Personally for me, I started off participating in forums and gradually moving on to reading posts on blogs. It is from these blogs that I visit which gave me the idea to set up my own family blog. While the initial idea is not to monetize my blog, I gradually discover a whole new world of monetization opportunities with blogs. Well, that is another post for another day. As for why blogs are so popular, I can only speculate on a few possible reasons.

Comment Feature
The ability to leave comments is a big plus. In a way, it sort of becomes a two way communication channel allowing readers to bond with the blog owner.

Content Is Update Regularly
Due to the nature of blogs and the ease in which content can be added just like a personal diary, bloggers tend to post content regularly, giving readers more content and materials to chew on. This in turn drives up readership for blogs, especially certain niches which generate interest and has a huge following.

Conversional nature of posts
Blog posts or content are generally more conversational in nature as compare to content in conventional websites. As most bloggers are not professional writers, bloggers tend to write in their own personal style which many people may find it refreshing and interesting and easy to endear to.

Easy To Add In Content
The way blogging platforms are build is to allow initial non techies like you and me to easily add in content and publish them. Unlike conventional websites, blogging platforms are relatively easy to learn and understand how to use. No longer does one need to understand HTML or other content management systems in order to add or even update content.

Format of content
Blogs entries (posts or content) are pretty easy to read. They are arrange in chronological with the latest entries at the very top of the blog. This formatting style allows people to read the most updated information at first hand instead of having to browse though pages and pages of content as with conventional websites. It is this formatting style which is journalistic in nature that appeals to many people.

Blogs are popular and they are only going to get more and more popular not only as an avenue for people to express themselves and voice out their opinions, blogs are also fast becoming the choice medium for businesses to market their products and services. If you have not start blogging, isn’t it time for you to at the very least experiment and play around with one.

Blogs are also becoming more and more popular due to their versatility as a platform for marketing intent. A WordPress blog besides being a conventional blog can also be customize to become an e-commerce store, landing site, membership site and a conventional content website and more. Now you can understand why I advocate using WordPress as a blogging platform compared to other blogging platforms.

I have listed down below some of the best ways to monetize a blog for a beginner blogger.

Affiliate Marketing
This is one of the best ways to monetize a blog especially if your blog is in a niche market that always used to purchasing stuff. Once you build up a loyal list of readers, promoting and recommending products and services becomes a breeze. The key is not to abuse your list and only recommend and promote products and services that are giving real value to your list. You can check out my post on “The Best Affiliate Networks For Newbie Affiliate Marketers” for a list affiliate networks that you can join and start making money.

Contextual Advertisements
There are many contextual advertising programs out there; most notable are Google Adsense, Yahoo! Publisher Network and Mircrosoft Adcenter. Adbrite, Kontera and ItelliTxt are others that spring to mind. Ever since Google has lift the restriction on other types of contextual ads, webmasters has more selection when it comes to monetization through contextual advertisements. The key is to find out which type of contextual ads works best for your blog.

Google Adsense
Google Adsense is a form of contextual advertisements but I have choose to separate Google Adsense because Google Adsense is in a class of its own when it comes to generating revenue for webmasters. Application to the Google Adsense program is very simple and best of all sticking up Adsense ads on your site is so straightforward and easy. The best thing about the Google Adsense program is that Google serves targeted ads that are highly relevant to your site as compared to other contextual advertising programs making it easier for you make money.

Own Products And Services
If you have a skill or product that is not readily available elsewhere or you can provide it at a very competitive rate, then offering your own products and services is the way to go. For example, if you are a freelance graphic designer, what you can do with a WordPress blog is to offer tips and tricks through your blog to showcase your skill and knowledge and also at the same time offer graphic web design services through your blog. Many bloggers are in fact going along this route to make a full time income online.

Paid Reviews
Paid reviews are still one of the easiest ways to monetize a blog. How much you earn is dependent on a number of factors such as the niche your blog is in, page rank, Alexa ranking etc. The higher your traffic level and Page Rank, the higher amount you can get for each paid review. The highest amount I get for a single review is USD $140 for a review written in half an hour. You can check out my previous post on “Paid Reviews Programs” to find a list of paid reviews networks to sign up with.

Text Links
Selling text links is another way for bloggers to monetize their blogs. Similarly, the higher your Page Rank and Alexa ranking, the more money you can make off selling of text links. You can either sell text links by yourself or through a text link network. I highly recommend signing up for TextLinkAds. Another network that you can check out is TNX.net. However, please note that Google frown upon blogs that sell text links and you may find your blogs being penalize by Google down the road.

There are probably more ways to monetize such as a membership site which is more applicable for someone who has clocked some experiences using WordPress. You can either choose to focus on one monetization method first or use a variety of methods to monetize your blog initially. The key is to test and track which monetization method is best suit for your blog and earn you the most income. Remember to diversify your income channels and do not put all your eggs in one basket.