Blogging in 2024, as with everything else in business, is now more competitive and you cannot consider blogging as a hobby or side project if you wish to have a successful blog. Too many people who decide to start a blog make this error, achieve sub-par results, and then declare blogging to be a waste of time "these days."
In reality, digital consumption is expanding incredibly quickly. The average web user is now spending approximately six hours per day consuming digital media, with the vast majority of this time spent on mobile devices.
It is a staggering quantity of time, without a doubt unprecedented in the course of human history.
This increase in online time is significantly greater than the increase in the number of new blogs. In reality, the number of new blogs is significantly less than the number of blogs that have disappeared or have not been updated in the past year.
There is a growing demand for content, but despite the exponential growth of the Internet, the quantity of available content is not keeping pace.
According to the evidence, the actual increase is in the number of hits content receives, and this represents a significant opportunity for bloggers, podcasters, and video / reels producers.
Blogging requires consistency and determination. This implies that you must consistently generate high-quality, sharable content on social media.
The true change in blogging, podcasting, and videos/reels is that niche content is in greater demand, while too many bloggers continue to produce content that was appropriate only a decade ago. Users have refined their queries and desire niche content; the days of "what I did today" are over, unless you have millions of followers and are one of the few.
As Jake Paul has demonstrated, even those with a large following are beginning to cultivate niches to differentiate themselves from others. Look at any list of the most popular online bloggers and influencers, and you will notice that they are now separated into niches like lifestyle, travel, cosmetics, and fashion.
What is a niche blog?
A niche blog is devoted to a particular subject or topic. This can be a broad topic, such as sports, or even more specific, such as soccer or "English Premier League soccer."
A niche blog seeks to establish itself as an authority on the topic it covers. Instead of attempting to appeal to everyone, only a specific type of person will be interested. A blog about vegan cuisine, for instance, will target vegans and those who are interested in becoming vegan.
Additionally, it is simpler to monetize a niche blog because you will be posting directly to potential customers, as opposed to everyone. You understand their needs because you are also a customer within this niche.
Many businesses of all types begin blogging to develop a long-term audience, but an increasing number of bloggers are also launching businesses as an extension of their blog. In light of the opportunities for passive income, this makes a great deal of sense.
This has been true since the inception of business thousands of years ago: finding and developing an audience for one's products is one of the greatest challenges faced by new businesses. Bloggers, on the other hand, can work backwards, first cultivating an audience by consistently publishing high-quality content and then investigating monetization strategies for this traffic. This is especially important if you have your own products and/or services.
If you are a plumber, posting content about the tasks you've completed and "adventures" you've had will not only attract a following, but you will also begin to receive feedback from people asking you about their issues. If they are local, you will receive more work; if they are not, you can create an affiliate or dropshipping business, or you can begin creating "how-to" videos that you can monetize with advertising.
This may seem counterintuitive, but if you are blogging to earn money, you should focus on the financial aspect first and then the content. Your strategy for monetization will determine the categories of content you publish and your long-term growth.
In 2024, the three most prevalent methods for monetizing a blog will be:
Selling a book.
The process of transforming a blog into a book may appear daunting at first, but after a few posts, you'll realize that you've already done the majority of the work. You can easily recycle and reorganize the content from your blog posts into a book that you can sell.
Since many books are sold on Amazon, Amazon Associates can be an excellent starting point. Sell a book that doubles as a course, produce a video and a few reels, and you'll have a decent passive income source.
Then you can compose a blog on how to transform blogs into books and online courses!
Affiliate Marketing.
Every time you sell a product, you'll receive a commission. This is an excellent method to generate passive income. As the credibility of your blog grows over time, affiliate commissions can really begin to build up.
Consider promoting products that cost less than $50, which means you should target impulse buyers and search for accessories, add-ons, and gadgets. Do not be tempted by high-ticket, high-commission items; the reason some products offer high commissions is because the company selling them is having trouble finding customers, and there is probably a good reason for this.
Your own products and / or services.
Selling products and/or services on your blog is one of the most effective methods to convert your targeted audience into a dependable revenue stream. Some of the most popular blogs were created for the express purpose of marketing and selling a product.
Promoting your own products on your blog is one of the most effective methods for converting readers into customers. Even if your products are inexpensive, they will generate a high volume of sales, resulting in substantial revenue.
Blogging on WordPress
Self-hosted WordPress is an excellent blogging platform for novices. Note that WordPress is only available for free on the.com domain. If you use WordPress.org, you will be required to purchase hosting and a domain name. If you want to create a blog for free, you can choose a theme on WordPress.com. There are a variety of free WordPress themes available, including ones for blogging.
Click "Skip for now" at the top of the page if you do not wish to select a theme immediately. You will be redirected to a new page from which you can begin creating your blog.
Select "Name your site", then complete the form, and select "Save settings"
Next, you'll need to select a WordPress theme, either a free one or a paid one if you're willing to spend money. Find a free theme in the sidebar of your WordPress dashboard, under the Appearance tab.
WordPress is an excellent content management system for professional blogs, and the vast majority of well-known bloggers on the web use WordPress as their CMS. It is user-friendly and includes all of the features necessary to create a successful blog.
WordPress is a simple and quick method for writing and publishing blog posts from the start. As open-source software, WordPress is accessible to everyone. The user base is unrestricted by price, premium customer service, or even skill level.
There are many things to learn about WordPress, but anyone could spend ten minutes experimenting with the admin and begin to understand how the interface functions.