The blogging industry is booming. Thanks to the digital world that gives budding creative bloggers a chance to share their vision and passion, smoothly and conveniently.
We all know that blogging is a highly promising business and also a career. But there have always been questions around the corner like…
How much do bloggers make? Do they make big bucks or is it just the grass always greener on the other side? Do bloggers get a good return on investment for the time, effort, and creativity that they put into their content? or is it just fool’s gold?
To sail you through all your questions and enlighten you with actual blogging income data and surveys. I have written this blog and apart from just knowing ‘How much do bloggers make?‘. We will touch upon topics like what niches have worked out and what has gone poof into thin air!
Also, I will tell you how much is the average income per post for a blogger to estimate how much do bloggers make per post. You will also get to know the income reports of many successful and not-so-successful bloggers.
In the end, you can decide if you want to step into this blogging industry and decide for yourself how much money you can make with a blog.
What Do Stats, Surveys, & Data Tell Us?
Image Source: FirstSiteGuide
Now most of us know that bloggers make money by increasing their readership and also by promoting and selling products to/other businesses. Even though it seems simple to guess that bloggers make money but do you really don’t wanna look into the side where real stats and surveys come into play.
I think you do and hence in this section, I wanna shed some light on average blogging income through the established stats that I found online.
But before that did you know that many successful bloggers started off with just one blog and now they own a multi-million empire? No? Take a breath before reading further. Get ready for the moment of truth!
Smart Passive Income – Its owner, Pat Flynn, is presently making well over a whopping $100,000 per month.
Need another stir-up?
Okay, read this…
Survival Life makes somewhere over $1,000,000 per month…Jaw-dropping, right? Mine fell 50 feet under the ground… Just kidding
What if I say there are people who blog anonymously and make money. Believe me, some of them make a decent income from blogging.
The blogging industry is no joke.
However diving more into it, I would like to say that in this section I have divided bloggers into three sets according to the income that they are making. The stats and data in the below three sets of bloggers are from surveys done by:-
- FirstSiteGuide.com: The State of Blogging Industry
- ProBlogger.com : Can you really make money blogging?
- Blogging.org: Blogging Stats
The data and numbers mentioned below in the three sets of bloggers would be coming from the above surveys and studies.
a) Many bloggers make nothing
According to a survey of 1,500 Problogger readers, it was clear that 10% of bloggers make nothing, and 63% of them make $0.01 – $99 per month. Now, is it worth the work, that is up to the blogger and you to decide?
To be honest, it is much lesser than what an aspiring average blogger would really aim for.
The survey conducted by blogging.org with US bloggers showcases a similar picture. Where a mere 8% of bloggers said they earn just enough to support their families. Just hand-to-mouth existence to be honest!
Whereas the remaining 81% of them do not even make $100 a month. Still too low for something to be called a good income. Thus this should tell us that the average blogging income of a majority of bloggers in the US is pretty negligible.
Also, the survey done by FirstSiteGuide shares almost the same numbers and it is optimal to believe that, ‘Many Bloggers Make Nothing‘. Hence after seeing such stats and results people often ask themselves, Is blogging worth it?
However, we need to realize that most bloggers in the industry are newbies so it’s likely to be possible that they don’t make any money.
b) Some bloggers make something
Now here is the thing. Something is better than nothing, right?
Will you be happy to know that 33% of the bloggers make well between $100 to $10,000(Problogger)?
Also as per blogging.org, about 9% of bloggers are able to maintain a decent personal lifestyle by blogging for 4 to 6 hours a day. This is quite a good percentage, isn’t it?
Similar kinds of blogs that fall into this stat and also which I think many of us can look at are:-
- Easy Baby Life has been making over $4000 per month, as a Parenting blog.
- Sewrella as a knitting blog was making over $9000 per month.
Hence such bloggers are the ones who make good enough ‘something’ to sustain their lifestyle. Also, you need to realize that these bloggers fall into the upper-income category of bloggers who fall into the range of $100 to $10,000.
c) Only few bloggers make everything
Here’s the moment of truth people…..
Only 4% -5% of bloggers turn their blogging business into a 6-figure business (or) even more. A thin ray of hope, but not quite bright!
And according to a blogging.org survey, only 2% of bloggers are making massive earnings of $150K+ by just blogging 1-2 hours a day.
Don’t believe it? Know it yourself. Check out the income reports of these entrepreneurs:-
- The Ski Girl is making a six-figure salary by blogging. With her pace, she will even turn it into a golden seven-figure salary in a few months.
- Hear And Play has established a multi-million dollar business, in Piano Lessons, as per this source right here.
- Timothy Sykes is also a multi-million dollar man into trading, as per this source here.
That’s so awesome, right?
This is exactly what we see and get motivated towards blogging but these bloggers are the top layer of the blogging industry who make money blogging.
You need to understand that these bloggers might have given 5-10 years of their life to blogging. Hence if some blogger on the internet is working a couple of hours a week and presenting it to you as one of the pros of blogging. Then you need to realize that it is not the actual truth and please don’t get your hopes too high on those numbers especially if you’re just starting out.
Hence going through the numbers of these three sets of bloggers, you should really have a good insight into ‘How much do bloggers make’.
Why do only a few people make money blogging?
Amongst all the above data, still, a fundamental question that arises is how much money you (especially ‘you’) can make money blogging and what factors determine the success of a blog.
The success of a blog is usually directly proportional to a couple of significant factors (Nevertheless there will be dozens of factors if we go into details).
One of the most important factors which influence the success of a blog is the demand that readers have for a blog. The blogs that are usually written about making money are the most successful ones, in terms of making the highest income. It is, however, important to note that this doesn’t mean that only a few niches can help you make money blogging.
There are tons of bloggers from different niches who get significant traffic and earnings too, however, they do not publish their income reports as frequently, so most of the money that they are making is currently inconspicuous.
Whereas the other factor that is the most crucial factor in the success of a blog is the understanding of the niche the blogger writes in. There is a saying that, ‘Riches are in the niches‘ which is true in blogging but again if you look closely today, almost every topic has a set audience and it’s like almost you can make money by choosing any niche.
For instance, check out the blogs below which operate in different niches but yet make good money:-
- Pinch of Yum – This is a recipe blog that has been making more than $50,000 per month.
- Little Coffee Place – This is a blog that is only about coffee but earns close to $10,000 per month.
- Learning Herbs – This blog is teaching the audience how to use and consume the weeds in their yard. Earning over $20k per month using weeds
- Feminist Books For Kids – As it sounds, this blog promotes and spreads awareness about feminist books for kids
- While She Naps – is napping(not literally) and making $3,152.3 per month by sewing!
Please note that the above-mentioned blogs are a lot older blogs and some of their income reports are older too. But here the good thing is that they are still alive and that is because they might be making even more money.
This list of blogs should stand as an example that you can money with ‘n’ of niches but it’s not that simple too. I mean you just can’t go around with a particular hobby of yours and create a small blog to earn a big income. Hence it is always said to follow a few steps:-
- Research thoroughly about your niche and look at the existing blogs in your niche
- Analyse how people are making money in your niche and also check how you can too?
- Also, do make sure that weather (or), not your niche is sustainable in the long-term. (If in the upcoming years the topics which you are blogging about are fading away then what’s the use of your blog and who is gonna read your blog anyway?)
Choosing a perfect and profitable niche for you is a time-consuming process. To help you with this, I have shared some steps in detail which you can follow if you read my guide on how to start a blog.
In case you’re finding it hard to settle on one niche (or) you need a few profitable and promising niches to make money for suggestions. Then take a look at one of these niches:-
- Fitness
We all know, Fitness is something that most of us are after. With people realizing the importance of health, fitness, and wellness and with many gyms and health hubs opening up, fitness has become an immensely popular and income favourable niche.
For instance, check out the Nerd Fitness blog. It has been making well over $100,000 per month. Need proof? Click here.
- Photography
Everyone wants photos in today’s social life. Be it an influencer who wanna upload it on Instagram (or) be it an entrepreneur who wants it for his/her Linkedin profile. Photos are important and similar photography is important too. People will always be curious to learn about photography.
Digital Photography School is one such famous blog for photographers and it is a multi-million dollar online business, as seen here.
- Motivation, self-help, and self-growth
Everyone in the world needs motivation. Entrepreneurs, students, job-seekers, moms, mom-to-be, writers or anyone for that matter. With sound mental health becoming excessively crucial, motivation and self-development have become prominent factors to lead a good life.
You might know, Addicted2Success is a motivational blog that is making 5-figure per month, or 6-figures annually, as seen here.
- Money and Finance
Now if everyone is earning, then they surely have to manage their income and finances. Not many people know the nuances of finance and money investment. Hence a blog can act as a crucial resource for them.
Like Vital Dollar is doing, while having made more than $1 million in total blogging earnings across six blogs since 2007. Cool right?
Let’s not only shoot the stars. Here’s a blog earning fairly well in the finance niche- Well Kept Wallet. They make approx $17,714 per month.
- Technology
This is one of the most profitable niches of all time. Let’s accept that the world will be introduced to new technology and gadgets each day. It is a $500 billion industry. Hence digital industry is always in need of more knowledgeable and trustworthy bloggers in the technology niche.
Want to know how much do these bloggers make? Speech with Milo is a blog on Building iPhone Apps. They have been making 5-figures per month, as per this report here.
However, the niche itself is not the deciding factor for the success of a blog. Even if you found a popular niche and ranked for some keywords, it is not evident that you’re gonna make a lot of money.
Monetizing a blog plays a key role too and that could be the reason why only some bloggers make anywhere around 10k-20k per year but yet are unable to scale up to 6 figures. Hence monetization channels are important for blog earnings too, which I am gonna talk about in the later sections below.
How much do bloggers make per post?
There are multiple factors that determine how much do bloggers make per post. But usually the most important of those factors will be:-
- Traffic and engagement on the blog. A visitor’s average time/average session is damn important for any blog.
- Traffic from specific countries. Usually traffic from Tier 1 and Tier 2 countries will bring in more ad revenue and also has the higher purchasing power.
- Also the money in the niche. If there are products sold in a particular niche and usually you see multiple affiliates then there is money to be made in that niche.
It is important for the audiences and bloggers to know that the bloggers do not make money on every single post. Blog posts are just created for different purposes, while some posts may be for educating through a guide (or) generating leads. Whereas some posts may include direct products (or) affiliate products to sell.
Hence that’s the reason why the money generated is not specific to a post but generic to the number of visits the blog has. It is the key determining factor for the success of a blog.
However, some bloggers only opt-in with monetization intent. Thus they solely focus on monetizable posts which can rake in some good money for them. Also, bloggers can go for sponsored posts which are usually posts that can be charged in the range of $100 to $2500 per post.
It is similar to the stories of Instagram posts where influencers make a lot of money with their posts. What it entirely depends on is the traffic to your blog and the brand behind the blog.
Here are a few numbers (or) estimates to give you a fair idea of how much do bloggers make money from blogging depending on your visitor impressions:-
- 10,000 to 50,000 monthly blog impressions: $175- $250 per post
- 50,000 to 100,000 monthly blog impressions: $250 – $500 per post
- 100,000 to 500,000 monthly blog impressions: $500 – $1,000 per post
- 500,000+ monthly blog impressions: $1,000 – $5,000+ per post
However it must be noted that most average bloggers do not usually earn money with their initial posts, and blogging is still, in most cases, done as a hobby.
Only when the search traffic increases, does the money starts coming in and also if you’re monetizing your blog through only one income source then you might not make as much compared to the blogger who gets the same amount of traffic but uses multiple monetization channels. Don’t worry in the next section I am gonna talk about that.
What Are The Top Ways To Make Money Blogging?
We live in a world today where there is extreme competition worldwide when it comes to content. Every niche has a host of experts who are blogging about it, and the pie of the audience keeps getting bigger and bigger. It is therefore imperative that the blogger discovers his niche and starts to write on that niche.
However, there are many situations when this doesn’t work because the correct practices are not followed. You may have an excellent blog with good search traffic on that blog but it will not earn any money if you’re monetizing it properly.
Hence here in this section, I wanna share the top ways in which an average blogger makes money:-
1) Advertisements
The most basic and effective way to monetize a blog is to run ads on it. It might be the most old-school way, but it is still among the most fruitful ways. Bloggers must know that they have to make an effort to take the blog and their content to the audiences and make sure that their audiences do notice them.
Once the search figures start to register and there is enough traffic on the blog, advertisements can be allowed on the blog, and the traffic that is being generated can be cashed in. A couple of ways in which this can work is:-
- By selling the ad space of your blog to an agency. This is an effective way only if you are an established blog. It becomes challenging for unknown websites to figure out how to get these agencies on board.
- As a blogger usually you work with an ad network such as Google Adsense. They help you find advertisers for you and also offers an pre-prepared ad set which is placed on the site. Please note that, Goolge Adsense takes it cut and deposits you money. Hence this is a way to make money with Google using your blog.
2) Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of the major income sources of hundreds of bloggers and this income source is something that you can’t neglect as a blogger.
The basic idea behind affiliate marketing is this, you promote other people’s products (or) services and, in return, receive commissions whenever your referrals lead to sales.
In this way, bloggers get their due share of commission which has led to the sale. Large companies such as Amazon have also been known to run affiliation programs. They offer commissions as high as 4% in some instances.
But whereas if you’re looking for higher commissions then you should go for digital products on ClickBank which can pay commissions of up to 80%-90% on each sale.
Hence if the industry/niche in which you operate offer digital products then I think promoting those as an affiliate can yield more income. However, you have to do your own research to find a list of affiliate programs to choose from.
3) Using blogs to sell products and merchandise
In many cases, blogs are put to best use when they are used to sell products. A lot of blogs are engaged in selling products. These products can be anything, it could also be a digital product that can be brought (or) a course.
If you’re thinking about selling a bunch of physical items on your blog then it is very useful to leverage platforms like WordPress (or) Shopify to add eCommerce functionality to your blog.
However, if your only monetization intent is to sell and earn, then it does require a specific content creation strategy around your products and at some point, you might have to run paid advertisements to generate sales.
4) Selling services
In a manner similar to selling products, there is also an option of selling your own services. Selling services in today’s world is perhaps one of the most effective ways for professionals and industry experts to sell their work. The services could be anything from online consultations to creating products for your clients.
Hence selling services can yield more revenue as you get to offer high-end services and it’s gonna be possible only if you’ve built a brand of your own and are able to showcase your expertise to your clients.
If you are serious about selling your own services, then I would prefer you to create a landing page using platforms like ClickFunnels (or) SamCart and collect leads for your services. Later you can convert those leads into high-end sales.
5) Sponsored posts
The times that we live in call for different businesses to brand themselves in a lot of ways. This is where the bloggers can benefit. Many bloggers who have been generating a sizable amount of traffic for their blogs can be lucrative for people who are willing to do sponsored content with them.
This means that a publicity article (or) a paid review can be written for someone who is willing to pay for it.
This is, however, something that becomes successful only if the blog has a specific readership in a particular niche. Hence as a blogger, if you get to the point where you’re generating good enough traffic, then you can sign up on blogger networks where you can directly connect with publishers who can pay for sponsored posts on your blog.
6) Asking for donations
A very effective way that usually works best for social blogs is asking their readers for donations. This works when the blog has a fan following which is loyal to them and would be willing to pay contributions for helping the blog function continuously.
The best thing about this kind of monetization is nothing needs to be done at the blogger’s end. This is a one-way donation, and all the blogger has to do is create a donation page and probably keep blogging.
Conclusion
If you have read it till now, I would assume that you have a slightly clear picture of ‘How much Do Bloggers Make Money Blogging in 2022?’.
However, I feel that I have tried my best to tell you all about how much a blogger makes by blogging, the average income of a blog post, and the ways in which you can monetize your blog and earn heavily. You now have all the information about profit-making from blogs and some profitable niche ideas to consider too.
If you’re considering blogging earnestly. Remember that everything takes time. Rome wasn’t built in a day!
‘Stop judging yourself and start acting.
The most successful and highest-earning bloggers started with their ideas and niches on time. And what is the right time?
The right time is NOW.
Happy blogging.
