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How Much Money Do Bloggers Make?

How much money bloggers make depends on a multitude of factors, which we will discuss in this post as we talk about income averages in the blogging world.

What Is a Blogger?

Before we dive into how much money do bloggers make, let’s talk about the role of a blogger. With the advent of social media, and particularly platforms like Instagram, a blogger doesn’t mean the same thing for everyone. Now, you can be a blogger without having a “blog” of your own.

Different Types of Bloggers

Aside from those hobby bloggers, there are three main types of professional bloggers:

  1. Company employees who blog on behalf of their employer.
  2. Freelance bloggers who write for popular blogs.
  3. Independant blog owners who write for themselves.

Moreover, in the independent blogger category, you find influencers who may or may not have a “blog”. They call themselves “bloggers” because they blog on social media platforms. In the context of this article, I am focusing on independent blog owners who have their own websites.

How Do Bloggers Get Paid?

When looking at how much money bloggers make, it is very important to keep in mind the various monetization strategies that come into play. The earning potential of a blog is greatly influenced by the market it targets (that’s why I talk about niches so much) as well a by the monetization strategies it employs.

Most Common Monetization Strategies

The most common monetization strategies work for all niches. However, some strategies work better for certain niches than others. Let’s talk about when and how to sue them.

Ads

No matter what your niche is, one of the most popular monetization strategies for a blog is ads. One of the advantages of ads is that it works for all niches without exception and it represents true passive income. Two main disadvantages are that it takes a lot of blog traffic to make a worthwhile income. On top of that, it may divert your traffic away from your own digital products and make your site look crowded in less professional.

I don’t have ads yet on my sites because I haven’t decided what I want to do. It is very likely that I will stick to my digital programs and affiliate products.

Affiliate Products

This is the first monetization strategy I recommend. Affiliate products can be high-end (like high-end digital products) or lower-priced (like supplements). What you pick will impact how much money you will make as a blogger. It doesn’t mean you should look for high-end products though, simply that it IS a consideration. I started monetizing my wellness blog by promoting supplements (which would earn me anywhere from $20-$100 a sale). Knowing that you can stand behind your products and how to promote what you are selling is more important than how much money you make per sale. As you get to know your audience and become more confident in your skills, you can move on to the next monetization strategy, which will increase your revenue per sale.

To learn more about finding the right affiliate products for your blog, read How to Find Affiliate Programs In Your Niche in 3 Simple Steps.

Digital Products

Any website should offer digital products in my opinion. However, it’s a good idea to wait a little bit to see how your site is evolving and that’s why I tend to recommend you start with affiliate products. As you experiment as a new blogger, it is likely that you will find that your site evolves in a direction you did not necessarily expect. If you do it right, you will research your niche and your competitors before doing anything else. You will pick a monetization strategy and set up a lead magnet, but as you grow, you will multiply your lead magnet and monetization strategies and figure out what kind of digital product you want to create.

If you would like to learn more about how you can do all that, check out my 30-minute Niche Site Workshop.

There are other monetization strategies like coaching and freelancing, of course. For more information about blog monetization, read Do Bloggers Make Money and How to Make Money Blogging.

How Much Do Average Bloggers Make

Ok, so now that we got that all out of the way, let’s get to the bottom of the question How much money do bloggers make? This is actually an incredibly complex question since the answer will vary greatly on the niche you choose, how old your blog is, and what monetization strategies you are using. I will try to give you a general idea of what you can expect regardless.

How Many Blog Posts Do You Need to Make Money Blogging?

Making money with a blog really boils down to your blog traffic. Ads are an obvious monetization strategy that is tied to your blog traffic, but even with digital and affiliate products, the more eyes on your offer, the more sales you will make. You can make your first sale sooner with a clear SEO strategy. Moreover, once you get a good understanding of what your audience is looking for, offering multiple digital products will increase your income even without increasing your traffic. in fact, I will be testing this idea on my fasting blog in 2022 and I will update this post as needed. The info I am providing you with at this is from my experience with my marketing and wellness blogs and from the research I did online before writing this post.

So, how many blog posts do you need to make money blogging? Just a few! I made my first sale with only 12 blog posts on this blog. However, it is one thing to make one sale and quite another to expect a regular income from your blog. I would say that typically, you need at least 50 blog posts to start making a regular income.

If you Google how much money do bloggers make, you will see some search results saying the bloggers can make from $200 to $2500 a month their first year. Say, you write once a week. By the end of the first year, you will have about 52 blog posts. I would not expect to make more than $200 a month. If you have been working hard and publishing 3-5 times a week for the whole year (and have accumulated 150-200 posts), you could expect to earn over $1000 a month. Making money blogging is not so much about how long you have been blogging, but rather it’s about how much well-targeted traffic you have managed to build for your blog.

Read How to Drive Traffic to Your Blog in 3 Simple Steps to learn more about driving traffic to your blog.

How Much Money Do Bloggers Make per 1000 Pageviews’

Now, my own experience with only one digital product, a few affiliate products, and no ads on my site is making about $15 per 1,000 pageviews. As I mentioned, I won’t be working as hard on increasing my traffic in 2022. Instead, I will be working on offering more products and services. It will be interesting to look at the results of this experiment. That being said, when I Googled this question, I found that the average amount bloggers make per 1,000 pageviews falls between $10 and $25 dollars (I am right in that range).

I also asked the question on a blogging Facebook group I am part of and some bloggers make $50-$60 per 1,000 pageviews through a combination of ads, affiliate offers, and digital products. As you can see, the amount of money bloggers make per 1,000 pageviews can vary widely.

What Does It Take to Make It to 1,000 Pageviews

If you are reading this, I am assuming you have a blog already and you understand your Google Analytics. You could write 100 blog posts and get very little traffic if you don’t target the right keywords. Another mistake that many bloggers make is not targeting the right traffic that isn’t interested in what you are selling. You need to be very intentional when you write blog posts. From experience, I can tell you that unless you go viral with one or more of your blog posts, you will need anywhere between 30 and 50 posts to hit 1,000 pageviews a month. Some niches are easier than others though and my experience comes from two difficult niches (health and making money online).

Check out my 30-Minute Niche Site Workshop to learn more about picking a niche, researching your competitors, and picking your monetization strategy.

How Much Do Bloggers Make In a Year

Now, many blogs are seasonal. Moreover, even if your blog isn’t seasonal, you will find your income will vary widely from one month to the next. That’s why how much bloggers make in a year is a useful metric to consider in addition to how much they make per 1,000 pageviews.

And again, the income range will vary widely. Beloved Google says that full-time bloggers earn an average of $40,000-$80,000 a year. How do we define a full-time blogger? I mean, most bloggers that I know work only 2-3 hours a day on their blog at the very most (including me). Obviously, working full-time would mean working 40 hours a week on your blog. These sites that tell you how much bloggers make in a year include things like freelance writing and sponsored posts.

I like to focus on working on my own blog only and that is what most part-time bloggers do. Of course, it will get that much longer to get to that full-time income, but it’s ok. Your blog doesn’t have to consume your life to become successful. All you need to do is to make sure you post weekly following my content strategy and you will build enough momentum to earn that median $63,000 a year after a few years. And then, if you are ambitious, you can even grow past that and reach six-figure a year. That’s the beauty of a blog. You are no longer trading time for money. Your efforts will compound over time.

In Summary

So, how much do bloggers make that is the question! If you work 15 hours a week on your blog, writing consistently 3 well-targeted blog posts a week, you can anticipate making a few hundreds of dollars a month after a year or so. And then, you will build on that gradually, with the potential to earn a full-time income after a few years (still working only 15 hours a week). Now, that is what I would call a smart long-term investment.