How do you make money blogging in 2025?
Did you know that on average, bloggers make $64,846 per year and top earners make over $100,000 annually?
Blogging can make money through ad revenue, affiliate marketing, selling digital products, sponsored posts and more.
All while allowing you to work on your own terms and from home.
If you’re a college student, stay-at-home parent, a Mom, a freelancer or an entrepreneur looking to diversify your income, you will find your happiness.
Trust me! trust blogging!
Blogging offers ENDLESS OPPORTUNITIES to make money while sharing your passions.
But how exactly can you start and monetize a blog?
How do you make money blogging in 2025?
Let’s break it down.
Why Start a Blog to Make Money?
The internet is an open marketplace.
A blog acts as your personal store, your portofolio where you showcase your expertise, ideas or solutions to a global audience.
Even a professionnal or business physic can benefit from having a blog.
Through the methods we will talk about you will see that as long as you have a business you need a blog. I’m not kidding.
You will boost your income.
Many people hesitate, thinking blogging is saturated or a thing of the past.
They say blogging is dead, but that’s nonsense. That’s like saying people don’t do research on Google anymore.
The people who have been blogging for business for 5, 10 or more years and take it seriously are now millionaires in dollars and still making money.
Blogging is just changing fast and you need to adapt to keep making money.
It’s the AI era and every industry is integrating AI. Now is the best moment to be a blogger because AI helps a lot in blogging.
As long as you don’t let it do all the work BUT use AI in a healthy way like we teach at AIBusinessLift.
If you’re consistent and have a passion for your topic you can monetize your blog.
It’s never too late to start a blog.
Enough with the intro let’s start.
How Do You Make Money Blogging in 2025? A Step-by-Step Guide
1. Ad Revenue
One of the most popular ways to earn money from blogging is to display ads on your blog.
You generate income whenever someone clicks or views them.
A food blogger with 50,000 monthly visitors earns around $2,000 per month from ads only.
The best platforms for ad revenue in blogging are: Google AdSense, Ezoic, Mediavine, Raptive (formerly AdThrive), SHE Media, and Media.net.
It depends on the platform, but they mostly pay you by PayPal, payoneer or bank account.
For the majority of bloggers, AdSense is the best ad network if you’ve just started and don’t have traffic.
Mediavine is the “grail” in blogging because they pay higher than other ad networks. But you need 100,000 monthly page views to be accepted.
Advantages
- Ads are a passive way to make money.
- You don’t need to manually add each ad, so you have less work compared to other methods of making money blogging.
Inconveniences
- You need to read the terms of service of every ad network and make sure your content is good enough. Most of them follow Google AdSense policies.
- Earnings are very low; you need a lot of monthly page views to make a living from AdS. That can take more than one year.
- Ads can distract or annoy readers if they are not relevant.
2. Sell Ad Space Directly
This allows bloggers to earn by partnering with businesses that pay to display ads on their site.
Instead of going through third parties like Google AdSense, Mediavine, or other ad networks, you discuss directly with companies in your niche and make a deal.
They pay you and you manually display their ads on your blog.
Advantages
- Higher earnings compared to automated ad networks.
- Full control over ad placement and partnerships.
- Builds direct relationships with advertisers.
Disadvantages
- It requires consistent high traffic.
- Time-consuming to negotiate and manage deals.
- Ads can distract or annoy readers if not relevant.
3. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing involves promoting products and earning a percentage of the sales.
You choose products relevant to your audience and share links through blog posts or newsletters. It pays more and faster than AdSense.
You can promote:
Physical products (food, home decor, phones, books…)
Digital products (courses, ebooks, blueprints, themes…)
Softwares (hosting, streaming platforms, AI tools, learning platforms…).
There are products for every niche.
The best platforms for affiliate marketing are Impact, CJ Affiliate, Amazon Associates and ShareASale.
Sometimes you can work with a company directly.
Usually if it’s a Saas company, you will see in their website’s footpage a link to become their affiliate. If there is not you can contact them and ask.
You can also use platforms like Threads or Etsy to buy MRR/PLR digital products and resell them for 100% of the profit.
4. Sell Digital Products
You can monetize your blog by creating digital products like ebooks, online courses, planners, designs, blueprints, or templates.
Products can be priced anywhere from $1 to $500.
Low-ticket products are cheaper (less than $50), while high-ticket products are more expensive (over $50).
For ebooks and designs, you can use Canva.
For courses, platforms like Teachable, Kajabi or WooCommerce are helpful.
Imagine your blog attracts 100,000 visitors monthly.
If 1% purchase a product with a $5 profit, that’s 100,000 × 0.01 × $5 = $5,000 in monthly profit.
If more than 1% buy or your products are priced higher your earnings can skyrocket.
This is why top bloggers with huge traffic earn $100,000 monthly. They all sell their own products, made by them or their team.
Advantages
- You own the product and keep 100% of the revenue, unlike affiliate marketing or ads.
- Products are created once and sold multiple times.
- It adds value to your blog and improve your authority.
Disadvantages
- It takes time to create digital products that sell effectively, like a quality ebook or course.
- You need strong landing pages and sales skills.
According to a stat from GrowthBadger:
“The most common way bloggers make money is through Google AdSense, with affiliate marketing coming in second. But for high-income bloggers, AdSense is in third place. These bloggers are 2.5 times more likely to focus on selling their own products or services instead.”
I agree, all bloggers know that. GrowthBadger explains it more through this other stat:
“45% of bloggers who make over $50,000 a year sell their own product or service, while only 8% of bloggers with lower earnings do that.”
5. Sponsored Posts: Collaborate with Brands
Once your blog gains visitors, brands may pay you to write about their products.
You can either reach out to them on platforms like Linqia or wait for them to contact you.
Advantages
- As your blog grows the deals you get become more lucrative.
- It offers quick payouts.
Disadvantages
- It’s not passive.
- Not ideal for beginners; you need high-quality content and a significant audience.
- Income depends on brand partnerships.
- It requires negotiation skills.
6. Memberships or Subscriptions
This monetization method allows you to offer exclusive content to subscribers who pay a monthly fee.
You can create a login feature on your blog or use external platforms like Kajabi for this purpose.
Advantages
- A fast way to earn a steady income from your content.
Disadvantages
- Convincing readers to pay a monthly fee for your content can be challenging.
7. Ask for Donation
This method allows bloggers to earn directly from readers who appreciate their content.
Platforms like Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee make it easy to implement.
It’s ideal for bloggers with a loyal audience, those supporting causes or those who don’t rely on product sales.
Advantages
- Readers who value your work can contribute directly.
Disadvantages
- Requires a highly engaged audience.
- Income depends on readers’ willingness to contribute.
- Some bloggers may feel it resembles charity, especially if they are not focused on a charitable niche.
8. Sell Services
Every niche has different expertise that can be monetized.
It’s always possible to find one.
It could be in the form of coaching, consulting, audit, group workshops or creating something on demand.
For example, an SEO blog might offer services to audit websites with SEO reviews, managing the customer’s SEO for a defined period or write guest posts.
Selling a service means you exchange your time against money.
For services, see what people in your niche offer and use your imagination. The possibilities are endless.
Advantages
- People who are truly interested in your value tend to like buying the author’s services.
Disadvantages
- You need expertise.
- It is not passive income since you must do specific actions after the order is made.
Millionaire Bloggers Case Studies
Successful bloggers have one thing in common.
They think outside the box by identifying what their audience values most and design a product or service around that.
Adam Enfroy
He started his blog in 2019 as a side project. It made over $1 million in less than 2 years with 0 dollars spent on advertising.
He has more than 500,000 readers and 70,000 pageviews.
Adam reviews software tools like hosting services and SEO software.
He also sells blogging courses teaching others how to start and scale their blogs and do affiliate marketing.
His expertise and favorite way to make money is affiliate marketing.
For Adam, what helped him the most to grow was his previous experience working at a marketing company where he frequently handled SEO tasks.
BySophiaLee / PerfectingBlogging
She owns both blogs. BySophiaLee started in 2016 and PerfectingBlogging in 2017.
She now makes over $100,000 a month and is another of the many millionaire bloggers.
Sophia started as a college student stressed about how to pay her fees.
“I’ve always known that I want to do big things in my life and have never been one to shy away from that first step. (…) I was a Wisconsin girl fresh out of high school, starting a blog to chase my dreams.” Sophia
She made money through Amazon’s affiliate program selling interior designs and ads with Mediavine.
Later, she created courses to help others in their marketing strategies, such as PerfectingEmail, PerfectingPinterest, and PerfectingSocialMedia.
Her courses are also a large part of her income.
She later started selling planners. That’s another income stream.
For Sophia, what helped her the most to grow is Pinterest and her obsession with planning evrything in her blogging journey.
Anastasia Blogger
She started her blog in 2017, and in about 10 months, Anastasia was able to quit her day job to become a full-time blogger at 30+ years old.
Now, she has more than 300,000 monthly pageviews and made over $25,000 a month in 2019.
I didn’t see a recent report of her income but probably she is in the 6 figures monthly now. She is very consistent and got better.
Anastasia is the perfect example that combining two niche create a less competitive niche, yet in demand.
She combines her expertise in blogging and her expertise in pinterest.
She makes a lot of money selling courses, digital products about Pinterest strategies in blogging, and doing coaching sessions.
Displaying ads with Mediavine remains her largest income source.
« I help new online businesses become profitable faster with Pinterest organic traffic. » Anastasia
For Anastasia, what helped her the most to grow is Pinterest, it’s about 90% of her traffic.
Create and go
They started a decade ago.
After many months of zero dollars, they figured out what works and earned over $100,000 in their first year.
They started with a little health and wellness blog, but then they created many blogs for themselves.
They also have a service to create a blog for their customers. That’s a high-income service by the way.
That’s not all, they now offer courses to other bloggers to help them make money through their current main blog named Createandgo. It was born later.
“Making money online doesn’t have to be super overwhelming or difficult. You just have to take the right path, and that is exactly what we found on our journey. This journey was so incredible and eye-opening, we knew that we had to share it with others. And so, Create and Go was born.” Create and go
They have over 16,000 students that they help on their journey to have 6 figures in blogging.
I don’t have to specify that Createandgo are filthy rich now.
What helps them the most is their consistency in giving a lot of value through their paid and free training programs.
A SelfGuru is one of their students.
A Self Guru
Amira helped over 100,000 entrepreneurs and makes more than $78,000 a month.
She detected a GAP in the market.
There was a need for legal pages for websites, and there weren’t enough gurus (experts) to really help.
So in a market without competition, she created legal pages and started to sell them on her blog.
She added an affiliate marketing system to her product. She offers website audits and coaching.
The short version of the story is that she is filthy rich now, thanks to this single original idea.
For Amira, what helps her the most to make money is her affiliate program in Kartra, which gives 40% commission to anyone who promotes her legal bundle.
My wish is for you to find something unique that you can do for the audience in your niche and make 7 figures like them.
Common Points of Successful Bloggers
I explained that the first one is that they all think outside the box.
Here are other common points of successful bloggers:
- The number one platform they recommend is Pinterest.
- They started alone but hired a small team when they started making money.
- They all have a course to share what made them successful or expertise in their niche.
- They all have multiple income streams and an effective system to give them 7 figures.
- They all have a YouTube channel.
- They all are masters in their niche and in blogging.
- They all dreamed big.
How to Choose Your Blog Monetisation Method
To decide which fits you, consider your strengths, passion, audience size, niche, and income goals.
For instance, if you’re great at design, selling templates might be your sweet spot.
If you don’t like videos, a course might not be a good idea.
If you like to write, an ebook will be great.
If you want a lot of money, combining many ideas and working on huge quality and quantity might allow you to make a living in 1 year or less.
How Long Does It Take to Make Money Blogging?
It depends on the monetisation method you choose and if you have an audience ready or not. You can make money as soon as you start your blog, or in 6 months or 1 year.
If you don’t have an audience, displaying ads and affiliate marketing can take you around 6 months to make your first $500 a month.
But be patient. If you hang in there for 2 years of consistent work, you will easily make at least $10,000 a month. You must apply the following tips as well.
How to Boost Your Blog Income
In blogging, it’s all about marketing. The bigger your audience, the more pageviews you make, and so the more money you make.
- Post at least 1 blog post a week if you don’t have time. The successful bloggers recommend that 2 blog posts is the average number.
- Be consistent; the more content you post, the more keywords you will be able to rank for.
- The best platform for blogging is Pinterest. Try to post at least 1 pin a day if you really want to make money fast.
- Build your email list; giving freebies can help to collect emails.
- Use interlinking. It means in a blog post, add hyperlinks to your other blog posts.
- Add backlinks; it’s when other bloggers add a link that directs towards your blog post.
- Join communities or groups online or offline and mention your blog. Income School recommends being invited to podcasts and talking about your blog.
- Add links to your blog posts in your freebie or paid digital products.
- Do guest posts. It’s when someone writes a blog post on someone else’s blog. You can go to other bloggers in your niche, then ask to put links towards your own blog posts.
Please, you don’t need to do all of them at once. No one can, except if you build your blog with a team. These are tips that you will implement step by step to get more people visiting your blog and making more money.
Best Free Tools to Make Money with Your Blog
Your blog doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Here are some free tools:
- SEO Optimization: Ubersuggest, Google Keyword Planner
- Email Marketing: Mailchimp, MailerLite
- Social Media: Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok
These tools can really amplify your blog’s reach.
How to Start a Blog
- Choose a niche
- Select a blogging platform
- Get a domain name
- Purchase web hosting
- Install WordPress
- Choose a theme
- Customize your blog
- Create essential pages
- Write and publish posts
- Promote your blog
- Monetize your blog
- Analyze and improve
Choose Your Niche
Choose something you’re passionate about and where there’s an audience.
Choose Your Domain Name and Hosting
Many hosting services offer a customized domain name for free the first year. You will need to purchase hosting, which is like your private space on the internet.
Hostinger and Bluehost are two of the best in terms of quality, support, and affordability.
I use Hostinger, which starts at about $3 a month for the first year. This is the only purchase you need to make. Other tools have free alternatives.
However, if you want to make money blogging and get accepted for ads monetization and affiliate marketing, a paid domain and hosting are non-negotiable.
Install WordPress
Through your hosting manager, choose WordPress.org for maximum customization freedom.
Avoid using WordPress.com, Blogger, Wix, or any other platforms, because they will limit you if you want to make money blogging.
Now your website is online. You need to make it pretty.
Choose a Theme
Kadence and Astra seem to be the most popular premium themes.
You can also buy themes on Etsy. For a good free theme, I use Blocksy.
Customize your blog
Add brand colors, organize everythings, add SEO Plugins and Other Useful Plugins related to your niche.
Create essential pages
You need a home page, about page, contact page but also legal pages such as privacy policy and terms of use.
Start Writing Your First Blog Posts
Please go on YouTube and watch a full guide video that will help you go through this process—from buying a domain name to publishing your first blog post.
After that, you need to promote your blog, Monetize your blog through the methods shared here and keep learning consistently about blogging.
What Stops Beginners from Making Money Blogging?
Thera are many things that stop beginners from making money as new bloggers.
Blogging Seems Complicated
When you first start learning about blogging, it can seem overwhelming.
Because there are so many things to do and you don’t know how to do most of them.
Many bloggers felt this way, especially on their first day, but it’s normal when you start something new.
Very soon, you’ll understand the basics and see that it’s easy.
You get better at blogging by implementing the advice, not by learning for months without taking action.
Fear
New comers fear that blogging is dead, people don’t read blogs anymore or that the market is saturated. This is not true.
There are new technologies, platforms and trends emerging all the time, and new blog topics appear.
People still go to Google and will always do so.
You just need to know the expectations with your niche.
Other times, new bloggers fear that they will work hard for a long time and not be good enough to get a lot of traffic or generate income from a blog.
Trust the success.
There are many monetization methods and one or two will work for you as long as you keep moving forward.
Unclear Audience
If you speak to no one in particular or don’t clearly define who your content and products are for, your message will not reach them effectively.
Broad Niche
As a new blogger, you must know that there are many competitors. If you don’t niche down, you won’t stand out.
Don’t choose a broad niche like “Business”. BE SPECIFIC.
For example: “Online passive income for moms between 18 and 35 years old.“
This process is called “niching down.”
Your audience will find you more easily, and Google will understand exactly what your blog is about.
As a result more of your blog posts will have the chance to appear on the first page of Google.
Perfectionism
This is also called overthinking.
New bloggers often spend too much time trying to create the perfect blog or searching for how to write the best blog posts.
“Progress and consistency > perfection.” — Ayat, co-founder of Utorify.
Focus on ROI (Return on Investment)
In any business, there are things that will help you make money directly and others that won’t.
In blogging overthinking your Pinterest design or how your Threads posts look are less important than creating your digital product.
Focus on what will bring you money.
Not having a content Calendar
Blogging is a business where you must be organized.
Knowing which blogs you want to create in the next couple of weeks and when they will go live will help you to be consistent.
You can also do bulk keyword research for many of them, and you will save time when you actually start writing.
Distraction
You must consider your blog as a business. I mean seriously.
Imagine you are an employee. You won’t stop working because you saw an amazing YouTube video or a follower replied to you. That’s the attitude.
Blogger make money online when they see their blog as a true business and give it the respect that physical business have.
Be careful of the monster under your bed called “mindless scrolling.”
Avoid being distracted and you will save so much time to start making money faster.
Working when you feel like it
That happens to me a lot, so I know how destructive that can be.
Most of us don’t just want to make money, but we are passionate about blogging and sharing things in our niche.
We want to feel good when we write. But that’s a trap.
You are a human full of ups and downs.
Sometimes it will be time to write the usual content that you like, but you won’t just feel like it.
That’s where the difference between the pro and the amateur shows.
Be this person who is serious about making a living off blogging. Be a pro.
Overtraining
Training helps you to know how to make a blog and how to make money out of blogging.
So it’s okay if you spare some time to learn how to write blog posts, how can you make money blogging, do SEO, have a Pinterest strategy, become a millionaire blogger, have the best legal page, the best plugins, and avoid beginners’ mistakes.
I mean all of that is great.
But don’t expect to learn everything at once.
Beginner bloggers make the mistake of taking too many courses or watching too many YouTube blogging videos.
What will make you money is the action you take.
Here is a simple, yet strong piece of advice:
“Create before you consume.” —Marie Forleo, a business coach.
That’s a life-changing trick. When you start your day, create your own value first, and with the leftover time, you may go consume others’ content.
They don’t create what people search for
Beginner bloggers tend to focus on what they want or think it’s what people want. Use seo from the start to avoid that.
Go on google kepwords planners, answers the publis, ubbersuggest and other seo tools to learn what people are searching.
You must write for what people need and search for. Don’t guess all the content to write about. Do keyword research and write based on that.
Overcomplicating the Process
Stick to simplicity in your tools and strategies at first. You don’t need to spend many days on your blog design, many hours on the About page, and so on. Be simple, and over time, you will improve them. But focus on quality content from the start and choose your monetization strategy before even starting your blog.
The Limits of Making Money Blogging
While blogging is lucrative, it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme.
Success takes time, consistent effort, and learning from failures.
Also, earnings fluctuate based on trends and traffic.
Blogging income might start slow. Most bloggers see significant results only after a year or two.
But it’s worth it because you can make between $5,000 to $100,000 a month with a single blog.
Some bloggers even start 2 or 5 different blogs over time in different niches, and that can make you a lot of money.
Blogging offers an incredible opportunity to turn your passion into profit.
I put everything you need to know in this blog post to help you decide if you want to make money with blogging.
And this blog post give you the best ideas on how bloggers make money.
So you can make money blogging as a beginner or make more if you are a pro.
Everyone can do it. I’ll update this blog post over time if there are new methods and tips. You can save this blog post and come back anytime.
