Best places to start a blog

If you’re looking to start a blog, we’ve got some great news for you: it’s never been easier!

With the rise of social media and online communities, there are more people writing about their passions than ever before. That means that there’s a greater opportunity for your voice to be heard—as long as you know where to look.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through some of the best places to start a blog, how to start a blog, popular personal blog sites, Best places to start a blog for free, and best blogging platform to make money

Best blogging platform to make money

If you have a blog and are looking for ways to make money from it, you’re in luck: there are many different options for monetizing a blog. However, not all platforms are created equal, so it’s important to carefully consider which platform will work best for you. If you’re not sure where to start, here are some of the best blogging platforms to make money.

1. WordPress

WordPress is one of the world’s most popular open-source platforms. It is commonly used as a content management system (CMS) for websites, as well as for blogging. The appeal of WordPress is that no technical knowledge or experience is required to use it. WordPress is utilized by bloggers, small business owners, and even Fortune 500 companies. 

Although it requires more time and effort than “premonetized” blogging platforms such as Medium, Vocal.Media, and HubPages, it gives bloggers true ownership of their content and eliminates the risks of being de-platformed or being adversely affected by algorithm changes on these other platforms.

WordPress is also easy to use since it has many established partnerships with web hosting providers, such as Bluehost. This makes setting up a self-hosted blog much easier than it was years ago.

2. Ghost

Ghost is an open source blogging platform for writers and journalists. It boasts a minimalist and straightforward user interface that simplifies blogging for its users. Ghost offers SEO tools and plugins that are built into the software, making it easy for users to optimize their content. The Ghost platform is utilized by amateur bloggers, as well as experienced editors based at large media organizations.

What really sets Ghost apart from other blogging platforms is the range of services you can easily offer. This is increasingly important in a world of blog hybrid-products, such as subscription newsletters, membership sites, gated digital content, offering courses, and selling digital products.

3. Medium

Medium is one of the most popular blogging and digital publishing platforms on the Internet. It allows anyone to easily create and publish a blog post, with a sleek and minimalist design. Medium is popular among writers because of its Partner Program which allows writers to get paid for articles that are posted on the platform.

Medium is unique because it is probably the single best blogging platform for writers who just want to write, build an audience, and get paid. Medium pays writers based on total member reading time and provides writers with a built in audience. It also is free and eliminates any effort required to start your own site.

That said, Medium is not the best blogging platform to make money for every blogger. Typically, the bloggers who do the best on Medium are those that utilize the platform to build an audience, earn a little money with the Partner Program, but ultimately, eventually migrate to their own platform (WordPress or Ghost) or monetize their writing in a different way (subscription newsletters with Substack).

4. Substack

Substack makes it simple for a writer to start an email newsletter that makes money from subscriptions. Substack provides web and newsletter publishing tools that are purpose-built for paid subscriptions. Substack is popular with many writers because it’s an all-in-one solution for writers looking to monetize their newsletter. Substack also allows audio creators the ability to charge and distribute their podcasts through Substack’s newsletter delivery system.

While many bloggers associate Substack with newsletters than with blogging, Substack is actually a hybrid of the two models. You can (1) send subscribers newsletter posts and (2) have those posts published on your Substack newsletter domain, like a traditional blog post.

5. Vocal.Media

Vocal.Media is a platform for supporting, discovering, and rewarding creators. Vocal provides the storytelling tools and engaged communities for writers, musicians, filmmakers, artists, and all types of creatives to get discovered, and fund their creativity. Vocal was designed to expand the audience for content distribution and advance writers’ efforts on monetizing their content through various features.

Vocal helps writers earn in a few different ways.

First, Vocal pays creators based on the amount of “reads” their stories receive.

• Vocal creators are paid $3.80 per 1000 reads.
• Vocal+ creators are paid $6.00 / 1000 reads.

Second, Vocal also facilitates tips from your fans. Tipping allows your readers to pay you directly for your stories, with micropayments that go straight into your Stripe account.

6. HubPages

HubPages is a user generated content, revenue-sharing website founded in 2006. The company moved from a single-site to a multi-site business model in 2016. The platform that lets you publish articles and you can earn money from those articles, depending on how many views they receive.

The HubPages writer payment system is based on a formula that primarily measures page views and your article’s contribution to display advertisement success.

7. NewsBreak

NewsBreak is a local news aggregation and digital publishing platform. The content from this platform is largely featured on the NewsBreak functions mobile app. NewsBreak now boasts 23 million monthly users with a growing network of more than 10,000 content providers. Sensor Tower estimated the app has more than 50 million installs globally across iOS and Android devices, among which more than 99% are from the U.S.

While NewsBreak may not bill itself as a “blogging” platform, it essentially is. The main difference between NewsBreak and many of the other platforms on this list is that there is a preference for content that is time-sensitive and pertains to regional issues.

8. Tumblr

Although Tumblr has had a huge audience for years, there was less of a clear way for creators to monetize their content. Now, Tumblr is joining the fray with Post+, the platform’s first attempt at allowing users to monetize their content.

Tumblr’s Post+ lets creators choose which content they want to put behind a paywall, whether that’s original artwork, personal blog posts or Destiel fanfic. Creators can set the price for their subscriber-only content starting at $3.99 per month, with additional tiers at $5.99 and $9.99. Tumblr will take a 5% cut from creator profits.

9. Wattpad

Wattpad brings authors and readers together online through its website and mobile app. The platform is free for all users and promotes a social community experience based on the original stories that are shared. Both amateur and established writers publish stories on Wattpad from a wide variety of genres, including Young Adult fiction, romance, fantasy, and techno-thrillers. Wattpad has steadily grown in popularity, reaching 80 million readers and writers, due to its ease of use and simple business model.

10. Steemit

Steemit is a blogging platform with a social network and cryptocurrency component. It borrows some of the features of Reddit in that it allows users to upvote and downvote content, as well as follow topics, have discussions, and submit content of your own. However, users also have the ability to earn a share of revenues in the form of Steem cryptocurrency. Content creators, people who curate content, and commenters all have the opportunity to get paid.

11. Write.as

Write.as is a no-frills, distraction free platform for writers who want to write and publish their content without any hassle. It offers uncomplicated features and tools geared towards encouraging the basic act of writing. Users can write anonymously or set up a profile to create a variety of content, including short blog post or detailed reports. The author can choose to keep their work from the world on Write.as, share the direct link with friends, or publish it on other platforms.

12. Blogger

Blogger is among the easiest tools for starting a blog. It is free to use and enables writers to quickly share their thoughts with minimal effort. Blog entries are published with a time stamp and users can add images, videos, and other content. It is owned by Google, allowing anyone with a Gmail account to quickly get started on Blogger for free. Users can design their blogs with a variety of templates or create their own design from scratch. There is also a possibility for users to monetize their blogs using AdSense.

13. Twitter

Like Tumblr, Twitter may not be considered a blogging platform by many writers. But as blogs have continued to evolve away from consisting only of a one-off article style post, micro-blogging platform Twitter is making major inroads with passion economy creators.

Twitter is experimenting with Super Follows, which will allow Twitter users to charge followers and give them access to extra content. That could be bonus tweets, access to a community group, subscription to a newsletter, or a badge indicating your support.  Twitter sees it as a way to let creators and publishers get paid directly by their fans.

Best places to start a blog

It’s time to start your own blog. You’ve worked hard on your content, you know what you want to share with the world, and you’re ready for the world to see it. But where do you start?

If you’ve never started a blog before, this can seem like an intimidating prospect: how will anyone find your blog? How will anyone know that it exists? What if they don’t like it? What if they hate it? What if they think it’s boring or silly or bad or wrong? The list of questions goes on and on!

But we’re here to tell you that starting a blog is easier than you think—and it’s not even as scary as all those questions make it out to be. In fact, we have some tips and tricks for getting started that will help make your blogging dreams come true.

1 – WordPress

I’m starting with WordPress because it’s probably one of the one’s you’ve most likely heard of. WordPress is one of the leaders in the blogging platform industry, with two versions based on your needs.
WordPress.com is its free blogging platform. Users can sign up and create a blog in just a few minutes. There’s the ability to buy your own domain name if you’re not happy with a WordPress.com one and a range of free themes to make your blog look the business.
Other options include the ability to buy premium services, including premium themes, fonts and color options. Not only that, but when you decide to incorporate a Twitter or Facebook page for your business or blog, then there are an abundance of plugins that work with popular social media platforms. These will further customize the look and feel of your blog and set it apart from other free WordPress users. However, I don’t recommend WordPress.com. I’ve had too many clients complain when they want to add a cool plug-in or change to a paid theme (neither can be done on WordPress.com)
WordPress.org is for bloggers looking to self-host their own site and I highly recommend it. Users can install it via their hosting service and make use of much more functionality than the dot com option. This includes complete customization over your website, a massive library of free WordPress themes, along with thousands of plugins to add elements such as optin forms, social sharing buttons and much more.

2 – Blogger

Another blogging platform you’ve probably heard of, Blogger is Google’s version of blogging on the web. The blogger service is free with optional premium extras such as your own domain name. It allows you to use many of the free apps that Google offer such as Feedburner and Networked Blogs while giving you control over how your blog looks.
Blogger’s interface is pretty straightforward to use, however, lacks the functionality that a WordPress blog offers. If you’re after something easy to use, straight out of the box, however, it’s a good place to start. But you’ll want to have a self-hosted blog in the near future so it may be better to just start with the other options.

3 – Squarespace

Squarespace is relatively new to the blogosphere, however, its influence is steadily growing rapidly. Rather than letting you get on with the work of updating and fiddling around with your blog settings, Squarespace offers a complete package including:

• Domains
• Hosting
• Websites
• Commerce
• And 24/7 Support

They offer a range of beautiful designs for your website, all of which are optimized for mobile devices and included in your package. They’re probably some of the most beautiful designs I’ve seen on a site!
You can try Squarespace out for free for 14 days to see if you like it. After that prices start at just $8 per month, with pricier packages depending on your needs. It is one of my favorite places to recommend to my new blogger clients!

4 – Dropplets

Dropplets is a blog platform that’s a little different from the ones I’ve mentioned so far. What’s unique about it is that it’s free to use and open source – meaning you can play about with it and improve it if you want to.
To use Dropplets you simply have to upload it to your hosting server, load your website in a browser and then follow some easy steps to get up and running.
Dropplets also uses the markdown text formatting syntax to make it easy to create your posts in any text editing software. Once you’re ready to upload, all you need to do is mark your post as published and Dropplets will take of everything else – including the formatting.

5 – Postagon

Looking for something a bit easier? This next platform has you covered. Postagon has to be one of the easiest blog posting platforms I’ve come across. Within a matter of seconds you can have your blog up and running, ready to publish your first post – I tried it myself and have to agree!
There’s no need to set up any hosting for Postagon – it’s all browser-based. You don’t really need to do anything technical to start blogging, however, there are loads of extras if you want to customize things a little.
Some of the extras include:

• Your own domain name
• Google Analytics
• Post via email
• Drag and drop photo uploads
• Email subscribers
• RSS
• And social sharing

All it costs is $4 per month, which is a great deal for something that’s so easy to use.

6 – Svbtle

Svbtle is more of a psychological machine than a blogging platform. It’s extremely minimal and distraction-free and has been built with your brain in mind.
Instead of the average blogging dashboard you might find with something like WordPress or Blogger, Svbtle has only two columns. On the left is a place for you to jot down your ideas. These are saved as drafts for you to build upon, much like you would do with a series of thoughts. On the right is a list of your published posts – giving you a clean, organized overview of your thoughts and work.
Creating a post within Svbtle is like writing on a white screen. There’s no fussy editing icons and nothing to distract you from anything other than your writing.
When you sign up to Svbtle, you get 30 days blogging for free. After that, it will cost $6 per month to use.

7 – Ghost

Ghost is another open source blogging platform that’s simple to use and which looks amazing. Essentially as soon as you download the software, you own it and do whatever you like with it – such is the nature of open source software.
Ghost is free to download and use, however you’ll need your own hosting package to make use of it. Thankfully the team behind Ghost offer a Ghost Pro package which they describe as a bit like a “gated community of ghost bloggers” for $5 per month. It’s basically their own hosting and all the profit made through selling it, goes into the non-profit organization behind this great service.
Lastly Ghost has its own open marketplace. This is a bit like a shop, but it includes both free and premium stuff like themes and templates to make your blog look shiny.

8 – Postach.io

If you’re a fan of Evernote, you’ll love this next blogging platform. Postach.io is more of a cloud blogging service than a platform because it provides you with the ability to blog via your Evernote account.
Once you’ve signed up (with your Evernote account) and chosen your theme, you’re free to create your blog posts right from within Evernote. To upload them to your blog, it’s just a case of tagging your posts with “published” and your content will be displayed beautifully on your site.
While Postach.io doesn’t come with a native comments system, you can integrate it easily with Disqus. You can also publish items from apps like Pocket by tagging an item with “favorite” or create documents within Dropbox to publish. You can also use a custom domain if you have one.
For multiple sites, multiple authors and other extra features, you can sign up for $5 per month as a Postach.io premium user. Which isn’t that bad for added functionality.

9 – Medium

Next up we have Medium – a beautiful space to connect with the right audience who want to read your stuff. It’s designed to be minimal, with the focus on your writing and is a great way to post updates and thoughts that don’t necessarily fit within 140 characters.
There’s no widgets, sidebars, plugins or distractions on Medium. Nothing to set up, complicate and generally distract you from your content. Your content and images will automatically look better as the technology updates.
The main idea behind Medium, however, is to write alongside people instead of sitting on your own somewhere in the big wide internet ocean. You get to exchange ideas and bump into people with the same mindsets, which is what makes this platform so unique.

10 – Scriptogram

Lastly we have Scriptogram, built for writers and storytellers wherever they are, to be invisible and inconspicuous.
Designed to only appear when you’re ready to publish, Scriptogram is similar to postachi.io in that it allows you to create your posts in your favorite editing apps, before syncing to your Scriptogram blog. Store markdown files in Dropbox and then seamlessly sync to your Scriptogram folder and your post will be beautifully displayed on your blog.
Add your own domain if you want to. Choose from any of the sleek, mobile-optimized themes. Then write. Pure, simple writing from anywhere that takes your fancy.

How to start a blog

If you’re thinking about starting a blog, we’ve got some tips to help you get started.

6 Steps

1. Pick a blog name. Choose a descriptive name for your blog.
2. Get your blog online. Register your blog and get hosting.
3. Customize your blog. Choose a free blog design template and tweak it.
4. Write & publish your first post. Share your thoughts with the world. The fun part!
5. Promote your blog. Get more people to read your blog with the proper marketing.
6. Make money blogging. Choose from several options to monetize your blog.

Step 1: Pick a blog name

If you are not sure what to name your blog, or what topic to blog about, skip to the next section.

If you’ve already got an idea for the name of your blog, you can check to make sure that no one else has already registered it:

See if your blog name is available:

Note: You cannot use any spaces or punctuation other than dashes in a domain name.

If you find that the name you wanted is already taken there are a few things you can do:

• Try a different domain extension. If the .com version is already registered you may still be able to get the .net or .org version of the name.
• Add small words. Words like “a”, “my”, “best”, or “the”. For example, this site is called TheBlogStarter.com instead of BlogStarter.com.
• Add dashes between words. For example, scott-chow.com

How to Choose a Blog Topic & Name

If you don’t have an idea for a name already, the first step is choosing your blog topic.

If you’re not sure what to blog about, there are a few ways to find a good blog topic:

• Life experiences. Everyone has lessons they have learned through life experience. Sharing this knowledge can be incredibly helpful to others in similar situations.
  For example, I recently helped a woman start her blog about being a fireman’s wife. She has a lot of experience and knowledge to share with others about this topic, and it has helped her connect with others in similar situations.
  Think about the things you have experienced in life. This could be related to your family (example: a blog about being a stay at home mom), work (a blog about experiences dealing with clients), or other life experiences (a blog about dealing with a troubling time such as a disease or divorce, or about a happy time such as preparing for a wedding or a birth of a child).
• A personal blog. A personal blog is a blog all about you. This will include a variety of topics, from things you do on a daily basis, to random thoughts and musings. This is a great way to share your thoughts with the world without having to stick to just one topic.
• Hobbies & passions. Hobbies or other interests you are passionate about are a great place to start. Cooking, travel, fashion, sports, and cars are all classic examples. But even blogs about more obscure hobbies can be successful, since the your audience is literally anyone in the world with the internet.

Once you have a topic it’s time to choose your blog name, also known as your domain name.

A good blog name should be descriptive so that potential visitors can instantly tell what your blog is about just from the name.

If you are blogging about one specific topic then you will definitely want to include that in some way when you pick a domain name. Try not to get hung-up on just one word though. For example, a cooking blog doesn’t necessarily have to have the word “cooking” in it. The words “food”, “recipes”, and “meals” would also let people know that your blog is about cooking.

If you are planning to create a personal blog where you discuss a variety of topics then I recommend using your name, or some variation of it, since your blog is all about you. For example, I own the blog scottchow.com. You can also add your middle name or middle initial if you find your name is already taken. Or you could use a variation like “Scott Chow Blog” or “Blogging with Scott”.

Can’t decide on a good name for your blog? Contact me and I will help you personally (for free)!

Once you have some name ideas you will need to choose a domain extension.
A .com domain extension is the most preferred, but .net or .org work as well. It is also important to note that for the purposes of a blog domain you cannot have any spaces between words. So “Blogging with Scott” becomes bloggingwithscott.com

Step 2: Get your blog online

Now that you’ve got a name picked out it’s time to get your blog online. This might sound hard or technical, but the steps below will walk you right through and make the process easy.

To get your blog up and running you need two things: blog hosting (also known as web hosting) and blogging software. The good news is that these typically come packaged together.

A blog host is a company that stores all of the files for your blog and delivers them to the user when they type in your blog name. You must have a blog host in order to have a blog.

You also need to have the software to build your blog. In this guide I will be showing you how to build a blog using the WordPress blogging software, because it is the most popular, customizable, and easiest to use.

The web host I recommend, and the one I show you how to use in this guide, is BlueHost. I personally use BlueHost and I recommend them for all new bloggers because:

• They will register your custom domain name for free, making sure no one else can take it.
• They have a 30 day money back guarantee if you are unsatisfied for any reason.
• They offer a free, automatic installation of the WordPress blogging software (which I show you how to use in this guide).
• They offer reliable web hosting that has been recommended by WordPress since 2005 and they currently host over 2 million blogs and websites.
• They have helpful 24/7 customer service via phone or web chat.

Use any BlueHost link on this site to get the special discount price of $2.75 per month.

Disclosure: BlueHost compensates The Blog Starter when you purchase through this link, so my services are free of charge to you! In fact, if you have any trouble at all setting up a blog with this tutorial, just contact me and I will do it for you (free!).

1. Click here to get the special $2.75 per month rate on BlueHost and then click “get started now”. and then click “get started now”.

2. Select your plan. I recommend that beginning bloggers get the basic plan. Click “Select” to choose your plan.

3. Type in your domain name in the left box and then click “next” to start the registration process.

• If you already own a domain name and want to use it for your blog, type your existing domain in the right box and then click “next”. Only use the right box if you have previously paid to register a domain!

4. Fill out your billing details on the registration page.

5. You will also need to choose your hosting package and options.

• Every BlueHost account plan has everything you need to get your blog up and running, including a free custom domain name, easy WordPress installation, web hosting, and custom email addresses (e.g. yourname@yourdomain.com).
• I uncheck the boxes next to the package extras except for “Domain Privacy & Protection”.  While not strictly necessary, domain privacy keeps your personal information (name, address, phone, email) hidden from the public database of registered domain owners.

6. You will then need to create your BlueHost account and password.

Once you do that you will be taken to an installation helper.  Since you are following this tutorial you can just click “Skip this step” on the next few pages to be taken directly to the dashboard.

7. Install the WordPress blogging platform.

Now the system will install WordPress automatically. Once the install is complete click the “Log into WordPress” button on the top right to be logged-in to the administrator area of your blog.

Step 3: Customize your blog

How do I start a blog? You can watch me build and customize a beautiful blog from scratch here:

The video above should answer a lot of questions you might have about how to set up a blog and get it customized. Here is a step-by-step break-down of some of things I show in the video.

Logging in

If you are not already logged-in from the previous step, go to Bluehost.com and click “Login” on the top right to bring up the login screen.  You can then login using your domain name and the password you set in the previous step.  If you have misplaced your password you can reset it by clicking the “Forgot Password” link.

Once you log-in you will be taken to your BlueHost Portal.  From the portal you can click the blue “WordPress” button to be logged-in automatically to your WordPress blog.

Changing your blog design

Once you login you will be in the WordPress dashboard. This is where you can make any changes you want to your blog.

Everyone has a different idea of how they want their blog to look. One of the great things about WordPress is that you can change your entire layout and design with just a few clicks.

In WordPress, blog layouts are known as “Themes”. What is a blog theme? Themes control the entire design of your WordPress blog. To change your theme you are going to click on the “Appearance” tab on the left menu.

You will see several free WordPress themes are already installed on your blog: Twenty Seventeen, Twenty Sixteen, etc. These are well-designed, clean-looking themes that can work for just about any type of blog. In fact, many of the world’s top bloggers use one of these themes.

Unless you have a very specific design in mind for your blog, I suggest you use one of these themes to start with. For our example, let’s use the “Twenty Sixteen” WordPress theme. In order to activate the theme on your blog, hover over the theme and click the “Activate” button. That’s it! You have changed the entire design of your blog with just one click!

If you don’t like any of the themes that are already installed you can easily choose from thousands of other free WordPress themes. To install a new WordPress theme, click on the “Appearance” tab on the left menu and then click “Add New Theme”.

This is the WordPress theme search screen.  There are thousands of themes to choose from.  You can change your entire design at anytime simply by activating a new WordPress theme.  To find a theme you like, I suggest you click on the “Popular” tab and start browsing. When you find one that you like click the blue “Install” button.

Once the theme is installed click “Activate” to activate the theme on your blog. To see your new theme in action, go to your blog and take a look!

Changing your theme is the simplest way to customize your WordPress blog, but there are lots of other customizations you can do. Check out my full post on customizing your WordPress blog for an in-depth step-by-step guide. You can also watch the video above to see me completely customize a WordPress blog from scratch.

Step 4: How to write a new blog post & publish it

Now that your blog is up and running it’s time to actually do some blogging!  Let’s create your first piece of content.

Go to the left menu and click on “Posts”.

You will see there is already a post there. This is a default post on every new WordPress blog, and we don’t need it. To delete it click “Trash” just under the post.

To begin writing a new post, click the “Add New” link.

You are now on the post editor screen. Enter the title of your post in the top box and then begin writing your post in the lower box.

If you would like to add a picture to your post, click on the “Add Image” icon and click “Upload” to upload a picture from your computer. You can make adjustments to the picture size on the next screen. When you are ready click “Insert into post” to add the picture.

Once you have finished your post just click the “Publish” button on the top right side of the screen to publish the new post.

Content That Should be on Your Blog

There are two main types of content your blog should provide: static and dynamic content.

Static Content: Your blog should contain a few necessary pages explicitly designed to provide the visitor with the tools they need. The content on these pages is static, meaning – the content doesn’t change, or at least not very often. These are mainly top-level pages that can be accessed via a menu on your blog.

These static content pages should be in place well before you launch your blog to the world.

Important static pages to include:

• About Me (Us) – This page should include a biographical summary of the author(s) as well as a mission statement. Think about the answers to these questions: How did your passion for the subject matter develop? What do you want to convey to the world? What is your ultimate goal?
• Contact Me (Us) – A contact page provides the visitor a place to reach the author which, in turn, provides the visitor with the reassurance that you are a real and reachable author. You can add your physical address, phone number, and custom email address. Or you can utilize a simple contact form to keep your personal identifying information private. You should put links to all of your social media profiles here as well.

Aside from your blog, which is generally introduced on the home/main page, these two all-important pages should be visible on your top (header) menu and easy to access.  You can take a look at the top of this page to see how I have these pages included in the header menu.  See this detailed guide to customizing your blog menus if you need help.

Other static pages that are equally as important but less commonly thought of are:

• Disclaimer Page: If you intend to monetize your blog, you must describe the ways you intend to generate income. This is an absolute must-have page that should not be overlooked, as per FTC guidelines. For example, if you are discussing and endorsing a product, and stand to profit by linking to the product, this relationship must be disclosed.
• Privacy Policy: If you collect data from your visitors in any way, you are required to add a privacy policy page that tells visitors exactly how you are collecting data, how you are using it, and if you are sharing that data. If you implement Google Adsense or a Google Analytics account on your blog, a Privacy Policy must be used. This page is required by the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) and the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), and is included by default on your WordPress blog.
• Terms of Service: If your blog is also running a store or selling services, it is a good idea to have a Terms of Service page to lessen your potential liability.

These required static pages are typically linked to in the footer menu of a blog. They should, at the very least, be visible and accessible from the home page.  Again, look at the bottom of this page to see how this looks in practice.

There are other static pages you can choose to include depending on what suits your blog and business. Common static page examples are an advertising page to solicit paid advertisements, a donations page, a resource page to direct visitors to your favorite links within your field, and a page for submitting ideas and content.

Dynamic Content: Your dynamic content is your blog and the most important content you have to offer. This is where you, as the creator, will infuse the blog with your brand of informative content that supplies your audience with knowledgeable tips, facts, opinions, and stories. This is how you engage your visitors and keep them coming back for more.

Your blog content should be regularly submitted at specific intervals. Waiting months to create content will never build a following. Posting content weekly and driving traffic to these posts will help build your brand.

How to write great blog content

Each post should be lengthy, informative, and engaging. It’s not always easy to come up with new blog post ideas on a regular basis and you are free to mix up the tone and even the subject matter to keep things lively and interesting. It’s your space, after all. But there are a few elements that each and every piece of content should endeavor to include.

Define the Content: Create an alluring post title that stimulates curiosity and encourages clicks. Use the first paragraph of your post to clearly define the topic of your article and provide a possible hook to keep the reader reading.

The Longer the Better – But Break It Up: The more information and detail you include, the better. But visitors will begin to skim if the content contains lengthy paragraphs a mile long, and will pop out faster than they came in. Visitors enjoy tidbits. Keep your paragraphs short with spaces in between, use lists and standout quotes, use images, and always include headings and sub-headings so that visitors can find what they’re looking for.

Engage The Reader: At the end of each post, a common tactic used to engage visitors is posing a meaningful question to your audience and asking them to reply in the comments. This simple measure can increase engagement tenfold.

Original Content: Your content should always be original. Never plagiarize – you will eventually be called out on it and could even face consequences. Your content should come from your heart, your brain, your knowledge base, and your experience. You can get topic ideas from others in your field, but make sure the content comes from you.

Original Photos: While it is easy to include stock images from free image sites, it is even better to include your own photos and graphic work. Another idea is to take free images and manipulate them with a free photo editor.

Edit Your Work: Your blog content should be sufficiently edited. Nothing says unprofessional like several typographical and grammatical errors. If you need a few refresher courses in grammar, consider using a writing application.

Publishing Your Blog

Even after you have written a post your blog may still be showing a placeholder page.

When you are ready to make your blog public for the first time, just click the “BlueHost” menu at the top left of the menu in your WordPress dashboard then click the blue “Launch” button to remove the placeholder page and launch your blog.

Step 5: Promote your blog

Creating a well-designed blog and writing great content is just the start. In order to get visitors to your blog you will need spend some time promoting it, especially when you first start.

The strategies below will help get your blog in front of more readers. You don’t need to use every strategy – try out a few and see what works well for you.

Alert Your Inner Circle

The very first people who should become aware of your blog are your inner circle. This includes family, friends, and colleagues within your field. Encourage them to become followers, ask them to mention your new blog, and – most importantly – thank them.

Use Social Media

While you don’t want to overdo it, you still want to create accounts with the “biggies” like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram.  You should post a link to your newest content on your accounts, but you can also post relevant news and links to other sources that your readers may find interesting.  Don’t forget to use hashtags and engage with your followers!

One of my favorite ways to get visitors to my blog is to post links on my social accounts, like Facebook and Twitter. This is great, because not only do your friends see the link, but if your friends share the link with their friends it automatically multiplies your visitors. If you have created high-quality content on your blog then social media is a way for your blog to go viral.

Comment on Other Blogs

Find other blogs in your community and engage with them. Using the comment section, introduce yourself and leave engaging and constructive comments. Many will allow you to leave a link to your blog. After creating relationships with prominent bloggers in your community, you will find yourself within their ranks quickly.

Engage with Your Visitors

When your readers leave comments on your posts, always engage with them. Reply to their comments and questions, give them “likes” and affirmations. When it is obvious that the author cares about his/her community and readership, visitors are naturally encouraged to return.

Collaborate with other bloggers

Become enmeshed in your blogging community by collaborating with respected members of your field. Collaborating includes guest posting, promoting each other’s blogs and products, and regularly interacting through comments and social media.

Post Regularly

Post content regularly. Create an editorial calendar and stick to it. A good blogger posts at least once per week to start. If you have long lapses between posts, your followers will drop off and your growth will be severely hampered. It’s not easy to post on a schedule, but it’s something you absolutely must stick to.

Create an Email List

In addition to getting new visitors to your blog, you will also want to make sure your current visitors are coming back. This is where email marketing plays a big role. By collecting the email addresses of your visitors (with their permission of course), you can then notify them when you post new content on your blog. This keeps people coming back to your blog, which not only gives you more readers over time, it also allows you to build a closer relationship with your visitors.

Email marketing is too big a topic to cover well here, so I created a separate guide to email marketing for those who are interested (hint: every blogger who wants more readers needs to read this guide).

Optimize your blog for search engines

You want your blog to appear in search results as soon as possible.

Google: Sign up for a Google Webmaster account and open the Search Console. To add your blog, click “Add Property” and follow the steps to add your blog.

Bing: Sign up for a Bing Webmaster account and add your blog.

Submitting your blog is the first step in process known as search engine optimization (SEO).

Keep in mind that with a brand new blog your traffic will be minimal to start with. However, this will change over time as long as you continue to add informative and relevant content on a regular basis.

To optimize this process, each page of your blog should include these fundamental elements:

1. Header Tags: Section headings and subheadings should be wrapped in header tags.  To do this, click on the left item of the block you are writing in and change it to “Heading”.  You can then choose from H1, H2, H3, etc.
2. Categorization: Your content should be clearly categorized into specific and relevant categories.  In the post editor screen, click on “Document” on the right menu, and then go down to “Categories” and “Add New Category”.
3. Permalinks: Each blog post “slug” is the end portion of the URL. You want to make sure each post has a defined slug and doesn’t end with an article number. You can easily change this in your WordPress dashboard by going to “Settings” -> “Permalinks”. Select the “Post Name” option and click “Save Changes”

There are many more factors relating to consider, such as installing something like the Yoast WordPress plugin, but these are the big ones that will help improve your search rankings sooner rather than later.

For more tips on promoting your blog make sure to check out my in-depth guide to blog promotion.

Step 6: Make money from your blog

Once you have put in the effort of creating great blog content and promoting your blog, making money from your blog is actually the easy part.

Blogs have the potential to be extremely lucrative, but don’t assume that you’re going to start making money in the first week, or even in the first month. It could take six months to a year to start seeing a steady stream of income. Blogging takes work and dedication, but once you develop a large enough audience, there are several methods you can employ to monetize your blog.

Sell advertising space

Once you have a popular blog, advertisers will be hounding you for the opportunity to advertise. The best way to take advantage of this situation is to use Google Adsense. Google finds the advertisers for you and all you have to do is place the Google Adsense code on your blog to start running ads. Google Adsense takes all of the hard work out of the process and just cuts you a check.

I go into the full details of how to set up Google Adsense for your WordPress blog here.

Sell affiliate products

An affiliate program is a commission-based way to advertise. When one of your readers clicks on a link on your blog, they get sent to an advertiser’s site and you earn a commission if they purchase. Affiliate links are a nice way to earn income through the use of product reviews. However, you must remember to disclose that you are an affiliate for the product.

Sell Products and Services

Selling your own products and services directly on your blog is a great way to increase your income. As your blog grows and you begin to see a wide audience, your products and services will begin to sell themselves.

Use the sidebar of your blog to increase the visibility of what you sell using visual images and a link to your storefront page.

Sell digital downloads

Ebooks, video tutorials, and e-courses are the most commonly consumed digital materials sold by bloggers. With little to no overhead and no shipping costs, you can keep the price low and inviting.

If you are extremely knowledgeable in your field, an ebook can practically write itself. Give it a try, you might surprise yourself!

Sell memberships

Another way to monetize is by creating membership options on your blog. This allows you to offer members more exclusive content only available with a paid membership. For example, you could offer unlimited downloads of digital goods, free consultations, a private network or forum where community members can mix and mingle, and private content available to members only.

There are many ways a blog can capitalize on popularity and traffic. Choosing the way you monetize from your blog depends on your goals and the purpose of your blog. Those who are selling services, physical goods, and digital goods, for example, may not want to participate in affiliate programs where traffic could be lost to another site.

Best places to start a blog for free

Blogging is a great way to build your brand, engage with customers and prospects, and share information. But it can also be expensive. You need a domain name and hosting, which could add up to hundreds of dollars per year.

So where do you start?

You don’t need to spend any money to get started blogging. In fact, if you’re just trying to figure out if blogging is right for you, there are tons of free tools that let you try it out without any risk.

Here are places where you can get started for free:

1. Wix (www.wix.com)

 Best for…non-techies who want some “regular website” functionality along with a blog.sponsored Wix is a free website builder tool that can be totally managed from the front-end. The main characteristic of this platform is that it comes with drag-and-drop options, so you don’t have to handle anything in the back-end. The design is very intuitive and modern, which can be used by both beginners and advanced.

The nice thing about Wix is that it has free hosting included, so you just need to arrange the layouts, pick a template, and you’re all set. It provides a nice collection of free and premium themes and templates for different purposes, including blogging.

To launch a Wix blog, just sign up and make a choice: you can either let the Wix ADI create a site for you based on a questionnaire or build your blog yourself – which includes selecting a template and arranging the layouts via the WYSIWYG editor. If you go with the second option, all you need to do is to find a beautiful template and start customizing everything on the front-end, in a live preview mode.

You can add multiple elements to your pages, from multimedia widgets to backgrounds, menus, typography, forms, video boxes etc. When you think the site is ready, click Publish and start blogging your stories. After publishing, you can return anytime to edit the content blocks.

2. WordPress (www.wordpress.org)

 Best for…people who want 100% control of their blog. Perfect for a serious website that you plan to work on long-term.

WordPress.org is the king of free blogging sites. It is a free platform, but you need to build the site mostly by yourself afterward. You also have to host the software yourself. While you can find some free WordPress hosting, a better long-term strategy is to pay a moderate amount for a solid WordPress host.

This is where Bluehost comes into play. Not only is it very cheap (the Basic plan starts at just $2.75 per month when you sign up for three years), but it also provides solid features, including a free domain name, 50GB of disk space, unmetered bandwidth, free SSL, and 100MB of email storage per account. At this very moment, Bluehost is the cheapest sensible WordPress hosting you can find out there.

Because you’re hosting the WordPress software yourself, you have full control over how your site looks and functions, as well as how you make money from your site. But the flip side is that the setup process is a little bit more hands-on.

Here’s what the WordPress interface looks like when creating a new post:

On the opposite side, there’s WordPress.com, which is the other face of WordPress – a platform used mostly for personal blogs because it’s easy to set up and free (if you’re okay not having a custom domain name). However, you’re also quite limited in the way you can customize the site.

And especially if your plan is to monetize your blog in any way, the free WordPress.com version will prevent you from doing that.

Considering this, we recommend you to get started with Bluehost. There is a 30-day money-back guarantee in place – in case you change your mind with the whole blogging experiment, just ask for a refund.

3. LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)

 Best for…business owners and professionals who want to reach a pre-existing audience.

You probably didn’t see this one coming. LinkedIn isn’t most people’s first choice when considering which of the free blogging sites to choose. That being said, it really does deserve some attention!

Two main reasons for this: easy to use tools, and pre-existing audience.

About that second thing – the audience – what’s great about LinkedIn’s user base is that those are highly focused users, professionals and business owners. In fact, it’s reported that more than 30 million businesses are active on LinkedIn. And they’re not just there for the sake of it. Other data indicates that 94% of B2B marketers use the platform as one of their primary lead sources.

In short, LinkedIn just works as a platform where you can get exposure, and this makes it one of the best free blogging sites of them all.

From a technical point of view, publishing on LinkedIn is easy. Just go to your LinkedIn feed and use the “Start a post” widget at the top of the page. To convert your status into a full post, click on “Write an article on LinkedIn” to open the full-screen editing window.

This is where you can find all the editing tools that you’re used to – for text formatting, adding images, and more.

4. Weebly (www.weebly.com)

 Best for…good alternative to Wix, if you don’t like something about the platform.

Weebly is another website builder that you can use not only to blog but also to sell products or showcase your portfolio. It is somewhat similar to Wix to the extent that it provides a WYSIWYG editor with drag-and-drop elements. If you want to add a certain button, you can simply drag it to the page and customize it. The same happens with photo galleries, slideshows, and any other multimedia element.

Weebly provides sidebars, media boxes, forms, ad spaces, social media icons, newsletter subscription, and many more. Moreover, the platform comes with built-in analytics and lets you use your own customized domain (for which you need to pay).

5. Medium (www.medium.com)

 Best for…people who just want to write, are looking for a built-in audience, and don’t care about having their “own site.”

Medium is a multipurpose platform tackling diverse topics, where anyone with an account can write. Unlike most other free blogging sites, the big advantage of Medium is that your articles will be exposed to a wide audience since the platform is visited by 60 million readers (*) per month (and the number increases every year).

It’s super simple to use – you pretty much just sign up and start writing. But the downside is that all your content is on Medium. That is, you’re not really building your own “space” like you would with WordPress.

6. Ghost (www.ghost.org)

 Best for…people who need something with a modern vibe. Still, be careful with the technical setup.

This is another WordPress-like blogging platform. While the Ghost software can be downloaded for free, you need paid hosting for fuel. DigitalOcean is a great service that supports Ghost: it is cheap and comes with a bunch of nice features to get you started.

The downside is that installing Ghost isn’t as straightforward as WordPress, and you might have to get your hands dirty with some server work – depending on the host you choose for your blog.

To create a post in Ghost is easy once you set up your website. The editor is simple and minimalist, and it offers a live preview of your text on the right side of the screen. On the front-end, you get a Medium vibe, so it’s nice. Near the editor screen, there is a sidebar with settings, where you can choose your preferences.

7. Blogger (www.blogger.com)

 Best for…people who want to write and aren’t concerned about owning their own site.

Blogger is one of the oldest free blog sites, though its popularity has dipped in recent years.

It’s a solid solution for personal blogs, but it’s not the best resource for professional use. It works just like the other hosted platforms: you need to create an account first in order to use it. After you create it (which is simple), you have to pick one of the default themes and you can start writing your thoughts down. This platform has an interface similar to a Google+ profile and the editor looks like a Word page.

Blogger delivers a bunch of themes to choose from, each providing different skins, advanced color filtering, and various minimalist gadgets (aka widgets). But nothing too fancy or any advanced design customization. In general, Blogger has simple appearance options, so the focus stays more on the writing part. A nice part about this site is that it comes with ad spaces that you can place within your content pieces.

8. Tumblr (www.tumblr.com)

 Best for…people who are into more short-form, image-focused content and don’t need any “regular website” functionality.

Tumblr is one of the original free blogging sites on the web. It’s just a bit ‘milder’ than the others on the list. Unlike the rest of the platforms that are mostly created for publishing purposes, this one here is more oriented to multimedia or social media-like content. The interface of Tumblr is more playful and is easy to get started with – you can simply sign up and then you’re allowed to start posting.

Just like a regular blogging platform, it provides multiple post formats for different types of content. The thing with Tumblr is that it is purely for personal use and wouldn’t put up a great solution if you have business-oriented plans. It is simplistic, offers basic customization options and, like I said earlier, has more of a social media vibe.

Despite not being built for business, it does let you display ads on your page, use affiliate links, and integrate your blog with Google Analytics.

9. Joomla (www.joomla.org)

 Best for…people who are looking for a WordPress alternative that is capable of handling heavy load. Not the best platform for simple blogging.

Joomla is similar to WordPress.org but not as obvious when considering the free blog sites available out there. Just like WordPress, the software is free but needs hosting and a domain. As in the WordPress case, we recommend Bluehost because it is both very cheap and reliable (and it includes a free domain).

In general, Joomla has a flexible interface that can be used not only for blogs but also for more complex websites (you can choose from a variety of templates and extensions to add custom functionality).

When it comes to the ease of use, the platform provides an old-school editor, that somehow looks like Microsoft Word. It allows you to choose the font, color, size, emoticons, tables, or background. I mean, the tools in the menu make you feel like you’re in a Word window.

The Joomla editor is tabbed. The first tab is the classic texting window per se, then you need to switch tabs to select the post categories, tags, date, meta description, keywords etc.

10. Jimdo (www.jimdo.com)

 Best for…people who do not need a blog of a high complexity.

Jimdo is more than just an example of free blogging sites. However, in its free version, blogs are the most recommended, given Jimdo’s basic features. So you can quickly create a website with Jimdo by going through a few items (you take a basic questionnaire about your site’s purpose). After you check these options, your site is automatically created based on your picks. The downside of Jimdo is that you can’t have a custom domain (at least not for free) and you can’t remove the ads unless you upgrade.

An important aspect of Jimdo, though, is that it is a page builder: you create blog posts right via the front-end and not via an editor (like the other blogs do). This means that you need to go to every content box on a live page and edit it on the spot, without being redirected to another page. The footer and the logo can be edited the same way. When it comes to the content elements, you have a few options: simple text, text with image, photo gallery, columns, buttons etc.

Via the left sidebar, you can make more tweaks, such as adding the post’s date, title, category, status (published or draft), summary, and image preview. In short, your article will be entirely built from many individual elements that you will edit separately. Text, picture, button… the order is up to you.

Popular personal blog sites

You’ve got a blog, and it’s great. But what if you want to take it to the next level? What if you want to grow your audience, make more money, and build your business into something that can support you in the future?

If that’s the case, then it might be time to consider moving away from popular personal blog sites like Blogger or Medium and instead finding a platform that is designed specifically for bloggers who want to make money.

Here are some of the most popular options:

1. James Clear

JamesClear.com is one of the most popular personal blogs that attracts millions of visitors each month. If you want to build better habits, improve your decision-making, and continuous improvement in work and life – this blog is a must-read for you.

Who Runs the Blog?

This amazing personal blog is run by James Clear who is a life coach, entrepreneur, photographer, and the author of NYT’s best-selling book “Atomic Habits.”

He also got featured in some of the biggest publications such as the New York Times, Entrepreneur, Time, and on CBS This Morning.

What Topics Does This Personal Blog Cover?

James Clear mostly writes about the following topics on his blog;

• How to build good habits (and break the bad ones)
• How to make great decisions in life and work
• How to get more things done in less time 
• How to achieve goals in life and many more 

What is the main source of income?

Here are some of the ways James monetizes his blog;

• Speaking gigs
• Affiliate product selling
• Selling his own products such as books and tools like the “Habit Journal” 

2. Zen Habits

If you’re looking for the best personal blogs about life and minimalism, Zen Habits is a must-read for you. If you want to learn how to simplify your life, be more mindful, and be productive, you’ll love this blog. 

Who Runs the Blog?

Leo Babauta is the creator of Zen Habits, which was launched in 2007. Currently, his blog has over 2 million readers worldwide. The best part? His entire blog, and all his ebooks, are uncopyrighted (since January 2008).

What Topics Does This Personal Blog Cover?

Here are the main topics you’ll discover on this blog;

• Minimalism 
• Productivity
• Life advice
• How to master your life and many more

What is their main source of income?

Here’s how Zen Habits makes money;

• Affiliate marketing
• Leo sells his online training programs such as Fearless training, Fearless Mastery, and Sea Change to make money from his blog
• He also sells multiple books such as Essential Zen Habits, The Habit Guide Ebook, and more

3. Riskology

Riskology is one of the best personal blogs that offer advice on leadership for introverts. If you want to improve your productivity to get more in less time, reduce stress, and improve your health – you should definitely follow this personal blog.

Who Runs the Blog?

Tyler Tervooren is the founder of Riskology where he mostly writes introverts to lead a great life. He’s also a TEDx speaker and ran a marathon on every continent including Antarctica.

What Topics Does This Personal Blog Cover?

Here’s what you’ll discover on this blog;

• Leadership skills for introverts 
• Risk management
• How to make smarter decisions

What is their main source of income?

Here’s how Riskology makes money;

• Affiliate marketing
• Training courses including The Systems Course (that helps you with reducing stress, and improving your health) and Connect + Lead (that helps you with building relationships and becoming a leader)
• Speaking gigs

4. Minimalist Baker

If you’re looking for simple yet delicious cooking ideas, the Minimalist Baker blog is exclusively for you. Minimalist Baker is one of the popular personal blogs about cooking which has over 2 million followers on Instagram. 

Who Runs the Blog?

Dana Shultz is the founder of this popular personal blog “the Minimalist Baker” which was founded in 2012. She is also a food stylist and the author of the book” Minimalist Baker’s Everyday Cooking”.

The best part about her blog is that she shares recipes that require 10 ingredients or less, 1 bowl, or 30 minutes or less to prepare.

What Topics Does This Personal Blog Cover?

Here’s what you’ll discover on this blog;

• Simple yet yummy recipes
• Vegan recipes
• Gluten-free recipes
• Oil-free recipes and many more

What is their main source of income?

Here’s how Dana makes money from her blog;

• Selling books
• Affiliate marketing
• Selling her own products including kitchen essentials

5. Mr. Money Mustache

Mr. Money Mustache is one of the best personal blogs about personal finance. Are you looking to retire early? Then, you should read this blog and follow the advice on finance.

Who Runs the Blog?

Peter Adeney is the founder of Mr. Money Mustache who retired from his job as a software engineer in 2005 at age 30. In 2011, he launched this blog to share advice on how others can do the same (i.e retire early).

What Topics Does This Personal Blog Cover?

Here’s what you’ll discover on this blog;

• Getting rich
• Retire early
• Life advice and more

What is their main source of income?

• Affiliate marketing
• Paid partnerships 
• Other financial products he recommends through his blog

6. My Wife Quit Her Job

Want to be your own boss and build a money-making business online? Then, you should definitely check out “My Wife Quit Her Job” as it’s one of the widely popular personal blogs which has over 275,000 monthly readers. 

Who Runs the Blog?

Steve Chou is the founder of the “My Wife Quit Her Job” blog. He also runs a podcast with the same name. Both his blog and podcast teach people how to sell profitable products online.

What Topics Does This Personal Blog Cover?

Here’s what you’ll discover;

• How to make money online
• How to sell products
• Interviews with experts on building an empire
• Entrepreneurship 

What is their main source of income?

Here’s how this blog makes money;

• Affiliate marketing
• Sponsorships 
• Selling his own products

7. Chris Guillebeau

In 2008, Chris Guillebeau founded the blog called “The Art of Non-Conformity” where he covered topics such as entrepreneurship, self-employment, and travel. It quickly became a popular personal blog which is now turned into ChrisGuillebeau.com 

Who Runs the Blog?

Chris Guillebeau is the founder of this blog who’s also an NYT best-selling author, entrepreneur, and speaker. Chris visited every country in the world (193 in total) before his 35th birthday.

He published some of the New York Times bestsellers including The $100 Startup, The Art of Non-Conformity, and more.

What Topics Does This Personal Blog Cover?

Here are the main topics you’ll discover on this blog;

• How to travel around the world
• How to use the $100 Startup model for creating personal freedom
• Entrepreneurship  

What is their main source of income?

Here’s how Chris monetizes the blog;

• Selling his own books
• Affiliate marketing
• Events and speaking gigs

8. Cookie and Kate

Are you looking for a personal blog that covers fresh vegetarian recipes? Cookie and Kate blog is just for you where you can find a ton of food recipes. 

Who Runs the Blog?

“Cookie and Kate” blog is run by Kathryne Taylor and she named the blog after her dog Cookie. This blog is a popular destination for vegetarian recipes. She also published her best-selling first cookbook, Love Real Food in 2017.

What Topics Does This Personal Blog Cover?

Here are some of the topics you’ll discover on this blog;

• Recipes and food
• Desserts
• Cocktails and much more

What is their main source of income?

Here’s how Kathryne monetizes her blog;

• Affiliate marketing
• Selling her own products
• Sponsorships 

9. The Book Smugglers

The Book Smugglers is a popular book review blog that has mostly covered fiction and pop geek for all ages since 2008.

Who Runs the Blog?

Thea James is the founder of this blog and also received the “Hugo Award for Best Fanzine” and she launched this blog in 2008.

What Topics Does This Personal Blog Cover?

Here’s what you’ll discover on this blog;

• Book reviews
• Comics
• Fiction and more

What is their main source of income?

Here’s how this blog makes money;

• Advertisements on the blog
• Affiliate marketing
• Paid reviews and sponsored posts

10. Gala Darling

Gala Darling is one of the popular personal blogs that’s read by over 1 million women a month to live without fear and improve their lifestyle.

Who Runs the Blog?

Gala Darling is the founder of this blog. She’s also a bestselling author of Radical Self-Love and a speaker. She has been featured in The New York Times, Girlboss, New Zealand Herald, Teen Vogue, New York Post, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Time Out New York, and many more

What Topics Does This Personal Blog Cover?

Here’s what you’ll discover on this blog;

• Travel
• Self-help
• Beauty
• Style and more

What is their main source of income?

Here’s how Gala makes money from her blog;

• Affiliate marketing
• Sponsorships and collaborations
• Selling ebooks
• She also sells courses such as “Radical Rituals: Abundance” and more

11. Pinch of Yum

Pinch of Yum is an award-winning food blog that shares simple yet delicious recipes and is read by millions of people every month.

Who Runs the Blog?

Lindsay is the founder of this amazing personal blog which currently has over 1 million followers on both Pinterest and Instagram.

What Topics Does This Personal Blog Cover?

Here’s what you’ll discover on this blog;

• Healthy recipes
• Instant pot recipes
• Vegetarian recipes and more

What is their main source of income?

Here’s how Lindsay monetizes her blog;

• Selling her own courses and membership sites like Food Blogger Pro
• Affiliate marketing
• Sponsorships 

12. David Lebovitz

If you’re looking for a MASSIVE collection of delicious recipes from a professional cook and baker, you must follow David Lebovitz’s blog. In fact, David Lebovitz is a household name in the culinary world. 

Who Runs the Blog? 

David Lebovitz is the founder of this blog who’s a professional cook and baker. He launched davidlebovitz.com blog in 1999. 

Yes, that’s over two decades ago, and sharing his original food recipes since then. In 2019, David was honored by Saveur magazine with their first-ever Blog of the Decade award.

What Topics Does This Personal Blog Cover?

Here’s what you’ll discover on this blog;

• Recipes of all kinds ranging from cakes to sandwiches to desserts
• Chef & Photographer Interviews
• Travel tips and more

What is their main source of income?

Here’s how David Lebovitz makes money from his blog;

• He makes money by selling books as he has written nine books so far (including The Perfect Scoop, Ready for Desserts, and more)
• Selling affiliate products
• Through events
• Sponsorships and brand collaborations 

If you’re looking for a place to start a blog, it can be overwhelming. We think that the best place to start is with a blog about something you’re passionate about. You don’t need to be an expert on that thing—just enthusiastic about it.

You’ll also want to make sure your blog is easily accessible. If you’re going to put in the time and effort to make a blog, people have to be able to find it!

We hope this post has been helpful in giving some insight into how we got started blogging and how we plan on growing into the future.