How to earn from a blog

Most common questions new bloggers ask is "Can I earn from my blog" , "How much money can I make from a blog that has x number of page views per day or month" and finally "How can I earn effectively from my blog".

On one hand these are valid questions to ask - after all if you’re going to put time and energy into building something, its natural to expect some rewards.

On the other hand - these are nearly impossible question to answer because there are so many factors to take into consideration.

If you follow few simple steps earning from a blog is easy.

Factors that Contribute to a Blog’s Earnings

Topic of your blog : Three different blogs with same amount of traffic can have totally different earning capacity if they specialize in different topics.
I have 3 blogs A with that specializes in topic X, B in topic Y and C in topic Z having around 30000 page views in a month with around 12000 unique visitors. All these blogs make different amount of money.

Blog A earns around $500 - $700
Blog B makes around $200
Blog C is earning lowest amount of money - just over $70

* Blog A has a pretty specialized topic that not many would be too interested in. On the other hand, it has well paying ads on a pay per click basis and triggers ads that are very relevant to the topic. As a result this blog earns good money.

* Blog B has a very popular topic but there are very few advertisers interested in buying ads with those keywords in contextual ad systems. As a result it’s Click Through Rate (CTR) is very low and click values are low also. This blog can only generate big money if it has huge traffic.

* Blog C is on a very general topic that already has been covered by many websites, which doesn’t convert brilliantly in contextual ads in terms of CTR and ad value.

Why Topic Matters for a blog

* Contextual Ads - Different topics and keywords within topics will trigger different ads in contextual ad programs and as a result will earn different levels ‘per click’.
* Affiliate Programs - Similarly, different topics will open up different levels of earnings when it comes to affiliate programs. For example a blog about books that uses the Amazon program is only ever likely to make small commissions per sale as the average book might only be worth $20 and the commission with Amazon is generally in the 5-8% range. On the other hand I know of publishers in the financial website game who use affiliate programs that can pay out at $100 per sale.
* Indirect Methods - Obviously different opportunities (with different income earning potential) arise for bloggers with a profile in different niches. For example a blogger known for his movie review blog might not have much demand for consulting work but could find a way to syndicate his blog to magazines or newspapers. A blogger with a good profile in the PR industry might not get picked up as a writer in magazines but could land himself a well paying job or some consulting work.

How old is your Blog : - a good wine matures with age - as do many profitable blogs.
Here are few reasons why blogs tend to get better with age:

* Quantity and Quality of content - Don’t expect to get a lot of traffic to your blog until you have a substantial level of quality content in your archives.

* Search Engine Optimization - Sustaining high rankings means building a site over time. Climbing the rankings in SE’s is the result of many things including good content (lots of it) that gets links from others - both things that take time.