How to start a blog and get paid? Blogging is one of the most cost-effective ways to start making some extra money online. 

However, there are some really important things you need to be aware of before you get started. Read this article now to learn how to get started the right way so you can get paid soon.

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How to Start a Blog and Get Paid: 5 Important Things to Know and Do

#1. What are your motivations for starting a blog?

You must decide why you are blogging and for what purpose. Is it for fun or for monetary gain? If you are attempting to attract readers to your blog, what do you want them to do once they have arrived on your site? Perhaps you simply enjoy writing; if so, that is also acceptable; blogging can be really therapeutic in some ways.

#2. Determine the topic of your blog:

The fact that you absolutely know your blog topic will aid you in understanding and deciding what you are going to blog about in the first place. What you write about on your blog is also determined by the people with whom you are attempting to communicate through 

You can write about anything you want, like a hobby, for instance. You can limit yourself to a specific topic, such as affiliate marketing, the Keto diet, or how to grow watermelons. There are endless topics to choose from. By being consistent on one specific topic, you can establish credibility and be viewed as an authority in your field.

It is highly recommended to do keyword research to find a profitable niche. Try this free keyword research tool.

#3. Do you need a free blog or a paid blog?

Choosing a Free Blog:

There are lots of free blogging platforms available, such as Wix.com, Weebly.com, Wordpress.com, and Blogger.com. If you choose to blog on a free blogging platform, you will not have your own domain name. The URL for your blog will be something like howtostartablogandgetpaid.blogger.com.

This does not look very professional, and depending on which blogging platform you choose, there will be advertisements on your blog. Another thing to consider is that you do not own your content; the blogging platform owns it. Lastly, by choosing a free blogging platform, you run the risk of losing your content if the platform decides that you have broken some of the rules.

Free blogging platforms are not the best option if you are looking to get paid from your blog, but if you are just learning how to start blogging, then they can be a good place to start.

Choosing a Paid Blog:

How to start a blog and make money from it frequently entails investing some money (no, it is not expensive).By choosing a paid blog, you are in complete control of your content, the blog's design, and everything else that has to do with making money from your blog.

If you choose a paid blog, you will need to pay for a domain name (around $20 per year) and hosting account (around $15 per month).

The most popular blogging platform is called WordPress. (As a paid blog owner, you need to choose WordPress.org!) The customer support at your web hosting company will help you setup your blog and help you with everything you need.

Getting a good domain name is important. It needs to be something that is easy to remember, preferably a TLD (top-level domain name). TLD stands for a.com,.net, or.org.

Important: When you choose your domain name, try to incorporate your blog topic into it. This will help with your search engine ranking and get you more traffic. So, for instance, if you are blogging about affiliate marketing, your domain name could be something like "AffiliateMarketingWithYourName.com." Obviously, you would change "your name" for your own.

Where do I get hosting and a domain name?

Personally, I can highly recommend a web hosting company called Hostgator. You can get your new WordPress blog setup on super-fast servers for only $2.75 per month. You can buy a TLD domain name through Hostgator too.

#4. Where do I get traffic?

When it comes to getting paid from your blog, you will need a lot of targeted traffic. There are numerous methods for obtaining traffic, both free and paid. If you have absolutely no money to invest in advertising, I recommend you advertise using free traffic exchanges.

Here are some of the most effective traffic generation methods:

Blogging: Once your blog is set up, you can begin writing new blog posts on a daily basis. The more unique, interesting, and helpful blog posts you publish, the more traffic you will get from the search engines over time.

Classified ads: You can post free classified ads on hundreds of sites online. Classified ad sites get massive traffic, and the people who use them are very likely interested in what you have to offer. Posting classifieds takes time, but it is worth the effort. You can also automate the posting process, it is affordable and you will save a lot of time doing so. Click here to learn more.

Another benefit of using classified ads is that you will get valuable backlinks back to your blog that will help with the search engine ranking over time (= more traffic and sales!).

Create a YouTube channel. YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world after Google. You can start your own YouTube channel for free and start creating helpful videos closely related to your blog topic. Over time, your videos will start showing up both on YouTube and in Google´s search results, generating free traffic for you automatically.

There are also other ways to earn money from YouTube. As an example, here is how you can earn almost $1,000 per week by posting premade travel videos.

Take advantage of social media. If you are not already on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Tumblr, go sign up for a free account at all of these sites. Then, whenever you publish a new blog post, share the post on your social media sites too. This generates more traffic for your blog and powerful backlinks from some of the world's most popular sites.

Use traffic exchanges and banner advertising. Traffic exchanges and banner advertising work really well if you know how to use them the right way. Most people use them the wrong way and never get any results from them. Here is a step-by-step guide for using traffic exchanges the right way.

#5. Write more high-quality content!
How to start a blog and get paid really boils down to one thing: Write more content! Doing this daily ensures that you will be found in the search engine for hundreds of different keywords and phrases. Over time, your online business blog will become an authority site that can pay you a full-time income.

So, start doing keyword research and finding article ideas for your blog. Add images and make YouTube videos. Do this regularly, and you can skip your day job to blog full-time.