by Ruth Belena

Created on: November 07, 2009   Last Updated: November 30, 2009

When you start blogging you should know there are a number of options available to you for earning money. The three main ways to earn money with a blog are ad programs, affiliate marketing and paid blogging. For each of these methods you need to be an active blogger.

You will earn more money from a niche blog, where you post original content and each blog post is related to the subject of that blog. If you intend to make blogging your full time job you could create multiple blogs, each with its own theme.

A blog is never really profitable until it is between three and six months old. You should be posting new content regularly in those first months, with effective use of keywords in each post for search engine optimization. Find the best performance keywords and include the top keywords for each post in its titles and tags. At the end of six months you should have at least a hundred blog posts getting traffic from search engines.

* Ad programs

Google Adsense is the best known way to make money from ads, but that is not the only option. You could join a video ad program and embed videos into your blog, or use widgets that show text ads each time your blog is viewed. Your blog could also have contextual ads, where sponsored words appear underlined.

You earn more money from ads by increasing the amount of target traffic to your blog. Use social sites and forums for networking, and be sure to continue posting valuable new content on your blog.

* Affiliate marketing

You can select the products you want to promote on your blog from a range of affiliate networks and programs. These pay commission on each sale when a customer uses your affiliate link to access the selling site.

You can earn more money from blogging when you promote digital products. Just register with a good affiliate network and use your blog for marketing those products.

Big names like Amazon and eBay have their own affiliate programs. You can use your blog to write reviews and link your posts to individual items at those sites.

* Paid blogging

Your blog can feature sponsored posts and paid reviews when you join a paid blogging program. As a paid blogger you are expected to write a good report and include the sponsor's link in your blog post. You will be paid per post, provided you meet the requirements of the program.

A freelance writer can also get paid to blog by clients who need good keyword content for their blogs. Some businesses want regular blog posts to be written around a theme. You can find regular paid blogging requests and offers in webmaster forums and at freelance job sites.

When you want to earn more money from blogging you can find new ways to increase your income, or you can add additional sources of income to your blog. When you aim to earn more money from blogging you get an added bonus of seeing more traffic to your blog, and having a higher page rank, as a result of more frequent posting and increased blogging activity. When you have a successful blog you will earn more money from blogging.

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