Everything a Beginner Blogger Needs to Know for 2023

Whether you’re a beginner blogger looking to write for clients or yourself, blogging is one of the most fun, versatile skills you can learn.

And with time and consistent effort, there’s practically no limit to how much money you can earn. 

Blogging isn’t a short-term endeavor though … You won’t get rich overnight.

But with an idea you’re genuinely interested in, a proven strategy, and the patience and discipline to tend to your blog every day, you’ll build a valuable asset over time … that will continue to earn you money for years and years to come.

Beginner blogger? Let’s get started …

I’ll explain it all in this beginner’s guide to blogging, including the income you can expect to make and a step-by-step process to launch a blog.

Let’s dive in!

All about blogging for beginners

Your first consideration is the purpose of your blog … what type of blog do you want to write, and who do you want to write for?

• Do you want to write your own blog on a specific subject?
• Or do you want to offer blogging as a service to clients?

If you’re looking to blog for clients, there’s plenty of demand. Blogs are a huge piece of the content marketing puzzle.

But if you want to launch your own blog, you’ll first want to decide which way you plan to monetize it … 

1. Lead generation for your freelance writing business 

To make money as a freelance writer, you can use a blog to generate leads for your business.

When you blog about topics that appeal to your ideal prospects, you’ll demonstrate your expertise and position yourself as an authority, painting yourself as the ideal person to help your prospects with their writing needs. 

2. Passive income 

You can also have a blog separate from your freelance writing business. In fact, you don’t even have to be a freelance writer.

Anyone can start a blog about a topic they’re interested in. This will give you the chance to attract an audience. And once you do, there are plenty of ways to monetize your blog (which we’ll get to).

How much money can a beginner blogger earn?

Blogging is a long-term, consistent endeavor that grows over time. But you can ramp up quickly as a beginner.

When you blog for clients, we’ve found through our extensive industry contacts — and published in our annual AWAI State of the Industry Pricing Guide — that you can earn $250 to $800 per blog post.

As a beginner blogger, you’ll typically start at the lower end of that range. And as you build experience and can share samples and results, you’ll be able to raise your fees.

When you launch your own blog from scratch, how much and how fast you grow your blogging income depends on how much time and effort you put into it and the monetization methods you choose.

But in order to earn anything, you have to get started.

Beginner’s guide to blogging: 6 simple steps

To launch your blog quickly and start making money sooner rather than later, we can whittle the process down to a few simple steps.

Step #1: Come up with an idea

The first thing you need to decide is what you’re writing about.

Some people have been dying to write about one of their passions for years. And once they finally decide to start a blog, it’s obvious what their topic will be.

Don’t worry if that’s not you.

Just ask yourself what your passions and interests are. 

Finding something you enjoy and would want to immerse yourself in learning and writing about every day is one of your tickets to success. It’ll be hard to maintain the motivation and discipline to keep going otherwise.

But there are a few other considerations for a beginner blogger to keep in mind:

• Make sure there are other people who share this interest. If you’re going to make money from your blog, you need to build an audience and cultivate loyal readers.
• But don’t choose a topic that’s too broad. Not only does a narrower topic make your writing more focused and make you more of an expert — it’s also more likely to attract passionate readers.

Think about it …

A blog about movies is way too wide to cover anything in depth. And since your readers will all have different tastes, you’ll wind up including too much content that doesn’t appeal to them.

A blog about horror movies narrows it down quite a bit and will bring in more hardcore fans but is still a BIG topic …

But a blog about Universal Studios’ monster movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood — now we’re talking!

This is where you start to develop a passionate fanbase that wants to read everything you write.

You don’t have to be an expert. If there’s an activity you’d like to learn — like brewing beer at home or investing in NFTs … or a topic you want to dive into and learn more about — like coin collecting or Star Wars …

Rather than blogging from the perspective of an expert, your blog can chronicle your journey and bring your readers along for the ride.

Step #2: Choose a name and publishing platform

To make sure your blog is memorable and stands out, give it a unique and interesting name.

You also want the name to clearly identify what the blog is about so people “get it” at first glance.

And you definitely want the “.com” to be available. That’s universally what people search for and expect.

As for a publishing platform, there are lots of paid and free options available to new bloggers. 

But for the sake of ease — especially if you don’t consider yourself tech savvy — WordPress is hard to beat.

More than 43% of ALL websites use WordPress in 2022. You can quickly and easily set up your blog for free. It’s safe and secure, and even many “technophobes” find it easy to manage and customize their WordPress sites.

Step #3: Create your editorial calendar

Once you’ve chosen your topic, your “.com” name is registered, and your blog is set up, there’s one final bit of preparation before you write your first blog post.

And if you’ve chosen a topic you’re passionate about, or that you’re excited to learn more about, this should be one of the most fun parts of the process.

This is where you begin banking blog post ideas so you can create your editorial calendar.

Taking the time to plan your first few weeks or months of content will set you up for success. You’ll never be stuck trying to figure out what to write about when you should already be writing.

And here’s a quick tip:

As you brainstorm ideas, scope out other blogs in your niche. 

It’s okay to write about the same or similar topics. You’re not going to steal their content.

But what makes your blog unique is YOU — your voice and perspective. So this is a great way to find popular ideas that you can approach from a different angle that’s suited to you.

Step #4: Start writing

It’s finally time to start writing your content!

Here are a few things for a beginner blogger to keep in mind:

• Craft a killer headline. It’s worth putting extra time into your headline writing to make sure it grabs readers’ attention. Because the best blog post in the world won’t do you any good if people ignore it.
• Be relevant, useful, or entertaining. This will depend on your topic, and whether you’re helping your readers solve a problem, educating them in some way, or are simply writing about a shared passion. No matter which it is, everyone is pressed for time. So you need to keep them engaged and give them a reason to keep reading.
• Use proven formulas (sometimes). People love list posts, how-tos, reviews, and personal stories. So mix it up. And be creative when it comes to your own ideas, formulas, and formats.

When it’s your blog, you have as much freedom as you want.

Step #5: Build your audience

One of the main ways you’ll build an audience is through search engine optimization (SEO).

SEO is a long-term strategy. Your posts won’t rank at the top of Google and other search engines overnight. But in time, you can bring plenty of organic traffic to your blog with good SEO.

You’ll probably need to invest in a keyword research tool that shows you the relevant search terms people are looking for. This way, you can build posts around these keywords and integrate them into your content.

Another SEO for content writers best practice is to write with your reader in mind. And, of course, make sure every piece of content you write is of the highest quality possible.

This means putting the time and effort into writing multiple drafts and content editing — not just publishing the first thing you write.

And you should also keep in mind that longer blog posts tend to rank better on Google than shorter ones. For the best results in most niches, aim for 1,000 to 2,000 words.

Another way you’ll build your blog audience as a beginner blogger is through social media.

You can experiment with different platforms to see what works best for you and which ones you enjoy using. But sharing your posts through social will get them in front of more eyeballs.

Step #6: Create your monetization and promotion strategies (even if you’re a beginner blogger)

Finally, as you start building your audience, you’ll also begin to monetize your blog.

And there are all kinds of ways to do so. Here are just a few:

• Ad networks
• Sponsored content arrangements
• Affiliate deals
• Coaching or consulting services
• Selling your own products
• And more

Now, you won’t necessarily be trying to monetize your blog immediately. It’s hard to make money until you’ve started to grow your audience.

But it’s crucial you start building an email list right away — even if you don’t feel ready.

In the beginning, it can be as simple as emailing your subscribers notifications that you’ve posted something new. You’ll grow your email marketing strategy from there.

The important thing is that when you have an email list, you have permission to keep in contact with people who have shown interest in what you’re writing about and taken an action by subscribing.

This is key to monetizing. Because in time, you can market affiliate deals or your own products to your list. And the longer they’re on your list and reading your blog, the more loyal to you they’re likely to be.

Beginner blogger takeaways

So, now that you know all about blogging for beginners, you can dive in quickly and easily. 

Remember, blogging isn’t a get-rich-quick strategy. It takes time, patience, effort, and discipline.

With those in place — and with an idea you’re excited about — you can go from zero to earning extra money each month, even as a beginner.

And once you have momentum on your side, you build an audience, and you stay consistent, the sky’s the limit.