How do you become a blogger and make money with it?

A blog is a great way to showcase a hobby, interest, technical and other skills, and important information. There is added value for the readers when they find the information they are looking for in the articles and pages of the blog and can use it to solve problems in their lives. Here in the Sir Apfelot blog there are corresponding guides, instructions, tests and news from the world of technology, mostly with reference to Apple. Here you can find out how to set up a blog and how to earn money with blogging.

Not much time? That's what this is about!

Here is an overview of the topics covered in this blogging and making money guide:

• Choice of topic and perseverance in filling the blog with posts
• Define the structure for the website and publish the first content
• Regular formats for recurring quality content
• Accompaniment of text content with images and other media
• Search engine optimization for traffic generation
• Social media for regularly addressing the target group
• Build readership without social media
• Help with search engine optimization for a good placement on Google
• Advertise your own blog
• Videos, podcasts and other additional content alongside the blog posts
• Revenue Sources: Advertising, Affiliates, Patreon, Digital Products, Product Placement, etc.

Real interest and perseverance are required

To begin with, let me point out that without a genuine interest in the topics covered in the blog, the blog itself will not be successful. If after two weeks your own motivation to write articles, build links and create cooperations is gone again, then it is hardly worth registering the desired page name at all. 

The whole thing is only worthwhile if there is a long-lasting interest and the stamina for several years of writing and background work (link building, social media, press inquiries, etc.). That has to be clear right from the start. Otherwise, new articles will not only come out irregularly, but also in low quality and without any added value for the readers.

Concentrated in the home office: Pomodoro technique for work

Find topic, determine page structure, create initial content

In order to get a website rolling, it should – at least at the beginning – relate to a specific topic, a specialist area or a larger issue. When you jump from one topic to another and every new blog post comes as a surprise, then targeting and creating a readership becomes difficult, if not impossible. Later you can of course put out feelers to related and new content. Incidentally, good quality is more important than trying to reinvent the wheel.

If the topic is clear and you already know what the first blog entries should be about, in which categories they should be classified and which subpages should be created as landing pages, you can get started. By the way, WordPress as a content management system (CMS) is easy to use for building a blog. There are also all sorts of instructions on the web for this, which is why we will not go into detail about the initial page creation in this article. However, before you put the site online, you should acquire some basic knowledge.

Tip: Regular formats for recurring quality content

Here at Sir Apfelot there are several formats that not only offer the reader a certain routine, but also the promise of being offered high-quality blog posts again and again. For example, for more than five years, with hardly one exception, the “Sir Apfelot newsreel“ with Apple and tech news of the calendar week. In addition, there has been the monthly for over two years Recommended five handy Mac apps. The "Pick of the week“ used to be a weekly format, but is currently only used when there are really recommendable products.

Not just text: photos, stock footage and other images

In addition to easily understandable, informative and spell-checked texts, the blog should also be equipped with images. Thumbnails for the individual articles already provide an insight to accompany the displayed title. Pictures in the article itself clarify at a glance what the text describes in a longer form. If you show the individual steps in a guide as images, photos or screenshots, the article is much more helpful.

But also in product tests, in the description of plants and gardening work, in a guide to insulating the attic or for tips on soldering - photos can always help to make what is written easier to understand. If you don't have the time, skills or equipment to take your own photos, you can use stock footage - either from free sources or in the form of paid material. Finally, graphics such as diagrams, sketches, etc. can also be drawn in corresponding apps.

Pexels and Canva: Search and edit images for free on the web

Generate traffic: search engine optimization (SEO) and social media

Search engine optimization, or SEO for "Search Engine Optimization" for short, is important in order to be listed high up on Google, Ecosia, DuckDuckGo and Co. for search queries on your own topic. Several components play a role here: fast loading times, internal links, external links, the choice of words and the number of important phrases (keywords) in the posts, and much more. The link building for the linking of one's own site on other websites should not be shied away from, even if it involves costs. 

Social media in the form of text, image and video based platforms is also important. It is true that search engine queries can already provide a lot of traffic for good texts and popular topics. However, social media apps and their websites are a daily contact point for their users. If you pick them up there, you can invite them to your own blog every day. Whether it's news, instructions, interesting trivia, gardening, construction site updates or van life - if you briefly show on social media which highlights are being dealt with or problems are being solved, there are also clicks on the blog post.

Depending on the basis on which you build your blog, you can automatically deactivate social media posts when you publish your posts. There are various plugins for WordPress and similar content management systems, which automatically create posts on the linked profiles of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Co. thanks to the information provided when creating the post. Depending on which platforms you want to use, there are different offers and pricing structures.

Investigation: when to post on Insta, Facebook, Twitter, Xing and LinkedIn?

Target group retention without social media

There are actually ways to achieve target group retention without social media. Their measures are then only pointed out on their own blog, which makes the growth of the readership somewhat slower than via the potential audience of millions on the social media platforms. In addition, the professional handling of these measures costs money. These options include, for example:

• regular Email Newsletter with up-to-date information and articles
• Push notifications offer to advertise new content directly on the end devices
• own app offer so that the blog can be accessed on mobile devices without a browser

Generate traffic through purchased advertising space

Of course, the goal is to be able to earn money with your own blog. However, he must be made known for this. You can write the highest quality articles on the most popular topics and still get no readership. In addition to social media, SEO, newsletters and the like, paid advertising is a good way to generate traffic, for which you initially spend a little money. You can financially support related podcasts, YouTube channels, Twitch streams, trade fairs, sports events and more and be named and shown there.

My new blog is not ranking well on Google. What am I doing wrong?

If you pay attention to the right keywords, write a readable text, link it internally, maybe even get external links and also offer a short website loading time, then you are doing a lot right. The thing is, Google and other search engines don't immediately rank new websites, shops, and blogs high. This can be seen as a form of fraud protection. New websites must first provide good information and be indexed in the search engine directory. This can take a while. 

If the site has been online for a few months or years and is regularly filled with content, then the indexing of new posts and pages is much faster. Sometimes I publish a blog post here and less than an hour later it's already on page 1 of Google, DuckDuckGo and Ecosia for the corresponding search query. However, Sir Apfelot has been around since 2012 and for several years now an average of two to three posts have appeared every weekday. The blog is also linked to larger websites.

Jens offers help with search engine optimization

While I (Johannes) write a lot of posts here in the blog, answer a few comments and occasionally in the Forum involve, is Jens the founder and site operator of Sir Apfelot - as well as the one who deals with SEO full-time. As a search engine optimizer with many years of experience and customers from a wide variety of areas, he has the necessary skills and strategies. So if you need SEO help for your new blog, feel free to contact Jens (Contact us).

Take a look: blog category "SEO & Homepage"

Own additional media and cross marketing: videos, podcasts and more

If your blog topic is suitable for producing videos on it or starting a podcast, then this should also be considered. You can also build up a target group on YouTube, TikTok, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Creative projects, gaming and similar content can also be suitable for live streaming on Twitch. Not only do the individual platforms offer their own monetization options for making money, they also bring more people to the blog.

However, as with the desire to become a blogger, there should also be genuine interest and perseverance behind it. It can help to start recording videos or podcasts just for yourself and see if you can get into a routine. In addition, the quality can be adjusted before the first publication. This way, you don't have to declare the measures outside of your own website as abandoned after two or three weeks because they may not fit into the schedule or are not well received.

Sir Apfelot as a podcast: Listen here!

Monetize the Blog: Ads, Affiliates, eBooks, Patreon and more

In order to be able to earn money with your own blog, there are different measures and approaches. These can of course be combined. That doesn't mean that every blog post should be plastered with product placement, affiliate links, promoting your own merch, and calls for financial support on Patreon and Steady. A balance has to be found between the readability of the posts and search engine optimization. Otherwise, the blog will quickly be penalized by readers and search engines as a pure advertising measure.

Here are a few ways to make money blogging:

• Classic advertising banners: Use the integration of Google Ads or similar to place advertising that earns money when clicked.
• Affiliate Links: Links that tell the target page via individual URL sections that the click comes from a specific page, so that their operators receive a commission for the redirection (e.g. Amazon gives a share of sales revenue that you get through affiliate left).
• Product placement: Companies can have their products (goods, services, software, etc.) placed in the blog posts for a fee. Not only does this need a good blog reputation, but it also needs to be tagged as product placement.
• Sponsor Posts: Blog posts commissioned or submitted by other websites or companies that you charge to publish. These posts should also be marked accordingly as sponsor or advertising content.
• Own digital products: Is the blog topic also available in book form? Then an eBook can be written and offered for sale. Other digital products can be project downloads for the software they provide instructions for, custom Photoshop brushes, fonts, apps, online courses, wallpapers, and more.
• Patreon, Steady and other fan platforms: In addition to the big name "Patreon", where you can offer additional content for paying users, there are also more specialized fan websites. For art topics z. B. also like to use "Ko-fi" or "Gumroad". "Buy Me A Coffee" is also popular. But there are dozens of others. If you don't allow comments on the blog and don't reply to social media comments, then you could - depending on the blog topic - offer the individual help and advice behind the paywall.
• Merchandise: If the blog has developed into its own brand, then loyal readers may also want the logo or catchphrases on mugs, sweaters or USB sticks - these items can also bring in a few euros.

Something long-term: become a blogger and earn money with it

If there's one thing you shouldn't do, it's jump in at the deep end. So don't just quit the job and hope that within a few months you'll be making extreme income from your newly started blog. It might work under certain circumstances, but it not only takes a lot of discipline and work, it also takes a lot of luck. 

Pick a good (niche) topic with potential for lots of blog content, structure your blog with categories and landing pages, ensure search engine optimization and external links, use social media and advertising, and then take care of monetization.  As with any small business, success does not come immediately, but may take two to three years.

Johannes Domke

[On vacation] After graduating from high school, Johannes completed training as a business assistant specializing in foreign languages. But then he decided to research and write, which led to his independence. He has been working for Sir Apfelot, among others, for several years now. His articles include product introductions, news, instructions, video games, consoles and much more. He follows Apple keynotes live via stream.