Earning money online has become more and more popular since the beginning of the world pandemic in 2019. I am earning over R5,000 per month after 3 months of blogging, So I will guide you on how to create a blog in South Africa. You can also earn even more but you need to follow exactly what I will be teaching you in this article.
Blogging is one of the easiest ways to create a source of income for yourself. The best thing is anyone can create a blog and start earning with it in different ways. There is also a low being the entire so why not start it you have nothing to lose.
Create A Blog In South Africa
If you want to have a successful blogging journey, you have to first build a solid foundation, and treat your blog as a business rather than as a hobby. Your first step will be identifying and preparing the following
- Niche
- Branding Your Blog
- (Choose) Which Blog Platform Is Best
- Do Key Word Research
- Build Your Blog
- Monetize Your Blog
Now I will dive deep into the above topics giving you all my personal methods, tips, tricks, dos, and don’t. I am living proof that with Blogging you can create a passive income.
What Is A Niche In Blogging
Let’s start by understanding what exactly a niche is. A niche is a specific type of content that you want to write articles about i.e Affiliate Marketing Niche, Cooking Niche, and more. But I like to separate it into two categories which are, Exact Niche and Broad Niche
Broad Niche
In Blogging, A Broad Niche refers to a blog that covers a wide range of topics within a particular industry or area of interest. For Example, a blog about money ideas can be considered a broad niche as it could cover topics like Affiliate Marketing, Investing, Dropshipping, And more. Also, a blog about Health and wellness could cover topics such as nutrition, exercise, and mental health
Blogging about a broad niche can be challenging, as it requires a deep understanding of many different topics and the ability to consistently produce high-quality content.
Exact Niche
I Blogging, An Exact Niche refers to a blog that focuses on a very specific topic or subtopic within a particular industry or area of interest. For Example, a blog about Affiliate marketing can be considered an exact niche as it could cover Affiliate marketing topics only.
Blogging about an exact niche can also offer a number of benefits, including potentially monetizing the blog more effectively through specialized products or services. But the best advantage is having topical authority over that niche.
Top 5 Key Factors To Consider When Choosing A Niche For Blogging
Passion
Choose a niche that you are truly passionate about. This will help you to stay motivated and engaged, and it will also make your writing more authentic and engaging for your readers.
Knowledge
Choose a niche in which you have a high level of knowledge or expertise. This will help you to produce high-quality content that is informative and valuable to your readers.
Search Volume (SEO)
Do some research to see what types of keywords are already being covered in your niche to find if people are searching about it and whether there is a gap in the market that you could fill.
Monetization potential
Try to find whether there are opportunities to monetize your blog through advertising, sponsored content, affiliate marketing, or the sale of products or services. To increase your earning potential
Competition
Find your competition in your chosen niche. If it is a highly competitive niche, it may be more challenging to stand out and establish yourself. On the other hand, a less competitive niche may offer more growth opportunities.
Once you have considered everything you will already have pinned down what exactly you will enjoy writing articles about and has a high return rate for your time invested.
Branding Your Blog
Branding your blog is not an important step but it can help with sponsors because you will be seen as someone who is business-minded. Here are a few key elements to consider when branding your blog:
Name
Choose a name for your blog that is memorable, catchy, and reflective of the content and tone of your blog. it’s also a good idea for your blog domain to have the same name as your blog unless you are using your real name for your domain.
Logo
Develop a logo that is unique, visually appealing, and consistent with your brand. I would recommend you first choose a theme if you are using a pre-build starter template for your blog, This will help you choose matching colors for your logo. Use this website to build a simple logo
Theme
Select a theme or design for your blog that is visually appealing and consistent with your brand. If you are using WordPress I recommend the Blocksy Theme which is one of the best.
By establishing a strong brand for your blog, you can differentiate yourself from your competitors and build a loyal following of readers who recognize and trust your content.
Which Blog Platform Is Best
There are tons of blogging platforms you can start with, but they come with their pros and cons. Your choice will be determined by your budget + the simplicity you want for your blog. For example, choosing between Blogspot or WordPress for your blogging website, where Blogger (Blogspot) is totally free, and with WordPress, you might have to spend money.
Blogger Vs WordPress
Blogger and WordPress are both popular platforms for creating and managing a blog. However, they have their own differences:
| ⚙️Aspect | ☑️Blogger | ✅WordPress |
|---|---|---|
| 💾Hosting | Hosted platform by Google | Self-hosted, requires an external web host |
| 🛠️Customizability | Limited customization options | Highly customizable with a lot of themes and plugins to choose from. |
| 🤔Ownership | Owned by Google, subject to their terms | Open-source, You have more control over the site and terms |
| 🚀SEO | SEO-friendly and simple | SEO-friendly, with the potential for greater optimization |
In my, experience Blogger is a good choice for beginners who want an easy-to-use platform with limited customization options, while WordPress is a better choice for both beginner and experienced users who want more control over the design and functionality of their site, even though it requires more technical know-how. I would recommend you use WordPress.
Key Word Research For Your Blog
Keyword research is an important step in creating a successful blog, as it helps you understand what your audience is searching for and create content that is more likely to be discovered by search engines like Google. Here are the steps to do keyword research for your blog:
- Use keyword research tools
- There are several free and paid tools available that can help you with your keyword research, such as Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Moz Keyword Explorer. These tools can help you find relevant keywords, as well as information on search volume, competition, and potential traffic.
- You can also use a Chrome extension, With one of my favorite SEMrush
- Prioritize keywords
- After finding and making your list of keywords, rank from low competition to high competition. Then you can focus on keywords with the highest search volume and lowest competition.
- Add keywords to your content
- Once you’ve identified your target keywords, make sure to use them in your blog post titles, meta descriptions, and throughout your content in a natural way.
How To Create A WordPress Blog
- Choose A Hosting Provider
- WordPress is a content management system that requires a web hosting service to run. There are many hosting providers available to choose from but as a beginner, I recommend the following, for low budget Hostinger
- Register a domain name
- A domain name is the address of your website (e.g., www.example.com). Hostinger will give you a free domain name when you sign up for a hosting plan.
- Install WordPress
- Once you have a hosting account and a domain name, you can install WordPress. In this posting, providers will get an option to install WordPress with a one-click process, which makes it easy to get started.
- Choose a theme
- WordPress has thousands of free and paid themes available, which determine the overall design, Speed, Monetization acceptance, and layout of your site. You can browse and preview themes from the WordPress theme repository, or purchase a premium theme. But for the best theme, I recommend Blocksy
- Customize your site
- Once you have a Blocksy theme installed, you can customize the site to your liking. You can add pages, posts, and media, as well as customize the site’s settings and options in easy.
- Publish content
- Finally, create and publish your first post or page and do on-page SEO. Once your site is live, you can start promoting your content through social media, email marketing, and other channels basically Off-page SEO.
How To Make Money With A Blog In South Africa
Blogging can be a great way to make money, but it can take time to build an audience and establish a successful monetization strategy. Here are a few ways to monetize your blog and make money:
| 💰Monetization | 🚀Description |
|---|---|
| ✅Advertising | Utilize advertising networks like Google AdSense or Media.net, or sell sponsored posts and reviews. Ensure transparency by disclosing sponsored content to your audience. |
| ✅Affiliate Marketing | Promote products or services on your blog and earn a commission for each purchase made through your affiliate links. |
| ☑️Selling Products | Utilize your blog as a platform to sell your own products or services, such as e-books, courses, consulting services, etc. |
| ✅Donations | Accept donations from your readers through platforms like PayPal or Venmo as a means of generating income from your blog. |
Conclusion
If you follow these steps starting from choosing a niche to creating your first blog post and doing on-page SEO. Trust me you will see a lot of success in a matter of 3 to 6 months of blogging. You need to make sure you add your domain to the Google search console.
The plan is to be patient and not focus on the money part because if you do so you will feel more pressure. If you really want money so fast check this article where I list the best ways to make money online In South Africa
