If you are looking for ways to make money on the Internet, blogging often comes up as one of the first suggestions in various listicles. 

The idea has been around for a long time, so those who are familiar with making money online question blogging’s viability as a potential way to make money. 

For one, there are quite a few bloggers who have already established themselves, and going up against the competition in an already relatively complicated method is understandably discouraging.

Having said that, blogging remains a popular method to make money online. You can find a specific topic in a specific niche that you can cover. For example, the topic of how to design POD products could be an option to kickstart a blog that covers news related to the print-on-demand industry. Or, if you are someone who loves dogs, picking a specific breed and covering it as a niche is also one example.

Ultimately, to make money as a blogger, you need to find a niche that you are knowledgeable about or are willing to work on learning. Expecting to monetize a blog without quality content would be foolish.

Now, as for what methods are actually used to make money, there are quite a few options. Some bloggers combine multiple ideas while others focus on one. Let’s take a closer look at those monetization methods.

Ad Networks

Ad networks are not the go-to method like they used to be before. The reason for that is that many people install ad blockers on their Internet browsers to eliminate annoying ads on the Internet. Ads can also clutter a blog and slow down the overall website performance.

Nevertheless, despite these drawbacks, running ads is still a viable option if you can find a reliable ad network. It is also about finding the right spots to place your ads on the website to avoid ruining the reader experience.

If nothing else, you can try it as a side idea and see how ads perform and whether it is worth keeping them on the website.

Crowdfunding

Some bloggers leave support to their audience directly. Instead of cluttering the blog with ads and other stuff unrelated to content, they prioritize monetization on a third-party source. Platforms like Patreon let you create a tier system and let potential patrons choose how much money they want to spend supporting you.

Of course, you can also incentivize your supporters by offering various perks. Besides the content that is already available on the blog, why not give early access to upcoming posts? Or what about letting your supporters decide the next topic you should cover on your blog? 

The demand for guest posts and link insertions is understandable, considering how many different website owners are looking for ways to boost their SEO results. A backlink from a good website is worth a lot.

As a blog owner, you could offer opportunities to publish other people’s writing. Not only will you get paid, but there is also the benefit of receiving content for the blog.

Similarly, you can just accept a link insertion to an already published article, which should make things much easier.

One thing to note about this idea, however, is that you have to be careful about what you publish. With links, it is a bit easier, but you still need to check the website’s quality and all that. 

In the case of guest posts, quality control becomes even more important. Plagiarism, writing, and the overall tone have to be in sync with the rest of the blog. There are bound to be plenty of rejections if you receive requests from people who are simply looking to build links. 

Custom Merchandise

After establishing yourself as a blogger, you can look to create custom merchandise and sell it on one of the available marketplaces.

T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, and other customizable products are popular options to make money among various content creators, including bloggers. 

Do not go overboard with promoting your merchandise, however. If the advertisements become too much on the nose of blog readers, expect some negative backlash.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate links redirect people to landing pages. Here, they have to carry out a certain call to action, such as purchasing, downloading, installing, or watching something, for example. 

For each successful conversion, you get a cut. And that is how affiliate marketing works, pretty much.

Inserting affiliate links here and there should not impact the overall look of the website and its content. Spamming links throughout the website, on the other hand, is a different story. Be mindful of that.