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I’m a member of several different blogging groups on Facebook and I’ve noticed the same question pop up a number of times:
Can you monetize a WordPress.com blog?
The answer is YES!
I’ve noticed some people don’t think WordPress allows monetization on their free platform, but this is untrue. In fact, here’s a statement from WordPress.com:
We understand monetization is important for many site owners, and we welcome and support many methods of monetizing the hard work you put into your blogs and sites. [SOURCE]
Another myth is that you need LOADS of pageviews before you can start monetizing your WordPress.com site. Again, this isn’t true. While your options are limited if you only have a small readership, there are a couple of different tools that you can use to monetize your WordPress.com site from day one. Keep on reading to find out more!
5 ways to monetize WordPress.com blogs:
To keep the site spam free, WordPress.com only allows the five following methods of monetization:
- Affiliate marketing
- Sponsored posts
- WordAds
- Selling products/services (digital & physical)
- Asking for donations/tips
I’ll explain each method in detail below, give some useful tips and share some of my favourite monetization tools to help you get started quickly.
In this article, we’re focusing on the free version of WordPress (WordPress.com) BUT all the tips can be used on the self-hosted version too (WordPress.org). If you don’t know the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org, click here.
1) Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is an advertising technique employed by brands (including big companies like ASOS, Target, eBay, Amazon, Zappos etc). The brands pay bloggers commissions on sales referred through specially tracked links.
I’ve written a free beginner’s guide. Click here to learn more.
On their support page, WordPress.com confirm that they allow affiliate links on their blogging platform:
When blogging about books you’re reading, music you love, clothes that strike your fancy, gadgets you’re drooling over, or whatever interests you and your readers, feel free to post relevant affiliate links using either text or images.
As you might expect, WordPress do NOT allow links to gambling sites, get-rich-quick schemes, multi-level marketing programs, disreputable merchants, pornography, malware, or phishing-type scams on their platform. They also do not allow sites that ONLY exist to drive traffic to affiliate links.
The only catch? Some affiliate networks and platforms won’t accept applications from WordPress.com users. This is because their service might rely on coding or plugins that WordPress.com does not support.
WordPress recommends getting started with Amazon Associates. They have documentation detailing how to get started with Amazon affiliate links, which you can read here.
If you’re a fashion, beauty or lifestyle blogger, I recommend Shopstyle Collective too. You’ll be able to link to clothing, homewares, makeup and books from all the top retailers like ASOS, etc. They don’t have an approval process so you can get started straight away. Here’s some further information about using ShopStyle Collective with WordPress.com.
2) Sponsored posts
WordPress.com allow bloggers to post sponsored content on their sites.
- You can be paid to write about a product or service
- You can write a post in exchange for a freebie
- Somebody can provide you with an article and pay you to publish it
However, there are a couple of restrictions:
- Your site should consist of MORE than just sponsored content
- All content must adhere to the WordPress.com Terms of Service
Finding sponsored post opportunities:
Here are three different methods to help you get started:
#1) Agencies – Sign up with an agency that pairs brands with bloggers looking for sponsored opportunities, such as:
Note: I’ve not used those three agencies, so I’m not sure of their requirements for signing up. I found the suggestions at Food Blogger Central. In that post, you’ll find 15 other suggestions and plenty of information on ‘how to do’ sponsored posts. It’s really worth a read.
#2) Twitter – Browse the #bloggerswanted and #bloggersrequired hashtags on Twitter to find opportunities.
#3) Direct – Cold call or email the PR reps of companies you’d like to work with and simply ask them if they have any opportunities! I’ve done this myself with success. I was inspired by this video of Gary Vaynerchuk doing the same thing live on camera:
3) WordAds
Bloggers with high levels of traffic (commonly believed to be 25,000+ pageviews per month) can run WordAds on their site. That is WordPress’s inbuilt advertising platform (it’s similar to Google Adsense).
Unfortunately, it isn’t the perfect monetizing solution. You only get limited control over what’s displayed on your site, you have limited options on where to show ads and you must have a custom domain name. But if you qualify, it’s worth trying!
Check out WordAds FAQs here.
4) Selling products (digital and physical)
WordPress.com are happy for bloggers to monetize their sites by selling either digital or physical products:
“You can sell your handmade products, art, books, or digital products such as ebooks or courses on your site using your PayPal account.” [SOURCE]
WordPress offer instructions for adding PayPal buttons to your blog here.
Alternatively, you can always sell products on ETSY, Zazzle, Gumroad and other platforms, then link to your products from your blog.
5) Asking for donations or tips
If you have a dedicated readership, consider asking them for donation or tips. This is acceptable according to WordPress:
“You can also solicit donations or tips from your readers using the PayPal button or link.” [SOURCE]
Again, you’ll find the instructions for adding a PayPal button to your free WordPress.com here.
If you’re providing valuable content to your readers (for example, fiction, reviews, comics or gaming guides), you might find a Patreon an interesting option. Your readers can purchase an on-going subscription and pay you an amount of their choice. You can set rewards for different levels of subscription (for example, access to a secret Facebook group, the password for extra content, a follow on Twitter, etc).
UPDATE 2018 – WordPress.com has just introduced Simple Payments, which lets you create and embed credit and debit card payment buttons on your WordPress.com and Jetpack-enabled sites with minimal setup. The feature is available on Premium and Business plans on WordPress.com. Learn more here.
Just a note: WordPress.com vs WordPress.org:
My blogging platform of choice is WordPress, but I will always recommend the self-hosted version (WordPress.org) over the free version (WordPress.com). This is because bloggers using the self-hosted version are free to monetize their sites however they wish. (Plus, they can install whatever plugins they like and customise themes to their preference – handy if you want to test different advert locations, for example).
WordPress.com is a good solution for new bloggers who want an easy way to get started with no upfront investment. There’s no need to buy hosting, a domain name or theme. It also makes sense for people who aren’t sure if blogging is right for them and just want to ‘test the water’.
However, if you’re planning to take blogging seriously and generate income, you should consider using self-hosted WordPress.
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Excellent synopsis of blogging for profit in the WP.com platform! And beautiful site, too, btw 🙂
Aww thank you for the compliment, Tanya. I am planning to tweak the design slightly for a more polished look – but I won’t change it too much.
Thank you SO very much! I just started blogging about 6 weeks ago and am really happy to have found this article. Super helpful!
I’m really pleased it’s useful 🙂
This was really helpful! Just signed up for SkimLinks
Hi Jaimie,
I’m VERY pleased that my article helped you. Skimlinks is great, you won’t regret it! Let me know if you need any help using it!
Ok, so when I go to the “Plan” tab on my free wordpress site, it gives me the options for purchasing plans. There’s the Personal, Premium, and Business. For the Premium and Business options it says I can “monetize your site,” but does not say that with the Personal account. So what ways can I monetize my site with those options that I can’t with the personal or free accounts? When I first started blogging, everything said they could delete my blog if I violated their rules and tried to monetize my blog without paying them. Old fears die hard 🙂 Other questions, 1) can I use Google AdSense in any of the paid options on WordPress? 2) Can I be an Amazon Affiliate with the free or any of the paid options?
Hi Katie,
As per WordPress.com’s article (linked in the second paragraph), you’re allowed to monetize your site using any of the 5 methods outlined above. In the article, WordPress do not state that monetization is limited to only Premium or Business users of their platform.
WordPress DO say that Premium or Business users are automatically entitled to the WordPress.com Ad Control dashboard. (to use WordAds and Skimlinks etc). So, those types of accounts allow more monetization options.
Bloggers using free accounts with moderate to high content can also apply for WordAds.
To answer your other questions:
1) No you cannot use Adsense to the best of my knowledge. Only WordAds (which is WordPress’s own version).
2) Yes, you can be an Amazon Affiliate with both the free and paid plans.
Hope this helps,
Carly
Have been using the plugin from Ads1K with moderated success because of low traffic on my wp site. Anyways, for sure it is worth experimenting with it on larger websites
Hi There,
Thank you so much for this. It is exactly what I was looking for. Being a free WordPress user (for now) I didn’t know all the monetizing methods allowed.
So thank you very much for this informative post.
Regards,
Cj
Hi CJ,
I’m pleased my guide helped you. Good luck with your blog!
Carly
Hi! I’ve been using free wordpress for more than 5 years and just recently I feel the urge to earn something from it. But I am confuse on which method is the best to use (I read so many articles and it confuse me more lol).
To monetize my blog, do I have to upgrade my blog to at least personal plan? and you mention about self-hosted blog (wordpress.org).. is it really a better option? I don’t really understand about the self-hosted wordpress but if I do upgrade it to that level, how about the contents in my free wordpress? Can it be imported?
I would love to hear your recommendation. Sorry for my poor terms and language I’m not a tech nor IT person I hope you still can understand. 🙂
Hey, thanks so much for the tips I’m signing up for a blog right now and needed to know this very information. Though one part I am confused about if using wordads you said that these are 5 monetization methods that are usable on free accounts, however, wordads needs a custom domain which, in looking at the plans, only paid plans have a custom domain.
this is strange,
wordpress IMMEDIATELY close down all my site on wordpress.com once i key in one affiliate link ( amazon)
What was your site about? Was it a personal blog that had a smattering of affiliate links, or was it heavy on the promotional side?
Thank you for this. I’m a writer, so any eventualincome would be derived from my writing. It’s nice to see an option that would allow me to stick with WordPress.com if WordPress.org turns out to be too scary (I’m a bit techno-phobic). I didn’t realize we could monetize on WordPress.com at all.
You’re welcome, I’m pleased the guide helped 🙂
Great post, keep up the good work I also started blogging awhile back and never intend to stop just too much fun ???? keep up the good work within the blogging world.
Thanks Harpreet
Hello Carly, I have a question!
I have a free WP blog that is hosted through Bluehost. My website is still a .com website, not a .org., but it is self-hosted. I am a bit confused as far as the .com for WP hosted, and .org for self-hosted as my blog doesn’t follow these guidelines. DO you have any input along those lines and regarding monetizing? Thank you!
Hi Cheyenne,
Unless something has changed recently, you can either use WordPress.com (the free version hosted on WordPress.com) or WordPress.org (hosted with Bluehost).
Are you getting confused with the domain name extension? For example, mommamodified.com vs mommamodified.org? That won’t matter. You can monetise either of those!
If you’re still stuck, it might be easier to join my Facebook group and chat in there:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/lovely.blog.academy/
Hello,
I have started blogging myself. I am trying to find out the basic problems that my blog is having and looking for solutions. Also, I’m searching for some basic things like themes and other stuff.
I have read your whole article, I am looking forward to getting a positive result after performing this myself.
Can you suggest me any basic idea that I might need in the future as a new blogger?
Thank you
Hi Jamie,
Thanks for the comment. I’d tell a new blogger to try and aim for one or more of the following:
to write about topics they’re passionate about; to concentrate on telling great stories; to write useful content; to answer questions, and to focus on all of that before worrying about traffic or monetization for a good 6 months +.
“Thanks for the comment. I’d tell a new blogger to try and aim for one or more of the following:
to write about topics they’re passionate about; to concentrate on telling great stories; to write useful content; to answer questions, and to focus on all of that before worrying about traffic or monetization for a good 6 months +.”
—–THANK YOU CARLY FOR THIS TIP. Your blog is so helpful. I just signed up. Thanks!
🙂
Hey ,
Thnks for guiding me … It was the probably best solution for free account for eg. Best out of waste types 😉 please visit my blog and do comment http://outspokenwordings.wordpress.com/
Great article,thank you!
Thanks for commenting!
I love your article. I must say this is the best I’ve read recently on how to monetize blogs.
I have been able to make few dollars from sponsored post using your ideas.
I’ve implemented other ideas, hope they’ll work for me. Thanks for sharing.
Hey Hi
very nicely described about monetisation
as my hobby is t write and landed to write a blog
though my WordPress site is free I am interested to monetise
Can I monetize my blog on wordpress.com free version? I’m still unclear about that. Please reply.
Hey carla, one small doubt, are all these options available for literally the complete free, where u don’t have a domain too, or should u have a domain for this.