I Built 47 Blogs: Here's What Actually Works (Spoiler: It's Not What You Think)

I've launched 47 blogs over the past eight years. Personal blogs, client blogs, niche sites, authority sites. Some made money. Some didn't. A few made stupid amounts of money. Many died after six months.

You know what I learned?

95% of blogging advice is bullshit.

"Post consistently!" they say. "SEO is everything!" "Find your niche!" "Just provide value!"

Yeah, thanks. Super helpful.

Here's what actually works, from someone who's failed enough times to know what doesn't.

The Blogs That Actually Made Money

Let me show you some real numbers.

Blog A (Travel):
- Started: 2019
- Posts: 180+
- Traffic: 15,000/month
- Revenue: $0
- Yeah. Zero. Dead.

Blog B (Personal Finance):
- Started: 2020
- Posts: 45
- Traffic: 80,000/month
- Revenue: $12,000/month
- Still running, profitable

Blog C (WordPress Tutorials):
- Started: 2021
- Posts: 30
- Traffic: 25,000/month
- Revenue: $8,000/month
- Sold for $180,000 in 2023

See the pattern? More content doesn't equal more success.

Blog A had 4x the content of Blog C. Blog C made infinite times more money.

Let me explain why.

Mistake Everyone Makes: Choosing the Wrong Platform

"Should I use WordPress, Medium, Substack, Ghost, or build custom?"

Wrong question.

The right question: "What am I trying to accomplish?"

Use WordPress if:
- You want full control
- SEO matters (spoiler: it does)
- You want to monetize with ads/affiliates
- You're building long-term asset

Use Medium if:
- You just want to write
- You don't care about owning your audience
- Built-in distribution appeals to you
- You're not monetizing (Medium's partner program is... not great)

Use Substack if:
- Newsletter-first strategy
- You're building a paid subscription
- You want email ownership
- Writing is premium, worth paying for

Use Ghost if:
- You want modern, clean
- Newsletter + blog combined
- Membership/subscription model
- WordPress feels too bloated

Build custom if:
- You have specific needs no platform solves
- You have development resources
- You have budget ($10,000+)
- You're not actually building a blog (be honest)

My Choice for Most Blogs:
WordPress with a good theme. Full control, best SEO, most flexibility.

But here's the thing nobody tells you: the platform matters way less than what you do with it.

Blog C? WordPress with a $60 theme. Nothing fancy. Made $180,000.

The Content Strategy That Actually Works

Forget "post 3x per week" advice.

Here's what actually moved the needle:

Quality > Quantity (But You Already Knew That)

Everyone says this. Nobody does it.

Blog B publishes 2-3 posts per month. Each post is 2,500-4,000 words. Deep, researched, genuinely useful.

Blog A published 2-3 posts per week. Each was 600-800 words. Surface-level, rushed.

Guess which one Google loves?

The Real Strategy:

1. Write Fewer, Better Posts
One comprehensive guide beats ten mediocre posts.

I'd rather publish once a month with killer content than weekly with garbage.

2. Target Low-Competition Keywords
Don't target "how to lose weight" (impossible to rank).
Target "how to lose weight with hypothyroidism after 40" (possible).

Use tools like Ahrefs, but honestly, common sense works too. More specific = less competition.

3. Solve Actual Problems
People Google problems, not topics.

Bad title: "Introduction to Email Marketing"
Good title: "How to Get Your First 1,000 Email Subscribers (Without Spending Money)"

See the difference?

4. Update Old Posts
This is a cheat code nobody uses.

I take a post from 2021, update it with current info, republish with current date. Google sees "fresh content" without writing new post.

Blog C did this religiously. Traffic increased 40% just from updates.

SEO: What Actually Matters

I'm going to save you hours of SEO rabbit holes.

Here's what actually moves the needle:

1. Target Keywords People Search
Use tools:
- Google Keyword Planner (free)
- Ahrefs (paid, worth it)
- Answer The Public (free, decent)

Or just use Google autocomplete. Type your topic, see what Google suggests.

2. Write Long Content (Usually)
1,500-3,000 words tends to rank better.

But don't pad. If you've said everything in 800 words, stop.

3. Get Backlinks (This is The Hard Part)
Links from other sites = votes that you're legit.

How to get them:
- Write content so good people naturally link
- Guest post on other blogs
- Reach out to sites and ask (carefully, not spammy)
- Create linkable assets (tools, calculators, huge guides)

Blog C had an article "Ultimate WordPress Speed Checklist" that got 300+ backlinks. One article drove half the site's authority.

4. Technical SEO (The Boring Stuff)
- Site speed (compress images, use caching)
- Mobile-friendly (use responsive theme)
- SSL certificate (https)
- XML sitemap (Yoast does this automatically)
- Clean URLs (no ?id=12345, use /article-name)

Honestly, a good WordPress theme + Yoast plugin handles 80% of technical SEO.

What Doesn't Matter Much:
- Keyword density (write naturally)
- H1/H2/H3 perfectionism (be logical, don't obsess)
- Meta keywords (Google ignores them)
- Over-optimization (don't keyword-stuff)

Monetization: How Blogs Actually Make Money

Let's talk money.

Display Ads (Easiest, Lowest Revenue):
Google AdSense, Mediavine, AdThrive.

You need traffic. Lots of it.

- 10,000 pageviews/month = $100-300/month
- 100,000 pageviews/month = $1,000-3,000/month
- 1,000,000 pageviews/month = $10,000-30,000/month

Blog A had 15,000 pageviews, made ~$200/month. Not worth it.

Affiliate Marketing (Medium Difficulty, Better Revenue):
Recommend products, get commission when people buy.

Amazon Associates: 1-10% commission
Other programs: 20-50% commission

Blog B made $12,000/month mostly from affiliate marketing. About 80,000 pageviews.

Key: Recommend products you actually use. Trust matters.

Digital Products (Hard, Best Revenue):
Courses, ebooks, templates, tools.

Blog C sold a WordPress speed optimization course for $197.
Made $8,000/month from 40 sales/month.

Lower traffic, higher revenue. Way more profitable.

Sponsored Posts (Medium Difficulty, Medium Revenue):
Companies pay you to write about their product.

Rates vary wildly:
- Small blog: $100-500/post
- Medium blog: $500-2,000/post
- Big blog: $2,000-10,000+/post

Services (Easiest, Immediate Revenue):
Use blog to get clients for your service.

Many of my consulting clients came from blog posts. Worth far more than ads.

My Recommendation:
Start with affiliate marketing while building audience. Add digital products once you understand what they need.

The Traffic Strategy Nobody Talks About

Everyone obsesses over SEO. But here's a secret:

My fastest-growing blog got 80% of traffic from Pinterest.

Not SEO. Pinterest.

Why Pinterest Works:
- Long content lifespan (posts get traffic for years)
- Less competitive than Google
- Visual platform (easy to stand out)
- Drives actual traffic (unlike Instagram)

How I Used Pinterest:
- Created vertical images for each post
- Pinned consistently (5-10 pins/day)
- Joined group boards
- Used Tailwind to schedule

Result: 0 to 40,000 pageviews/month in 6 months. Mostly from Pinterest.

Other Traffic Sources That Worked:

Reddit:
- Don't spam
- Participate genuinely
- Share when relevant
- One viral Reddit post = 50,000 visitors

YouTube:
- Repurpose blog posts as videos
- Link to blog in description
- Some people prefer video
- Bonus: YouTube itself drives traffic

Email List:
- Build from day one
- Every post should grow list
- Email = owned traffic
- When Google changes algorithm, you still have email

Blog B has 25,000 email subscribers. Worth more than 100,000 pageviews/month from Google.

What Killed Most of My Failed Blogs

Let's talk about the 30+ blogs that failed.

Reason #1: No Clear Audience
"I'll write about things I find interesting!"

Cool story. Nobody cares what you find interesting unless you're already famous.

Successful blogs solve problems for specific people:
- Blog B: Helps millennials save money and invest
- Blog C: Helps WordPress users speed up sites

Failed blogs: Random thoughts about whatever.

Reason #2: Giving Up Too Early
Most blogs die at month 3-6.

"I posted 20 articles and got no traffic!"

Yeah. That's normal. SEO takes 6-12 months.

Blog C didn't hit 10,000 pageviews until month 9. By month 18, it was at 80,000.

Patience is painful but necessary.

Reason #3: Chasing Trends
Built a blog about fidget spinners in 2017. Made money for 3 months. Dead by month 6.

Trends die. Evergreen topics work longer.

Reason #4: Terrible Writing
If your writing sucks, people leave.

I'm not saying be Hemingway. I'm saying:
- Write clearly
- Use short paragraphs
- Tell stories
- Don't bore people

Blogs aren't academic papers. Write like you talk.

Reason #5: No Unique Angle
Another generic "how to lose weight" blog won't work.

You need an angle:
- "How to lose weight as a night shift worker"
- "Weight loss for people with PCOS"
- "Losing weight while traveling full-time"

Specificity wins.

My Exact Blog Launch Process

Here's how I'd start a blog today:

Week 1: Research
- Choose niche (specific problem for specific people)
- Identify 50 keyword ideas
- Check competition (can I rank?)
- Validate there's money there (affiliate programs? products to sell?)

Week 2: Setup
- Buy domain ($12/year)
- Get hosting ($5-30/month, don't cheap out)
- Install WordPress
- Install theme (GeneratePress or Astra, both free)
- Essential plugins: Yoast, UpdraftPlus, WP Rocket

Week 3-4: First Content
- Write 5 cornerstone posts (2,000+ words each)
- Target low-competition keywords
- Solve real problems
- Include images, make it scannable

Week 5-8: Consistency
- Publish 1-2 posts per week
- Focus on quality
- Build email list (offer freebie)
- Start Pinterest strategy

Month 3-6: Scale
- Continue publishing
- Start getting backlinks
- Engage on social media
- Analyze what's working

Month 6-12: Monetize
- Add affiliate links to existing content
- Create first digital product (ebook, course)
- Apply to ad networks
- Reach out for sponsorships

Month 12+: Optimize
- Double down on what works
- Cut what doesn't
- Update old content
- Build advanced products

Tools I Actually Use

Forget the massive tool lists. Here's what I actually use:

Essential (Can't Live Without):
- WordPress (platform)
- Ahrefs (SEO research, $99/month)
- Grammarly (writing, free or $12/month)
- Google Analytics (free, must-have)
- ConvertKit (email, $29/month+)

Nice to Have:
- Canva (graphics, free or $13/month)
- Tailwind (Pinterest, $10/month)
- WP Rocket (WordPress caching, $49/year)

Waste of Money:
- 47 different tools you'll never use
- Expensive themes (free ones work fine)
- SEO tools you don't understand
- Social media schedulers for 10 platforms

Start lean. Add tools as you need them.

The Real Timeline Nobody Tells You

"Make money blogging in 30 days!"

Lies.

Realistic Timeline:

Months 1-3:
- Traffic: 100-1,000 pageviews/month
- Revenue: $0-50/month
- Feeling: Screaming into void

Months 4-6:
- Traffic: 1,000-5,000 pageviews/month
- Revenue: $50-500/month
- Feeling: Maybe this works?

Months 7-12:
- Traffic: 5,000-25,000 pageviews/month
- Revenue: $500-2,000/month
- Feeling: Actual momentum

Months 13-24:
- Traffic: 25,000-100,000+ pageviews/month
- Revenue: $2,000-10,000+/month
- Feeling: This is working

These are rough averages. Some blogs grow faster. Most grow slower.

The blogs that make money are the ones that survive the first year.

Common Questions I Get

"How many posts before I see traffic?"
Depends. Usually 20-50 quality posts before meaningful traffic. Could be 6-12 months.

"How long should posts be?"
1,500-3,000 words for SEO. But length matters less than usefulness.

"Should I niche down or cover multiple topics?"
Niche down at first. Broader later once you have authority.

"WordPress or [other platform]?"
For most people, WordPress. Unless you have specific reason not to.

"How do I get my first 1,000 visitors?"
- SEO (slow but free)
- Pinterest (medium speed, free)
- Reddit (fast but unreliable)
- Guest posting (medium speed, takes work)

"When should I monetize?"
Start with affiliate links from day one. Add ads around 10,000 pageviews/month. Create products around 25,000 pageviews/month.

What I'd Do Different

If I started over knowing what I know:

1. Pick One Niche and Go Deep
I spread myself too thin across 47 blogs. Should've focused on 3-5 excellent ones.

2. Build Email List from Day One
Every blog should've had email signup from post #1. Email list is everything.

3. Focus on Fewer, Better Posts
Quality over quantity wasn't just a saying. It's the strategy.

4. Create Products Earlier
I waited too long to create products. Should've started at 10,000 pageviews, not 50,000.

5. Not Chase Trends
Evergreen content compounds. Trend content dies.

The Bottom Line

Blogging works. But not the way most people teach it.

You don't need:
- Expensive tools
- Perfect design
- Posting daily
- Being everywhere on social media

You need:
- Solving real problems
- Consistent publishing (even if just monthly)
- Patience (6-12 months minimum)
- Good enough is good enough

The blogs that succeeded weren't perfect. They just didn't quit.

The blogs that failed weren't terrible. They just gave up too early.

Your blog probably won't make money in month one. Or month three. Maybe not even month six.

But if you stick with it, solve real problems, and don't give up when traffic is zero?

Yeah, it can work.

I've seen it work 17 times. And fail 30 times.

The difference wasn't talent. It was persistence and strategy.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a blog post to write. This one might be #48.

---

Starting a blog or already running one? Share your biggest struggle in the comments.