Let’s face it! At the beginning of every year, the question keeps on sneaking into almost every new blogger’s mind: Is blogging still work? Will it be a profitable business model moving forwards? And is blogging profitable?
Blogging is profitable now and will be in the future. As long as the written form of content is consumed by people, there will always be the need for bloggers to create content catering to an audience, and with traffic to a site, it can easily be monetized.
Read on to discover more on why blogging is still profitable, what is changing, what’s staying the same, and how you can future-proof your blog.
So without further ado, let’s jump in!
I love this mug so much!
It reminds me how blogging has totally transformed my life!! I now have a career I love, a lifestyle I love, I get to be a #SAHM and work full time on something I’m passionate about AND I earn good money from it.#WAHM #mumpreneur #bloggingchangeslives pic.twitter.com/bZkGHLohru
— Productive Blogging (@EbGargano) February 17, 2022
Why Is Blogging Still Profitable?
#1. Written Content Is Not Going Anywhere
When considering the profitability of blogging, you might also be concerned about the future of blogging. And the simple answer to that is blogging has a future.
Let me tell you, what is the core part of blogging? Content, right? And what is content made up of mainly? The texts!
So as long as people worldwide will keep consuming the content in “text form.” And along with that, as long as there will exist a mediator. For instance, the presence of a search engine or anything that can connect the content we create on our blogs and our target audience, blogging shouldn’t be anywhere.
The core idea of blogging is very simple:
- We Create Content
- Search Engines Pick And Rank The Content
- Our Target Audience Read Our Content
For the future of blogging to be safe, it is important that all three pillars of this business model safely exist.
We are ourselves, content creators, so obviously, the first pillar is secured. The second pillar, the search engines, also seem to be going nowhere.
But still, suppose for a moment that we are not sure about the future of search engines like Google. Because, after all, they are a part of technology, and with such fast pace evolution and revolutions in technology, anything can happen. So I agree and hold on to that for some time.
Jumping on to the third pillar, about the target audience reading our content.
Just think honestly.
Do you think the written form of content will totally vanish from the world? Please answer honestly! And the likely answer to that question is no. At least in the offline world, the written form of content won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
As long as there will be a demand for text content from the readers and the supply of that from bloggers, search engines will exist to fill in the gap.
Of course, the way they work and the whole SERPs may change with time, but the core principles will keep working.
In a problogger.com article, it is highlighted that just as much as the written has its place in the real world, it will have a place in the online world as well.
I agree that audio, as well as video content, are on the boom right now. Especially with YouTube, people are engaging so much on the platform that you might be forced to think that blogging will not be profitable.
But the thing is since the text form of content is going nowhere, the scope of blogging will remain open and profitable.
Here are some of the reasons why text form of content and hence, blogging, will still keep on growing:
- Not everyone will likely be interested in watching a video or listening to audio. There are people worldwide who are interested in consuming the content in written format.
- You can consume written content more quickly than video content. Although after the stuff like timestamps and chapters on Youtube, you can jump onto the exact part of the video where you would likely find the answer to your problem. Still, it can’t replace the usability of consuming content presented in a well-formatted way on a particular blog post.
- Written content is easier to create than video content. You can also easily edit the written content than the audio or video content.
Long story short, as long as people will type on google to search for their problems, it will be an opportunity for bloggers like us to create content that answers their questions and solves their problems.
In return, we can monetize the traffic and earn money.
#2. Lots of Monetization Opportunities Available
With the advancement in technology and knowledge spread, more and more monetization opportunities are open. You can earn from your blog through multiple sources like ads, affiliates, services, info products, etc.
#1. Earning Through Ads
Google Adsense is the easiest option for beginners to throw in some ads on the sites and generate revenue.
However, it pays almost nothing. That’s why after I tried it on my first site, I no longer use it on my other sites. I just wait until the traffic on a site reaches 10,000 page views a month and then I add ads from Ezoic.
Then, as your traffic grows, you start to have other options for ad networks like Mediavine, and Adthrive. All of those pay well, but in my experience, Adthrive pays the most.
#2. Affiliate Marketing
Another great option that makes blogging profitable is affiliate marketing. I agree that Amazon keeps on slashing its commission rates, but Amazon links have a high conversion rate.
Generally speaking, if I put a highly relevant Amazon link in one of my articles, I get between 9-15% of the people who read my article clicking and buying the product.
You won’t get that conversion rate on most other affiliate programs.
And not only Amazon, but you can also join and start promoting other affiliate programs in your industry.
#3. Selling Services
You can also sell your own services and have blog content marketing as a strategy to get more leads for your services.
For example, I worked as a general manager for Whole Foods Market for decades. So I offer a limited number of Zoom consultation meetings each week priced at $100 for 30-minutes.
Since I have a site that is all about the grocery business, it’s a natural place to promote my consulting business.
In case you are a beginner and wondering how and where to start, I highly recommend you to read my step-by-step guide on building a website from scratch.
#4. Selling Info Products
Selling info products on your blog is probably one of the best ways to earn money and make a profitable blogging income.
You can make an ebook, a course, an audio guide, a digital tool, or anything that can be helpful for your audience. In return, you can charge your audience for offering that info product.
The best thing is since you totally create this product on your own, the profit margin is quite high. Because except for platform fees or taxes, the rest of all the income and profit will be yours. And the beauty of digital products is once you make them, you can reap their benefit for years to come.
#3. Blogging Is Still One of The Best Passive Ways To Earn an Income
Blogging is still one of the biggest passive income ways. Just comparing it with YouTube, you will get the idea.
On YouTube, even if you become a big branded channel with millions of subscribers, you have to come up with new video ideas every week. And then you have to record it. Then you have to edit it. Then you have to create a thumbnail. And you have to maintain a strict publishing schedule.
It’s a lot of work. And if you slack off, YouTube slows down on promoting your channel.
Plus, in most cases, you can’t outsource the video filming part because the audience is attached to you in most cases. They want to see you. So you can’t set that in auto-pilot in general.
On the other hand, with blogging, once you write a post and publish it, you’re done. And that post could potentially keep earning you money for a decade. And once you get at least 50-100 articles on a website, you could stop and still keep earning money consistently for at least a couple of years before it starts to wain.
And you could sell a successful website for 6-figures and just start a new one!
Plus with blogging, after publishing a certain number of posts, your income starts rolling in as your posts start getting ranked in Google.
Whether you are sleeping on your bed or enjoying a holiday vacation with your family, money will keep coming into your bank account.
Of course, you have to keep checking things to make sure your articles are all up to date and that the technical sides are also perfect. But still, in a broad sense, blogging becomes a lot passive.
You can outsource almost every process in blogging and then start working on your other projects. Isn’t that a cool feature of blogging?
Moreover, if you are done with your site and want to sell it, then guess what? You can bag huge cash by selling your blog.
By the way, if you are concerned about the profitability of blogging, then there could be chances that you are already earning low, am I correct?
No, it’s fine, don’t worry. But to set the right expectations for yourself, you can check out my helpful guide on how long it takes to make $500 per month blogging.
#FLBlogCon with the fam!! Learning about Blogging and social media!! pic.twitter.com/8H8eLSQorQ
— MADISELCoach (@MADISELcoach) September 29, 2018
Tips to Blog Profitably Now and in the Future
#1. Invest In Yourself and Level Up Your Skills
If you want to make your blogging journey profitable, do you know the most important thing you need to do?
Leveling Up Your Skills!
There are many things you need to learn to be a successful blogger. If you earn the exact same amount per month through blogging as what you earned in the previous year, then chances are you are not improving.
Now you can, of course, increase your skills by learning from all the free resources available on the internet. But the thing is, as good as the internet is in providing helpful content, it can consume a lot of time and make you overwhelmed.
So what’s the solution? Invest in a trusted course that can teach everything related to blogging in one place.
And when it comes to blogging course recommendations, the Income School’s Project 24 always remains on top of the list.
To be completely transparent here, I’m an affiliate with Income School.
However, I’m also a paying customer who is recommending the course because I trust it and have seen positive results. I wouldn’t be making 5-figures a month from blogging without them.
You can also watch my interview with Income School below:
Moreover, not only me but also other bloggers follow the teaching methodologies taught in this course and are successfully building a blogging business.
So if you want to make your blogging business profitable, try to level up your skills. Invest in yourself, purchase relevant courses, learn the strategies, and implement them in blogging.
Just be cautious about not mixing too many different unrelated blogging tactics.
Find one blogging guru or course that resonates with you the most and go with that system. For me, that’s Project 24. And once you master that system, it’s OK to add in a little bit here and there from things you learn elsewhere.
But in the beginning, focus on 1 system.
The iShook project works on the quality of content.#contentmarketing #MarketingStrategy #DigitalMarketing #Marketing #Business #blogging #DigitalMarketing #SociaMedia #Blog #FridayThoughts #FridaysForFuture #GrowthHacking #FridayMotivation #contentmarketing pic.twitter.com/ucixUWPhvG
— Freda Bolin || Digital Marketing Expert (@fredabolinseo) January 20, 2020
#2. Don’t Neglect the Importance of Quality Content
The next thing you have to keep an eye on is the quality of the content. By quality, I don’t just mean having nice formatting or anything like that.
Your content should be highly relevant to what the reader is looking for and solve their problem.
Commonly, this is referred to as “searcher intent”. What is the person who typed your primary search phrase into Google wanting to find?
For that reason, I love targeting questions as opposed to 1-3 word phrases.
For example, if my targeted search phrase is “how long does it take to many money blogging?”, I know exactly what the searcher is wanting to find.
But if I just targeted “make money blogging“, it’s less clear. Do they want to know how? Do they want the names of specific affiliate programs? Do they want to know the options that pay the most?
Creating more high-quality and helpful content is vital as search engines like Google are becoming smarter every day.
And no matter what you hear, using AI to crank out content faster doesn’t work either, at least not without significant editing and tweaking.
Also, gone are the days when by keyword stuffing, you could make your post rank. Also, just summarizing the web and providing regurgitated commodity-type content won’t help you rank against your competitor’s blog posts.
You should be careful about the content quality, especially when you start outsourcing the content for your blog. Don’t just rely on the writers. You are the site owner, it is your blog, and it’s your responsibility to provide the most helpful content to your readers.
If you just keep publishing content after content, it won’t matter unless the quality of the content pieces is high enough to establish you as an authority in your industry.
One thing to always remember as a blogger:
Search Engines like Google follow the user. So if your content remains optimized and helpful for the user, Google will notice it over time and reward your blog in terms of rankings, accordingly.
On the other hand, if you just publish mediocre content (that doesn’t have additional unique value), it won’t be long enough when another competitor blog will suddenly pop in the search results page and start beating your blog post rankings one by one.
So if you neglect content quality, then it can prove to be detrimental in the long run and won’t allow you to carry forward a profitable blogging business.
So as you grow your blogging business, you will doubtless hire writers.
Just make sure that in that process that the quality of those articles doesn’t decline significantly. Make no mistake. No one will write more passionately with greater topic knowledge than the person who owns the website.
But to do this full-time, you almost have to have writers.
Staying on top of your competitors is an important strategy of your business, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the backbone of brands when it is about managing your web presence.💯 Using the right SEO strategies will improve your website on SERP.📈 pic.twitter.com/GjkHrXFRXF
— Jeel Techsoft LLP (@JeelTechsoft) February 18, 2022
#3. Follow The Basics and Don’t Over Complicate Things
The last important tip would be to follow the basics. As bloggers, you might often get tempted to try out different complex strategies by hearing from different gurus. I touched on this briefly above.
However, things are often quite simple, but we tend to make it more complicated and increase our chances of failure.
Content creation is the one thing in blogging that will actually move the needle and help your business to be profitable and successful.
So as a general rule, you should invest a significant portion of your blogging time into the content creation process.
Nothing moves the needle faster on making an income than simply publishing more and more articles as fast as possible, without sacrificing quality.
So don’t get bogged down tweaking your website, spending a lot of money on your website, thinking you need a fancy custom theme, or that you need to get everything perfect for a year first before starting.
Just start. Done is better than perfect.
In the remaining time, you can maintain your website workflows with your team, update the posts you have written, add internal links to them, sometimes do some off-site outreaching and networking at max, and that’s it!
Ultimately you can never game the search algorithm.
Every time you come up with some unique SEO technique or strategy, the search engine engineers will pick that one to develop their system algorithm accordingly to prevent you from gaming their systems.
So why waste time on complex SEO stuff or strategies?
Just follow one ideology, stick to it, have faith in the process, and keep moving. In the meantime, as time passes, you will keep on improving by auto-suggestion and self-evaluation.
Now, if you are a beginner and wondering about the difficulty level of blogging, I would suggest you look at my detailed blog post on how difficult it is to start a blog that makes money.
Final Thoughts
Blogging will remain profitable, at least for significant years to come. The primary reason behind it is that the core business model hugely relies on content marketing in the form of texts which isn’t going anywhere soon.
In addition, the industry keeps on maturing over time, with the advancement of technology and the development of new SEO tools. And nowadays, there are many ways you can earn through blogging.
So although there remains a level of instability/uncertainty up to some extent in blogging (because you are majorly at the mercy of search engines), if you are smart and dedicated enough, then you can keep on building profitable blogs for years.
I hope now you have a clear idea of blogging profitability for today AND tomorrow.