How to Blog and Make the Most Money

How to Make More Money From Your Blog

How to Make More Money From Your Blog
Image Source: Public Domain image
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hundred_dollar_bill_01.jpg

I have several blogging experiments running.  My goal is to compare several ways to make money blogging to determine what works well and what doesn't.  Since Google and other search engines frequently update their search engine algorithms, I plan to keep these experiments running long-term to monitor for changes in web traffic patterns.  Some of these experiments have been running for 16 months now, providing valuable data on the best ways to make money blogging.

Experiment 1:  Blogger vs HubPages
As of today, I have published 82 posts on Penny Pincher Journal 82 featured Hubs on Dr. Penny Pincher's blog at HubPages.  I started both of these projects within one week of each other and have added posts/Hubs to each at about the same rate, so I have a good comparison.  I monetized my Blogger site in a similar way to HubPages monetization using AdSense, Chitika, Amazon, and eBay.

Experiment 2: eBook
I used Smashwords to publish an eBook.  I published my eBook for free and even received an ISBN for my eBook.  You can buy my eBook on sites including Amazon, Apple, Sony, Barnes and Noble, and many more.  This link to my eBook Penny Pincher Journal: How to Save Money Every Day shows many of the retailers that carry my eBook.

Here is an article that tells you how to publish and eBook for free and get it sold at all of the popular on-line book retailers:  How To Publish an eBook for Free! 

This experiment is looking at how much you can make selling eBooks vs revenue from advertising and affiliate marketing on a blog or website.

Experiment 3:  top-level .com domain vs subdomain
My latest experiment is to compare the performance of a top-level domain vs a subdomain.  My blogger site pennypincherjournal.blogspot.com is a subdomain of blogger.com.  My HubPages website is on a subdomain of hubpages.com.  It's URL is drpennypincher.hubpages.com.  Both of these sites are subdomains of major websites- blogspot.com and hubpages.com.

My latest website, dppmoney.com, is not a subdomain.  It is a custom top-level webdomain that I attached to my Blogger blog called Fast Money Answers.  This experiment will give me insight into whether search engines prefer domains over subdomains.  Some sources suggest this is true.

In fact, HubPages is running its own experiment with this right now.  They have selected some Hubs as "Editor's Choice" hubs and place these on the top-level hubpages.com domain.  I have had a number of hubs selected as Editor's Choice, so I have another way to compare the performance of top level domain vs subdomain in search engines.

Experiment 4: Short posts
I am running a blog called ClickFact which features very short and to-the-point answers to popular questions.  Supposedly short websites and blog posts are not preferred by search engines, but it seems that when I am doing web searching short pages are often near the top of the search engine results page.  Short posts are certainly easier to write, so I am giving this a try.

Experiment 5: ClickBank
I decided to try ClickBank to make money from my blogs.  Essentially ClickBank provides e-books that you can sell and get a very high commission- 50% or more.  Many of the eBooks are fairly expensive, so you can make $25 or more from each sale.  I won't reveal the complete results of this experiment, but you'll notice that none of my blogs have ClickBank links any more...

Expermiment 6: Amazon vs eBay
I have been running both Amazon and eBay affiliate marketing on some of my blogs and websites.  I have obtained a lot of data on the relative performance of these monetization tools.

Experiment Results- How to Make More Money From Your Blog

Optimize Your Blog to Make More Money
Image Courtesy of Edward Betts (CC-SA-30)

I plan to continue Experiment 2 (eBook) by publishing an eBook with detailed results of these experiments and tips to make more money blogging...  For now, keep reading Pro Blogging Journal!


Copyright © 2014  Dr. Penny Pincher.  All Rights Reserved.  Pro Blogging Journal

Can Short Blog Posts Rank in Search Engine Results?

Can Short Articles Rank in Search Engine Results?

Can Short Articles Rank in Search Results?
Image courtesy of Justinc CC-SA-20

I started an experiment on December 6, 2013 to see if short blog posts can rank in search engines and generate search traffic.  My new blog is called ClickFact, and features brief facts and information about computers and technology.  Most of the posts are 200-250 words in length.  The style of this blog is to present key facts and information without pictures or a lengthy discussion.  This is intended to be useful for people looking for brief definitions and explanations.  This format is especially well suited to smart phone and tablet users.



For example, if you want to know "What is SS USB", you'll find three paragraphs explaining what SS USB is, why you might want it, and how to tell if a computer has SS USB by looking at it.  The article is something you can scan quickly and get a complete answer to your question.  I think this is the kind of article that most people would find helpful- but will it rank in search results?

Longer posts tend to do better at ranking in search results- at least that is the popular belief.  Google recently suggested that articles 600 words or longer will rank better in search results.  This article has a discussion of the length of blog posts to get the most traffic.   But in my own experience searching the web, it seems like very short articles and posts are often near the top of search results.

I decided to give the blog short format a try and see if it can be successful or not in search engine results.  Short articles are certainly quicker to write, and may be more useful to people looking for quick answers.  I decided to monetize ClickFact using AdSense and some amazon affiliate links and ads that are related to the topic of each post.

Will this strategy of short posts that quickly answer questions work?  Time will tell.  I started the new blog with 51 posts so far.  Within a few months, I should know if short blog posts are worth pursuing or not.


Copyright © 2014 Dr. Penny Pincher.  All Rights Reserved.  Pro Blogging Journal