Sportarly

How to Start a Sports Blog (and Make Money) in 2022

How to Start a Sports Blog (and Make Money) in 2022

Turn your love of sports into an income-generating blog with the steps below. Thanks to modern technology, creating and growing a blog has never been easier. Learn how to start a sports blog today!

How to start a sports blog featured image - title with a football in the background.

Introduction to the ‘How to Start a Sports Blog’ Guide

We all want to make money doing what we love. With more people than ever before earning a great income online, there is no reason why you can’t to!

If you follow the steps below, you can turn your love of sport into a full-time income.

This guide will show you how to:

  • Create your own sports blog.
  • Market and grow your blog.
  • Monetise your visitors so you can start earning from your efforts.

If, by the end of the guide, you still have questions, please feel free to email me. You can reach me on admin@sportarly.com

Who I Am & Why I Am Qualified to Help You Start Your First Sports Blog

Hi, my name is Jake Dennon and I have generated thousands of dollars each month over the past couple of years through my own sports blogs.

Earnings from one of our sports blog
One of Our New Sports Sites Now Earning Over $1000 Each Month

I have also been active and working in the wider internet marketing industry for the past 7 years. I have worked with and advised multi-million dollar companies on their online marketing.

Why am I telling you this?

Not to show off but to demonstrate that, unlike some other guides about starting your own online business, the techniques and strategies that I lay out below are tried and tested.

Our focus is on building websites and blogs that will stand the test of time. Websites and blogs that can grow as your online marketing knowledge and content creation skills increase.

It didn’t come naturally

Even with my previous online marketing experience, starting my first sports site was not easy and didn’t come naturally!

The 3 months before launching my first blog was spent biting my nails and stressing out about which sport to target.

I love a number of different sports including boxing, jogging, weight lifting and yoga so committing to one was tough. This is a common issue beginners face with their first blog and is covered in the steps below.

In the end, I decided that it was better to pick any of those sports and commit instead of constantly worrying about it.

I went with boxing and within 5 months of making that decision, I was the proud owner of a sports blog generating upwards of $1000 each month.

Why I am Sharing These Secrets

Having created and developed a few of these sites now, I’ve come to realise that my passion aren’t as focused on sports as I initially thought.

I have been learning about and testing different online marketing strategies for years now both at work and in my free time. I love finding new methods, techniques and tricks.

Now, thanks to the income generated from my sports blogs, I can help others turn their love for sports into additional income.

You need to be passionate about the sport(s) you choose to write about (more on this later) and, without this dedicated passion, it can be hard to grow the sites.

So, I decided to switch gears and focus on something I could talk about for days instead.

I have however published a few sample buyers guides here as an example of the types of content I produce to earn income each and every month from my this blog.

Affiliate Disclaimer

One of the reasons why I can offer this information for free is because I earn a small commission if you purchase some of the products and/or subscribe to some of the services that I mention in my articles.

Some of the links below will contain my affiliate tag and allow me to earn one of these commissions should you decide to purchase/sign-up after clicking on it.

Please review our Editorial Policy and Privacy Policy for more information.

Let’s Get Started

So, with all this in mind, lets move on to the first step. Picking a niche for your sports blog.

1. Pick a Niche for Your Sports Blog

Picking a niche for your sports blog.

The first step to creating your blog is picking a niche to target.

It goes without saying that you should pick a niche in which you have experience and a passion. Without this, you will only be able to get so far.

A lot of experience and knowledge about your chosen niche means that you can offer something genuinely interesting and valuable to the readers of your blog.

It will also help you greatly when you start looking to connect with established influencers and publishers in the niche.

The Perfect Niche

The perfect niche is one that is narrow enough for you to establish yourself as an expert, but not so narrow that no one is interested in it.

You want to pick a topic that is narrow enough that you can establish yourself as an expert in the industry, but that isn’t so narrow that no one is interested in it.

Keeping this in mind whilst selecting your niche will help ensure that the niche you choose won’t be overly competitive and that you will be able to actually make some money whilst operating in it.

Some Example Sport Niches

Below I have listed some example sports niches and noted if I would consider them broad or narrow:

  • How to lose weight (broad and competitive although easy to monetize if successful).
  • How to teach your child how to swim (narrow and unlikely to be overly competitive however monetizing an audience in this niche could prove challenging although by no means impossible).
  • The best tech gear for surfers (this could be a great niche if you have good knowledge on the subject as it is likely low competition and can be easy monetized).
  • Physiotherapy for soccer players (another potentially low competition niche when it comes to creating a blog).

Whilst picking a niche that you can effectively compete in is important, the main thing to remember is that you should pick a topic that you are genuinely interested in.

The above are niches were an information product (like an online course) or in-person consulting/coaching could be suitable.

Can I Keep My Niche Broad?

If you don’t think you want to try something like this, you could keep it broader and go for something like a general golf blog.

On your more generic sports blog you could give expert tips and insights learned through your years/experience playing the sport.

You could also review products and put together buyers guides which could be monetized with affiliate links.

2. Choose a Blogging Platform

Choose a blogging platform.

When it comes to creating your first blog, you will quickly find many platforms that will help you do so.

There are many pros and cons to each blogging platform which I will go into more details on below.

Main Takeaway

The main takeaway (if you wanted to skip ahead) is that you should go with a self-hosted platform like WordPress if you intend to make money from your blog at some point.

WordPress is the most popular content-management-system (CMS) in the world and millions of people use it to publish their blog content every day.

Screenshot of WordPress dashboard.

With so many people using it, WordPress also boasts a huge amount of website themes and templates, plugins and added functionality.

All of this means that you can really customize your blog and make it personal to you and your interests.

The platform also makes it much easier to make money from your blog with so many plugins ready made to help you do so.

So, if you want to really commit to creating and growing a blog that can make you money in the future, go with WordPress and skip ahead to the next section.

Free Blogging Platforms & Starting a Sports Blog for Free

Free blogging platforms search.

After starting your research into what blogging platforms to use for your sports site, you will quickly find a number of free options such as WixBloggerWeebly and Squarespace.

If your blog is going to be a hobby, and you never intend for it to become a side hustle or a business, one of the many free blogging platforms available will be the perfect choice!

If however you intend to make money from your sports blog and want the ability to easily grow and customize it, you will want to go with a self-hosted/paid blogging platform.

Free platforms are great but as your audience grows and you want to offer more in the way of site functionality and personalization, you will run in to problems.

It also won’t be as easy to generate ad revenue or to sell your own products through a free blogging platform.

Going with a paid option from the outset means that you won’t run in to these same issues as your sports blog grows. As you will see below also, they don’t need to cost a fortune either!

Self-Hosted/Paid Blogging Platforms

Self Hosted WordPress image.

As the name suggests, self-hosted blogging platforms involve hosting the content-management-system (CMS) on your own server.

There are several paid and open-source blogging platforms available all of which have their own unique functionality, benefits and negatives.

As stated above, I would suggest that you stick with the self-hosted version of WordPress for your first blog.

Hosting this version of the WordPress CMS on your own server doesn’t need to cost a fortune either.

Some Reasons to Use the Self-Hosted Version of WordPress

Below I have listed some of the reasons why I would recommend you use the self-hosted version of WordPress:

  • The WordPress CMS is open-source and free to download and use.
  • The WordPress Library features thousands of themes and plugins pre-made and ready to help you enhance your blogs design, customization and functionality.
  • You can start making money from your sports blog in several different ways.
  • WordPress and the many themes and plugins available that integrate with it has some fantastic support options.
  • If you have any questions or issues getting your blog setup, you will likely be able to find it asked and answered already somewhere online.
  • WordPress is used on millions of blogs and websites around the world.
  • Countless businesses and organizations already trust WordPress to keep their sites up and running smoothly.

As you can see, there are many reasons why you might want to use the WordPress CMS on your own server.

In the next steps, I will move on to how you can set up your hosting and blog and eventually, how you can start making money from your love of sports.

As I will detail below, you can find hosting options that cost about as much as a cup of coffee each month.

3. Choose a Domain Name

Choose a domain name image - a man pointing at different top-level domains (TLDs).

The third step to starting your sports blog is choosing a domain name.

This might seem like a relatively small decision but think about it, your domain name will be the name used on your website, social media platforms and make up your entire brand.

A best practise for those looking to rank higher in Google used to be to make sure that the keywords you want to show up for in Google were featured in your domain name. This is not needed anymore.

Picking a Domain Name

You want to pick a domain name that is short, memorable and relevant to your blog and niche (although even relevancy is not required if it is memorable and short!).

Please note: Whilst your domain name should be relevant, it should not be too restrictive either.

If this is your first online venture, you might find yourself wanting to change or expand the topics that your blog discusses.

Tips on Choosing a Domain Name

Below I have added some quick tips to help you choose a domain name for your sports blog:

  • Go with a .com. This extension at the end of a domain name is called a top-level-domain (TLD) and you will find countless options. If based in the US, a .com will be the most recognisable and simple option.
  • Keep it short. Shorter domain names are easier to remember, share and type in to the address bar.
  • Be creative. You might know of many well know brands using colors, animals and slang in their names which helps to make them more recognisable.
  • Use additional words. Most stand-alone domain names have already been purchased and you will not find them available. So, try combining your word(s) with additional ones like “club”, “hq”, “store” and similar words.
  • Keep it relevant. Ideally, people should be able to identify what subject your blog or website is about just by looking at the domain name.

With all this being said, try not to spend too long picking a domain name.

It is easy to get stuck at this stage and you should really only be spending a couple of hours max choosing a name for your blog.

4. Buy Your Domain Name & Hosting

Buy Your Domain Name and Hosting - Image of people constructing a website.

I Recommend That You Use SiteGround to Buy Your Domain & Host Your Sports Blog

I personally used SiteGround for my first few blogs and recommend that you do the same.

Their WordPress hosting option allowed me to quickly create and scale my blogs and start generating income from them.

*The button above contains an affiliate link. We receive a small commission if you sign up after clicking on this link.

On to the next step, buying your domain name and hosting. This is where you will really start to feel like your sports blog is coming together.

You only need to search on Google for ‘buy a domain name’ or ‘purchase web hosting’ to find countless options to do both.

The details below will focus on doing so through SiteGround. In my opinion this is one of the best options for beginners who are looking for a simple, straightforward and affordable service to get their sports blog up and running.

Why SiteGround?

There are thousands of different hosting providers and domain name registrars around, all with their own unique pros and cons.

The Perfect Hosting Service

The perfect hosting service for a website will depend on a number of factors including:

  • How many visits/how much traffic the site is expected to receive.
  • The amount and types of content that is to be hosted on the website.
  • The budget available to invest in the hosting of the website or blog.
  • The website or blog owners technical experience, skills and capabilities.

I also used SiteGround to host several of my first sports blogs and websites.

Taking the above considerations in to account, SiteGround was the perfect option for me because:

  • My blog wasn’t going to generate tens of thousands of visitors each month (at least not initially).
  • I was going to be manually writing the content myself so there wouldn’t be much hosted on the site at first.
  • I had a limited investment as I was only dipping my toes into the world of online publishing.
  • I had very limited technical skills so benefited greatly from the support and setup offered by the SiteGround team.

If you a reading this guide, it will likely be a great option for you and your needs also.

I would go with the managed WordPress hosting option which will allow you to quickly install WordPress on your blog and get started designing, customizing and publishing your website.

Buying Your Domain & Hosting with SiteGround

Managed WordPress hosting with SiteGround.

SiteGround makes it quick and easy to get your first WordPress (WP) blog up and running.

However, if you are new to blog and website creation, it can all seem a little overwhelming.

So, below I have listed the steps you will need to take to purchase your domain name, sign up for hosting and set up your blog.

Go to The SiteGround Managed WordPress Hosting Page

To begin, head over to the SiteGround Managed WordPress Hosting page shown in the screenshot above.

Select Your Plan

Select your hosting plan.

Next, select the plan you want to use. I would suggest sticking with the StartUp plan highlighted above.

The 10GB web space, up to 10,000 monthly visitors, free WP installation, free SSL certificate (this means a padlock and/or secure message can be displayed next to your domain name), free email and 30-days money-back guarantee makes it the perfect option for a beginner.

If you are more experienced in setting up websites and/or online marketing, you might want to select one of the higher tier plans.

If you find yourself receiving more than 10,000 visits each month to your blog, great job! Upgrading to one of the higher tiers is quick and easy.

Register Your Domain Name or Connect an Existing One

Register your domain name or connect an existing one.

After selecting your plan, you will be taken to the page above where you can register your domain name.

Type the domain name that you would like your website to have and select which TLD you would like to use (e.g. .com, .co.uk, .net etc. – in most cases, stick with a .com). Then hit proceed.

If you already own a domain name, you can also connect it to your new hosting service at this stage by selecting the ‘I already have a domain name’ option.

Purchase & Billing Information

SiteGround purchase and billing information page.

Finally you arrive at the purchase and billing information page.

This step is self-explanatory but there are a few things to note. You will want to select a data center ideally based in the location that you are targeting.

As you can see in the screen shot above, as I would like to target the US, I have selected a data center based in Iowa.

You can choose from data centers based in the UK, Asia, Australia, Germany or The Netherlands.

You will also have the option to purchase Domain Privacy and the SiteGround Site Scanner. If you have the budget available, I would invest in both.

The domain privacy option will keep your details out of the Whois database so third-parties can’t find out who owns your website and email/contact you regarding offers for marketing and other website-related services.

The SG Site Scanner will check that your website hasn’t been hacked and will notify you immediately if it finds anything suggesting that this might be the case. Removing and recovering fast from such issues will be vital to the overall health of your sports blog.

*Please note: Free and paid WordPress plugins exist to help combat website hacking and malicious code injection attempts. So, if you don’t want to invest in the SG Site Scanner, other (sometimes free) options are available.

You Have Now Purchased Your Domain Name & Hosting

Congratulations! You have now purchased the domain name and hosting for your first sports blog.

Congratulations!

As the success message will tell you, you have now purchased the domain name and hosting for your first sports blog.

You can proceed to the next step, logging in and installing WordPress on your server.

5. Install WordPress on Your Server

Installing WordPress on Your Sports Blogs Server.

Now that you have registered your domain name and purchased your website hosting, you can install WordPress on your blogs server and start publishing content.

Fortunately, SiteGround makes it incredibly easy to install WordPress especially if you went with their managed WordPress hosting option.

Please note: If you went with a different hosting company/provider, you might be able to find a similar WordPress installation option if your service comes a one-click install option.

This usually uses something called Softaculous to upload and install the CMS to your server.

Login to Your SiteGround Account

Login page for Site Ground accounts.

Now that you’ve signed up and completed your purchase, you can head over the the SiteGround website and login.

Use the details that you signed up with to login, or check your email/inbox if you have forgotten them for your login details.

Click Set Up Site to Create Your Sports Blog

After logging in, you should see a large banner inviting you to set up or migrate your website. Click the button ‘set up site’ to get started.

If you don’t see this, you can click the ‘Websites’ item in the menu which will take you to a page where you can add a new (or your first) website.

Start a New Website & Select WordPress as Your Application

Select 'start new website' and select WordPress as the application.

When given the option, click the Start New Website option and then also select WordPress as the application you want your website to run on.

After selecting both options, you will be asked to provide an email address and password.

This will be the login details for your email panel and will be associated with the blog, so make sure you remember them.

Usually you will use something like info@domain.com, admin@domain.com or webmaster@domain.com.

Click Finish & Let Them Set Up Your Blog

After clicking finish, your WordPress site will be set up within minutes. You will be notified on the page and via email once your blog is up and running.

In the admin area of your Site Ground account, you will now see details about your blog including usage and visitor data, email account access and file manager access.

Don’t worry, you don’t need to do anything with this for now (although feel free to have a browse and get familiar with some of the settings).

After a few minutes, you should be able to type in your domain in your address bar and see your live website!

To login and start editing and updating your website, stick /wp-admin at the end of your domain name in the address bar of your browser. Input the login details that you used in the earlier steps to login as an admin.

6. Select & Install Your Sports Blog Theme

Select and install your sports blog WordPress theme.

Now that you have installed WordPress on your server and can edit your website, you will want to find and install a theme for your sports blog.

A Website Theme

A website theme is a templated design pre-built and ready to install on your blog.

You can find thousands of free and paid WordPress themes available online. I suggest that you spend some time selecting one that matches the look and feel you want your blog to have.

*The button above contains an affiliate link. We receive a small commission if you purchase a theme from Theme Forrest after clicking on this link.

Selecting a WordPress Theme

Keep in mind when selecting your theme that the design of your website can have a large effect on how much people trust you and your content, whether they buy from you/those you recommend that they buy from and how fast your website is.

How to Select a High-Quality Theme

There is more to selecting a high-quality theme than just how it looks (although of course this is a vital factor).

Below we have listed some of the most important things to look for when choosing a theme for your sports blog:

  • Your chosen theme should be fast to keep your users and search engines happy. Run the preview of the theme that you are considering through Google’s Page Speed Insights tool to test its speed and performance.
  • The layout of content in your theme must be easy to follow and engaging.
  • A high-quality theme will include widgets and sections for you to monetize your website traffic and users.
  • The theme should be affordable.
  • The theme should include on-going support.
  • Updates to make the theme compatible with future versions of WordPress and popular plugins should be included.
  • Any high-quality theme should have a number of positive reviews from independent sources (e.g. not just published on the theme developers own website).

As you can see, there are a number of things you should look for in selecting a theme for your blog.

Take enough time to fully research and experiment with any theme you intend to pay for.

You will find yourself tweaking your theme for months and years to come. The nature of websites is that they change in layout, look and feel as technology grows.

As mentioned above, you should spend a decent amount of time selecting your theme initially.

Although you can always change your theme later on, doing so after you have spent significant amounts of time customizing your original theme can be frustrating.

How to Install a WordPress Theme

After finding and purchasing your desired theme, installing it can be quick and straight-forward.

Once downloaded, you will find a .zip file which can be uploaded in your WordPress admin area directly.

Hover over the Appearance item in the WordPress menu and click the ‘Themes’ option. There you will find a button to ‘Add New’ and on the following page another button to ‘Upload’ a new theme.

Once uploaded and installed, you must click the ‘Activate’ button to make the new theme live on your sports blog.

7. Select & Install Your WordPress Plugins

Select and install your WordPress plugins.

One of the huge benefits of using WordPress for your blog is the extensive plugin library available.

Tens of thousands of plugins, both free and paid, have been made to help blog owners enhance the design and functionality of their website.

Useful WordPress Plugins for Sports Blogs

The list below details and links to some of the WordPress plugins that I have used to improve and enhance my sports blogs:

  • Yoast SEO – A hugely popular and useful search engine optimization (SEO) plugin.
  • Atomic Blocks – A plugin to help you more effectively create and modify your blog.
  • Woocommerce – Allows you to turn your blog in to an eCommerce store and helps you with product creation, payment processing and order fulfilment.
  • W3 Total Cache – This plugin helps you optimize your website for speed and performance. This can include compressing images and code as well as caching important content.
  • WordFence – A security plugin which will help you protect your blog from hacking attempts and malicious code injection.

Keep in mind that plugins can slow down your website.

Only install plugins that you absolutely need and, where possible, try to make changes manually instead of relying on a plugin.

Start browsing some of the other WordPress plugins available here.

Carefully research and consider any plugins that you install on your blog and make sure that they are developed and maintained by reputable companies/individuals.

How to Install a WordPress Plugin

Just like installing a new theme, installing WordPress plugins is straight-forward and easy.

Once you have got the .zip file for your new plugin, simply head over to the ‘Widgets’ tab. Here you will be able to click ‘Add New’ and upload your ZIP file.

Alternatively, you can browse the WordPress plugin library to find new and useful plugins. Here you will also see how many people have installed them and who developed them.

8. Publish Your Key Pages

Publish your key pages.

Now that the structure, design and setup of your sports blog is complete, it is time to publish your key pages.

At the minimum, you should add important pages that allow your users to quickly identify who you are, why you started your sports blog and how to get in contact with you if they have any complaints, concerns or questions.

How to Create a New Page

Adding a new page.

To create a new page, head over to your WordPress admin dashboard and click on the ‘Pages’ menu item.

At the top, you will find an option to ‘Add New’. After clicking this, you will need to populate the title field, add your content and click ‘Publish’ to make your page live.

Important Pages to Add

Below are some key pages that you might want to add to your sports blog.

  • About Us – This page should offer an overview of who you are, why you started your blog and what the website will offer.
  • Contact Us – Give users a way to get in touch with you and your team. Publish here as much contact information as you feel comfortable sharing (e.g. email, phone number, address etc.).
  • Privacy Policy – Your Privacy Policy should inform your users on how you collect, manage and store their data. This should cover things like any Cookies that your blog stores and how they (the user) can go about deleting them. Keep in mind GDPR regulations whilst writing your Privacy Policy.
  • Terms & Conditions – This page should lay out (in detail) the terms and conditions of using your website.

These are the most common key pages, depending on your site you might also include others such as an affiliate disclaimer page, an advertising page and/or a brand guidelines page.

9. Add More Content

Add more content and start blogging.

Finally, you can start publishing content on your sports blog and spend most of your time writing about what you love, sports.

As you write and publish more, you will develop your own writing style and tone of voice.

You can always go back and update your first few articles later so don’t worry about getting them perfect now.

Some Ideas to Get You Started

Some Article & Content Ideas

Use the ideas below as a jumping off point and don’t be afraid to get creative. The most important thing is to just get started!

  • Review and comment on recent sports games and fixtures.
  • Discuss popular players and offer comparisons.
  • Analyse different strategies and tactics within the sport in a new and unique way.
  • Compile some of the best moments from the sport over the years.
  • Give others ways to dip their toes in and get started playing the sport.

The beauty of owning your own blog is that you can write about whatever you like! Sit down and think about what comes naturally, then write that. Pick something that you could talk for hours on end about and you’ll be off to a good start.

The best way to start is to write about what you are passionate about and what you already know about.

You should have an overall topic decided already from step 1 which should provide you with some initial inspiration.

I always suggest taking a look at other popular blogs about your chosen niche/sport to get some ideas on what to write about.

Content Creation Tips

The tips below will help you get started and make sure that your first few blog posts are of a high-quality.

  • Use an attention-grabbing, concise title that summarises the article nicely.
  • Link and cite credible and expert websites that support your content.
  • Write consistently to get your practise in (I recommend you try to write daily in the first few weeks of your sports blogging career).
  • Make sure that your articles fit your niche and the overall topic of your blog.
  • Create an editorial calendar to keep a track of what you are writing and when you want to publish it.
  • Commit to a set number of blog posts before you think about monetizing or promoting your blog.
  • Break up long-form articles with images, videos and other multi-media.

Remember, you want every article you publish to be useful, comprehensive and interesting!

10. Marketing Your Sports Blog

Publish your key pages.

You can create the best blog content in the world but if no body finds it, only you can appreciate and benefit from it. This is why marketing your sports blog is so important.

Great content and great marketing is needed to turn your sports blog into an income-generating website.

Now, there are several ways to successfully market your blog and all of them involves drawing attention to the great content that you are publishing.

Below you will find the most popular marketing methods that have turned countless peoples blogs into hugely popular websites.

Word of Mouth

The quickest and simplest form of marketing is telling your friends, family, colleagues and anyone you meet that might be interested about your blog.

This is an old-school technique but, providing your content is good enough, it can work wonders.

Pay Per Click Advertising

If you are a bit more experienced with online marketing, you can try pay-per-click advertising to quickly generate traffic to your new sports blog.

Social Media Marketing

If you are used to using Facebook in your personal life, you should try using social media platforms to build your blogs audience.

Plus, there are tons of great guides online to help you get started in the world of social media marketing.

Guest Blogging

Reaching out to and writing for other popular sports blogs can be a great way to get your name out there.

Don’t do this all the time and/or for SEO reasons though as that could land you in hot water with Google and their algorithms (a Google penalty can kill your blog in the search engines).

If using this strategy, make sure any links to your blog use the NoFollow attribute.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

This involves carrying out keyword research to identify keywords and questions that people are searching for on Google each month.

Once you know what people are searching for, you can write content that effectively targets those searches which can help you rank higher for them in the search results.

Email Marketing

Building an email list is a great way to keep loyal readers aware of any new content that you publish on your blog.

It is also a fundamental marketing strategy used by all of the largest blogs online.

Niche Forums

As you are passionate about your chosen sport, it is likely that you have come across or are already active in a number of niche forums.

You can start promoting your blog on niche forums but make sure that you are always offering more value than just a mention of your content (otherwise you will quickly find yourself banned from that forum).

Marketing is a huge area and as your blog grows you will no doubt experiment with many different strategies. Always make sure you are using ethical and sustainable strategies to promote your sports blog as anything else could damage your online reputation and profile.

You will be marketing your sports blog for as long as you own it.

I suggest only using honest, ethical and the highest-quality strategies and techniques to grow your blog. It doesn’t take much to tarnish a reputation online!

11. Make Money with Your Blog

Making money with your sports blog.

At this point, you might be wondering how you are going to make any money from your blog.

Well, there are a few different options you can use to start generating some extra cash.

This step is known as “monetization” and looks at the various ways that you can convert readers of your posts into loyal, paying customers.

You can even make a significant income from your sports blog if you have nothing to sell.

Some of the monetisation methods for a sports blog include:

Affiliate Marketing

This involves promoting other peoples products and/or services and getting a share of the sale when your audience makes a purchase.

Google Adsense/Display Advertising

By placing Google Adsense or display ads on your sports blog, you can start earning every time someone clicks on one of them.

This is one of the most hands-off monetization strategies that you will find. It is only really effective once you are generating more than 20,000 visits a month though.

Selling Fitness Apparel, Sports Clothing & Merchandise

Creating your own sports clothing line is a great option if you learn how to do it properly.

Thanks to modern technology, creating your own branded products is easier than ever.

With print-on-demand (POD) and dropshipping fulfilment options, you don’t even need to invest in stock or expensive equipment up-front.

Create an Information Product (Info-Product) or Online Course

You can use popular course creation platforms like Udemy to package your experience and knowledge and sell an online course.

If you have the right offer, this can be a great way to turn your passion into a profit.

Offer Online Personal Training, Consulting or Coaching

By effectively conveying your knowledge and expertise through your blog posts, you can start signing up online personal training and consultancy clients.

If you package your offer correctly, people will pay you a monthly fee for your expert advice and insights.

Create Members Only & Exclusive Content

Many sports bloggers make a great living by offering members only or exclusive content.

With WordPress, you can create cheat sheets, tutorials and/or follow-along practise sessions that you can charge for.

These are just a few of the ways that you can start making money from your blog.

As your online business grows, you will come across new and more effective ways to monetize your audience.

Just like your marketing, make sure that you focus your efforts on selling something that your readers will find genuinely useful.

Conclusion

I hope that you have found this guide on how to create a sports blog useful, interesting and actionable.

Keep in mind that although building a sports blog can be incredibly lucrative and rewarding, it is not always easy.

You should not mistake building a popular blog for a get-rich-quick-scheme. In order to build your blogs popularity and start earning a decent amount from it, you will need to invest significant time, energy and resources into it.

So, take your time with each step and really throw yourself in to your the blog creation process.

If you ultimately want to earn any decent amount of money from your sports blog, you need to offer real value to your readers.

This means creating something that people really want to read and will refer to time and time again.

So good luck and remember, if you have any questions about how to start a sports blog and make money, you can drop me a message on jake@sportarly.com.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

We have tried to keep our guide to starting a sports blog as clear, concise and comprehensive as possible.

However, we know that you might still have some questions. Below you will find some of the most commonly asked questions about starting a sports blog.

How much do sports bloggers make?

A sports blogger can make anywhere between nothing and millions per year (or more!).

The amount that they will earn will vary greatly depending on a number of factors. For example, their niche, monetization method(s), monthly traffic, target audience and the quality of their content can all influence how much their blog will make.

How do you start a sports blog and make money?

You follow the guide above! The shortened version is that you:

  • Pick a niche to target.
  • Purchase a domain name.
  • Purchase web hosting.
  • Install WordPress on your server.
  • Start blogging regularly.
  • Promote your blog online.
  • Start selling something or affiliate marketing on your blog.

Is it still profitable to start a blog?

Blogging has been around for well over a decade now and, in previous years, it was considered just a hobby. However, today people all over the world are earning a full time income from their blogs.

So yes, it can still be incredibly profitable to start a blog if you follow the right steps.

Is blogging a good career?

Once you have grown your blog into a popular online destination and cultivated a loyal readership, blogging can be a great career.

With that being said, blogging is not a get-rich-quick-scheme. Building a profitable blog takes patience, hard work, passion and creativity.

How do bloggers get paid?

Bloggers can get paid in a variety of ways depending on how they decide to monetize their blog.

Common ways that bloggers get paid is by placing ads on their blog and earning each time that someone clicks on one of them, receiving a commission every time someone purchases something after clicking on one of their affiliate links and from online course and/or consulting sales.

How do beginner bloggers make money?

A beginner blogger is best off making money through display advertising (where you are paid each time that someone clicks on an ad displayed on your blog) or affiliate marketing (where you earn a small commission each time someone purchases something after clicking on one of your affiliate links).

Both options are easy to set up and require very little online marketing knowledge to get working.

Do sports blogs make money?

Many sports blogs generate a significant amount of money each and every month. If the blog generates a large amount of traffic each month and enjoys a loyal readership, it can be turned into an income-generating business.

Does blogging still work in 2020?

Each and every year you will read someone claiming that blogging is dead (usually in order to sell you on their “new” online business idea) and it never turns out to be true.

If you are able to create and grow a blog and establish yourself as an expert in your industry, you can start earning money online and make blogging work for you.

Is it worth starting a blog in 2020?

If you are ready to invest your time, energy and resources into growing your blog and creating something valuable, it is still well worth starting a blog in 2020.

Pick something that you are already passionate about and, for the most part, it won’t even feel like you are working!

Do all blogs make money?

No. Everyday millions of blogs are published or updates and the vast majority of them don’t generate any significant amounts of money.

Despite this, if you are prepared to learn as you go and put a lot of time and effort into your blog, you can earn a good income from it in the near future.

Is blogging easy?

If you are really passionate about what you are writing about, blogging can seem easy. However, other aspects of creating, maintaining and growing a blog can still seem like hard work.

How much does it cost to set up a blog?

How much it costs to set up a blog will depend on a number of things such as where you host it, which platform you publish your blog on and if you intend to do all of the work on your blog yourself or if you want to outsource it.