A
re you wondering how to start a mom blog? If you want to learn more about stay at home mom blogs and how to bring in extra cash for you and your family with one, you’re in the right place. In this post, we’ll show you how to start a mom blog and make money online.
Blogging has become one of the most popular ways to make money as a stay at home mom in recent years. And starting a blog is easier than ever these days.
But, while getting a blog up and running is simple, building a successful mom blog isn’t as easy as sharing your parenting tips online and watching the cash roll in. Making money from your mom blog will take time and hard work.
If you’re willing to put in the work, keep reading.
We’ll show you how to start a mom blog, step by step, and make money.
Ready? Let’s go!
Examples of Money-Making Mom Blogs
Before we get started on how to start a mom blog, you might be wondering, do mom blogs make money?
They do!
There are a ton of successful stay at home mom blogs that make money online. And some of them are bringing in the big bucks!
If you’re still skeptical about how much money mom blogs can make, check out these mom and family blogs that make money:
Easy Baby Life
Easy Baby Life is a mom blog that offers advice for moms and dads on pregnancy and birth, breastfeeding, baby care tips, toddler tips, and more. This mom blog was founded by Paula Dennholt after her youngest child was born and she decided she wanted to share what she had learned with other new parents.
According to Easy Baby Life’s income reports from 2017, the blog was making over $4000 per month.
Swaddles n’ Bottles
The Swaddles n’ Bottles blog focuses mainly on pregnancy, labor and delivery, newborn care, and breastfeeding.
Swaddles n’ Bottles made $8,100 in November 2017 and $11,180 in December 2017, according to their income reports.
Caroline, the owner of Swaddles n’ Bottles, also owns the Little Learning Club and The Basics of Blogging. She started all 3 websites from scratch and they now earn a combined 6 figures per year!
The Realistic Mama
The Realistic Mama blog shares advice on a variety of topics including marriage and parenting advice, DIY projects, how to make money as a stay at home mom, and more.
The blog was started by mom Alida and due to the blog’s success, her husband was able to quit his full-time job to help run the website too.
The Realistic Mama blog brings in over $20,000 per month according to income reports.
As we mentioned before, it takes a lot of time and hard work to get to the money-making level these stay at home mom blogs are on. But, it is possible!
So, if you’re ready to make money as a stay at home mom, follow these next steps!
How to Start a Mom Blog (Step-by-Step)
1. Choose Your Niche
The first step to starting a mom blog is to choose your niche. A blog niche is the topic or subject you’ll be writing about on your blog.
Choosing a blog niche is important because it will keep your content focused, make it easier for your target audience to discover you online, and help you build a loyal following.
You might be thinking, well, if I’m starting a mom blog, that’s my niche, right? Not quite.
There’s a ton of different niches that you could choose from under the broad topic of mom blogs.
For example, Mom on Timeout is a food blog that shares delicious family recipes.
If Mom on Timeout wrote about food, travel, DIY, parenting advice, and beauty, it would be hard to attract a loyal following of readers that are interested in all of those different topics.
But, because they stick to 1 niche, it’s easier for them to attract a target audience that will read all of their blog posts and subscribe to their email newsletter.
To decide on your blog niche, think about what you’re passionate about and what topics would be useful and interesting to other parents.
For some inspiration, check out these blog niche ideas:
- Parenting Advice
- Budgeting and Personal Finance
- Health and Lifestyle
- DIY and Crafting
- Cooking and Baking
- Self-Employment
- Education
Once you’ve picked a blog niche that you love, it’s time to pick a name for your blog.
2. Pick a Blog Name
Now it’s time to get creative! Picking a name for your blog is fun, but it’s not a decision you should make lightly.
Your blog name is often the first thing people will see about you online, so it’s important that you make a good first impression.
A good blog name should be unique and grab readers’ attention. But, it should also help people understand what your blog is about.
For example, if you name your blog Yoga Lover Online but you write about being a mom of newborn twins, that’s confusing. Choose a name that represents your blog better.
Struggling to pick a blog name? Here are some examples to inspire you:
Mom Blog Name Ideas
1. Tech Savvy Mama
Mom blogger, Leticia Barr, combined her niche with the word “mama” to come up with her blog name—Tech Savvy Mama. A perfect name for a blog that educates parents about using technology safely at home and school.
2. Rookie Moms
The owner of Rookie Moms kept their target audience in mind when choosing a blog name. Rookie Moms is all about sharing advice for brand new mommies.
3. Kids Eat in Color
Kids Eat in Color is not only a cute name, but it’s relevant to the blog niche as well. The main focus of the blog is to teach parents how to get their children to eat vegetables and try new foods.
4. Beauty & The Beastons
Consider using your family name to come up with a fun blog name like Beauty & The Beastons did for their family blog. Their name is a play on the popular Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast. Pretty catchy right?
Hopefully, these awesome mom blog names will help spark your imagination.
You can also use Blog Tyrant’s Free Domain Name Generator to come up with a blog name.
Simply enter 1 or 2 keyword ideas into the generator and it will instantly display tons of blog name ideas you can play around with.
3. Choose a Blogging Platform
Once you’ve chosen a blog niche and a blog name, it’s time to start building your blog.
First, you have to choose the right blogging platform.
A lot of moms will be tempted to choose a free blogging platform in order to save money, which is understandable because money can be tight when raising a family. But choosing a free blogging platform isn’t the best choice if you want to start a successful mom blog.
With most free blogging platforms, you aren’t able to monetize your blog. And the ability to monetize your blog is necessary if you want to make money as a stay at home mom.
That’s why we recommend using WordPress.org as your blogging platform.
With WordPress.org you have complete control of your blog and you can monetize it in any way that you want. Plus, it’s the most popular blogging platform in the world, easy-to-use, and highly customizable.
And using WordPress.org is free—all you need to pay for is web hosting and a domain name! Let’s talk about that in the next section.
4. Set up a WordPress Blog
Like we mentioned above, you can use WordPress.org to start your mom blog for free.
All you need to pay for are:
- Web Hosting – Web hosting is where all of your website files are stored online. You need web hosting in order to make your blog live on the internet.
- A Domain Name – A domain name is the web address users will type in their browsers to get to your site. For example, our domain name is www.blogtyrant.com.
We recommend using Bluehost for your web hosting and domain name.
Bluehost offers the best web hosting service. In fact, it’s officially recommended by WordPress themselves.
Plus, it’s affordable, reliable, and it offers 1-click WordPress installation.
Even better, Blog Tyrant readers get a special discount of 60% off with Bluehost, which comes with a free domain name, free SSL certificate, and more!
With Bluehost, you get everything you need to start a successful mom blog, without having to spend a ton of money.
How to Set up a Blog with Bluehost
To get started with Bluehost, click on the exclusive Bluehost offer link above. Once you’re there, click the Get Started button, as shown in the screenshot below:
On the next page, you’ll be asked to choose a pricing plan. Choose the best pricing plan for your needs and continue.
The next step is choosing a domain name. You can either create a new domain or use a domain you own.
If you haven’t already purchased a domain elsewhere, choose Create a new domain and type the blog name you chose in step 2 in the text box. Click Next to continue.
Now, enter your account information and pick your account plan. The 36-month account plan will give you the best value.
When you’re done, you’ll get an email with your login details. After logging into your Bluehost account, go to the My Sites tab. Click Log into WordPress and enter your login information.
When you’re logged in, click on Create Site.
Bluehost’s WordPress installation wizard will then ask you to name your website and choose a tagline (optional).
After entering your site name and clicking Next, choose your domain name from the drop-down menu on the next page. You can leave the directory blank and Bluehost will choose it for you. Click Next when finished.
Now the WordPress installation process will begin, this could take a couple of minutes. When WordPress is installed, you’ll see a success message like the one below:
This page will show your website details and you’ll also get an email confirmation with a link to your WordPress site’s admin area.
That’s it!
Now that you’ve got your WordPress blog set up, it’s time to make it look amazing!
5. Customize Your Blog Design
If your blog doesn’t look nice, most people won’t even bother reading it. So, how do you make your blog look as beautiful as the other mom blogs you see online?
Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a designer to make it happen.
When you create a blog using WordPress.org, you get access to thousands of WordPress themes, both free and premium ones that have extra features. With WordPress blog themes, you can give your mom blog a professional look in an instant!
We recommend that you choose a WordPress theme that represents your blog niche but also one that’s simple. Choosing a clean, simple design will keep the focus on your awesome content.
For example, the Family Board theme would be a great fit for stay at home mom blogs:
There are a ton of WordPress themes designed specifically for family and mom blogs. Check out this list of the best WordPress themes for family blogs to find the perfect design for you.
6. Download Important WordPress Plugins
After you’ve installed the perfect WordPress theme for your mom blog, let’s download some WordPress plugins.
WordPress plugins let you add extra features to your website to make it more powerful and help it perform better. There are over 56,000+ WordPress plugins available on the market, both free and paid.
So, how do you know which ones you need on your blog?
Here’s a short list of essential WordPress plugins you need:
1. Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO helps you optimize your blog for search engines. This will make it easier for your target audience to discover your blog online and help you grow your traffic.
Even if you don’t know anything about SEO, this plugin makes it easy to boost your SEO. Yoast SEO offers a free version of the plugin and a premium version.
2. Google Analytics for WordPress – MonsterInsights
MonsterInsights will help you configure Google Analytics on your WordPress site. This makes it easy to monitor traffic to your website, discover what blog posts are performing the best, and more.
When you keep track of these stats, it will help you get more traffic to your blog and you’ll be able to give your audience more of the content they’re interested in.
You can get started with this plugin for free, or upgrade to the premium version of MonsterInsights for more powerful features.
3. WPForms
With WPForms you can easily build contact forms for your WordPress site. Having a contact form is important because it lets your readers get in touch with you, which is great for engagement.
You can get started with WPForms for free. There are also premium plans that you can purchase to create other types of forms like surveys and get access to extra features.
4. WP Super Cache
A slow loading site can drive people away. But WP Super Cache will speed up your blog, make it load faster for your readers, and optimize it for a better experience.
WP Super Cache has a free version and a premium version of the plugin.
5. Sucuri
Sucuri will keep your website protected from hackers by scanning your site regularly for threats and notifying you of any issues. You’re going to put a lot of work into your blog, so you’ll want to protect it.
Sucuri is free to use. They also have a premium version with more features.
These are just a few of the essential plugins we recommend starting out with. If you want to make your blog even more powerful, check out our list of the best WordPress plugins for blogs.
And if you’re new to WordPress, check out our guide on how to install WordPress plugins.
7. Create Your First Blog Posts
The next step to creating a mom blog is to create blog posts, of course! After all, you wouldn’t want people to find your blog but have nothing to read on it.
So, what should your first blog posts be about?
Think back to the blog niche you choose in the first step of this tutorial. What topics can you write about that are related to that niche?
If your mom blog niche is budgeting and personal finance, brainstorm a list of related ideas, like:
- Home businesses for moms
- How to make money being a stay at home mom
- How to make a family grocery budget
- Couponing tips for beginners
If you need help coming up with blog post ideas, check out your competition.
Look for blogs that have the same niche as yours to see what they’re writing about.
For example, sticking to the budgeting and personal finance niche, you can check out what topics the blog Wealthy Single Mommy writes about and use them as inspiration:
Pay extra attention to your competition’s most popular blog posts. The most popular blog posts with the most comments and shares will show you what your target audience is most interested in.
After you’ve got a list of a few ideas, start writing!
Check out our guide on how to write a good blog post for more tips.
8. Promote Your Blog
Now you need to let people know that your blog exists. The more you promote your blog, the more readers you’ll have.
Don’t worry, you don’t need to spend a bunch of money on advertising to promote your blog to a lot of people online.
Here are some ways you can promote your blog for free:
Join Groups and Forums for Moms
There are a ton of online groups and forums where moms ask questions, share tips, and chat with each other. Just do a quick Google search to find some:
You can join these groups and forums to promote your blog. Participate in conversations, provide helpful advice, and add a link to one of your valuable blog posts. This is a great way to develop relationships and attract more readers to your blog.
Don’t forget to check the rules of the group to make sure you’re allowed to share links to your blog, otherwise, you could get kicked out.
Share Your Blog Posts on Social Media
Sharing your blog posts on social media is an easy and effective way to attract more readers to your site. And almost everyone is on social media these days so you need to be there too.
Here’s how Mommy Diary shares her latest blog posts on her Facebook Page:
To create successful social media posts, you need:
- An Eye-Catching Image – Images stand out on social media. So, when you share your blog posts on social media, make sure to include blog images.
- A Caption and CTA (Call to Action) – Use the caption to tell readers what your post is about and add a CTA to tell readers what to do next, like “Read my latest blog post here.”
- Relevant Hashtags – Hashtags will make it easier for your target audience to find you. Check out what hashtags other mommy bloggers use on their posts and add them to yours. Some examples might include #MommyBlogger or #MommyTips.
Guest Post on Other Blogs
Guest posting is when you write a blog post on someone else’s website. Each time one of your guest posts is published, you should get an author bio box at the end of the article with a link leading back to your website.
Like this:
Guest blogging is a great way to introduce yourself to new audiences.
Just make sure that you guest post on a blog in the same niche as you. This way, you know their readers will be interested in your content too.
Take a look at our guide on guest posting for more helpful tips.
Alright, this tutorial isn’t just about how to start a mom blog, it’s also about how to make money!
So, let’s look at how to monetize your mom blog next.
9. Monetize Your Blog
Simply writing blog posts and publishing them on your website isn’t going to make you money. You need to monetize your blog if you want to make money online.
So, how do you do it?
There are a number of easy ways to monetize a mom blog. Let’s take a look at a few of the most popular strategies:
Affiliate Marketing
One of the most common ways that stay at home mom blogs make money is with affiliate marketing.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is when you promote the products of other businesses on your blog. Every time someone clicks one of your affiliate links and buys the product, you get a commission.
Get started with affiliate marketing by joining affiliate programs like ShareASale.
On ShareASale, you can find a ton of products for children and moms that you can promote on your blog.
Accept Sponsored Blog Posts
Another way you can make money by promoting products on your blog is with sponsored blog posts. A sponsored post is when a company pays you to write about their product or service on your blog. For example, you can get paid for writing a product review post.
In some cases, the company might even write the post for you—then, all you have to do is publish the post and get paid.
To get started with sponsored blog posts, check out our guide on how to get sponsored posts for your blog.
Advertise with Google Adsense
You can also display ads on your blog with Google Adsense to make money. Start by creating a Google Adsense account for free. Then, Google will display ads on your website that are targeted to your audience and your content.
Here’s an example of one from the blog Pregnant Chicken:
Every time one of your website visitors clicks on an advertisement, you make money.
Setting it up is easy, so add Google Adsense to your WordPress blog today.
If you were worried about how to start a mom blog and make money, worry no more! These are 3 easy ways you can make money from your mom blog.
And that’s just the beginning! Check out our guide on how to monetize a blog for more profitable strategies.
10. Build an Email List
There’s one last step to starting a successful mom blog:
Building an email list!
When you ask mom bloggers what they wish they knew before starting a blog, many will say they wish they knew how powerful building an email list was.
Check out the benefits of email marketing:
- Deliver your latest blog posts right to readers’ inboxes to increase engagement.
- Build meaningful relationships through personal, regular communication.
- Make money by promoting your affiliate links or your own products, like ebooks, directly to your subscribers.
As you can see, an email list will help you create a loyal fan base and grow your blog.
How do you build an email list? Start by creating an email optin form using OptinMonster.
With OptinMonster, you can easily create beautiful optin forms, like the one below, to encourage your website visitors to become subscribers.
By using email optin forms on your blog, you can skyrocket your email list in no time.
For more tips, check out our quick and easy hacks to get more email subscribers.
Start a Successful Mom Blog Today
That’s a wrap!
We hope this post showed you how to start a mom blog and make money. Now you can make extra income for your family from the comfort of your own home.
And with time and hard work, maybe you can turn your mom blog into a full-time business!
Before you get start your mom blog, make sure to read over our launching a blog checklist to make sure you have everything you need.
And don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter for more helpful blogging tips!
Keep reading the article at Blog Tyrant. The article was originally written by Ramsay on 2020-06-25 08:00:27.
The article was hand-picked and curated for you by the Editorial Team of WP Archives.