So I was asked again today ‘How come I don’t earn much money on my blog?’  Then I went to visit the blog and it was – yes another random blog offering giveaways and general chatter with 9 million (ok that’s an exaggeration) 125 banner buttons and award badges all over it.

The keys to earning money on your blog/s are:

1) Have unique content.

2) Blog about something you know so you can provide valuable content.

3) Treat it like a business and have a plan.

4) Know how to design a layout that encourages ‘conversion’ not just clicks. Regardless of how your advertisers pay you – if they don’t see a return on their investment, they will not return.

So let go of your generic blog and  plan to build 1-3 NICHE content blogs.

So here’s some tips to figure out what your blog niche should be:

1. Make TWO LISTS – One of your passions & One of things you do well.
2. Make a list of all the things that are in BOTH lists and select 2-5 of these.

Here’s my example list:
Childrens fashion
Early Childhood Education
Homeschooling

Now that you know what topics you likely have enough knowledge and interest in it’s time to dig deeper…

You need to understand what people will search (keywords) to get to your site and how much potential traffic those keywords (your niches) have.

Google has done the homework for you. They KNOW how many people have searched for your topics, and that information will tell you what sort of traffic potential your blog has.

3. Go to Google Keywords and search for your topics..

Here’s some interesting results in my searches under ‘childrens fashion’:
The top search was clothes girl 1,500,000 and the competition wasn’t hat high (about 3/4 bar)
baby girl clothing came next 1,000,000 and the competition was really high.
An interesting surprise was ‘smocked clothing’ 40,500 and not too high for competition.

4. Now you need to consider the money making potential.
Go to Google and search for your keywords- look to see how many ‘sponsor ads’ you find in the side bar.
Check The top three Affiliate networks to see what sort of CPA program offers are out there. What sort of commission do they offer ? Most campaigns need a min 12% to convert. Check their EPC rates.

It’s the publisher hat I am always talking about. You need to know your audience and your publication/blog’s potential reach if you want to earn ad revenue on your blog.