Before we get started, I want to first of all, welcome you on a successful journey. If you have been looking for a complete step-by-step guide to create, launch and scale your own 7-figures affiliate marketing blog, here I got you covered.

In this guide, I’m going to move you from a beginner to someone who can quickly create a professional affiliate marketing blog without hiring a Freelancers.

So, take a seat and have your coffee on the other side as I breakdown everything you need to know about blogging for clarity purposes, and how you can confidently launch your blog and monetize with affiliate products.

Let’s start with the definition of a blog

What is affiliate marketing blog?

A blog is a website that’s updated regularly with new pieces of content, which are normally written articles. These are called “posts” and appear in reverse chronological order, with the newest at the top of the list.

According to Wikipedia: Blog is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts)

Blogs are typically run by an individual or a small group of people to present information in a conversational style.

However, now there are tons of corporate blogs that produce a lot of informational and thought-leadership style content.

Typical blog posts also have a comments section where users can respond to the article.

>History of affiliate marketing blog

Blogs evolved from online diaries and journals in the mid-90s. At that time, internet users were already running personal web pages where they published regular updates about their personal lives, thoughts, and social commentary.

The term web log was first used during the late 90s, which later became ‘weblog’, then ‘we blog’, and finally just ‘blog’.

Due to the growing number of such web pages, several tools started to appear, which made it easier for users to create online journals and blogs.

These tools helped popularize blogging and made the technology accessible to non-technical users.

In 1999, the popular blogging website Blogger.com was launched, which was later acquired by Google in February 2003.

The same year, WordPress released its first version as a blogging platform in May 2003.

Today, WordPress is the world’s most popular blogging platform powering over 30% of all websites on the internet.

When blogs first started, they were mostly personal diaries, sharing information on a range of topics of interest to the person writing.

That’s still how some blogs work today, but a large number of blogs now focus on specific niches that interest the blogger and their target audience to generate passive income online.

For instance, cehub.com.ng is a blog focused on helping students and young entrepreneurs to discover business opportunities, how to make money online with affiliate marketing for beginners and a review on best marketing softwares that make your life easier and help you grow your online business.

Now, you know what a blog is!

Difference Between a Blog and a Website

Blogs are a type of website. The only real difference between a blog and other types of website is that blogs are regularly updated with new content, which is displayed in reverse chronological order (newer posts first).

Typical websites are static in nature where content is organized in pages, and they are not updated frequently. Whereas a blog is dynamic, and it is usually updated more frequently.

Some bloggers publish multiple new articles a day.

Blogs can be part of a larger website. Often businesses have a blog section where they regularly create content to inform and educate their customers.

You can use WordPress to create both (website and blog), that’s why a lot of business owners use WordPress to build their small business website. In simple terms, all blogs can be a website or part of a website. However, not all websites can be called blogs.

You can also say that blogs have articles that are organized using categories and tags. On the other hand, websites use pages to organize and display content.

>Blog or Website – Which One is Better?

As a beginner, you may be wondering whether you should start a blog or a website, which one is better?

To be honest, the answer to this question really depends on what your goals are.

Many small businesses around the world have traditional websites made up of just pages and no blog.

Such small websites are often made to create an informational web presence for a business, organization, or individual.

On the other hand, more and more businesses are realizing the potential of a blog in their marketing strategy.

They are adding a separate affiliate marketing blog section to their traditional websites and using it to get more traffic from search engines.

Take OptinMonster, it is a lead generation software and their website has traditional sales pages showcasing their product and its features.

They also have an informational blog where they teach users how to improve conversions and get more leads.

This helps them cover their industry keywords to get free traffic from search engines and make more sales.

Even if you are a business, a non-profit organization, or a professional, adding an affiliate marketing blog to your website can help you achieve your goals.

What is The Difference Between Blog Posts and Pages?

WordPress is the most popular blogging platform and a powerful content management system. By default, it comes with two content types: posts and pages. Often beginners get confused between the two.

Blog posts are displayed in a reverse chronological order (newest to oldest) on your affiliate marketing blog page because they are timely content which means your users will have to dig deeper to view older posts.

Pages are static “one-off” type content such as your about page, contact page, products or services pages, home page, and more.

Pages are usually used to create a website structure and layout. Even blogs can have pages alongside them (See our list of important pages that every blogger should have; about us, contact us, privacy policy, terms and conditions, products or affiliates).

Why Do People Blog and Benefits of Blogging

Each individual blogger has their own motivation for blogging. Many of them use it as an alternative to keeping a diary or journal. Blogging provides them with a venue to share their creativity and ideas to a wider audience.

Read Also: 7 benefits of blogging for small business owners

Top brands and businesses create blogs to educate their customers, share news, and reach a wider audience. Blogging is an essential part of online marketing strategy for many businesses.

Following are benefits of blogging

• Provides an avenue to organize your thoughts and ideas
• Allows you to showcase your skills, creativity, and talents
• Help individuals become an authority in their industry
• Helps you socialize with interesting like-minded people online
• Many bloggers make money from their blogs using various monetization methods
• Businesses use blogging to bring more potential customers to their websites
• Nonprofits can use blogs to raise awareness, run social media campaigns, and influence public opinion

Examples of Successful Affiliate Marketing Blog

Millions of individuals and businesses from all over the world have blogs. This means that there are blogs on just about any topic you can think of.

Here are some successful blogs that you can check out as an example. I have hand-picked the best blogs in different niche and industries to give you an idea of how diverse blogs are.

1. Pinch of Yum

Pinch of Yum is one of the most popular food and recipe blogs online. Started by Lindsay, a high school teacher, the blog allowed her to quit her day job and become a full-time blogger.

2. WeTheParents

WeTheParents is a popular parenting blog run by Neve and Keane (the parents). They share parenting tips for moms and dads and while doing so they make money by earning commission on products they recommend.

3. We Wore What

Started by Danielle Bernstein, We Wore What is a popular fashion blog. With more than 1.5 Million followers, it covers everything from fashion to interior design to menswear.

4. Nerd Fitness

A fitness blog started by Steve Kamb, Nerd Fitness is dedicated to helping people stay fit. It provides fitness advice, motivation, support, diet and exercise tips.

5. Lost With Purpose

A popular travel blog run by Alex, who shares her journeys while offering travel tips, advice, and guides for other backpackers.

6. Tiny Buddha

Tiny Buddha is a personal development blog created by Lori Deschene. The blog publishes content on happiness, love, relationships, mindfulness, spirituality, simplicity, minimalism, letting go, and more.

There are many more great blogs out there on many different topics. See my list of the most popular types of blogs in Nigeria. Click HERE to check now!

How Bloggers Make Money Online (secrets)

Usually, people think of bloggers as hobbyists. Some of them are, but a large number of bloggers make money from their blogs. This enables them to focus more on their blog, quit their day jobs, and build successful online businesses.

Some successful bloggers can make six-figure, seven-figure, and even eight-figure incomes from their blogs. Nevertheless we would discuss this broad topic later.

Just keep reading!

Just in case you want to have detailed explanations and my 7 figure blogging blueprint on how to make 7-figures per month online after you have successfully create and launch your affiliate marketing blog, then you can try my BLOGGING COURSE. Click HERE to check the course.

You may Ask. Can Anyone Start a Blog?

Yes, anyone who wants to start a blog, can easily do so. In the early days of affiliate blogging, users needed coding skills to even update their blogs.

Now, there are plenty of tools that allow you to easily create a blog without ever writing code. If you can point-and-click, then you can build a blog within minutes.

I’m going to show you how to set up your business blog in less 10min!  Hope you’re enjoying this great content…legggoooo!

Choosing the wrong blogging platform to start a blog is the most common mistake that beginners make. However, since you are here, you will not be making this mistake.

What is a Niche Blog?

Let me just give you a Wikipedia definition for easy understanding.

According to Wikipedia:

Niche blogging is the act of creating a blog with the intent of using it to market to a particular niche market. Niche blogs (also commonly referred to as “niche websites”) may appeal to “geographic areas, a specialty industry, ethnic or age groups, or any other particular group of people. While it could be argued that every blog is, in some form, a niche blog, the term as it applies to marketing refers to a particular kind of blog.

Neither blogging nor niche marketing is a new concept. However, only in recent years has the concept of a niche blog come into being.

Usually, niche blogs will contain affiliate links or advertisements of some sort (pay-per-click or products or both).

In some cases, the purpose of the niche blog is to incite the reader into visiting another website which may then attempt to sell the reader a product or service.

However, niche blogging relies on pay-per-click advertising, CPA affiliate programs and other revenue streams usually requires such blogs to have valuable content related to their chosen niche”

How to Find Your Blogging Niche

Are you blogging because it’s so much fun you’re forgetting to eat or pay the bills? Are you blogging to make piles and piles of cash? Or you just want to embark on your blogging journey today?

What a wonderful decision.

Like I always said “I Love To See The World Blogging.”  Therefore, I will do the best of my ability to guide you through and thoroughly. So, don’t forget to join my email list for advanced affiliate marketing guide. Just click HERE to subscribe now!

Is it possible to do both? In fact, your chances of success as a blogger are better when you love the process while still approaching it like a business.

However, many people start blogging about a topic that interests them without initially giving any consideration to generating income or building a business from it.

Others strategically build a site around a topic they know will generate passive income, but they don’t give two hoots about the topic.

They just want to make money.

You will never make a decent income with the first strategy. You can make money blogging with the second, but it won’t be sustainable. Eventually, you’ll get bored with the work, and it will impact your ability to grow your business.

I know this because I’ve tried both strategies — separately and together.

I’ve created a blog sites just based on fun and hobby, and I’ve eventually had to backtrack and rethink my strategy to make the blog profitable (which is very time-consuming) or abandon the project altogether.

I’ve also created sites just with the idea of making money, but without any real connection to the topic, and my interest and commitment waned quickly.

This year I launched a new course (7 figure affiliate marketing blueprint) focused on helping people uncover and live their life passions while generating 7 figures online with their affiliate blog.

In creating the course, I used my 7 figures blogging blueprint for you to implement after launching your blog.

Most of the potential for the success of a blog happens in the planning phase, before you choose a name, buy a domain name, decide on a blog design, or write the first blog post.

Finding your blogging niche is an art and a science that requires careful thought, research, and planning.

How to Find Your Blogging Niche

Let’s quickly discuss on how to find your perfect blogging niche. I understand that most of the pro bloggers will just list some random and outdated blogging niche on the internet. And also back it up with some nitty-gritty advise that will not help you but to harm you. Here I’m going to show you a proven ways to identify your best blogging niche by yourself.

>Part 1: Passion

To become an authority blogger, one who is viewed as having credibility, integrity, and depth of knowledge, you need to become an expert in your topic. You don’t have to begin as an expert, but over time, you must build your knowledge base.

This requires spending hours every day reading, researching, and writing about your topic, answering reader’s questions, guest posting, and talking about your topic on social media.

If you don’t love the topic, if you don’t feel passionate about it, eventually you’ll want to chew off your own foot to escape the boredom.

You can’t sustain that amount of work around a subject that doesn’t make you froth at the mouth with enthusiasm.

This is particularly true if you are selecting a narrow niche. In fact many blogging experts recommend chosing a narrow niche because, as a rule of thumb, people searching for broad terms are less inclined to spend money.

A narrow niche suggests that you have a solution to a very specific and personal problem.

My niche for https://cehub.com.ng is helping people discover business opportunities and how to grow their online businesses.

But with constant analysis, studying and understanding my target audience, I realized that most of my blog readers are within the age of 18-35 and 90% of them are looking for ways to make money online with the affiliate business model.

Click here to download affiliate marketing step by step pdf for beginners

On my other blog, I write about a range of personal development topics. But from the outset of planning this business blog, I knew I wanted to become the expert in one area.

My passion is helping others find and live their own BOSS life calling, so that’s why I selected affiliate marketing niche.

What if you don’t know your passion?

If you aren’t sure what you’re passionate about, you need to find out. Don’t select a blogging niche that feels “just sort of interesting.” If you want to build a business with your blog, view your niche like a marriage partner.

Do you love this topic enough that you can live with it day in and day out, in good times and bad? If not, don’t go there. It will likely end in divorce.

Take the time to figure out what you are passionate about. This may take weeks or months, but it is imperative if you want to sustain your blogging business.

In fact, you may need to find a couple of topics you feel passionate about (more about this below). I have plenty of tools and articles about finding your passion and building your entrepreneurial foundation, if you need some support in this endeavor.

Remember, you don’t have to be an expert in your passion initially. Over time, you will grow into an expert. But you do need to feel the love — or at least a very, very strong attraction.

>Part II: Demand

Once you have a niche in mind you feel passionate about, you’ll need to determine if there’s an audience out there equally passionate or interested in your topic.

It’s wonderful to feel all giddy about red widgets, but if only three other people in the world share that excitement, you can’t build a business.

It’s difficult to know whether people will like your topic before you create your site, but keyword research is a great way to find out how many people are searching for your topic in the search engines.

Doing this research is a must before you settle on a niche. (That’s why I suggested having a couple of passions for when one is too obscure.)

There are a variety of free and paid keyword research tools available. But for the purpose of this guide, I will recommend SEMRUSH for your keywords research. You definitely need a tool like this for your content creation.

Apart from SEMRUSH, here are some of the best free tools that I used:

• Google AdWords – Google’s free tool to help you find key phrases and words and learn about the potential competition for those words.
• Wordtracker – helps you compile associated keywords. A more thorough paid version is also available.
• Keyword Discovery – the free version of the Trellian’s keyword research tool.
• SEO Book Keyword Research- register for their free account.
• Keyword Spy– this site allows you to view your competition and find their keywords.
• Also, the next time you’re at your local news-stand scan the magazines to see the popular publication topics and the hot topics covered within the publications.

You can also use Google Trends to see if the audience for your particular topic is growing or shrinking and how it compares to other topics.

>Part III: Earning Potential

When you’re thinking about blog monetization, always begin with the readers in mind. The mantra of any successful blogger should be, “How can I serve my reader?” If you can provide solutions, support, and value to your reader — and if there’s a way to package that in products or services — you can find a way to monetize your blog.

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Do some research on what other sites in the same niche are doing to monetize their blogs.
2. Check out affiliate marketing networks like Expertnaire or Stakecute to see the affiliate products available in your niche.
3. Do a search of your keyword or topic on Google to see what ads appear above or to the right of your results to get an idea if advertisers are targeting your keywords.

One of the most lucrative monetizing methods is by creating your own products and services to offer your readers. Check out this info product sales system to learn how to launch your own info product.

You have complete control of the message and quality, and you receive 100% of the income generated on your blog with your products.

Since my blog is an expert site (putting the focus on me as an “expert” at helping people find business live their BOSS life with affiliate marketing), it is important that I create a personalized solution for my readers.

I created a 7 figure blogging blueprint based on my personal experience, coaching work, and research, to help people launch a passive income affiliate marketing blog and live their passions.

Then I created books and courses around this solution which I offer for sale on Selar marketplace.

I also offer personal mentorship, on-demand services like email copywriting and SEO content writing. And eventually, I may decide to create a membership program when necessary.

Of course, before you offer your own digital products for sale, you must first build your personal credibility and foster trust and loyalty with your readers.

This is done through providing consistently useful and quality content through posts and meaty free products.

There are a myriad of other ways you can create income with your blog — including advertising, affiliate sales, membership programs, and partnerships.

Many of your decisions about how to monetize your blog will be based on the niche you select. Some topics lend themselves more to one method than others.

Remember, your reader and what they need is the most important thing to keep in mind with decisions about monetizing.

As you test different products and services, your reader will let you know whether you’re on the right track.

If they like what you are offering (and it’s marketed properly), they will continue to buy from you.

By doing this advanced work before you create your blog, combining passion, demand, and earning potential, you will exponentially increase your likelihood of success — while feeling fulfilled and happy with your daily work.

The following are just some of the most popular monetization methods used by blogs all over the world:

Advertising: Running ads, often through an advertising network like Google AdSense. Some bloggers sell ads directly to companies instead.

Sponsorship: Running sponsored (paid for) content from an advertiser. This is often in the form of sponsored blog posts, but could also include social media posts on Instagram or other social networks. I charge little fee to sponsor a post on my blog. More WINS!!!

Affiliate marketing: Linking to products or services that offer commission when someone clicks on your link and makes a purchase.

This is a great way to monetize your blog. I have a lot of affiliate marketing tips and tools to make it easy for you in this blogging course.

Digital products: By selling digital products like Ebooks, online courses, printables, apps, software, music, and more. Digital products generally have low overheads and can work for almost any niche.

Services: If you’re a writer, photographer, coach, or similar, that can be a great way to monetize your blog. You might even start a blog to help you market an existing service you offer, like logo design or freelance writing.

Physical products: Although they have higher costs than digital ones, physical products can be a great way to make money. It’s easy to add an online store to your WordPress blog and start selling.

Lucrative Blogging Niche

You might already have a topic in mind for your blog, or you might not have any ideas at all. All the niches below are great ones to try, so long as you pick a topic that you’re truly interested in.

These are all big, popular niches that have been around for years and that you can make a lot of money from.

1. Health and Fitness

Health and fitness are huge topics, and you’ll definitely find an audience if you’re blogging about something in this area.

Health and fitness is one of the most popular blogging niches. It is a lucrative niche which means there are a ton of blogs that will be competing with you. 

The easiest way to build your voice is by narrowing it down to your general interest.

There are lots of different angles that you could take:

• A particular diet: paleo, gluten-free, raw food, 5:2, keto…
• A particular type of exercise: running, weight-lifting, CrossFit…
• A specific audience: women, men, young, old, geeky…
• A particular approach to health: homeopathy, acupuncture, wellness…
• Sharing your progress: if you’re on a health journey of your own, you could update readers on that and share your lessons learned.

2. Personal Finance

We all need money, and many of us want to earn more, spend less, or save more. Blogs on personal finance have found huge audiences, and again, there are lots of different angles and approaches you can take.

You might choose to write about:

• Frugality: money saving tips, using coupons, anti-consumerism…
• Investing: market tips, best index funds, angel investors…
• Debt: paying it off, mortgages, student loans…
• Budgeting: software, motivation, cost-cutting tips…
• Sharing your progress: this is quite common with blogs that focus on getting out of debt.

3. Fashion and Beauty

Fashion is another immensely popular blogging niche and one that could be a great money-maker.

It’s a particularly good fit if you love posting on Instagram, which is where some fashion bloggers have become especially influential.

Many fashion blogs focus on the blogger and include lots of photos. If you want to remain anonymous, or if you hate being photographed, then this type of fashion blogging probably isn’t for you.

Instead, you might want to blog about particular trends within fashion, or share fashion-related news.

Although you might associate fashion blogging with female bloggers, this niche isn’t just for women.

There are plenty of men’s fashion blogs (often called “men’s style”) out there too.

These tend to focus more on tips and product suggestions than on personal photos. Click HERE to check out my list of top and successful fashion bloggers in Nigeria.

4. Lifestyle & Entertainment

What’s the “lifestyle” niche in blogging? It can be a little confusing if you’re new to blogging, so let’s break it down. Lifestyle means writing about a range of different topics that are connected through having the same audience.

For instance, you might have a lifestyle blog where you write about food, fashion, and motherhood. The connection is that you’re writing for women in their 30s and 40s who want to eat well and look great while raising young children.

Alternatively, you might have a lifestyle blog aimed at single women that focuses on travel, beauty, and hair. Or you might have a blog aimed at men aged 20 to 40 that’s all about style, fitness, and music.

Also, you can decide to focus on hyping and trending celebrities news, political controversy and scandals, music and comedies.

This falls under the entertainment niche. Click HERE to check out my list of top 5 entertainment blogs in Nigeria that rock the industry.

The mix of topics is up to you, but it’s important to make sure your blog has a very clear brand to give it focus and direction.

Tip: Many fashion WordPress themes or fitness WordPress themes can be a good fit for lifestyle blogs.

As with fashion blogs, design is really important in this niche, so invest in a premium theme if you can.

5. Business and Marketing

There are loads of blogs out there that cover business and marketing related topics. If you’ve been reading a lot about blogging, you might feel like every popular blog talks about something to do with blogging, marketing or building a business!

If you’ve got a business or marketing background, then starting a blog in this niche could be a great idea.

As with the other niches on our list, this is a huge one, so you’ll want to find a clear focus and voice for your own blog.

Depending on your expertise and interests, you might choose to blog about:

• B2B marketing
• B2C marketing
• Entrepreneurship: starting and growing companies (my blog niche indeed)
• Small businesses: more and more people are moving into self-employment, so this is a great area to target
• A particular type of marketing or area of marketing: networking, social media marketing, copywriting, direct response marketing…

6. Technology and Gaming

The fast-paced technology niche is great for making money from affiliate income, either directly from manufacturers and software companies, or through a website like Amazon.

Your best monetization routes are likely to be through advertising and affiliate marketing.

Even if you’re not writing in-depth product reviews, a technology or gaming blog will give you lots of chances to link to products or software using affiliate links.

You might not be able to break industry news or share insider information, but there are still lots of things you could write about in this niche:

• Specific equipment or gadgets: phone handsets, digital cameras, fitness trackers, Chromebooks…
• Games: for consoles, PCs, mobiles, Facebook…
• Tutorials: either for a specific piece of software (e.g. Photoshop) or more wide-ranging
• Latest news: usually about a particular company or type of product
• Technology or gaming for a specific demographic, such as teens or boomers
• Related: See our step by step complete affiliate marketing guide for beginners.

7. Travel Niche

The final niche on my recommended list is travel. Again, it’s a hugely popular niche, both with bloggers and with readers, and there are a lot of different approaches you could take to build a successful blog.

Blogging about your own travels could be monetized through affiliate links to hotels, recommended travel buys, and so on. It might even give you opportunities for free vacations.

Great photos are, of course, an important part of your travel blog. Even if you’re just writing about local attractions, people will want to see pictures.

You could focus your travel blog by writing about:

• Specific countries or continents: things to do, restaurants to visit, ways to get around…
• A particular type of traveler: families, solo female travelers, digital nomads…
• Travel deals: for flights, hotels, packages…
• Your own travels: having a key theme or brand can make this easier to monetize
• For detailed instructions, see our guide on how to start a travel blog and make money from it.

Other Popular Blogging Niche to Consider:

Of course, these aren’t the only ones you could make great money from. There are bloggers out there with successful blogs on almost any topic you could think of.

Maybe none of the ideas we’ve looked at sound like a good fit for you. Don’t push yourself to start a blog on a topic that you’re not interested in.

Here are some other good options to try. They all have the potential to make plenty money for you.

#Crafts Blog

If you love to knit, paint, sew, make jewelry, or engage in some other type of craft, why not blog about it? There are lots of great crafty blogs out there, and they tend to do really well on Pinterest.

As with other highly visual niches, like fashion, lifestyle, and travel, you’ll need to be able to include great photos. You could monetize by using affiliate links to any crafting tools and supplies that you want to promote or by selling your crafted items through a marketplace like Etsy.

#DIY Blog (Do It Yourself)

Do you enjoy decorating and remodeling your home? Or maybe you’ve gone further and redesigned or even rebuilt your home. There are plenty of DIY blogs out there, and this can be a great type of blogging to try if you enjoy writing tutorials and “how-to” articles.

#Parenting Blog

Do you have kids? There are thousands of blogs out there about parenting, covering all sorts of different angles. While you might think the niche is already full of mommy bloggers, the audience for parenting blogs is so large that it’s definitely worth considering.

To help your parenting blog stand out, you’ll want a clear angle. You could write about a stage of parenting (like parenting toddlers) or you could write for a certain group of parents (like older parents or teen parents).

#Educational Blog

Is there a topic that you know well and that you could teach others about? That could become a great niche for you.

For instance, perhaps you’re a keen amateur photographer and you could write detailed tutorials for beginners. Or maybe you’re an experienced developer and you could offer tips for people learning to code.

Sites that teach people how to do something can almost always be monetized through selling ebooks, online courses, or other information products. 

Tip: You can also create and sell online courses along with your blog posts to make some serious dough.

#Food Blog

We all need to eat! Blogs about food can be hugely popular. In this niche, you’ll almost certainly be sharing recipes, so you’ll want to take photos that make your food look great.

Again, it helps to have an angle or specific area that your blog focuses on within the broader niche.

Perhaps you’ll be writing about quick and easy meals that taste great or about gluten-free or dairy-free recipes.

Advertising, affiliate links, or your own recipe book could all be great ways to monetize your food blog.

Woooow!….It’s wonderful for deciding your Blogging Niche. Now, let us dive into the quick, quicker and quickest steps to set up your niche blog within 10min!!!

How to Setup Your Affiliate Marketing Blog!

Before we get started with the practical part of this guide I’d like to address one of the most common questions I usually come across about blogging:

Can’t I just sign up for a free blog?

 (e.g; example.blogspot.com)

I would not recommend that if you want make passive income from your blog and here’s why:

If you’re on a free blogging platform then you may not be taken as seriously as you’d like by readers and companies (that may want to buy from you, advertise on your website or hire you for a freelancing job).

You won’t have full control over your website. This means, for example, a free blogging platform provider can insert unwanted ads on your website and you may not be able to monetize the website as you’d like. For instance, making money from google ads or affiliate programs.

So if you want to make money from your website you need to be self-hosted so that you can have full control over your content, design and brand, and all options to monetize your blog.

Don’t worry I will show you how to create a self-hosted blog in 10min!!!

Rush! Rush!! DON’T wait!!!… 

Let Us Launch Your Business Blog That Can Generate You $5,000-$10,000 Monthly Income Consistently!

Something big has been happening in the world of of online marketing. How is it possible that so many people, from all walks of life and all ages, are creating blogs and entire businesses online?

Can block of text, blended with a series of images really possess superpowers?

And, honestly, how many people want to read the scattered thoughts of an average person like you or me?

Today I’d like to give you every single step that you need to follow to create, launch and scale your affiliate marketing blog. And learning how to monetize it in just 10 minutes.

So let’s get started and go over how to make a blog and teach you how to become a affiliate marketing blogger.

Step 1. Unleash ideas within you

If you want to create a blog, you don’t need a revolutionary idea. But, your blog should be focused on something specific.

Remember that no idea, no matter how good, is truly unique.

But, you have unique experiences. You have a distinct voice. And, you probably have a vibrant personality that will attract others like your family and friends.

When it comes to choosing your blog’s niche, there are 2 key questions to ask yourself.

1. Do I enjoy learning about this topic?

If you don’t love the topic, it’ll show in your writing. You shouldn’t even start a blog if you don’t love what you’re blogging about.

Whatever topic you pick, you need to love it, and naturally be curious about it.  If not, you’ll run out of ideas quickly. Most importantly, you won’t be able to consistently create content that will build your audience.

If you are still lost, think about what your family and friends come to you for when seeking advice? It might be fitness, recipes or relationship advice. You know best.

2. Are there others who are interested in the same things?

You might feel like the only 23-year-old who’s obsessed with knitting. But, there are others out there. Do a quick Google search and you’ll find 539,000 results aimed at people just like you.

You might be wondering if your idea is too quirky. Or, maybe it’s too broad?

If you want to start a travel blog, stay away from generic words like “travel.” Choose a more specific topic, like “backpacking.” I can give you a million examples, but it’s better if I show you.

Enter a keyword below and you’ll have a data-backed answer right away.

Step 2: Name your blog and get web hosting

This is a fun and important step, because your blog name is your brand. It’s how you’ll be remembered. But, don’t overthink it.  The key is to take action and gain momentum.

When you’re starting a blog from scratch, you need two things.

The first is a domain name.  This is your blog’s name. For example, mine is cehub.com.ng. Domain names will run you roughly $10/year but you can get a free domain when you sign up for hosting with Truehost. If you don’t find the right domain name, no worries you can still start a blog and change your name later.

The second is web hosting. Web hosting is a service that allows your blog to be accessed through the internet.

Without web hosting, your blog can’t be seen online. Without a domain name, your blog won’t have an address. The two are inseparable.

There are plenty of web hosting companies to choose from. Prices generally range from $3 – $1000/month.

If you’re just starting a new blog, you should use Truehost. They are the biggest and most well-known hosting company that provides the cheapest web hosting and LiteSpeed website.

WHY Truehost???

Truehost provide cheapest domain names and recommended by thousands of digital marketers: Truehost powers thousands of websites all over the world.

And it is recommended by WordPress itself, as well as by some of the most respected and successful bloggers.

One-click installer: A second important reason is that they have what’s called a one-click installer. And that’s exactly what it sounds like. You press a button and then you have a WordPress blog just like https://cehub.com.ng.

You’ll be self-hosted: This gives you the opportunity to have control of your blog. You get a free domain name for buying their hosting package.

A free SSL certificate: You can use this to add an extra layer of security to your website (this is something Google and many others are getting very serious about in 2020).

24/7 support: So that you can ask questions or get help whenever you need it.

30 day money back guarantee. If you’re not happy with them then you’ll get a refund.

Get a special discount here when you register today: Truehost has been kind enough to offer a special discount for anyone who sets up a WordPress website or blog using their hosting package.

So, you can start with Truehost Gold Hosting at N1,200 per month but if you want to avoid unnecessary upgrades when you start making money from your blog.

It would be more advisable to start with Truehost Platinum Hosting at N4,500 per month. My blog is running on Platinum Hosting and the experience is absolutely awesome.

I recommend starting with Truehost Platinum Hosting and keep your renewal period at 12 months.

Although, the higher the period the increase of your hosting discount. For instance, if you decide to register for a 36 months plan (3years) you will get a discount more than someone that registers for a 12 months plan (1 year). Click here to register for the Platinum Hosting Plan Now!

Affiliate disclosure: This blog is a reader-support platform. We may earn a little commission at no additional cost to you when you register on Truehost using our affiliate link. Thank you for supporting us!

To be honest, you really don’t need anything fancy at this stage. Once you hit over 25,000 unique visitors a month, you can consider upgrading, but Truehost can scale with you. When naming your blog, you may want to take these tips into consideration.

• Choose a .com over others (if you’re targeting a global audience). In my own case, I’m targeting the Nigerian audience hence the use of .com.ng.
• Aim for 2-3 words. Unfortunately, most, if not all single word domains are taken.
• Try to use a keyword that represents what your blog is about. This helps people quickly identify your blog’s niche and helps search engines distinguish what your blog is about.
• Avoid using numbers and hyphens. They are difficult to remember. Go for something memorable or catchy. For personal brands, use your name or a variation of it.
• Try the tool below and see if your domain name is available. If it’s unavailable, you’ll get some relevant suggestions.

It might take some effort to find the perfect name for your blog, but it’s worth the thought and effort when starting a new brand.

Step 3. Install WordPress – your blogging software

You can’t start a blog without blogging software. I run all of my blogs on WordPress because it’s user-friendly, free and powerful. If you decide to make a blog that’s not on WordPress you’ll find that it is much more costly as WordPress offers thousands of free plugins that allows you to modify your blog in any way, shape or form. Even without a technical bone in your body, you can install WordPress in exactly 5 clicks.

Here’s how.

After you get your domain name and hosting account, you can log in and use your first click on the “Install WordPress” icon.

Choose the “do it yourself” version and click the “Install” button. Use your third click on the “Check Domain” button.

Your last two clicks will be for acknowledging their terms of service and finalizing your install.

Within a minute, you’ll have a fully functional WordPress blog up and running.

Step 4. Design your blog with a WordPress theme

In the blogging world, WordPress designs are called themes. Out of the box, your blog will look something like this:

It isn’t the fanciest design out there, but it’s workable. There are thousands of themes to choose from. But, it can be easy to get trapped in “Shiny Object Syndrome” and not walk away with anything. You can swap out your theme any time, so don’t get too caught up with the bells and whistles. First, you need to log into your WordPress admin. You can access this by going to: yourdomain.com/wp-admin.

Here, you’ll need to enter your user credentials to log in.

If you’re new to WordPress, the dashboard might look a little daunting at first, but you’ll be an expert with a little practice.

To install a new theme, hover over the “Appearance” menu in the sidebar and click “Themes.”

WordPress comes with a few themes – their “Twenty-[Year]” themes.

Instead, we’ll search for flashier themes that will instantly make your eyes twinkle. Click the “Add New” button at the top to get access to thousands of WordPress themes.

Your taste and mine might be different. Fortunately, WordPress has a “Feature Filter” that lets you search for something that will fit your style.

The 3 categories are “layout,” “features” and “subject.” Here’s what your filter requests might look like.

After applying the filters, you’ll see amazing themes that would otherwise cost thousands of dollars in design fees. Since I like you, it’s free ?

If you click on the theme’s thumbnail, you can get an instant preview of what your blog will look like. Evaluate if it fits both your personal style and the topic that you’ll be covering.

Once you’re satisfied with the sneak peek, click the “Install” button.

Once the installation is complete, click the “Activate” button and you’re all set. If you can’t find a theme that you like, there are premium themes that you can purchase from sites like:

• Themeforest.com

• Elegantthemes.com

• StudioPress.com

• Thrivethemes.com

By now, your theme should be activated and ready to go. Let’s move on to customizing your theme.

Step 5. Customize and optimize your WordPress blog

There are endless customizations that you can make on a WordPress blog. We’ll stick with the essentials. Themes are the foundation of your design and include the core functionalities.

WordPress also has plugins that can add to or extend the functionality of your blog. For example, you can use plugins to add forums, contact forms or sliders. While they might seem like basic features, they aren’t always available by default.

The first step is to click the “Customize” button on your active theme.

Menu options in the sidebar will vary, depending on the theme you choose. The main category to edit is “Site Identity.”

Here, you can add the name of your blog and a tagline if you wish. When you’re done, click the “Save and Publish” button.

Optimize for Search Engine Traffic

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a multi-billion dollar industry. SEO is the process of optimizing your website to be found in search engines for particular keywords and phrases. I attribute a good portion of my success to being easily discoverable for relevant search terms, which has helped me build my networks and net worth.

If you’re new to SEO, then this new feat may seem daunting. But, WordPress makes it insanely simple to optimize the technical aspects of your blog. The majority of your SEO efforts will be to create engaging content for real people. Whether that’s through text, videos, or images, your job as a blogger is to spark a relationship with your readers.

And, what better way is there than through relatable and informative conversation?. You can get started by downloading a plugin called “Yoast SEO.“

Hover over the plugins menu on the side and click “Add New.”

Search for “Yoast SEO” in the search bar and it will be the first result that comes up. Click the “Install Now” button. Then, hit the “Activate” button once the installation is complete.

You can zoom to see the screenshot clearly and access the plugin’s settings from the new SEO menu in the sidebar or by clicking the icon at the top.

 

From the dashboard, go to “Your Info” and set the foundations for your blog.

Make sure that your website name and tagline are correct. Then, identify yourself as a company or person. Click the “Save Changes” button and we’ll move on to the next step.

Next, go to the “Webmaster Tools” tab and click “Google Search Console.” Google Search Console is a webmaster tool that allows you to submit your site to their search index and optimize visibility.

Screen guide below!

Sign into your Google account, whether that’s your Gmail or Drive account.

Once you’ve logged in, click the “Alternate methods” tab and select “HTML tag.”

A new drop-down will appear with your search console meta code. Copy the alphanumeric string without the quotation marks.

Next, paste your meta code into the Google Search Console text box and click “Save Changes.”

Finally, click the “Verify” button.

As you tinker around in Webmaster Central, you’ll gain a wealth of data-driven insight, such as keyword phrases you rank for, errors on your blog and the ability to give Google a nudge when you publish a new post.

Next, go to the “General” tab and start the installation wizard.

Yoast will take you through a series of 10 quick steps to optimize your WordPress blog. The first step is a welcome screen that you can skip.

In the second step, select the environment that best suits your site. Most likely, you’ll choose the production environment, which means that it is a real website that you intend on driving traffic to.

Step 3 is the website type. Choose a blog and click next.

The next step is to set yourself up as a company or person. We already set this up before, so you can skip this step.

In step 5, you can add any social profiles that are associated with your blog. Click “Next” when complete.

Step 6 is about post visibility. The default settings are fine to use. Set your “Posts” and “Pages” to visible and “Media” to hidden.

Next, you’ll have to decide whether you’ll have multiple authors or a solo blogger. If you choose to add another writer in the future, you can change these settings later.

If you wish to have the Yoast SEO plugin pull in data from Google’s search console, step 8 is the place to do it. Let us quickly integrate it.

Click on the “Get Google Authorization Code” button.

A new pop-up will appear where you can allow Yoast to access your search console data. Click the “Allow” button to confirm access.

In step 9, you can verify your website name and choose a title separator.

The title separator is a symbol used to separate your blog post’s title and your website’s name in the meta title information.

This is what Google searchers will see when finding your blog through a search query.

The symbol is a matter of personal preference. Click “Next” when you’re ready to move on.

The final step is no step at all. It’s a congratulatory message confirming that you have successfully optimized your SEO settings for your budding WordPress blog.

XML Sitemaps integration

The last Yoast SEO setting worth configuring is an XML sitemap. An XML sitemap is a file that lists the URLs for your website. It helps Google and other search engines crawl your site for new posts and pages. Fortunately, Yoast has a built-in feature that automatically updates your sitemap, so you can click it and forget it.

In the “Features” tab, set the “Advanced settings pages” to “Enabled” and save the changes.

A new group of menus will appear in the sidebar, under “SEO.” Select the “XML Sitemaps” menu.

Select the “User Sitemap” tab and toggle “Author / user sitemap” to enable. Don’t forget to save your changes.

You can play around with these settings endlessly, but everything that we’ve set up to this point will get you started on the right track.

How to Set up permalinks:

Permalinks are static hyperlinks that lead to a particular blog post or page. By default, WordPress sets your permalinks to yourdomain.com/postID.

In no way is this sexy and it doesn’t help anyone understand what the page is about before viewing it.

The simple fix is to set a permalink structure.

In the left sidebar, mouse-over “Settings” and choose “Permalinks.”

There are a few options to choose from. I use the “Post name” structure on my blog which uses keywords from my title to create a unique permalink.

Save the settings after you’ve selected it. You’ll see this in action a bit later.

If you’re still with me, you’ve purchased your domain and web hosting, installed a theme and optimized your website to be crawled and found by search engines.

Now, we get to the bread and butter of the affiliate marketing blogging. What are you going to write about in your blog?

Let’s find out.

Step 6. Brainstorm blog topics

On the technical side, your blog is all set up and ready to go. When it comes to topic generation, the world is your oyster.

The majority of your blog posts will come from personal experiences, passions, successes, failures and new learnings.

People use questions as search queries, like:

• What should I write about?

• What to blog about?

• Should I start blogging?

So naturally, you should start off with some questions of your own. I use a series of questions and a systematic process to come up with my blog topic ideas.

No need to worry. It’s not complicated and it won’t take very much time.

By following this process, you should be able to come up with about 50 working topics within an hour of distraction-free time.

Pull out a pen and paper or open up your favorite word processing tool. The goal of this exercise is to get 10 answers for each question. If you can think of more, note them all. It’s time to look through the lens of your readers with these 5 questions.

1. “What excites, intrigues or stirs passion in my readers?”

Examples:

• As a golfer, I get excited by hitting my driver farther. I’m fascinated by mental performance. I’m passionate about healthy living.
• As a new stay-at-home mom, I get excited by budget-friendly ideas for the family. I’m intrigued by sleep-training. I’m passionate about homeschooling.
• As an avid camper, I get excited about finding undervalued camping sites. I’m intrigued by survival tactics. I’m passionate about minimalist living.

2. “What are common challenges my readers go through?”

Examples:

• Golfers might struggle with slicing the ball.
• Stay-at-home moms may find meal planning challenging.
• Campers might struggle with packing light.

3. “What character traits do my readers possess?

Example:

• Serious golfers have emotional stability.
• Moms are patient and have a sense of humor.
• Campers are adventurous and resourceful.

4. “What do your readers love about your niche?”

Example:

• Golfers love the challenge of perfection.
• Stay-at-home moms love being a part of their child’s mental, physical and emotional development.
• Campers love time away from the busy city life.

5. “What do your readers hate about your niche?”

Examples:

• Golfers hate playing with partners who complain all day long.
• Stay-at-home moms hate being looked down on by others.
• Campers hate getting eaten alive.

You get the point. Now that you have about 50 answers, you can begin writing blog post ideas from each answer. The sky is your limit.

Here are a few examples you can extract from one answer in your list:

• Cure Your Slice: The Foolproof Guide To Hit The Fairway Every Time
• 3 Reasons Why You’re Slicing The Ball And One Stupid Simple Fix
• Never Slice Again: 9 Drills To Play Like The Pros
• 7 Training Aids For Dead Straight Ball Flight
• How To Shoot Even Par With A Nasty Slice.

Try to come up with a catchy headline that will draw your readers in and then throw them a one-two punch in the rest of your content.

 Content Is KING!!!

Step 7. Write your first masterpiece

WordPress uses an intuitive editor, similar to your favorite word processing tools. New entries are created directly from your WordPress admin.

Click on “Posts” in the left sidebar.

This will populate a list of your blog entries in descending order. Since we’re working with a fresh install, you won’t see anything here. To create a new entry, click the “Add New” button at the top or in the sidebar.

You’ll be brought to the editor and you can begin blogging.

Click the “Toolbar Toggle” icon to get a few more editing options to spruce up your posts. The new tools are especially useful when creating subheadings throughout your articles.

First things first. Add one of the titles that you developed in your brainstorming session in the title text box. Immediately after, WordPress will create a permalink based on the keywords used in your title.

You can start typing the body of your article in the large text area and write until you feel happy with your content.

You’ll want to add visual assets to your blog posts as well. Images help engage readers and can often illustrate concepts better than words. Let’s do that quickly!

To add new images, ensure that your text cursor is in the place where you want your image to appear. Click the “Add Media” button.

Now, drag and drop your image file into the media box

After your image has been uploaded, select your image and click the “Insert into post” button. You can format sizes and add hyperlinks to your images if you wish. Your image will automatically insert into your post.

After you’ve write your article, you’ll need to make a few last minute optimization using the Yoast SEO plugin.

Yoast has post specific settings that can be found immediately under the main text area.

The 4 main settings are “SEO title,”“slug,” “meta description” and “focus keyword.” Completing these settings will generate a preview of what your post will look like when it is discovered in Google’s search engine results.

Create SEO titles that are attractive to click and meta descriptions that explain what your post is about. The Yoast SEO plugin will provide real-time feedback, as you begin to optimize your title and description.

Aim for as many green lights as possible, but don’t stress if you’re unable to get a perfect score. If you can get 80% green lights, then you’re on the right track.

Finally, if your blog has thumbnails, you should set a featured image. Featured images are thumbnails that appear above each post.

You can set your featured image by clicking on “Set featured image” at the bottom of the right sidebar.

The media window will pop-up, and it’s just a matter of dragging and dropping your photo. Once the upload is complete, click the “Set featured image” button.

Before you publish your post, you can view what your blog post will look like by clicking the “preview” button at the top of the page.

Before you hit that publish button, you want to make sure that your entry looks and feels the way that you want it to.

Here’s a quick checklist to consider, before you hit the publish button:

• Speak in a conversational tone.
• Content flows naturally.
• Easy on the eyes with adequate white space.
• Use headings to separate sections.
• Bullet points and lists.
• Check for typos and grammatical errors.
• If everything checks out, you’re ready to publish your first blog post.

Scroll to the top of the page and click the publish button to post immediately.

Congratulations??????????????. You’ve successfully set up affiliate marketing blog that looks great and is optimized for search engine traffic. Feels good right?

My best plugins for your affiliate marketing blog:

#Akismet Anti-spam:

This one puts the spam comments that people try to add to my blog posts right into the virtual trash bin. An absolute necessity because comment spam can quickly get out of hand.

W3 Total Cache:

This plugin helps your blog to load faster and to put less stress on your web hosting account. This is important because many use smartphones to browse the web today and if your website doesn’t load quickly then they are likely to move on to another website.

It’s also an essential plugin if a piece of your content goes viral. If you don’t have it installed at such a time then your website is likely to crash and most of all those potential new readers and fans will only see an error page.

Wordfence Security:

This plugin protects my website from being hacked (such attempts are more common than you may think).

WP Forms Lite:

An easy way to set up a contact form where readers can contact me and that keeps the spam emails far away from my blog.

Easy Social Share Buttons:

A really flexible plugin for adding social media buttons and many more things related to social media to your website. It’s not free, but you only have to make a one-time payment of $19 to use it for many, many years.

Affiliate marketing Blog Mistakes You should Avoid

First thing I would have done sooner if I could do all of this again…

In this section I’d like to share some additional helpful tips for turning your new website into a successful one, mistakes I’ve made and things I simply didn’t know about in my early days.

Don’t make my biggest mistake: get an email list up as soon as possible.

If I could start over again with my blog and business then the most important thing I would do differently would be to start building an email list as soon as possible.

Instead I waited for 2 years and missed out on connections, on building my readership and on income.

Why is an email list so important?

More engagement. I usually get more good feedback, inspiring personal stories and making connections when I send an email newsletter compared to when I publish a post on my website.

Shares and readership of my blog increased. When I have a new post up on my website then I usually send out a quick email about it to my newsletter subscribers.

I have found that this increases the shares on social media and attention both inside and outside of my readership that the post gets.

Sales go up. When I send out an email about a new course I’ve created or a special promotion I’m running, then 80% or more of my sales come from that email (and maybe 20% comes from a blog post about it on my website).

The same goes for weekly sales numbers of my course memberships. If you don’t have an email list then you’re likely leaving a lot of money on the table.

I highly recommend you should start building your list using CLOSE CRM to be less affected by big outside influences like social media accounts ban.

Click here to check out my best 13 email marketing software to choose the one that’s best for you!

 If Google decides to push me down in their search results and send less new readers to my website or Facebook changes their algorithm then I’m less affected by that.

Because I have my email list and there is nothing another company can do to reduce it or take it away. It’s a security that keeps a small business more stable as the winds online twist and turn.

I recommend you should SIGN UP ON CLOSE CRM for setting up an email automation. It’s what I use for my high ticket affiliate marketing and I’m happy with the support, functions and results.

Rapping up on how to start affiliate marketing blog

Starting an affiliate marketing blog is easy. Creating one that will be successful and make money requires hard work, dedication and grit.

But, the rewards far outweigh the risks.

Blogs are affordable and more accessible today than they have ever been before. Like anything else in life, there will be obstacles that attempt to throw you off course.

But, I encourage you to go forward with your niche and share it through your own blog. Everything that you need to get started is here. You can begin right now by getting your domain name and web hosting at Truehost in  for just N4,500 per month (Platinum Package) or N1,200 per month (Gold Package).

As you begin your blogging journey, remember that you’re speaking to humans. Be you. Be adventurous. Be honest and transparent.

As you continue to consistently create great content, your tribe will flock to you, listen and respond. Grow your traffic!!!!