Updated on August 15th, 2022
You might be wondering what are some blog examples of websites that are profitable and scalable in nature? Perhaps you’ve been reading about blogging and you know that it has huge potential for financial success. Having said this it can be hard to find inspiration.
There are many profitable blogs, some of which make big revenues with low costs. These elite businesses can be life-changing for their owners. They provide truly passive income with total lifestyle freedom.
But how can a new blogger actually find these blogs so that we can get inspired by their success?
What we need is a list of blogs that can provide motivation for us in our quest to move our blogs forward. This article serves that purpose. Below is a list of blogs that make over $10,000 revenue per month. Some of them earn a lot more than that.
1. Make Money Online – Blog Examples
Making money online is quite possibly the most lucrative blogging niche of all. You might wonder why this niche offers such great returns? Well it’s largely due to the preponderance of attractive software-based affiliate programs.
Many of these programs offer recurring commissions. People who buy tend to stay as customers of these online software products, or SAAS (Software as a Service) for years.
These are usually software products used by the entrepreneur to run their business such as email marketing or funnel building software. The resulting affiliate commissions month after month can be very appealing.
DollarSprout
Dollarsprout is the go-to location for making money online. Virtually any method of making money can be found on this website.
Part of the genius can be found in the domain name. This must be one of the best examples of a URL aligning with its core strategy and website direction.
The website has a very clear and welcoming design. Furthermore the green colour scheme is nicely consistent with the financial growth mission. Nothing seems intimidating so this is a big drawcard for people who are easily turned off by financial topics. Navigation is simple and intuitive.
We like it that you immediately know what the site is about it as soon as you arrive. This makes the intention of the site immediately known to the visitor which always makes for the best user experience.
What we like about this site:
- Clean welcoming and useful site for beginners and the more advanced alike
- The purpose and intent of the site is immediately obvious.
- Beautiful site structure with slick menu operation.
How they make money:
- This site earns most of its income through affiliate marketing referrals.
Smartblogger
Smartblogger is a valuable resource for anyone wanting to start a blog or a freelance writing career.
Much of the best information concerns turning a blog into a profitable business. The articles are written in a readable conversational style and are detailed and informative.
We really like Jon Morrow’s descriptions of the realities of starting a blog. He knows the process backwards from experience,
What we like about this site:
- Personable relatable information shared in an engaging way on the process of starting a blogging career or becoming a freelancer writer
How the site makes money:
- Smart blogger is monetised mainly through affiliate marketing and course sales.
OnlineDimes
Franklin Hatchett’s Onlinedimes has everything that you want to know about building websites, email marketing and many other aspects of online income.
There’s plenty of links on here to his YouTube channel which also has a plethora of money making ideas.
What we like about this site:
- These are all money making techniques that Frank has tried and tested himself.
- There’s no fluff here. It’s just the well-defined steps that you can take to start an online business.
How the site makes money:
- Affiliate marketing and course sales are the two main monetisation methods for the site.
Finance Niche – profitable blog examples
The finance niche can be especially lucrative for blogs. This is due to the depth and breadth of financial products on offer. When you consider the additional scope of international markets you realise that this opportunity is enormous.
MoneySavingExpert
Martin Lewis’s industry leading finance blog, MoneySavingExpert sets new standards in comprehensiveness. Based in the United Kingdom, the site is right on top of industry trends.
The blog is more focused towards intermediate to advanced readers. We are particularly impressed by the depth of information in this website. It’s obvious that they invest considerably in quality research and writing.
What we like about the site:
- Information is always fresh, timely and pertinent to current economic conditions.
How the site makes money:
- The site is monetised mainly through affiliate marketing.
NerdWallet
Nerdwallet has been a reliable financial site since it was founded in 2009 by Tim Chen and Jacob Gibson.
It’s a very accessible site with a plethora of useful reviews and comparisons of consumer finance products. Part of the attraction is in having a Nerdwallet account so that you can manage your finances through their mobile app.
We love it’s clean minimalist design. It’s become a trusted go to resource for many people when they’re comparing savings accounts, credit cards or home loans.
One of the industry leading blogs for financial products, they provide all sorts of useful advice for consumers. This might be in the form of comparisons between personal finance products such as credit cards, personal loans, mortgages and savings accounts.”
What we like about this site:
- Nerdwallet makes personal finance simple and accessible, and that’s always a good thing.
- They have a beautiful easy-to-use app which simplifies the management of your finances.
How the site makes money:
- Nerdwallet is monetised mostly through affiliate marketing revenue.
Website creation and SEO – blog examples
The website creation sector is extremely popular for blogging due to the incidence of many affiliate programs in this niche.
Given that many search engine users are looking to make a final decision between competing products, there are so many visitors with purchasing intent.
WebsiteSetup
We like it that websitesetup has eschewed the traditional com extension and gone with org. Websitesetup.org really sticks to its knitting. What it does, it does very well and that thing is helping people set up a website.
One of the things that first catches the eye is that the homepage leads straight into an article about how to start a website. The homepage is the actual article. You don’t need to click on anything, it’s all just there and ready to be consumed by the novice website creator.
Having the cornerstone content on the home page provides a huge SEO bonus for the site in terms of search ranking.
What we like about the site:
- We love the minimalist clean design and open styling.
How the site makes money:
- Websitesetup earns its revenue through affiliate marketing.
Matthew Woodward – SEO expert
Matthew Woodward’s blog is focussed primarily towards SEO and blogging. He’s one of the industry leaders in this field. We have learnt so much from this website and Matthew’s videos. They’re always of great value.
We love the sharp and modern blog design. His articles are filled with a generous use of infographics and case studies. Furthermore, his writing style is conversational and never boring. Accordingly there is no fluff in this site, just reliable and useful information.
Much of his focus is upon his own empirical research bench testing different products against each other. This is the crux of the success of the site. You’ll often read a post where the writer ponders the effect on SEO of taking a course of action.
For example, he recently tested the effect on SEO of removing EXIF data from images in blog posts. The result was so informative and unique given that we know so little about how the search engines operate.
What we like about this site:
- Independent empirical research-based articles providing unique insights into SEO.
How the site makes money:
- The site is monetised primarily through affiliate marketing and course sales.
Online Media Masters
Online Media Masters is another great resource for building your website. Similar to Matthew Woodward’s site, Tom Dupuis dives deep into the technical data yet distils down into some really digestible and useful information.
We really love the sharp and modern website design. Tom‘s unique style is strongly genuine. There’s no fluff here, just good useful information based on his own testing and experience.
In terms of UX, I have to say that we really like the side bars. In the sidebar it seems that Tom has curated a number of highly clickable and interesting articles that just make you want to find out more. This must do wonders for reducing his bounce rate with a subsequent boost to search engine rankings as users would tend to stay on the site longer.
Tech Blogs – blog examples
Of all the profitable blogs, technology is the biggest niche. Much of this growth can be attributed to one affiliate program in particular – Amazon associates.
Amazon has made it possible to monetise so many blogs. Their affiliate program converts particularly well due to its familiarity and massive number of customers. It’s a no-brainer for many people to shop with Amazon.
Wirecutter
Wirecutter is a subsidiary of the New York Times which provides product reviews for consumers. With a large writing team and the vast resources of the NYT, they’re able to pump out many daily progress articles and comparisons.
This site seems to make most of its income from Amazon Associates. Although this program has recently dropped its commissions, it’s felt that the Wirecutter has managed to maintain its margins due to recent increases in online purchases.
What we like about this site:
- Fresh content every day.
- Gift ideas that you mightn’t have come across.
How the site makes money:
- Wirecutter earns income through affiliate referrals to Amazon.
Engadget
Engadget is the haven of the tech conscious consumer. They review interesting, novel and quirky products which you probably won’t see anywhere else.
Hence their content is super fun and always fresh. Accordingly you’re not going to find the same boring products that you might find on other review sites.
Some people might say that it’s focussed towards the inner geek and all of us. We like this and Engadget certainly owns this niche.
Why we like this site:
- It’s always featuring quirky and innovative products
- Lots of fresh news from the tech industry
How the site makes money:
- Commissions from affiliate referrals to Amazon, EBay and BestBuy etc are the main forms of income.
Mashable
Mashable is a large publisher of technology news, consumer gadgets reviews and many other things. Due to its size and domain ranking it eschews the view that all blogs should niche down to one topic to be successful.
Mashable covers many topics and it covers them well. Utilising a strong team of varied research writers it’s become a unique destination somewhat like an online mall of informational topics.
In Summary – blog examples
There is no doubt that blogs can be extremely lucrative. Having said this, it’s going to take a lot of time and effort to match the success of these sites.
It is however, still totally achievable! All of these sites started in the same way that your site did with no traffic, followers or brand identity.
There’s always room for a new voice and a new opinion. We hope that you can use these examples to inspire you to grow your own blog.
Frequently Asked Questions – blog examples
Is it really possible to make a good income from blogging?
Yes it is possible to make considerable money from blogging but it will take time and effort to get there. Accordingly you won’t make money quickly with a blog but it can snowball over time. This will require a large amount of consistent effort over many months or years.
How long does it take before a blog becomes profitable?
This is really difficult to predict but it’s likely to be in the range of 6 to 18 months. Part of the reason for this is that the search engines tend to sandbox most sites for the first few months. During this time, their algorithms are trying to ascertain if your website is legitimate and therefore should be indexed.
How can I find the theme that another WordPress site is using?
Firstly navigate to the site in the Google Chrome browser. Then select view —> developer tools —> source code. Then search the page for the term themeslug.
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