1. Start A Blog

The first thing you need to make money online is a blog. When you start a blog you can create your own content and posts. Choose something you’re knowledgeable or passionate about.

One of the most common ways to make money is to add advertisements to your sidebar. Signup for Google Adsense Or you can get paid to write posts (also called sponsored posts). Review products or add them to your articles for a fee.

You can also offer services to other bloggers. Maybe you’re great at creating content and want to write for other blogs, or perhaps you have a knack for styling a website with a theme. Create a list or “menu” of your services and add it to your website.

2. Become an Affiliate

Now that have a blog there you should consider becoming an affiliate for your favorite brands. This way you can make money when people click your links. Many companies offer affiliate programs, you just have to look for the “affiliate” or “partner” program link on their website. However, here are a few more general programs you might be interested in.

ShareASale

ShareASale is a general affiliate marketing platform that many sellers use. This means that you can signup for an account once, then apply to a number of programs using the same account. Many big names participate such as One Kings Lane, StudioPress, ModCloth, Grammarly, Sun Basket, Reebok and more. Similar platforms include CJ affiliate and Impact.

Amazon Affiliates

When looking at affiliate programs do not forget Amazon. With Amazon you can create custom link to anything on their site – including products, ebooks, memberships and more. And you can even build an entire Amazon affiliate WordPress site with the help of a plugin. With amazon the easiest plugin to import Amazon products to your site is AzonPress. In 2 minutes you can have AzonPress installed and connected to your Amazon Associate account. From there you can import products, add tables, allow for product comparisons and more.

3. Build a WooCommerce Store

Instead of just promoting other peoples products you can sell your own! There are a few popular options when it comes to building a store with WordPress, but by and far WooCommerce is the top choice.

This free plugin adds all the e-commerce features you need to your WordPress site. This includes the ability to add products (tangible or digital/downloadable), create coupon codes, add products images and categories, create product variations, accept payments, add taxes, manage shipping (though you might need to look to WooCommerce extensions for this).

And with your a WooCommerce store setup you can even create your own affiliate program for other bloggers to sign up for. Bringing the site monetization full circle!

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What is WordPress?

WordPress is a content management system (CMS) and it also happens to be one of the most popular tools to build a website. While you do need hosting for your website, WordPress is itself free and open-source.

On its own WordPress offers an easy way to create content on the internet. This intuitive CMS makes it easy to write blog posts, create pages, add comments and more. But there are also themes and plugins you can use to add even more features (which we’ll talk about below).

Basic Settings

When you first create your website there are at the very least a few key WordPress settings you’ll want to checkout.

– Add a Site Title: Choose the title you want to use for your site. This will usually be displayed in your header (at the top of the page).

– Set a Homepage: Don’t forget to create a WordPress homepage. Of course this is up to you, but most people will want to select a static homepage (note – you will need to have a page created before you can select this option). Or you can leave this option set to display your latest posts if you want your blog to be your homepage.

– Choose Your Permalinks: It’s very important to choose your permalink structure (how your urls look) before you start adding posts and pages to your site. Using the post name in your permalinks makes sense for most websites, but choose what works for you. For example, using the month and name option might be a better option for a news/magazine style site.

Choose a Theme

Once you’ve had a look at your basic site set settings it’s time to choose a theme. A WordPress theme is what styles your site (for example your site header, how your homepage is setup, what your blog posts look like, etc).

Since you’re just getting started with WordPress a free theme will do just fine (though at some point you might want to consider one of these best WordPress themes that offer more powerful features).

From here you can browse all of the free themes in the WordPress.org theme directory. I suggest searching a term related to your brand or subject matter of your website. For example, if you’re a photographer then you might want to search “photography” or “portfolio” to find a theme suited for your needs.

When you find a theme you like you can click the button to “Preview” the theme on your site. And if it’s the one – click on the “Install” button then the “Activate” link.

Note: If you’d like to install a premium theme, still go to Appearance > Themes > Add New but click on the “Upload” button at the top of the screen. Then select the zip file for your theme and continue to install and activate it.

Add Plugins

With a theme installed you may still want to add more features. This is what plugins are for. Whether you want to add a spam filter for your comments, a portfolio for your work, a custom mega menu or even a store – there are tons of plugins to choose from.

Next, search for the plugin you’re looking for. There are thousands of plugins available for whatever you might need – and just like themes, when you’ve found the one you want simply click to “Install” and then “Activate.” With plugins you’ll also want to locate the plugin’s options in your dashboard to complete any additional setup that’s required.

Create Posts & Pages & Menus

To add your first blog post go to:

– Write a Blog Post: WordPress by default uses a page builder called Gutenberg. So to create your post you’ll be able to use built-in Gutenberg blocks for images, text, headings and more. Just remember to give your page a title, add relevant categories & tags, and publish it when you’re done.

– Create a Page: Creating pages is very similar. You can also use the Gutenberg block builder, or you can use alternative WordPress page builder plugins like Elementor or WPBakery to design custom layouts.

– Build & Set Menus: And once you’re create your pages don’t forget to build and set your menus. First click to create a new menu and give your menu a name. Second check the box next to the pages (or posts, categories, etc) you want and click “Add to Menu.” Then drag and drop them into the order you want them displayed (bonus – you can nest items under other to create submenus). Last – check a menu location and save your menu.

Wrapping up

While this is just the beginning, you should have a basic understanding of how to use WordPress. You can now change your theme, create posts, add new menus and more! Plus you’ll pick up more as you go along – so you’re well on your way to becoming a WordPress pro!

Use a Great WordPress Theme

First things first – get yourself a great WordPress theme. For example – the Total theme. Nt only is this theme full of powerful site building features (drag and drop page builder, parallax backgrounds, header styles, bbPress & WooCommerce support, fully responsive design, and more) but it’s also coded for speed. Total uses semantic and vlid code, built-in schema support and offers custom options within the themes panel to easily disable features you’re not using with a click. Just run the demo through your favorite WordPress speed test tool too see for yourself.

Optimize Your Content

When writing posts, keep SEO in mind. This includes:

• Make sure to use proper headings (H1 for your post title, H2 for sub headings in your post, then H3, H4, etc.)
• Use internal links to your own posts and well as external links, outbound to authority third party websites
• Add your keyword naturally throughout your content, in your post title and in image titles

You can take advantage of an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO to help optimize your content.

Speed Up Your Website

Site speed is of the utmost importance, for your real readers and for search engines like Google. There’s a lot involved, but these are 3 quick ways to speed up your site fast.

1. Great Hosting

Your hosting can make or break your site speed. It’s important to take the time to find the best WordPress hosting for your site’s needs. We recommend a managed hosting plan from WP Engine to keep your site blazing fast. Of course, affordable hosting such as Bluehost (which starts at just $2.95/month) are still a good option if that’s what fits your budget – but you just can’t bet the speed that comes with a managed hosting plan.

2. Use a CDN

Cache your site with a CDN to speed things up. A CDN (content delivery network) essentially stores a copy of your website at different data center locations (for example in Los Angeles, New York and London) then displays your website to visitors based on which data center they’re closest to. So if a person in New Jersey visits your site it would be via the CDN located in New York.

Best of all you don’t have to spend a ton of money – using a free CDN works great. In fact, we recommend using Cloudflare to speed up WordPress sites.

3. Optimize Images

Big images can really slow down your website. Instead of uploading a giant 3000px wide 8MB image, edit your image to be the size you need (if your site width is 980px, then a 1000px image is great) and compress it (a lossless compression can reduce a file size by up to 50%). If you don’t want to pay for a service, there are plenty of free services and plugins to compress and optimize images.

Or consider using one of these lazy load plugins to optimize how images are loaded on your WordPress site. With lazy load, images and other resource heavy on page elements will be loaded after your quick loading text.

Use Google Analytics to Track Your Stats

Optimizing your site is great, but it means nothing if you don’t have statistics to keep track of. There are plenty of tools you can use to see your site stats but the most popular (by far) is Google Analytics for WordPress.

The easiest way to integrate Google’s services with your WordPress site is with Google Site Kit. With this plugin you can access all of your Google tools (Analytics, PageSpeed, Adsense, Tag Manager, etc) right from WordPress – to staying on top of your traffic and SEO is quick and easy.

So to choose a theme – start by asking yourself some questions.

Do You Need a Blog?

To choose a theme you need to think about your needs. First – do you want a blog? And what do you want your blog to look like? Do you want your blog as your homepage? Or do you want to want to add a grid on a separate blog page? What about social sharing? Or author bios? There’s a lot to a blog after all!

Make sure to look at the theme demo and browse the blog to be sure the theme offers all of the basic blog settings you want and need.

Would You Want a Page Builder?

Next, consider your other pages. Websites can just be a blog, but often times there are many other pages that makeup the bulk of your site. These include pages such as:

• Homepage
• About Us
• Pricing
• Staff/Team
• Services
• Contact
• Menu
• Case Studies
• Offers
• Events
• Portfolio
• Careers/Jobs
• Locations
• Courses
• Or anything else!

Websites are (and should be) uniquely tailored to your needs. Which is why we recommend choosing a theme that supports a free page builder or includes a premium one.

Page builders make it easy to design your own custom pages using blocks or elements. This way you can insert headings, text, sliders, charts, images, post grids and more wherever you want.

And Color/Styling Options?

In addition to a page builder you’ll likely want to find a theme with Live Customizer options. The WordPress Live Customizer is where you’ll find easy options to style your theme. This includes options for your branding, like your logo, main site colors, general layouts (sidebar or no sidebar), site widths, and more.

Be sure to choose a theme where the developer has included thoughtful options in the WordPress Live Customizer.

Will You Want to Add a Store?

It’s important to think about the future of your site, and if you’ll ever want to sell products or services from your own site. If you do – make sure to choose a theme that supports a good e-commerce plugin. Some of the best WordPress plugins for online stores include WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads and Shopify.

What About a Forum?

If you want to create a space for customers to ask questions and find answers a forum might be right for you. When it comes to WordPress the absolute best plugin is bbPress forums. This free plugin (developed by the same people who created WordPress) makes it quick and easy to setup a forum, topic pages, user profiles and more.

Solution: Choose the Total WordPress Theme

There are thousands of free and premium themes for you to choose from – use your criteria to find the one that’s right for you. But we feel there is one clear winner – the Total WordPress theme. In fact, this site is built using Total so I’m sure you can see just how awesome it is.

With Total’s built in options you can create a stunning blog (like this one), create custom pages with the extended version of the WPBakery page builder, style your site with more than 500+ live customizer settings, add a store with WooCommerce or EDD, build a forum with bbPress, or create another site using Total’s combination of features.

With Total you can build any website you can dream up. Or take advantage of one of 40+ pre-built demos (like Agency) to get your website up an running in minutes.

There are hundreds of hosting companies that boast as being the best for this or that, but are they really? In this guide we’ll help you choose the best WordPress hosting for your website.

Managed Hosting: WPEngine

If you’re looking for awesome WordPress hosting, look no further than WP Engine. This managed WordPress hosting offers tons of great features to make managing your WordPress site easy. For example, automatic security updates, free staging sites, 24/7 live chat, Evercache, automated SSL certificates, and even free Genesis framework themes via StudioPress.

Price: Plans starting at $25/mo

Get WP Engine

Cloud Hosting: Cloudways

For cloud hosting, you can’t do better than Cloudways. This managed cloud hosting company offers many cloud options such as DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, AWS and Google Cloud. Once you pick the one that suits your needs you can add free SSL, unlimited number of applications/installs, automated backups, advanced caching, firewalls and more.

Price: Plans starting at $10/mo (using DigitalOcean)

Get Cloudways

Shared Hosting: Bluehost

Last up is Bluehost. This shared hosting provider isn’t fancy, but it is budget friendly. And if offer perks like free domain registration for the first year, up to 25 subdomains, free SSL, 1-click WordPress installation, 24/7 support, and unmetered bandwidth – all in the basic plan. If you upgrade added features for Office 365 mailbox, site backups domain privacy and a dedicated IP address are available.

Price: Plans starting at $2.95/mo

Get Bluehost