December 15, 2023
A good blog can support the growth of a business, or it can even be the business itself. With the right content, a blog can draw in a loyal audience who keep returning to be entertained or informed. But getting a blog off the ground isn't easy, especially if you don't already have a solid reputation to build on. Some people pour a lot of money into a new blog to try and help it grow, but that's not an option for anyone who may be on a tighter budget. If you're not looking to spend a lot of money on growing your blog, you need other ways to bring in readers. Building your blog on a budget is possible, but you have to know all the right tricks.
When you're first setting up your blog, you have a chance to be careful with your costs. Perhaps you already have a website, and you simply want to add a blog section to it. This would definitely be the cheapest way to set up a blog, but it's not an option for everyone. When you're starting from scratch, you need to look for the right blogging platform and hosting option that will help you get started.
There are various blogging platforms you might use, many of which are low-cost and easy to use. Options like WordPress.com or Blogger can allow you to set up your blog quickly and cheaply. But it's also important to think about how much control you want to have and what features you're looking for. It might make more sense to look at WordPress.org, which offers you more tools but will require you to find hosting for your site.
Speaking of hosting, there are lots of different options at different price points. Before you tie yourself to one provider, do your research regarding costs, features, support, and other important factors. What's included in the available hosting products? Does it cost extra for a security certificate? How much more does it cost if you want more than one website? How do customers rate the customer service? You need a good balance between price and what you get for your money.
There's all sorts of content you can publish on a blog, from interviews to reviews. But one of the things you can do if you want to avoid spending too much is to choose what type of content you publish very carefully. Some content will naturally take more time and money to produce than others. If you want to write restaurant reviews, for example, that's going to require spending money on food and drink so you can write your reviews. Travel blogging is obviously going to incur some expenses too. Of course, you might already be doing these things, and writing about them could allow you to earn some money at the same time.
Running a blog can be a steep learning curve, and you might look for some help to teach you the right skills. There are plenty of courses out there that you could pay for, whether you want to learn about marketing, PR, writing, or photography. But why pay when you could benefit from all of the free resources out there? Free courses, blogs, and even library books could help you learn all you need to know. Check out some of the free marketing courses for bloggers you can find online. You can find out all about how to promote your blog without paying a penny, and you'll even have some marketable skills that you can use in other ways too.
The cost of creating your content can range from nothing to hundreds of pounds per blog post. How much it costs depends on how you go about it and what type of content you're creating. You could pay someone else to create your content for you, which is likely to be the most expensive option (if you pay them properly). But even if you do it all yourself, there are often other costs involved. You can find yourself paying for access to sources you want to use or for images and other content you want to include.
However, there are often cheap or free alternatives to these costs. Instead of paying for expensive stock photography, for example, you can find free Creative Commons images that you can use as you like. Or you could learn to take your own photos or create your own graphics, so you don't have to pay for them. You can find plenty of free resources when you're researching a blog post, enabling you to avoid paying for access as much as possible.
Creating a piece of content for your blog can take a lot of time and might cost you a bit of money too. So it only makes sense that you try to get the most from it when it's finished. Sharing your content as much as possible helps to ensure it's spread far and wide. Setting up social media channels for your blog or having a mailing list are both great ways of promoting your content. Another excellent way to get more from your content is to repurpose it. You already have a blog post, but it could also become a good infographic or a downloadable ebook. A podcast episode could also be turned into a blog post for people to read.
Monetising your blog can cost money, but it doesn't have to. You can use various methods to bring in money from your blog, without having to pay. Some of the methods you might consider include advertising, affiliate marketing, or selling products and services through your blog. Of course, these can require an investment of your time, but it's worth it if it can help you make money from your blog.
Growing a blog has the potential to be expensive, but if you're smart about it, you can do it on a budget too.
