Starting a blog looked so easy on social media. “Write posts, get traffic, start earning from your blog.”

Reality? It took me almost 2 years to finally start earning from my blog consistently.

I started my blog in 2024 as a small side project. I worked on it on and off, mostly during evenings or for a few hours on weekends. Life was busy, and blogging was always just a side hustle for me.

Everything changed during my maternity leave.

We spent a year living in Valencia, Spain, and I finally had more time to focus on my blog. I started creating travel guides, expat tips, and practical posts about moving abroad. Slowly, my lifestyle blog started growing.

Surprisingly, my travel content and “best photo spots” guides became the most visited posts on my blog.

Today, I’m finally earning from my blog, not life-changing money yet, but real income that continues growing month by month.

In this post, I want to share what actually helped me start earning from my blog and what worked best for growing my traffic.

Basic SEO Rules That Helped Me Start Earning From My Blog

Before talking about monetisation and earning from my blog, I want to share a few simple SEO and Pinterest tips that made the biggest difference for my visibility.

You do not need to be an SEO expert. But these basics really matter if you want to start earning from your blog in the future.

1. Keep Your Keywords Consistent Everywhere

This was one of the biggest lessons for me.

On Pinterest especially, I noticed that posts perform much better when the same keywords appear across:

• blog post title
• Pinterest pin title
• pin description
• board name
• image file name
• blog URL

For example, if your topic is:
Best Photo Spots in Valencia

Then use similar keywords everywhere instead of changing the wording too much.

Pinterest understands your content better this way, and your visibility improves over time.

This small SEO habit really helped increase traffic and supported my journey toward earning from my blog.

2. Create Catchy and Aesthetic Pin Image

Pinterest is visual first.

I noticed that aesthetic images perform much better than overly complicated designs. Bright, clean, dreamy travel photos work especially well for me.

This is exactly why my:

• best photo spots posts
• travel guides
• Valencia content

became some of my most viewed blog posts.

Simple tip:

• use easy-to-read fonts
• avoid clutter
• make the image emotionally appealing

People save content that makes them feel something.

And more saves usually means more traffic — which is essential if you want to start earning from your blog.

3. Write Helpful Content People Actually Search For

This changed everything for me.

Instead of writing only personal thoughts, I started creating:

• practical travel guides
• relocation tips
• photo spot lists
• blogging advice
• wellbeing content

Think – “What would someone type into Pinterest or Google?”

Helpful content brings long-term traffic. And long-term traffic is one of the most important things when it comes to earning from your blog.

How I Finally Started Earning From My Blog

There are many ways of earning from your blog. These are the most popular monetisation methods bloggers use today.

1. Display Ads

This is currently my biggest income source.

Once visitors come to your blog, ads generate passive income through views and clicks.

Popular options:

• Google Adsense
• Mediavine
• Ezoic

For me, Adsense became the first real step toward earning from my blog.

2. Affiliate Marketing

You recommend products or services and earn a commission.

Examples:

• Amazon affiliate links
• travel tours through GetYourGuide
• books
• digital tools
• blogging products

I added affiliate links to some of my blog posts, although for now the activity is still much smaller compared to Adsense earnings.

3. Sponsored Content

Brands pay bloggers to feature products, destinations, or services.

This usually comes later once you have:

• consistent traffic
• authority in your niche
• engaged readers

Sponsored content can become another strong source of earning from your blog.

4. Digital Products

Many bloggers eventually create:

• ebooks
• guides
• templates
• Pinterest products
• printables

This can become one of the best long-term ways of earning from your blog because you create the product once and can sell it repeatedly.

How I Got Approved For Google Adsense

Once my blog had around 25 quality posts in my lifestyle niche, I applied for Google Adsense.

I actually got rejected the first time.

The second time, after adding more content, I finally got approved and officially started earning from my blog.

Here are a few things that helped:

To Increase Your Chances of Adsense Approval:

• have enough quality blog posts
• make sure your blog looks clean and trustworthy
• create important pages:
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
• avoid copying content
• make your website easy to navigate
• use original images when possible

Google wants to see that your blog is a real, valuable website.

What Actually Helped Me Start Earning From My Blog

Honestly, one of the most effective things for me was Facebook groups.

I joined groups related to:

• travel
• wellbeing
• blogging
• mental health
• expat life

And I stayed active there:

• posting
• commenting
• liking
• participating naturally

This helped my posts gain impressions. Once people interact with your content, Facebook starts showing it to more group members.

Over time, people also find older posts through the Facebook search bar.

This became a surprisingly good traffic source and definitely helped me with earning from my blog.

My Honest Opinion About Blog Ads

This may be unpopular, but I really believe:

Too many ads can ruin a blog.

Some websites become almost impossible to read. Popups everywhere. Ads between every paragraph. The page feels messy.

Yes, ads help with earning from your blog. But readers still matter most.

My personal recommendation:

• keep your blog clean
• do not overload pages with ads
• make sure posts are still enjoyable to read

If visitors enjoy your content, they are much more likely to return.

And returning readers are more valuable than short-term clicks.

Things I Still Want To Improve

Blogging is definitely a slow process.

Right now I still want to improve:

• Pinterest traffic
• affiliate income
• SEO strategy
• email list building
• consistency

But I finally feel like I’m truly earning from my blog and building something real over time.

Not just a hobby anymore.

Some final thoughts

If you are wondering how to start earning from your blog, my biggest advice is this:

Start simple and stay consistent.

You do not need:

• perfect branding
• expensive tools
• daily posting
• thousands of followers

My blog grew slowly. Very slowly sometimes.

But over time, small efforts started compounding.

One helpful post can continue bringing traffic for months or even years.

And honestly, that is what I love most about writing this blog.

It grows quietly in the background while you continue living your life.

A very slow living type of income 😊

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