Can blogs make you enough money to early retirement? Yes it can but don’t count on it to be easy. In particular, don’t fall for those online course such as “make a blog that matters” etc that will do nothing but steal your money while promising you riches. If you really want to know whether blogging can be a form of passive income then follow this blog instead. I will be showing you in real time what are the problems faced and how I overcome or plan to overcome them.

The basics in using blogs to generate income for early retirement

• Learn how to use the right words to pull in free traffic from search engines such as Google
• Figure out your topic
• Write regularly for an extended period
• Check your analytics to see how people are finding your blog and repeat those themes

#1 Learn how to use the right words to pull in free traffic from search engines

One thing I learn from making money using niche sites is that putting content online doesn’t automatically brings you money. The content needs to pull in traffic, especially those from search engines to you to be able to earn either ad dollars or affiliate fees. This process is known as SEO or search engine optimisation.

When blogging, you need to take care of the words you used. If you want Google to send you free traffic, you need to use words that people will search for. For example, I used the word ‘early retirement blog’ to describe my blog rather than a fanciful way like ‘1000 steps to a life free of worries and work’. The former will have some people searching for it while the later is only a phase that I will use.

#2 Choose a topic

It is easier to get traffic when your blog is focused, rather than about anything in the world. 1-3 topics within a new blog is ok but try too many different topics and it will be confusing to both your readers as well as to Google, which is trying to place you in the right topic.

In terms of topic selection, pick a topic that you can write about and which has a problem you can help to solve. It can be anything from work or at home. Writing about problems makes it easier to make money later on as your blog starts to get traffic.

#3 Blog regularly

The first 6 months of a blog is crucial. By being consistent, the likelihood of Google sending you traffic is high. If you think you can write a couple of posts and be successfully, you need to think again. Blogging is hard work. It is fun but it is work nevertheless. Don’t be fooled by those online courses that promises you a no work passive income from blogs.

#4 Check your analytics

If you have been consistent in your blogging and have applied the right words in your content, you should start to see traffic coming to your blog. Learn to use free analytics software such as Google Analytics or Statcounter. These software will you the exact words that people are used to arrive at your blog.

For this early retirement blog, some common phases used are:

• early retirement blogs
• how much to retire in Malaysia (presumbly because I wrote about it here: early retirement in Malaysia)
• how to save more money for retirement (from my article here: how to save more money for retirement)
• how much is enough to retire in Malaysia
• dbs myretirement (from my review article here: myretirement dbs review)
• what to invest in to $30000 passive income

From the analytics, I can review to see how to proceed with future content. For example, I know my blog does well when it comes to retiring in Malaysia. So, if I write more about this topic, I should get more traffic from Google because it sees this blog becoming more and more relevant for this topic. As another example, I can also see there is interest in how to achieve passive income through investment. That is something I have not covered well and is something I should write more as well.

Through this process of analysing what words people are using to find you blog, you will have a never ending supply of topics to write about.