Top 7 Ways How to Make Money Blogging in 2025

Blogging was once little more than a personal hobby. Over the years, however, it has evolved from that small hobby to a thriving industry, with countless opportunities to generate income. In 2025, the possibilities for making money by blogging are more diverse than ever! Thanks to advancements in technology, new monetization methods, and the growing appetite for online content, blog traffic has continued to grow, and the possibility of becoming a successful blogger has also grown.

Whether you are a seasoned blogger, with countless blog posts under your belt, or you are just beginning your blogging journey, it is essential to understand how to leverage your platform for financial success. I have run a successful blog since 2008, and have analyzed how bloggers have made money over the years. I also have personal experience generating income in various ways from my own blog that I would like to share with you, as a professional blogger.

The guide I have put together breaks down the top 7 ways to make money blogging in 2025. I have gathered the best actionable tips and insights to help you turn your writing into a profitable, successful blog. Let’s get started!

Create a Profitable Blogging Infrastructure

Whether you are beginner bloggers or you have been blogging for a while, it is important to understand that there is a certain infrastructure from which your success will be built. From travel blogs to blogs that rely primarily on affiliate income, there are important elements of your infrastructure that you cannot afford to ignore. Consider the following…

Choose a Profitable Niche

It can be tempting to grasp at the first enjoyable topic you find, and try to build a blog audience from scratch, but a profitable niche and your preferred niche may not be one and the same. Take some time to research which niche has a great deal of customer demand, and evaluate the brands in the space that will make enough money to offer partnerships using affiliate links and sponsorships.

I give the example of food vs financial advice here: plenty of people look for recipe advice and there is no shortage of consumer brands who will work with you. If you can talk about financial advice, however, you may be able to make more per sponsor because the customer lifetime value of the user is much higher. Look at your blog audience and topic, and determine if it is likely to be an engaged audience and a profitable blog niche.

Understand SEO Basics

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is integral to actually make a blogging income. Finding a profitable blog niche is important, but your blog idea is dead in the water without a dedicated audience. SEO principles help maximize the visibility of your content in search engines. Over time, the organic traffic that comes with ranking highly in searches will bring in lots of people and ultimately lead to the success (or struggle) of your blog.

Keyword research tools can be a great way to get started on your SEO journey. SEO tools are often available through blogging platforms and web hosts, as well, to help make sure that your pages and blogs are ranking highly in your niche.

Scale Your Blog Content Creation

In Digital Threads, I call this creating your Library of Content. A fledgling blog that has clearly just started out on a blogging journey is far less likely to draw in millions of readers (or even dozens) than a blog with a large backlog of content. There comes a point when bloggers need to have a certain volume of content in order to build authority. Make sure you are able to scale your blog content creation by investing time, hiring freelancers, or even learning how to use AI, all while retaining your authenticity.

Keyword research tools can help you develop a catalog of valuable content, and can help you generate a library of blog topics from which to choose. Popular blogs are often those that are more consistent in their posting schedule, and those that offer plenty of material, so do not delay in creating a substantial collection of posts.

Further Reading: 15 Best Blogging Platforms to Consider in 2025

Build an Email List

An email list can help you more effectively monetize your blog posts. Email lists function as a support for all 7 of the blogging techniques I have put together below. As you build your email list, adhere to all relevant and required best practices for email newsletter creation. You can offer exclusive content to your email subscribers, and regularly encourage your audience to visit your site and engage with or read your blog posts.

Top 7 Ways to Make Money Blogging

A full-time income from blogging does not happen overnight, and even a passive income is unlikely at the beginning of your blogging journey. Nevertheless, there are many different ways to create a profitable blog, and I have identified the top 7 ways to turn a profit on your blogging. While the first 3 I identify below are typically the primary sources of income for most beginner bloggers, I have identified the top ways to make sure that your blog posts are bringing you closer to your successful blogging goals.

1) Become an Affiliate Marketer

Affiliate marketing is a type of marketing in which an affiliate is paid for encouraging the use of a product or service. Affiliate programs are the primary means by which affiliate marketing operates. One popular affiliate program you may be familiar with is the Amazon Associate program, wherein affiliate marketing partners are paid to link to products on Amazon and encourage purchases.

Typically, an affiliate program is a dedicated program found on a company’s website. Affiliates can be hand chosen or hand picked, or bloggers and other content creators can apply for acceptance into the program.

Finding the right affiliate program for you requires you to take a close look at your niche, and your audience. An affiliate program that fits your unique voice is important; lifestyle blogs may seem awkward if they begin linking to money market account, and travel accounts may not fit well with location-based services.

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner is a great example of someone who has seen significant success from affiliate marketing. Schroeder-Gardner has long been bringing in a full-time income through her blog, email newsletter, and consulting services, but she publishes reports detailing how much money affiliate marketing is able to bring in, with some months showing tens of thousands of dollars in income.

2) Join Ad Networks

Google AdSense is the most common starting point for bloggers, but as bloggers bring in more web traffic, they may move on to more profitable ad networks. These networks typically include Raptive (formerly AdThrive) and Mediavine. Ad networks can be used on blogs of all types, from lifestyle blogs to more eclectic blog posts and niches.

When you join an ad network like AdSense, you will be given code to paste onto your pages or blog posts. Those codes will be tied to ads that are delivered via text, image, or video, and they take up a small portion of your page. Payment comes for page views and clicks.

Ultimately, because ad networks focus on page views, this particular type of revenue is best supported using superlative SEO efforts. Keyword research tools, SEO tools, and regular SEO check ups can all make sure you are making the most of your ad network partnership.

If you have visited a site in recent years, you have likely come across some form of ad network. For the most part, these ads are not too intrusive. Mom blogs, fitness blogs, and finance blogs can all make use of them. As you embark on these partnerships, however, make sure that you are balancing ads and user experience. Too many ads can clutter a space and make it unpleasant to scroll through, and can make loading times lag.

One of my greatest blogging tips is this: do not sacrifice income for user experience. Successful blogging involves far more than simply stacking as much revenue generation as possible, at the expense of creating high-quality content and enjoyable pages.

Further Reading: 10 Types of Blogs That Make Money Today (with 26 Inspiring Examples)

3) Sponsored Content

Sponsored content, in the context of blog posts, is content that has been paid for, or sponsored by a given entity. As your blog traffic grows and you bring in a larger audience, you may find brands beginning to reach out to you. When you start, however, treat sponsored content the way an influencer would, and reach out via social DMs, or finding their influencer manager on a platform like LinkedIn.

When you approach a brand, make sure you highlight any relevant blog posts you already have, and explain why your audience may be a good fit. No matter the type of blog you write, have a basic overview of your blog topics, your metrics, your audience reach, and your proposal for sponsorship.

Pricing sponsored content will depend on the success of your blog. Whether you run a dad blog or a fitness blog, you need to be able to back up your interest in a sponsorship. Your blog metrics will act as a guide to determine pricing for sponsorhips.

One of the most important blogging tips I offer is this: your audience will come to trust you and expect authenticity. Only pursue sponsorships that align with the type of blog you write to keep your loyal readers just that: loyal.

The three methods I have identified thus far are the most popular ways to monetize your blog. Once you have built up web traffic and developed influence, you can move on to monetizing your blog in the following ways:

4) Premium Content or Memberships/Subscriptions

Whether you are writing a lifestyle blog or a fitness blog, you can develop premium content or memberships/subscriptions to access additional blog posts and other content. Exclusive content can be created for members behind a password-protected page on your site, via a site like Patron or Substack, or even via an email list.

Exclusive content should differ from your standard fare. Mom blogs, for instance, might offer lists for holiday gifting, or more personal stories from their lives. Dad blogs might do the same, with a focus on fatherhood. Popular blogs often provide more behind-the-scenes content, more affiliate promotions, and even more social media options for engagement.

Heather Cox Richardson is a great example of how a subscription can be used to bring in revenue. Using Substack, Richardson now brings in over 7 figures each month via her “Letters From an American” subscription blog.

5) Create and Sell Digital Products

Although blog posts are the focus of most bloggers, digital products can also be a great way to bring in additional revenue. Digital products can vary widely. A finance blog, for instance, might offer a series of courses to encourage financial literacy. Mom blogs might release eBooks about picky eating. PDF templates are another common option, and all can help you reach your blogging goals.

Shopify is a common platform on which to house digital products, but Wix, Squarespace, and other web hosts can also be used as shopping platforms. Products can be promoted to your readers via email marketing, links embedded in your blogs, and as part of your subscription-only content.

Further Reading: 13 Definitive Blog Post Templates to Inspire Your Blogging

6) Offer Freelance Services (including Consulting or Coaching)

Consulting and coaching can naturally complement blog posts, and can be utilized by people from a host of different backgrounds. When you offer consulting and coaching, your blog posts can actually act as a portfolio to attract freelance clients.

As a blogger, the services you can offer vary considerably. The most common services bloggers offer include writing, design, consulting for SEO and blog-related topics, and consulting for the niche in which you write.

Knowing how to price and package these services can be difficult; after all, if your focus has been on writing about food as a food blogger, how do you determine the best price for a course on creating sourdough from scratch? To determine pricing, get a clear idea of your blog metrics, measure them against others in your niche, and price similarly to your competitors.

Further Reading: Here’s How to Structure a Blog Post for Both Readers and Search Engines

7) Create and Sell Physical Products

We talked about how bloggers can offer digital products to their loyal readers, but physical products can also be offered by bloggers. Physical products can be as simple as branded materials–think sweatshirts or hats with common sayings or your blog title–or as complex as collaborations with partners from affiliate promotions or sponsorships.

Kirsten Smith of Kirsten and Co began as a lifestyle and fashion blogger, and has since expanded her repertoire to include a skincare line. Because she began her blogging career with a niche topic she knew a lot about, built a huge audience, and stayed on track prioritizing organic traffic and engagement, she has branched out successfully into the realm of physical products.

Smith’s foray into physical products is perhaps more involved than the standard blogger might be interested in; this is where dropshipping and eCommerce integration can come in handy. Using dropshipping, or offering a physical product and outsourcing the labor of that product, bloggers can enjoy the benefits of physical products without a great deal of extra work.

Further Reading: 11 Expert Blogging Tips to Take Your Blog to the Next Level

Final Thoughts

Making money through blogging in 2025 requires a clever mix of strategy, creativity, and persistence in your work. As you explore the top 7 monetization methods I have gone over in this guide–from affiliate marketing and sponsored content, to selling digital products, and leveraging AI–you can unlock the full potential of your custom domain and corresponding blog.

As you develop your site, focus on providing value to your audience, while optimizing your efforts. Whether you are looking to add a source of passive income or you hope to build a full-fledged business, the opportunities to make money blogging are limited only by your own effort into the venture. Start experimenting with the strategies I have listed above, and take the first steps toward transforming your blog into a consistent, reliable source of income.