1. Select a platform for your blog. Blogger, WordPress and Tumblr are free websites that provide the Web hosting and software needed to start a blog. Alternatively, Drupal, Joomla and WordPress.org are platforms that you can use to start a blog on your own Web server. Although usage of these platforms is free, you will need to pay to register a domain name and start an account with a Web hosting provider.
2. Choose an advertising provider or an affiliate partner to monetize your blog. For example, you can add Google AdSense to a blog and begin earning money with little effort. Some free blog providers may have limitations that you must abide by when displaying advertisements. WordPress.com does not allow AdSense advertisements in free blogs. To display the advertisements of your choice on WordPress.com, you must upgrade your account or sign up for Ad Control. Ad Control gives you half of the revenue earned from advertisements, with the other half going to WordPress.
3. Establish a niche or theme for your blog. If your goal is for readers to click advertisements or buy products, select a theme that a person interested in buying products may search for. For example, someone interested in buying a new video card may search for a blog about computer hardware reviews. You can potentially earn money from a blog with any theme, but you may find it difficult to earn money from a blog that is not product-focused.
4. Add content to your blog to begin building a reader base. Readers look for content that can't be found elsewhere. Avoid reposting content that you find on other sites and create posts that are fresh and original. Original content results from conducting extensive research or selecting article topics that you have extensive knowledge about.
5. Optimize your content to help people find it in search engines. It helps to think of one main keyword phrase for each article that you write. For example, 'make money online' is a keyword phrase that may be relevant for an article about earning money from blogging. The most important keyword phrase in your article should be in the article's title and within the content. Search engines will use the text of your article to determine its topic. Your text must contain the words that people use when searching for that type of article.