10+ Types Of Blogs That Make Money (in 2021)
Want to know the most popular types of blogs that make money?
A blog can be a very profitable online business. But first, you need to choose the right niche and understand how it works.
To better understand the types of blogs that make money, I have created a list with 10+ blog examples. Also, I have added how each of these blogs monetizes.
Do you want to learn more?
Then let’s dive in!
How Do Beginner Blogs Make Money?
There are several ways you can monetize a blog, including:
- Advertising — You can make money by showing ads to your visitors with advertising networks such as Mediavine or Google AdSense. Although you get paid a commission for the clicks you earn, you generally need a lot of traffic to make money.
- Affiliate Marketing — This is one of the most common methods used by bloggers to make money. In this business model, you get paid to promote third party products or services to your audience. Then, you earn a commission from sales generated by your blog.
- Selling Ads Space- If you manage to drive a lot of traffic to your blog, eventually agencies or businesses may contact you for advertising on your page. You just fix a monthly fee, agree where to place the banner on your site, and that’s it.
- Sponsored Posts- This is when a sponsor pays you to create content and distribute it to your network.
- Lead/Demand Generation — Bloggers claim this is the best way to make serious money online. In this case, you will use your blog to promote your own business: you can provide a service, sell digital products, teach online and sell your courses, etc.
List Of Types Of Blogs That Make Money.
In this section, you’ll find the most popular types of blogs and blog examples showing how they are making money online.
1. Marketing Blog.
One of the most common types of blogs that make money are marketing blogs.
Marketing blogs help readers to create and grow online businesses. They are mainly targeted at entrepreneurs and small businesses who want to make money online.
There are plenty of popular sub-niches that work very well such as:
- WordPress related.
- Email marketing.
- Affiliate marketing.
- SEO (search engine optimization)
- Ecommerce.
It is always a good practice to niche down to have better chances to grow your authority and be found.
Examples of marketing blogs that make money.
Neil Patel is one of the SEO’s gurus. On his website, he provides SEO services, tools, and very detailed information.
He attracts readers with great articles about SEO with organic traffic. Also, he created a tool called Ubersuggest, which brings to his website plenty of traffic.
His principal monetization method is selling SEO services. Since people landing on his page are a very targeted audience who wants to learn SEO, it works pretty well.
Also, even though Ubbersuggest has a free version, many people end up paying for the premium version.
This is is an excellent example of how well-targeted niches work. If you write very good content around a very specific topic attracting a targeted audience, then you can create related services and sell them.
Authority Hacker is a website with actionable education content for website owners.
They created several authority sites, and now they teach their readers how to it. To do it, they mainly use long-form written content.
Their principal monetization method is affiliate marketing. Although they also make money selling their own online courses.
One of the best strategies they use to monetize with affiliates is to create very informative and quality blog post reviews.
2. Finance Blog.
Finance blogs are so popular because it is useful for everyone.
In a finance blog, you can find useful things to your day to day life like tips to save money, credit cards with lower interest, etc.
Also, what works great in this niche is that finance is an evergreen topic. It does not matter if you are a student or an adult. There are always financial needs for all, just different ones.
Lastly, some of the most lucrative affiliate programs are in the finance niche. That is why finance is one of the best types of blogs that make money.
Examples of finance blogs that make money.
This blog is to help readers improve their finances along the way.
On it, you will find plenty of tips on how to save money and how to make money blogging.
A very interesting thing about how this blog monetizes is that incomes are diversified. The main revenue is from selling the products she created- Which are blogging courses.
But she also makes a lot of money with affiliate marketing and with sponsored posts.
Diversifying your income is a very clever thing to do, and Michelle has done that perfectly.
This is a practical blog to help you make the right money moves.
With millions of monthly readers, this money blog provides detailed posts to help you make financial decisions about credit cards, insurance, banking, etc. Moreover, NerdWallet also has plenty of financial tools to help you find the best accounts, loans, and credit cards.
They make money via affiliate marketing programs and displaying ads.
3. Travel Blog.
Travel blogs have always been one of the most popular types of blogs that make money. Until the Covid era arrived.
But the good news is that travel blogs are slowly rising again. It is true that as of today (Jan 2021) travel is restricted. But domestic travel is still working.
Also, many readers fantasize about planning trips when this is all over. Some others are investigating for some off the beaten track destinations. Others opt for natural tourism. In the end, it all falls under travel blogging.
Travel blogs can very an invaluable resource to help you plan and budget a trip. They can even take you there with amazing photography and videography. So this kind of blog does generally well.
However, monetizing a travel blog can be challenging. The affiliate programs for travel are not as good as in other niches. So if you don’t manage to build a blog with good traffic, you might struggle.
Examples of travel blogs that make money.
I have always followed Will Hatton, the owner of The Broke Backpacker.
His blog helps readers travel on a very tight budget. But he does all that at the same time he lives pretty amazing adventures. So it really is an engaging blog I enjoy reading.
On his blog, you will find plenty of adventures always filled with tips on how to make the most of each dollar.
The main income from this travel blog comes from affiliate marketing. Especially from promoting travel gear.
Nomads RTW is a travel blog featuring sustainable travel experiences and stunning photography from around the world.
Although you can also find travel guides and tips, what makes this blog different is that they focus on sustainable experiences.
Moreover, it is worth checking some of their photography and cinematic travel videos. They make their blog a real visual experience.
This blog monetizes mainly with affiliate marketing promoting travel gear and activities.
4. Fashion Blog.
If you use Instagram or Pinterest, you probably know fashion is the type of blog that makes money. Otherwise, why there would be so many fashion bloggers?
One of the reasons these blogs are popular is because creating content for your fashion blog can be good fun. Like trying out new seasonal clothing, taking pictures with different outfits, etc.
Also, fashion works great for selling products. Many fashion bloggers create eCommerce stores to sell clothes, some others are into dropshipping or even affiliate marketing.
Examples of fashion blogs that make money.
This blog is not about age, but about style. Here you will find expert advice, style tips, interviews, and podcasts. This is a very clever way to drive traffic from different mediums.
The style advice you’ll find on this blog is for women of all ages. And is written in a way that will make you feel chic and comfortable and confident.
This blog makes money with affiliate links, and sponsored posts.
She is a fashion blogger with a passion for people, art, culture, and music brings all of it together.
Wendy is a blogger and content creator with a passion for what she does.
Her blogging style is simple and clean. But photographs are the big deal here, and she knows that. If you want to be able to sell something, you need to sell it through the eyes first!
She monetizes with affiliate marketing and also with sponsored content.
5. Health and Fitness Blog.
A health and fitness blog is always a good idea because is an evergreen niche.
At some point, we all check for healthy meals, exercise tables from home, or some other healthy tips. Which makes this blog niche very versatile. You can even tackle this like a lifestyle blog focused on health.
During the last years, health and fitness blogs are using more videos than ever, which makes total sense. So if you feel like you can add value with videos or original content, this can be a very profitable niche.
Examples of health and fitness blogs that make money.
In this blog, you will see posts about balancing food, fun, and fitness.
Much of her content is centered on running and triathlon — including training tips and meals for active women — as Chrissy is a marathoner and triathlete herself.
She makes money by selling products she created like nutrition plans and sponsored posts.
Cassy Ho is an award-winning fitness instructor and creator of POP Pilates. Cassey’s blog consists of lighthearted and down to earth posts about her fitness journey, and tips you can implement to help you with yours.
She includes plenty of great information covering food, workouts, challenges, and more. She uses related opt-in forms to catch the reader’s email, which she later uses to email her products. Which is one of the ways she makes money apart from affiliate marketing.
6. Sports Blog.
There are plenty of sports blogs for any kind of sport you can imagine.
But there is a reason for this- Sport drives passion. This is great for both sides: The content creator, who loves writing, and the reader, who loves learning about his/her favorite sport.
So if you have a passion for a specific sport, this could be your niche. With the amount of traffic that sports blogs receive, monetizing a blog with ads is not hard. But of course, you first need to attract your readers by creating great content.
Examples of sports blogs that make money.
This is a fantastic blog for sports fans.
Here you can find articles about major sports, sports teams, and top cities.
With a very informative style and always on top of big news, this site offers a subscription for in-depth sports news and features. Which is the primary source of income.
This is a practical blog for sports lovers who want to see highlights, and reports for top sports.
The Score creates mobile-first sports experiences, connecting fans to what they love through an addictive combination of real-time news, scores, fantasy information, and alerts while creating and curating content that is mobile optimized, comprehensive, customizable, and seamlessly shareable.
They monetize their website mainly with bets you can place from your phone app.
7. Business Blog.
Business blogs are popular types of blogs that make money because they cover a big range of popular topics. From how to start a business, to eCommerce strategies, tips to leverage social media in your business, and so on.
Business blogs and marketing blogs aren’t that different. In fact, you can cover marketing tips within a business blog. Which means that business blogs are a bit broader. That is why they are also very competitive and you’ll need to niche down as much as you can.
One of the best methods to monetize with these blogs is selling business training products or services. Like ebooks or courses.
Examples of business blogs that make money.
A must-read blog for any entrepreneur is Mashable. It provides a mix of breaking news, opinion pieces, and a small dose of memes and internet humor.
It covers a bit of everything and will help you keep informed on what’s trendy.
They write informative pieces and use plenty of videos to back up their info, which increases engagement and user retention.
They make money mainly with affiliate marketing with product recommendations. They also display ads to monetize.
This blog is all about breaking news in the business and tech world. It covers new technologies, internet products and, start-ups performance.
They offer the information in the form of articles, audio, and videos. And they make money with different membership programs.
8. Food Blog.
If like me, you are a real foodie, then this could be a great blogging option.
Food blogs can cover from healthy recipes to restaurant reviews, and where to eat good and cheap. But what is mandatory for a food blog is great photography. You need to make your readers click just by looking at your food pictures.
That is why social media marketing is key for this type of blog.
Some of the most common ways to monetize these types of blogs is displaying advertising and with sponsored content.
Examples of food blogs that make money.
This blog organizes the content by recipe, diet, time-limits, and meal. Making it easy to navigate.
And as it should be, photography is a very important part of the blog. They use bright and large photography to incite the click, which they manage to do perfectly.
This blog monetizes with ads, affiliate marketing, and business coaching.
This blog was totally inspired by her creator’s love of food.
This blog also demonstrates that food can be prepared quickly and simply from everyday ingredients. She uses recipes, without a long list of ingredients. And again, photography makes the heavy lifting.
The main method to monetize this blog is by promoting products and affiliate marketing via email to her subscribers.
9. Lifestyle Blog.
From all the types of blogs that make money, the lifestyle blog is the more “abstract”. Anything related to how a person lives is considered lifestyle. This can be dating, self-improvement, personal experiences, etc.
Many lifestyle blogs are doing great out there. However, gaining domain authority when you are writing about a bunch of many different topics is harder.
On the bright side, lifestyle blogs are normally easy to read: Readers come to read stories, product recommendations, and things like that. So usually, these blogs receive good website traffic.
Examples of lifestyle blogs that make money.
This is a very stylish blog covering topics like design, travel, and fashion.
It features creative articles with very curated photography. This gives it an edge over the competition.
Bright Bazaar makes money by promoting products in its articles with affiliate links.
This is a website devoted to lifestyle with practical advice on home, travel, and personal style.
It is another great example of the power of visuals. All the blog posts have an original layout, easy to navigate, and with engaging pictures.
Say Yes monetizes with sponsored content and affiliate marketing.
10. Parenting Blog.
From all the types of blogs that make money on this list, this is probably the one that has grown the most in recent years.
These blogs treat topics like working from home with kids, how to raise your children, travel with kids, etc.
During the last years our lifestyles have changed a lot: There are more remote works, traveling with kids is not an impediment, moms have more resources to document how they raise their children, and so on. If you put all this together, you can start to see why parenting blogs are becoming so popular.
These kinds of blogs can make money in very different ways, being a popular solution selling products or services to teach other parents how to create a parenting blog.
Examples of parenting blogs that make money.
This is a beautiful blog featuring gentle parenting and sibling rivalries, teaching children about their emotions, and how to enjoy screen-free activities with your family.
Faust writes thorough blogs on the nutritional benefits of various foods like sweet potatoes and grapes and why they are important to include in your children’s diet.
This blog makes money with affiliate marketing products and services.
Modern Day Moguls dive into the current lifestyle and health trends for children and parents. It also covers topics like motherhood and some blogging tips showing how to start your own website.
What works great in blogs like this, are the engaging personal stories. Together with curated photography, makes readers crawl for more.
This blog monetizes with affiliate marketing links promoting from accessories to clothes and blogging services.
11. Pets Blog.
Sixty-seven percent of U.S. households, or about 85 million families, own a pet, according to the 2019–2020 National Pet Owners Survey conducted by the American Pet Products Association (APPA).
With those numbers, it is not strange that this type of blogs make money!
Plus there is a lot you can cover in a pets blog: Tips for new owners, how to travel with pets, training tips, etc. Also, there are pets blogs about any pet you can imagine- from hedgehogs to lizards!
So if you own an animal or have deep knowledge about any specific pet, then this could be your niche.
Examples of pet blogs that make money.
Puppy Leaks is dedicated to helping dog owners live happier and healthier lives with their four-legged friends.
This blog provides helpful tips on how to keep your indoor dog busy, reduce food aggression, fetch like a pro, and other training hacks.
It monetizes with affiliate marketing by promoting dog products and services.
Fresh Pet has all health-related info for your pet. Also, they share pet-related news and engaging pet stories.
Their blog posts are designed to educate first-timers and senior pet owners alike.
They also sell their own organic food with fresh ingredients. Which is how this blog makes money primarily.
Tips to create a blog that makes money.
The list above are types of blogs that make money. But don’t expect to start making money blogging just because you chose one of those niches.
In fact, I suggest you always do some niche research and then learn how to create a niche website that works.
Lastly, you might want to consider these tips:
- Choose a topic you have a passion for. This will help you a lot when creating content. Not only you will be able to show your expertise but to write more engaging pieces of content.
- Focus on your audience. Avoid writing for a broad audience. Instead, target your ideal reader/customer.
- Optimize your content for search. Driving traffic to a blog takes time. So the sooner you start with SEO the better.
- Create lots of evergreen content. You have better chances to stay on top if your content is evergreen.
- Create something unique. I know this might be hard, but there is a lot of competition out there and you need to stand out somehow. I suggest you start with these content writing tips.
Conclusion
This list with the types of blogs that make money is just the first step on your blogging journey.
There always plenty of choices if you feel none of these are for you. For example, you can check these profitable niches with low competition and might find yours.
Thank you for your reading.
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Originally published at https://thenicheguru.com on January 28, 2021.
*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.