How to Write a Blog Post that Actually Makes Money

If you want to learn how to write a blog post that converts like crazy, you’re in the right place!

It’s time to break through all that blogging noise out there and get down to business – the business of writing great blog posts that people read, love, and buy from.

Although this takes time and strategy, this article is an important part of your foundation: learning how to write a blog post that gets you noticed (and makes money).

After all, one of the biggest parts of building a profitable blog is building that ‘know, like, trust’ factor. And we need EYES on our blog posts if anyone is going to learn to like us, trust us, or buy from us, right?

Enter: the knowledge of long-term bloggers (like little ol’ me) and alllll the mistakes that we learned the hard way!

Here is how to write a blog post that gets readers, followers, fans, and conversions!

{{ Our blog posts contain affiliate links. Full disclosure here. }}

 
Hopefully you’ve already set up your self-hosted WordPress blog, but if you haven’t, here is an easy step-by-step guide to help you do just that! You’ll need a self-hosted WordPress blog to maximize your reach, income, and impact.

Then we can move on and learn how to write a blog post that people want to read! You can also grab my detailed blog post checklist below!

1. FIGURE OUT WHO YOU ARE HELPING

 
Popular blog posts are popular for a reason, right? They do SOMETHING for the reader.

A good blog post might help you:

– answer a question
– solve a problem
– win an argument
– complete a recipe
– learn something new

Or it might just be crazily entertaining!

The list of possibilities goes on and on.

The bottom line is: writing a good blog post involves writing for your reader and giving them what they want.

Figuring out who they are, what they need from you, and how you can help them.

If you can write helpful content, you can write good blog posts!

Some popular blog post types:

• How-to Posts
• List Posts
• This vs. That Posts
• Entertainment Posts
• Informative Posts 

What is your dream blog reader interested in and why should they come to your blog and read what’s on it?

PRO TIP: Start by writing a brief paragraph about who your target audience is and what problems they need help solving. This simple exercise will help you to brainstorm blog post ideas! 

2. WORK BACKWARDS

When it comes to writing money-making blog posts, you really need to start and the end goal and work your way backwards.

Now you know who your target audience is and what they need. How can you write content that helps fill those needs or solve those problems?

Do you have an affiliate product that will make life easier for your readers? A tutorial that will solve a problem for them? Or maybe your own product or service that you can promote through your blog post?

To write a great blog post, start at the end goal and work backwards. 

This includes choosing a KEYWORD for the article: what keyword phrase are you trying to rank for in search engines? You can use Keysearch to research this.

You can type in any keyword and see the search trends and the search volume (how many people search for that phrase each month).

You’ll want this keyword to be in a few places within your blog post, including:

• In your blog post title (H1)
• The URL of the article
• At least one subheading (H2)
• Somewhere in the article

Your end goal should include trying to get this article ranking in search engines, which is one of the reasons we want to focus on a keyword phrase.

3. COME UP WITH A PROBLEM SOLVING TITLE

 
The blog post title is the first thing your target audience is going to see, whether they find your post on Facebook, Pinterest, or a search engine.

A blog post title that lets them know you are solving a problem for them is much more likely to get a click. So, focus on compelling and problem-solving blog titles.

This one comes with a warning: no obnoxious click bait.

Don’t come up with an emotionally charged blog post title that promises the world and doesn’t deliver. That’s gross.

Instead, think of what YOU click on in search results. 

It is usually something that catches your eye and answers your query, right?

Don’t over-complicate it.

Solve problems, and make your solution clear in the blog post title.

If you can get people to click on the blog post, that’s half the battle of a money-making blog post. 

4. WRITE A SOLID OUTLINE

 
I’m an outline person, and when it comes to your blog, you really should be too!

If you want to monetize your blog posts, it’s sooo important to do everything with INTENTION. 

Don’t just start writing about a random topic without thinking about the end goal: who are you helping, what main points are you going to hit, how will you pull everything together in the end?

If outlines aren’t really your thing, that’s okay.

At least jot down a few main points so that you can stay on track from beginning to end. An intro, some main points, and a conclusion.

It doesn’t have to be complicated.

5. MAKE THE CONTENT SUPER EASY TO CONSUME

People are busy and distracted. They don’t want to read an hour-long dissertation on your blog.

So, if you want to write a blog post that makes money, you need to make sure that people are actually reading and benefiting from the blog post (so that they’ll stick around and you can earn some money from their clicks or purchases).

I always recommend a short but captivating introduction. Don’t be fluffy!

Get right to the point, but let your readers know that you’re going to solve their problem or help them out in this blog post.

Maybe you’ll start by sharing an interesting or educational fact. Tell a captivating or emotional story. Or just jump right in with the facts.

The goal is to capture attention, evoke emotion, and let your reader know that they won’t be disappointed at the end of this blog post.

After the captivating introduction, make sure the bulk of the content is EASY to read. Some tips:

• Use large text
• Small, short paragraphs
• White space between paragraphs
• Try bullet points
• Include subheadings

Do whatever it takes to break up the text and make it super easy to digest.

I find that a little colored text helps to break things up too. Here is how to change your font in WordPress (the style, size, or color)!

If your blog posts are helpful and easy to follow, readers will spend more time on the page, and that sends good signs to Google (which is exactly what we want)!
 

6. DON’T FORGET TO INCLUDE IMAGES

 
While images might not seem like an ‘essential’ for every blog post, they are a great way to keep readers scrollin’ on down the page!

People are visual, and one way to keep the reader on the page is to place strategic images that drive the point home.

• Screenshots
• Charts
• Step-by-step pictures
• Before and after photos
• Infographics 

 Think of creative ways to include images when you can!

A word of caution: do NOT place any arbitrary images within your blog posts just for the sake of tucking images in there … Even if you feel like it is sorta-kinda related.

If the image doesn’t clearly help drive home the point or assist the reader in some way, then just leave it out.

 

8. DON’T FORGET THE OPTIMIZATION

 
Ohhhhh, optimization.

One of the most important topics for every pro blogger to master!

If you want people to find your content and buy through your ads, affiliate links, or sponsored posts, then you need to optimize your content for search engines.

SEO (search engine optimization) involves a whole lotta nitty gritty that I could never cover in a single blog post. 

But here’s the gist of it.

Your website layout, all the pages and posts, all the links within, and all the links leading back to your site from other places: they are all speaking to Google and telling it where you belong in search results. 

When your website and blog posts are optimized properly, it’s easier for Google to figure out what you’re all about, and easier to find a place for you in the search results.

Proper SEO will also bring in more targeted traffic, and more targeted traffic can also mean more moolah for you.

If you have no idea where to start, I highly recommend this free SEO masterclass to get you on the right track. It lays the perfect foundation for understanding SEO. 

8. PROOFREAD

 
Is your purpose clear from beginning to end?

Have you used Grammarly or another editing tool to proofread and make sure that it doesn’t have a lot of spelling or grammar errors?

Now, granted. We’ll all miss an error or two in our posts. No big deal. 

But it’s important that our posts are readable, thorough, and not laden with mistakes. That can be distracting from your purpose.

Pro Tip: Read your blog post out loud or have someone read it to you. This can help you limit errors and make sure your post is easy to read and follow.

Then determine if there’s any way to improve the conversion rate of the post by adding applicable links or a subscribe box to join your email list. 

Get more tips on growing your email list here.
 

9. END WITH A CALL TO ACTION

 
If you wrote a solid, problem-solving blog post, then your readers have probably either headed off to something you recommended to them or made it to the end of your post. 

Yay.

This is why it’s so important to end every blog post with a clear call-to-action.

If your reader made it to the end of your post, don’t let them get away!

You worked so hard to get them here, and now they’re waiting for you to tell them what the next step should be. So tell them.

If the goal is to write a blog post that converts, you should probably try to convert them now if you haven’t already (but include a few actionanable links throughout the article if you can)!

Some options:

• Send them to a supplemental post they can learn from
• Invite them to join your email list
• Ask them to share your blog post
• Direct them to your online shop or product page
• Ask them to comment and provide feedback

Your specific call to action will depend on the topic of the article and the end goal. But always, always, always include one in the post!

HOW TO WRITE A BLOG POST THAT MAKES MONEY

As a quick recap, let’s make sure we hit all the important points.

Blog posts that make money are problem solving posts.

Just like any other online business, you’re filling a need for your target client (or blog reader).

You can recommend products and services through your blog, promote businesses and brands, sell ad space through an ad network … There are many options!

But to do any of that, you must first learn how to write blog posts that people want to read.

To write great blog posts, we need to do these 9 things:

1.Figure out who you’re helping.
2.Start at the end goal and work backwards.
3.Come up with a problem-solving blog post title.
4.Write a solid outline.
5.Make sure the content is easy to consume.
6.Don’t forget to include images if applicable.
7.Optimize the post.
8.Proofread and improve if needed.
9.End with a call to action.

This well-thought out, helpful, highly optimized content leads to more traffic, more die-hard fans, more email subscribers, and more income.

And now that you know how to write a blog post that makes money, are you ready to dig a little deeper into affiliate marketing?

Learn more about the best high-paying affiliate programs for bloggers right here!