18 Steps to Create a Blog & Make Money in 30 Days

Everyone wants to make more money and with the internet becoming more popular every day, it only makes sense to try it online. Here are the steps to create a blog and earn revenue with it in only your first 30 days.

1. Choose Your Blogging Platform

You can find free places to host your blog like Blogger, Wordpress, or Typepad, but I would not recommend those hosting services if you are serious about making money. You will want a domain and web host. Since I use Wordpress, I suggest that you use that for your platform.

2. Register Your Domain

You will need to have a domain name the first day your blog goes live, do not put this off. It is amazing how many names you come up with are already taken. I register most of my domains with GoDaddy for ease of tracking them all in one place. However, if this is your first domain purchase, wait to see if your web host offers a free domain when you sign up.

3. Find a Good Web Host

It is important to choose a reliable web host. If they experience server trouble or other issues, your site may be inaccessible for some time. I use ANHosting. They are inexpensive at $6.95 per month for what they offer being 500 gigabytes of storage, 5 terabytes of bandwidth, 24/7 phone support, free domain for life, and many tools for backing up your site. If you decide to use them, use the code NETJELLY for 3 free months of service.

4. Install Wordpress

The famous 5 minute install.

5. Pick a Theme

Thousands of free themes are available. Themes Directory.

6. Customize Your Theme

Normally no changes are required. You may wish to make small tweaks. Wordpress is easy to learn and has tons of documentation.

7. Install Your Plugins

Plugins add even more functionality to the basic Wordpress installation. Like Themes, you can find thousands of free Plugins created by users at the development site. Here is a list of plugins that I consider essential for any Wordpress blog:

8. Pick a Niche

Pick a niche and focus on it. Focusing on one topic will appeal to your target audience but also help your search rankings in the niche you pick. If you intend to make money on your blog, then it is important to write about topics involved with your niche. Niches can be about anything. People search wide ranges of topics in search engines daily and there is a market for just about everything. Write about what you know.

9. Start Writing

I have written a list of articles that I plan to write in the future. It is important to brainstorm topic ideas and have a list ready for what you may post about next. You should have at least 10 posts before you even start promoting your site. Having post already established on the site will give Google more content to index in search results.

10. Post Frequently

As you start building readership, you will need to post often to keep readers coming back for new content. If you wait long periods in-between post, you risk losing your audience. Posting frequently will also keep search engines happy.

11. Allow Readers to Subscribe

All Wordpress blog have a built in RSS Feed feature that allows your readers to subscribe to updates. Sign up for Feedburner, which allows you to track your subscribers and gives your readers better options for subscribing.

12. Write for the Internet

Keep it short and on point. Normally, most of your traffic comes from search engines and those users are looking for specific information, if they do not find it, they will be gone.

13. Submit to Search Engines

Once you have built a blog with at least 10 posts, then submit it search engines.

14. Submit to Social Bookmarking Sites

It is pointless to submit your post to large sites like Digg without a reader base to help you reach the front-page. I suggest finding digg-like sites in your niche and submitting there for better chances of getting targeted traffic.

15. Build Relationships

You will find better success if you are friends with established webmasters. Try to join some related forums or post comments on similar sites.

16. Join Advertising Programs

I recommend you use Google Adsense. It is the largest of any program currently. Adsense allows you to create customized ads they will automatically refine links depending on that webpage’s content.

17. Try Affiliate Marketing

Normally, as an affiliate marketer you will only be paid if your advertisement leads to a sale for the company. You should find products and services to pitch that is within your niche for better results. Here are some of the largest:

18. Have Patience

I believe this is one of the most important things to remember. You will need to be patience and if you apply these steps you eventually will see results. It simply doesn’t happen overnight.