerated applications to the point where customer support and existing publisher support was slipping, hence the change.

Mediavine already has 9,000+ publishers and turns down 72% of applicants, so you can only imagine how many applicants they get per month.

Mediavine requirements might seem tough, but they're fair: this traffic restriction is in place to view how engaged a website's audience is, as well as monetization potential (Mediavine needs to make money too, after all).

If you're far-off from these session numbers, I definitely suggest taking a look at my Monumetric review to consider another advertising alternative!

Quality Requirements & Site History

Mediavine considers other metrics besides a simple session count.

Here are some other Mediavine requirements publishers should make note of:

• Original & Engaging Content – The Mediavine support team analyzes your top-performing and recent posts to analyze engagement.
• Clean Traffic – Potential publishers submit a Google Analytics PDF which outlines user acquisition and behavior. This is to remove sites with heavy bot traffic or fraudulent practices from consideration.
• Good Standing With Google Adsense – Mediavine doesn't work with Adsense-banned websites.
• Brand Safety – Mediavine has to protect their advertisers. Therefore, if your site contains anything that could tarnish their image, you won't be accepted. Basically, don't have radical, hateful, racist, or just generally terrible info on your site a brand wouldn't want to touch with a 10 foot pole.

Outside of that, having a high level of organic traffic will help your chances of getting in. This is because organic traffic is naturally more engaged than social media traffic. I suspect that having traffic from premium advertising countries (i.e. North America, Europe) will help as well.

Additionally, your site must be compatible with their ads. This won't be an issue for many WordPress websites or normal themes, but wonky sites might have to make some changes.

How To Apply To Mediavine

One of my favorite parts about working with Mediavine was just how simple everything is on the publishing side of things.

Here are the general steps that take place for becoming a Mediavine publisher:

• Submit An Application – Use this form to apply for Mediavine. This takes a few minutes.
• Send A Google Analytics Report – You'll be asked to send over a specific report from your Google Analytics if you pass step one.
• Partner On Google Ad Manager – Submit consent to let Mediavine to manage your ad inventory.
• Wait For Approval – Mediavine's various ad networks will have to approve your site before you're allowed in.
• Select A Launch Date – Choose when your Mediavine ads will go live!

If you partner with another ad network, be sure to read their Terms of Service before making the switch. Many networks require 30 days notice before leaving, and you don't want to jeopardize your earnings by leaving early, even if it is for Mediavine!

This process was incredibly easy to follow. It took roughly a month and a half from application submission to becoming a Mediavine publisher, which isn't too bad!

And let me stress this: Mediavine has amazing publisher support. I receive amazing responses and help whenever I reach out, and they've been such an amazing company to work with for the last few years.

Other Mediavine Features

Another aspect I love about being a Mediavine blogger is just how much the company continues to innovate.

Mediavine is a massive publishing network, and it keeps coming out with new features to help publishers make more money and nurture their audiences. Here are some of my favorite parts about working with Mediavine:

Mediavine Performance – Website Speed & Dashboard Control

If there's one thing you should know about Mediavine, it's that they are obsessed with speed.

In fact, Mediavine has invested into their tech so heavily and focuses on speed to the point that they claim to be 200% faster than their competition.

Mediavine accomplishes this largely by lazy loading their ads, as well as focusing on optimizing ads for desktop and mobile page speed.

It's also easy to set ad preferences, limits, and to adjust spacing through the Mediavine Dashboard.

The ability to tweak your display advertising frequency and to play around with various speed settings is why I like Mediavine more than any other ad platform (plus the added revenue is awesome).

With Adsense, you have to figure this out yourself. For Monumetric, you have to email their support team. With Mediavine, you just have to check some boxes.

Plus. the Mediavine Site Health Check feature lets you constantly monitor your website to ensure you're ‘staying teal:'

Mediavine Dashboard

I'm editing this post as of 2020-05-07 because the new Mediavine dashboard is absolutely unreal. It wouldn't be a fair Mediavine review if I didn't mention how awesome these new changes are.

First and foremost, the new dashboard now provides a breakdown of RPM by page level:

This is incredibly powerful for boosting your blog revenue and figuring out what's working and what isn't.

As you can see in the post above, there's a huge RPM discrepancy between my post on apps that pay you to workout and my post on trivia apps that pay.

This can vary for a few reasons. Engagement, content, and what advertisers are specifically bidding on all have an impact.

But, having more granular data is always better. With the new Mediavine dashboard, you can now prioritize backlinks and social media promotion for the posts that bring home the bacon.

The new dashboard looks more sleek overall, and there's also a handy RPM by country chart as well:

Ultimately, all of these changes to the new dashboard just give publishers more power and control over how they make money. Pretty awesome stuff!

Mediavine Grow.Me

I'm updating this review one more time because Mediavine recently released Grow.me, a new user engagement suite that's already driving some cool results.

In a nutshell, internet privacy standards are changing. Collecting first-party data, which is data publishers (bloggers) provide to advertisers, is going to become more important to help keep RPMs up and serve relevant ads.

Thankfully, Mediavine's Grow.me is starting to solve this issue by collecting first-party data as third-party cookies are phased out.

This has two implications.

Firstly, you now make more money today since third-party cookies are being phased out on IOS. Secondly, it will enable Mediavine publishers to thrive in the future when privacy standards change.

Anyway, Grow.me has other cool features too, including:

• Letting users favorite your site or specific articles
• Social share icons
• A search bar for your site
• Recommended content

I've enabled Grow.me and have seen some promising results so far in Google Analytics:

It's these sorts of innovations that are why I love being a Mediavine publisher. The internet is a volatile place, but the tech advancements at Mediavine seem to be one step ahead of the game.

Plus, these sorts of plugins and changes are better for user experience, blogger revenue, and privacy laws. Win, win, win!

Tips For Getting Into Mediavine

In my opinion, the best way to get into Mediavine is to consistently create quality content that focuses on SEO. This is how I got into Mediavine, and by publishing long-form blog posts that target specific keywords, I also got another niche site into Mediavine in 2021.

That said, getting to 50K sessions might seem daunting, and honestly, it is…it took me two years to figure out how to do it.

The main tips I can give are similar to ones I have outlined in posts like my Road to $500/Month Blogging:

• Learn SEO – Write content that targets keywords and focus on building backlinks.
• Diversify Traffic – Nail SEO to develop organic traffic, and focus on 1-2 other platforms for additional readers. Personally, I outsourced my Pinterest marketing and used Tailwind.
• Reinvest Your Earnings – If you make solid money from platforms like Monumetric, reinvest the money into more content, outsourcing, better hosting, or something that will benefit your blog. Your website is a business, after all.
• Use Data: When researching what to write about, keyword data is your best friend. Personally, I use SEMRush to find all of my post topics and juicy low-competition keywords.

And, lastly, if you really want to get into Mediavine, I suggest dedicating a month to absolutely push your website if you're sitting around 30,000 to 40,000 page views

In October of 2019, I decided to work on WebMonkey every single night. I published a ton of content, promoted my posts on Reddit, grinded out Pinterest, link-dropped on Facebook groups/Quora, and did whatever I could to reach the sessions

After a month of long nights, it finally worked. If you're getting close to Mediavine's requirements, I say go all-in.

Focus on SEO, great content, and one social media source. The rest comes with time!

Note: I got into Mediavine when the requirement was 25K sessions, but I think the same logic above still applies.

Mediavine Pro & Premiere – Two New Tiers For Bloggers

On August 31st, 2022, Mediavine announced it's releasing Mediavine Pro in October 2022. This new tier is for high-performing, full-time publishers and provides some incredible perks like:

• An 85% base revenue share (doesn't include your loyalty bonus)
• A dedicated Pro Support team
• A private Pro Facebook group
• The ability to add other sites you own to Mediavine with just 25,000 sessions

Your site needs to earn at least $100,000 in Mediavine revenue for the last trailing 12 months to qualify for Mediavine Pro.

Thankfully, WebMonkey meets this requirement. Since I've joined Mediavine Pro, I've noticed an immediate spike in earnings. And I've even made $1,000 a day or more from Mediavine ads alone.

In their announcement, Mediavine also released news about Mediavine Premiere, an even higher tier that provides perks like a 90% base revenue share and annual premiere retreat. However, you need to earn at least $500,000 in Mediavine revenue for the trailing 12 months to qualify.

It's programs like Mediavine Pro and Premiere that make this ad company so amazing to work with. And if you can't qualify for Pro yet, don't sweat! You can set your sites on the $100,000 mark and chip away at it with new energy!

Frequently Asked Questions

Mediavine Vs. Adsense – Which Network Is Best?

In my experience, Mediavine pays significantly more than Google Adsense and is a superior advertising network. I also like that it gives publishers more control and pays a high rpm.

I mention the difference between a managed advertising platform and Adsense in my Monumetric review, but I'll break it down here as well.

If you run Google Adsense on your blog, you will only show ads from companies advertising within the Google ad network.

This has implications for your website's RPMs, or how much you earn in advertising revenue per thousand visitors. This is because running with one single ad network is not as competitive.

I mean, just take a look at my all time Adsense earnings from WebMonkey…it took several months to achieve what Mediavine can produce in 15 days or so (granted I have more traffic now, but my RPM used to be around $7 compared to $28 now).

So, why the difference in RPM?

Well, when publishers opt-in for ads from platforms like Adsense, they're only opening the door to a single pool of advertisers. Additionally, platforms like Adsense ram ads onto your site almost 100% of the time, and don't have much of a bidding floor.

In contrast, Mediavine uses a variety of ad exchanges to ensure that the highest paying advertisers across a wider pool of competition are placing their ads on your website.

Plus, Mediavine doesn't use a 100% fill rate. This means a Mediavine publisher's website doesn't always show ads. In fact, Mediavine's fill rate fluctuates between 70% to 99%, but it's never 100%. 

This is actually a good thing. A 100% fill-rate (which you basically get with Adsense) means that just about anyone can advertise on your website…there's no price floor advertisers have to cross to compete to show ads on your website.

Mediavine implements a pricing floor to ensure that only premium advertisers who are willing to pay well can show ads on your site.

This increases your average RPM and actually results in a much better user experience than clogging your website with tons of lower paying ads absolutely 100% of the time. It's a win-win!

Mediavine Vs. Monumetric – Which Network Is Best?

It wouldn't be a fair Mediavine review if I didn't compare Mediavine to some of the other ad networks I've partnered with.

Obviously, managed ad networks are a step above platforms like Google Adsense. But, there isn't a cookie-cutter solution for what's best for your website.

Personally, Mediavine has emerged as my favorite partner.

Don't get me wrong, I really like Monumetric. I had a great experience with them, and the earnings from their network helped push WebMonkey to a new level.

However, from a revenue perspective, Mediavine is performing twice as well:

The revenue is stable, and the ads aren't clogging my website. Frankly, I'm kind of blown away by how great Mediavine is. Plus, from an onboarding and support standpoint, Mediavine is unmatched.

Granted, Mediavine has some boosted December RPMs, and I am also more aggressive with my ad layout than I was with Monumetric.

Ultimately, I think publishers should try both ad networks to see what works best for them.

Besides, Monumetric only has a 10,000 monthly page view requirement, and I think they're a great company to work with as long as you explain exactly what you want for your site during onboarding.

How Much Does Mediavine Pay Per 1,000 Views?

How much Mediavine pays per 1,000 views depends on your niche, how long advertisers have to get used to your website, and on-page RPM optimization. My historical average RPM is around $40. I've been with Mediavine for just over three years.

Your blogging niche is one of the main factors that determines Mediavine's RPM. This is because advertisers in certain categories pay more on advertisements each quarter than others.

Seasonality also plays a massive role…just check out my near $60 RPM during Black Friday last year:

Based on my experience and everything I've heard, I think any website should see strong RPMs with Mediavine, but again, your niche matters a lot.

Additionally, you can increase your Mediavine RPM by doing things like:

• Writing longer content.
• Adding images to your articles.
• Embedding ads in videos you place in-article.
• Using a theme that supports high-value ads (like your sidebar).

Is Mediavine Free?

Yes. There is no setup fee to join Mediavine.

How Much Does Mediavine Pay?

How much Mediavine pays depends on your traffic level, RPM, and ad settings. Different blog niches pay more than others, and Mediavine also lets publishers tweak their ad settings to show more or fewer ad units per session.

Personally, I scaled my Mediavine income from $1,000 per month to $26,000 per month at my blog's highest point. But I know some publishers who make even more than me, so the sky's the limit.

Ultimately, Mediavine is regarded as one of the highest paying ad networks for bloggers, and this has been my experience as well.

What Is Mediavine's Revenue Share Agreement?

Publishers start at 75% revenue share and increase by 1% for every year they are a publisher as part of Mediavine's Loyalty Bonus up to a max of 5%. However, sites with more monthly traffic use the following percentages:

• 5 million ad impressions in 30 days – 80% rev share.
• 10 million ad impressions in 30 days – 82.5% rev share.
• 15 million ad impressions in 30 days – 85% rev share.

So, if you have a massive site and stick with Mediavine for 5 years, you'll be at 90%, which is nuts. Even 80-85% is pretty high for the display advertising industry.

Also note that you can get higher revenue share percentages through the new Mediavine Pro tier.

Does Mediavine Have A Referral Program?

Nope! Mediavine states they don't want to skew reviews by offering a referral program.

Isn't Mediavine Just For Food & Travel Bloggers?

Mediavine does cater a lot to these two blogging niches through systems like their Create plugin, but this network is not exclusive to these niches. The main Mediavine niches include:

• DIY
• Health
• Fitness
• Fashion
• Travel
• Crafts
• Education
• Finance
• Lifestyle
• Entertainment

However, Mediavine still accepts and encourages sites outside these niches to apply.

Extra Reading – How To Start A Food Blog.

When Does Mediavine Pay You?

Mediavine pays in net 65. Payments are $USD and publishers choose between PayPal, check, wire transfer, or local bank transfer for deposit.

How Many Pageviews Do I Need For Mediavine?

Since Mediavine requires having 50,000 monthly sessions, you probably need 60,000 to 70,000 monthly pageviews to apply. However, this can vary depending on how well you interlink and how many pages your readers view in a single session on average.

What If I'm Not Exactly At 50K Sessions?

Apply if you're close. If you have a strong traffic profile, engaged audience, and are trending upwards, you might be let in.

What If My Site Is Brand New & Went Viral?

From my understanding, Mediavine doesn't really let brand new websites in. Plus, they want to see traffic diversity and to have confidence that you can maintain 50K monthly sessions or more (and aren't just banking on viral posts once a year).

Note, you won't get kicked out if you drop below 25K monthly sessions. However, I'm not sure what would happen if your blog just died.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to making money by blogging, there are a few approaches (or combinations) people use to start generating revenue…affiliate sales, selling products, sponsored posts, and advertisements.

At WebMonkey, running display ads has always been a core component of my monetization strategy. Whether you love them or hate them, ads are simply a part of the online ecosystem at this point.

Plus, when managed properly, ads should help companies promote their products/services to relevant users without significantly detracting from user experience.

Currently, Mediavine is my absolute favorite managed ad network. I can't say anything bad about them, in truth. I just feel lucky to be a part of the publisher network.

For anyone pushing towards Mediavine, hang in there. As long as you keep things simple and produce the best content out there, you'll get there eventually. And, in the meantime, there are other solid options like Monumetric out there that are a great way to make money online with your website.

Hopefully, this Mediavine review has helped clarify why this company rocks, as well as what to expect from the application and onboarding process.

That's all for now. Catch you guys in the next one!

Looking for more money-making ideas? Checkout:

• The Best Online Jobs That Pay You Daily.
• How To Become A Freelance Writer.

The post Mediavine Review – How I Grew My Blog To $20,000+ Per Month appeared first on WebMonkey.

2019 has been an absolutely incredible year. Between major growth for WebMonkey, starting to work remotely, and getting plenty of travelling done, I don't think I've ever experienced so much change in such a short period of time.

I am immensely grateful to every reader and subscriber. Your readership, comments, criticisms, and questions all make blogging that much more rewarding and enjoyable.

I know this blog is just a small and humble piece of the internet, but it's certainly one of my favorite pieces, and that is all because of you.

Since honesty and transparency has always been one of my main goals, I have decided to write another year-end recap post to break down 2019. I am beyond excited for 2020, and I can only hope that the next chapter for WebMonkey is as amazing as 2019 has been.

Time to break down my 2019 blogging income report, wins, losses, and plans for what comes next.

Let's get to it!

Blogging Income Report – Making $7,000 From Blogging In 2019

Since I started blogging, one of my main goals has always been to provide a transparent, honest look at the realities of creating a money making blog. Alongside increasing my own income streams, I've tried to share my own blogging experience with others to provide inspiration and advice.

Now, I'm no pro-blogger, and I haven't always been consistent with my blogging income reports or updates.

However, I think annual blog income reports have value. For new bloggers, I hope these reports can provide some inspiration and tips for how to effectively scale your blog. Similarly, for more experienced bloggers, perhaps there is a tip or trick regarding blog monetization you have not tried yet!

I earned $1,761 from my first year of blogging.

In 2019, I earned approximately $7,000 to $7,500 (there are some 12-month referral programs paying out, hence the range).

It was truly a crazy year of Google updates. Plus, with a site redesign, new ad networks, and a bunch of other changes, it definitely wasn't a smooth ride.

Now, I already broke down some recent blogging income in my post on if blogging is worth it. 

However, I'm going to share some year-end revenue screenshots to show the various ways I monetize WebMonkey.

Broadly speaking, I monetize WebMonkey in 4 ways:

• Display advertisements.
• Affiliate sales.
• Sponsorship deals.
• Medium syndication.

Let's dive into each income stream with a bit more granularity.

Blogging Advertisement Revenue

Ads are by far the easiest and most straightforward way to make money blogging.

If done properly, I believe ads don't significantly detract from user experience. Plus, advertisement revenue is a great way to build a foundation of income that you can use to reinvest into your website.

In 2019, I used 3 different advertisement networks to make money.

The first was Google Adsense, which earned slightly over $500.

I think Adsense is a great way for beginner bloggers to get their first taste of making money online. 

However, premium, managed advertising solutions can generate way more revenue and provide a better user experience than manually placing your ads.

After I switched to Monumetric, my second advertising network, in April, I saw a near 400% increase in blogging revenue just like that.

In total, Monumetric earned approximately $2,627 in 2019 (plus another few hundred dollars that will trickle in over the next 12 months due to referral bonuses).

Monumetric requires 10K monthly pageviews and a decent amount of organic traffic to be accepted. However, I urge anyone who is near that threshold to apply. The boost in revenue absolutely transformed growth for WebMonkey, which I'll get into in a bit

Finally, I switched from Monumetric to Mediavine for my third and final advertising platform at the start of December.

Mediavine requires 25K monthly sessions in order to be accepted. I've been trying to get into Mediavine for nearly two years, and that goal is finally complete!

It took a very sweaty, cabin-fever inducing month of grinding in October to get the job done, but hey, we made it!

In less than 30 days, Mediavine has already earned more than $900 USD, which is absolutely insane! I know that Q4 RPMs are elevated due to Black Friday and Christmas, but damn, consider me impressed!

The Mediavine team has been absolutely incredible in terms of onboarding and support. I'm really looking forward to a strong 2020 of ad earnings as a Mediavine publisher, and I hope the increased monthly revenue will open up plenty of opportunities for growth.

Extra Reading – My Mediavine Review + Tips For Getting Accepted.

My one tip for other bloggers: use advertisement revenue to reinvest into your website!

Getting into Monumetric transformed WebMonkey. I was able to pay for a site redesign and a Pinterest virtual assistant. Thanks to Mediavine, I will soon be hiring a writer to help out with additional content.

It might be tempting to use 100% of your earnings to pay the bills or invest.

While I think hobby bloggers should enjoy some of the fruits of their labor, you must always remember to treat your blog like a business if you want to continually grow.

For even more information on the topic of making money with a blog, be sure to checkout my YouTube channel and this video on how I now make over $1,000 per month from blogging.

Affiliate Income

I've always sucked at affiliate marketing. I just find it difficult to recommend various products/services (even when I use them) without ramming them down people's throats.

However, 2019 has shown a lot of improvement in the affiliate marketing department. I only made around $600 from affiliate sales in 2018, but more than tripled affiliate income for 2019.

In total, affiliate sales for WebMonkey totaled over $2,200.

Additionally, I've increased the diversity of programs and companies I promote, and started to figure out more effective ways to drive conversions. I won't share absolutely every screenshot or program here since I covered some in that previous post like I mentioned.

However, I will share the main breadwinners.

As with 2018, referring users to Shopify proved to be a fairly consistent earner:

My dropshipping guide doesn't even get that much traffic anymore. I think this shows that even a low-traffic post can still be valuable if the content is top-notch, honest, and worth people's time.

FlexOffers showed way more growth this year than 2018, and I'm finally getting a hang at promoting some of their lower-paying but higher converting merchants. Some of the income is still pending, but I've found that most conversions pay out so I'm not too worried.

I used a variety of other affiliate networks (Amazon, She Is Media, Aragon) and earned a few additional hundred dollars.

My post on starting an Etsy dropshipping store allowed me to promote Printify, which generated an additional $400+ from a single store that really took off. 

Finally, bits of income from referring users to start their own blog with SiteGround, and various other affiliate programs, brought in the rest.

Two main takeaways + tips for other bloggers.

Firstly, I think it's important to strike a balance between diversity and focus when it comes to promoting affiliate offers.

Personally, I hate reading a blog that promotes Bluehost every other sentence. Similarly, articles that lists 101 offers or use massive affiliate blocks every other paragraph aren't fun.

Secondly, the main lesson I learned throughout 2019 regarding affiliate marketing is to play around with your landing page styles.

After I made an affiliate pillar post for ways to earn free money and signup bonuses, I saw an immediate bump in revenue. I can funnel Pinterest traffic to it all day long to this listicle and expect around 1-2% of people to convert on something.

Keep testing things. Try new article styles, review posts, email marketing, or something different if you're stuck. Just be sure to remain honest and show integrity when recommending offers!

Sponsorship Deals

There really isn't much to say here for this section of the blogging income report.

I receive several weekly offers to promote products, sell links, or write review. 99% of them are for terrible companies or don't fit this niche, Most requests also ignore the rules I have set in place on my ‘Work With Me' page.

In 2019, I earned roughly $500 from sponsorship posts and deals. The bulk of this income came from my Emperor Investment Review. 

I'm looking forward to working with more brands in 2020, but only if they make sense. If I could give one piece of advice to other bloggers, it would be to tread carefully when dealing with sponsorship arrangements.

Sponsorship income is so easy to come by. In contrast, it only takes one incorrect or greedy recommendation to destroy your reputation forever.

Writing On Medium

I've always been a proponent of syndicating blog content on Medium.

Republishing content on Medium is free. Plus, making money on Medium is pretty easy nowadays, especially since they changed their payment algorithm to be based on read-time rather than claps.

In 2019, my Medium writing earned $520, mostly from posts I had already written on WebMonkey.

December was a particularly strong month ($200+) due to the algorithm change and my article on how to build wealth in your 20's being featured on The Startup, Medium's largest publications.

My only advice for making Medium work for you is to just start.

I don't put much time into Medium. However, it's an incredibly strong platform, and a single viral story there can result in months of steady passive income and exposure for your own blog.

Blogging Expenses

It wouldn't be a true blogging income report or worthwhile recap if I didn't mention the costs associated with running WebMonkey.

Here are my blogging costs for 2019:

• SiteGround hosting – $255.
• Pinterest virtual assistant – $829.
• Tailwind for Pinterest – ~$200 (this will be reduced in 2020 since I am dropping one of my Tribe PowerUps).
• Website redesign – $1,200.
• Random Fiverr + freelancer work (new logo, SEO help, Pinterest templates, a guest post) – $300.

Total blogging expenses = $2,784.

Learning how to reinvest into WebMonkey has been a challenge. However, I am increasingly learning the importance of delegating tasks and outsourcing work that is too time consuming or, in all honesty, trivial for you to handle as an owner.

I used to do all Pinterest work and graphic tweaks for the website. I sucked at both, and the results showed.

Pick your battles. Generate revenue from ads or affiliate offers, and don't be afraid to funnel some back in for growth. The results are often worth it.

I mean, just take a look at how WebMonkey's Pinterest presence continues to develop. I would never have the time or knowledge to do this on my own, so I decided to outsource it all.

Blogging Growth & Traffic

As any blogger will know, 2019 has been a roller coaster when it comes to organic traffic.

A slew of Google algorithm updates hammered and pumped up WebMonkey throughout the year. I was basically dead in the water in terms of organic traffic around June/July, but have since rebounded and continued to grow:

For anyone struggling with SEO or gaining organic traffic, here are my suggestions:

Stick with what you know – my blog posts on phone farming, Medium, and passive income apps are still my top performing posts because I lived and breathed this stuff for all of college. Write about what you know to have a competitive advantage.

Learn basic SEO – Read voraciously, subscribe to SEO news, and pay attention to the general chatter surrounding algorithm updates.

Write regularly, but focus on value – Google is becoming more competitive, and the only advantage small publishers have is in their quality. Go to a level of depth a salaried staff writer for a major publication cannot afford to go, and you'll win.

Backlinks are king – Write guest posts as often as you can, and focus on link building to your top articles to help move them higher on Google and protect their ranking.

Additionally, if you do get hammered by an update, take a step back and focus on the basics.

I was hit with two updates this year, and both times, I suspected it had to do with user experience and a lack of trustworthiness/backlinks.

I redesigned my website, added more comprehensive privacy/disclosure/about me pages, and focused on link building. 6 months later, it all turned out alright!

Favorite Reads & Watches

I included some of my favorite personal finance bloggers and reads in my 2018 blog report, and I want to keep the tradition going!

I was fortunate to meet an incredible number of people this year, both online and offline, and that's honestly one of the coolest things about blogging. I've also stumbled across some truly incredible personal finance websites this year, and have continued to read old favorites.

Wallet Wise Guy

The world really works in mysterious ways sometimes.

I decided to spend part of 2019 down in Florida. As it turns out, my decision to head down there would have me cross paths with Clint Proctor, one of the coolest and nicest guys I have ever met in my life.

Clint runs the blog Wallet Wise Guy. If you're looking for genuine, solid personal finance advice geared for younger adults, you need to check out this website and subscribe. Wallet Wise guy covers everything from side hustling to managing debt, and the quality/honesty of the content is what impresses me the most.

Outside of being on Clint's podcast, I was also lucky enough to learn an incredible amount about how to develop a freelance writing career and the mindset you need to take your writing to the next level. To say I am grateful for heading down to Florida would be an understatement.

Ben Leavitt

I actually met Ben when I was back in college, and he's one of the hardest working and genuine people I know.

I have also been lucky to feature Ben's story about starting a successful Podcast here on WebMonkey. Ben isn't a blogger, but he definitely has a killer YouTube channel and podcast.

Ben's videos cover social media marketing, entrepreneurship, and podcasting, so I highly recommend subscribing to his channel and podcast if you want to take your side hustle to the next level in 2020.

Dollar Sanity

I mentioned Dollar Sanity in my 2018 blogging recap post, but I couldn't omit it from this list either.

When I first connected with Peter in 2018, it was to write a guest post on his website about phone farming. I didn't know it at the time, but Peter would go on to teach me 90% of what I now know about growing a blog, networking, and monetization.

Dollar Sanity is simply a great blog with some very talented writers. Forget the bullshit or fluff – the content here is honest and a fun read. I highly recommend checking out some of Peter's more personal stories as well or any content covering business and making money online.

Finsavvy Panda

I was also fortunate to get to know Ling, the blogger behind Finsavvy Panda, this year.

Talking with Ling online about blogging was actually incredibly refreshing. We have similar blogs, and we even compete on some keywords for several of our articles.

Despite this competition, however, Ling has never hesitated to share advice or to talk shop when it comes to blogging. Plus, her blogging income reports and informative articles on ways to make money online are pretty killer, so I highly recommend giving her website a read!

Vital Dollar

I've been lucky to connect with Marc, the owner of the blog Vital Dollar, in 2019, and his website is definitely one of my new favorites.

Outside of teaching me some valuable lessons regarding SEO and managing a blog, Marc just writes awesome content. If you want to find practical ways to make or save more money, I strongly recommend adding Vital Dollar to your reading list for 2020!

Bible Money Matters

Peter, the owner of Bible Money Matters, has been blogging for a very long time.

However, unlike many older blogs that fall by the wayside, sell out, or lose quality as the grow, Bible Money Matters is a refreshing and impressive oasis of valuable personal finance information.

You don't need to be religious to gain value from this blog. Bible Money Matters encompasses the slogan ‘Give More, Save More, Live More,' and that's a worthwhile slogan to live by if you ask me.

If you're on the lookout for comprehensive reviews and honest personal finance advice, I'd add this blog to your list.

Eat Sleep Breathe FI

When it comes to Financial Independence, I think there are plenty of blogs and reading options out there.

However, Eat Sleep Breathe FI, run by a fellow Canadian blogger Chrissy, is one of my favorites. On her blog, Chrissy publishes plenty of honest and practical content relating to financial independence.

Plus, Chrissy is a co-host for the podcast Explore FI Canada (which is pretty awesome). If you're a Canadian, I definitely recommend checking this podcast out, as well as Chrissy's blog!

The Future Of WebMonkey & 2020 Goals

2019 was undoubtedly the craziest year of my life.

The start of the year was not a high-point. Between sleeping on a soggy mattress in my friend's basement after ending a relationship (classic lol) and having no idea what I really wanted to do in the future, I'm truly grateful for how everything turned out.

2019 was also a year with a lot of ‘firsts.'

I started working remotely for the first time. I got accepted into Mediavine, connected with dozens of other awesome bloggers, and also landed my first ever freelance writing clients.

Somehow, I was even able to attend QuickBooks Connect Toronto to help cover the event as a blogger! The experience of getting to meet business owners, accountants, and some very cool companies in the online payment processing space was awesome. Plus, I got to walk around with a camera as if I knew what I was doing! Pretty sweet!

Anyway, if there's one thing 2019 has taught me, it's this: we are in control of the life that we build.

I don't write blogging income reports to brag. I'm so immensely grateful for everyone who reads this blog, and making a few thousand dollars from a blog isn't anything groundbreaking when you consider how many massive websites there are.

However, if you're still reading, I hope these sorts of annual blog updates at least provide a bit of inspiration or useful advice on how to improve your own side hustle or career.

It has never been more feasible to change careers, start a side hustle/business, or to improve your finances and overall quality of life.

It doesn't matter if it's the gig economy, blogging, or nothing at all (not everyone has to have a side hustle). As long as you actively look for ways to improve as an individual and work hard/honestly, things always work out.

So, what's next for WebMonkey and 2020 in general?

Here are some exciting plans and goals!

• Blogging income – Scale to $20,000 (I figure Mediavine can do about 12K-15K and the rest will hopefully come from affiliate and sponsorship deals).
• Launch a course – I have a few ideas for what I want to create/how I want to position a course, so stay tuned!
• Start YouTube – I want to diversify traffic and YouTube also looks super fun. Goal: 10K subscribers by year end.
• Freelance income – Full-time income from writing. Stay tuned for some exciting updates/a new series on this front
• Travel – There's at least 5 countries on the list for 2020, but this is more up in the air. Plus, I'll be attending FinCon 2020, so see you there!

Anyway, that's my 2019 in a nutshell and some goals for the future.

If you're still here, leave a comment for what you're chasing in 2020.

Thank you to everyone who continues to support WebMonkey. I wish you nothing but happiness, health, and success for the decade ahead.

Catch you guys in the next one (see you next decade hahaha!).

The post Blogging Income Report – How I Made $7,000+ From Blogging In 2019 appeared first on WebMonkey.