Are you wondering how to start a blog in Kenya and make money? In this guide, I will show you how to start a blog in Kenya and make money.
Blogging may seem tedious and overwhelming to many, but with a passion for creating content and sharing knowledge, you can build a great blog in a few simple steps. You can build your online presence and make your dreams come true.
Blogging is one of the best ways to make money online in Kenya. It’s pretty flexible, and you can work part-time or full-time, depending on your schedule and commitments.
This beginner’s guide will take you step-by-step through the process of starting a blog from scratch, including how to choose a niche, create content, promote your blog, generate traffic, and monetize it for profit. I hope that by reading this article to the end, you will get the courage to start your blog and build a great online community.
Why Start a Blog?
There are so many reasons why you can start a blog. I started my blog to share my knowledge and skills with others. I am also passionate about tech and finance-related content. By sharing my knowledge on the internet, I will help and inspire someone somewhere, however small the difference I make.
Secondly, I started my blog to earn a passive income in the long term. So, I treat blogging as a business venture.
Other bloggers started their blogs as a hobby and made some passive income until their blogs became popular enough to be turned into full-time jobs.
How to Start a Blog in Kenya
Here are the six steps to follow when starting a blog:
1. Find a Killer Niche or Blogging Topic
The first step to starting a successful blog is choosing a topic you’re passionate about and know something about. This is important because you’ll need to be able to write engaging content on your blog, and you’ll also need to be able to promote your blog to people who are interested in your topic.
When choosing a topic for your blog, it’s important to think about what you’re interested in and what you know about. You should also consider what content you want to create on your blog. Do you want to write articles, tutorials, reviews, or something else?
Once you’ve chosen a topic for your blog, it’s time to start brainstorming some blog post ideas. You can do this by thinking about questions that you have about your topic or by thinking about problems that you’re facing in your life that your blog could help solve.
Here are some tips for choosing a killer blogging topic:
- Choose a topic you’re passionate about and know something about.
- Choose a topic that you’re interested in learning more about.
- Choose a topic that you’re excited to share with others.
- Choose a topic that has a large audience.
- Choose a topic that you can create high-quality content about.
2. Choose Your Blog Name
Your blog name is the same as your domain name. Coming up with a perfect catchy blog name can be challenging as there are several factors to consider before settling on the best choice.
A blog name is what people see first. It should be unique, short, memorable, and with a keyword. It serves as your branding and marketing tool.
A good blog name should grab the person’s attention and create a good impression of your blog. This will make the visitor read your blog post or place an order for your product or service.
The best choice should address all the factors equally, as they play a significant role in the success of your blog.
Here are three factors to consider when choosing the perfect blog name;
Blog Niche
This is essentially the specific topic area your blog will be focused on. This is important in choosing your target audience and producing relevant content for them. Your hobbies or interests like cooking, traveling, hiking, fashion, and sports are a few examples to help you settle on a particular niche.
Target Audience
This is a specific group of people or consumers you want to reach with your products or services. Your target audience should be clearly defined and analyzed to reach the particular and relevant demography. The most important characteristics in target audience analysis are age, gender, location, interests, and activities.
Writing Style
Analyze and select the best tone and voice for your target audience. You can choose between a Confessional style, Interview style, Narrative style, and many more.
After considering all the above factors, it is time to select your perfect blog name. Use the following ways to name your blog;
Random Naming
You can randomly choose a unique blog name, and it will still work well. This option is risky, especially when you are starting and relatively unknown.
Use Your Name
Using your name is great if you start a blog about yourself, your life, or your services. This way, people will easily find your information and your services online.
Check out Competitors’ Blog Names – You can browse your competitors’ names to get an idea for your blog. Closely check the length of the blog names, their tone, and what they mean. Another way to go about it is to use blog name generators to develop good blog name ideas.
3. Register Your Domain Name
Once you’ve chosen a topic and a name for your blog, it’s time to set it up. Many different blogging platforms are available, but the two most popular are WordPress and Blogger.
WordPress is a self-hosted blogging platform, meaning you’ll need to purchase a domain name and web hosting plan to use it. Blogger is a hosted blogging platform, meaning you can use it for free on Google’s servers.
I will focus on WordPress in this blog post because it’s the most popular and powerful blogging platform. However, if you’re interested in using Blogger, you can find instructions on how to set it up here.
4. Buy Web Hosting Services
Now that you’ve selected your perfect blog name, it’s time to choose your web hosting platform and get your blog online! You need a blog host (web host) and blogging software. These two usually come together as a package. A web host is a company that provides a space in the web server for your blog. The space stores all the blog data, files, and website code for your blog and allows them to be accessed by anyone anywhere worldwide.
To set up a WordPress blog, you’ll need to follow these steps:
- Purchase a domain name and web hosting.
- Install WordPress on your web hosting account.
- Choose a theme for your blog.
- Start writing blog posts!
The most popular and reliable companies that provide web hosting are Namecheap, Bluehost, Hostinger, and GoDaddy. There are many out there, and you can select the one that best suits your needs.
Blogging software allows you to create, manage, and publish your blog posts. Good software should be customizable, easy to use, and fast-loading services to deliver content to your audience quickly. Some popular blogging software includes Namecheap, WordPress, Blogger, Web.com, and Wix.com.
5. Customize Your Blog
In this step, you will build and customize your blog from scratch by selecting your preferred blog theme or template. Login to your blogging software dashboard and browse through the different themes and templates. Select your perfect theme and install it. Once the theme is installed successfully, click on the activate button, and you will be done. There are tons of themes to choose from.
6. Publish Quality Content
Congratulations on having your blog online and running. Now, shift your attention to writing and publishing your first blog post. Your post should be concise, informative, and engaging.
Once you’ve set up your blog, it’s time to start writing content and promoting it to your audience. Creating high-quality content relevant to your niche is the best way to promote your blog. This means writing well-written, researched, informative, and engaging articles.
You should also promote your blog on social media, submit it to directories, and comment on other blogs. You can also use paid advertising to promote your blog.
Here are some tips for writing content and promoting your blog:
- Write high-quality content that’s relevant to your niche.
- Promote your blog on social media.
- Submit your blog to directories.
- Comment on other blogs.
- Use paid advertising to promote your blog.
On the other hand, dynamic content is the informative content you offer to your visitors. It is the content that you engage with your audience and forms a long-term relationship. It would be best to publish new blog posts consistently, like once or twice a week.
7. Promote Your Blog
You have designed a perfect blog and published great content, but you don’t have an audience. Your focus should now turn to promoting your blog and increasing traffic. There are many tried-and-tested ways to drive more visitors to your blog;
How to Promote Your Blog
Write Quality Content
You’ve probably heard about the saying, “Content is King!” Creating high-quality content relevant to your niche is the best way to promote your blog. This means writing well-written, researched, informative, and engaging articles.
Social Media
This is one of the easiest ways to get visitors to your blog. Create accounts with big social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, and start sharing the links to your blog posts or business products. Create high-quality content, share it on social media, and your blog will go viral. This may not happen overnight, but building a great social media following takes consistency, time, and effort.
Family, Friends, and Colleagues – They form your inner circle. Tell them about your blog by word of mouth, SMS, or WhatsApp. Please encourage them to read your blog, share your blog content, and become your followers.
Create an Email List
Email Marketing plays a significant role in ensuring your blog visitors keep returning and getting new visitors. Ask them to subscribe by email so that they get real-time notifications whenever you post new content to your website.
Blog SEO Optimization
This is getting free and organic traffic to your website content, improving your overall website ranking on search engines like Google and Bing. This improves your website visibility to people looking for solutions offered by your brand, product, or service. For Google, sign up for an account on Google Webmaster, click Search Console to open, and follow the prompts to add your blog.
Post Content Consistently
Consistency is key in your journey to blogging success. Post content regularly on your blog, for example, once or twice weekly. Creating a schedule for your posts will ensure you keep the growth momentum and don’t lose any followers.
Engaging with your Audience
You can engage with your audience in the comment section of your blog posts. You can do this by liking and replying to their comments. Your visitors will naturally come back.
Commenting on Other Blogs – Build a great audience by other blogs and leaving constructive and engaging comments. This will spark a discussion and, in turn, create leads to your blog.
Collaboration with Other Bloggers – Collaborating with other blogging communities through guest posting and social media engagement in the comments section. You can further promote each other’s blogs, products, or services.
Guest Blogging
A guest blogger writes and publishes a blog post on a blog or website that is not theirs. As a result of this collaborative approach, bloggers can reach a new audience, build relationships with other bloggers, and increase their online presence. As a guest blogger, you get the opportunity to reach a new audience while the host site receives fresh and diverse content.
8. Monetize Your Blog
After putting so much effort and resources into building a perfect blog and posting high-quality content, it’s time to make money. Blogging is lucrative and can form a steady stream of income. It may not happen instantly, but with effort and consistency, you will build a large audience to make substantial revenue. You can monetize your blog by selling advertising space, products or services, and affiliate products.
Once you’ve started generating traffic to your blog, it’s time to start monetizing it. There are many different ways to monetize a blog, but the most popular methods include display ads, affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, and selling your products or services.
Here are some tips for monetizing your blog:
- Display ads on your blog (Google Adsense).
- Affiliate Marketing
- Write Sponsored Posts
- Sell Your Products or Services.
- Sell Online Courses
Display Ads on Your Blog (Google Adsense)
Display ads are a great way to monetize your blog if you have a large audience. You can sign up for Google AdSense, and Google will place ads on your blog. Google AdSense will automatically match your blog with relevant ads, and you’ll earn a commission for each ad impression or click.
The easiest way to monetise your blog via Google Adsense is by focusing on producing unique, SEO-optimized, and top-notch articles. You should aim to write blog posts of at least 1,000 words each. You can apply for Google Adsense monetization when you have published at least ten posts of 1,000 words each.
The revenue from advertising can vary depending on the traffic your site receives and the rates you can charge for ad space.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to earn money from your blog. With affiliate marketing, you promote other people’s products or services on your blog and earn a commission for each sale you generate.
To get started with affiliate marketing, you’ll need to sign up for an affiliate program with a company that sells products or services you’re interested in. Once you’re approved for the affiliate program, you’ll be given a unique affiliate link that you can use to promote the company’s products or services on your blog.
When someone clicks on your affiliate link and makes a purchase, you’ll earn a commission. The amount of commission you earn will vary depending on the affiliate program.
Write Sponsored Posts
Sponsored posts are another great way to monetize your blog. With sponsored posts, you write a blog post about a product or service you’re being paid to promote. Sponsored posts are a great way to earn money and get your blog in front of a new audience.
To get started with sponsored posts, you can contact brands you’re interested in working with. You can also sign up for sponsored post platforms such as
A sponsored post platform connects brands with influencers or bloggers who can help promote their brand or products. Once you’ve signed up as a blogger for a sponsorship network as an influencer or blogger, you will receive sponsored post blogging opportunities to apply for. It’s a great way to work with brands and earn an income from your blog!
Some of the top sponsored post networks to sign up for paid blogging opportunities include Tap Influence, Acorn, and Blog Meets Brand, among others.
Lastly, disclosing any sponsored relationships on your blog is essential so your readers know them.
Sell Your Products or Services.
If you have your products or services, you can sell them on your blog. This is a great way to make money and build a relationship with your audience.
To sell your products or services on your blog, you can set up an online store using a platform like Shopify or Etsy. You can also sell your products or services directly from your blog using a platform like WooCommerce. Digital products you can sell online include e-books and printables.
If you’re a freelance writer, you can showcase your writing skills and expertise on your blog to potential clients.
Sell Online Courses
You can use your blog as a platform to sell your online course.
The next step is to create a high-quality course that your students will love. This means creating engaging content, providing valuable information, and ensuring your course is well-organized.
There are a few different ways to sell your online course. You can sell it directly on your blog or use a third-party platform like Udemy or Skillshare.
If you’re selling your course directly on your website, you’ll need to set up a payment system like PayPal or Stripe. You’ll also need to create a sales page for your course and promote it on social media and other channels.
A sales page is a critical part of selling your online course. It’s the first impression that potential students will have of your course, and it’s what will convince them to buy it.
If you’re using a third-party platform, you must create an account and upload your course content. The platform will handle the payment processing and promotion for you.
How Much Does it Cost to Start a Blog?
The cost of starting a blog can vary widely depending on several factors, such as your hosting choice, domain registration, design needs, and any additional tools or services you decide to use. Registering a domain and hosting your blog with Namecheap, Bluehost, or Truehost will cost you anything between KSH. 1,200 TO KSH. 5,000 per year.
Start Your Blog Today
Now that your blog is up and running, start writing. No matter how imperfect your content is, just keep writing. You can only learn by writing. Start small today. With time, you’ll gain valuable experience to build a great online blogging community.
Starting a blog in Kenya can be a great way to share your knowledge and expertise with the world, connect with like-minded people, and even make some money. Following the steps in this blog post, you can start your blog and monetize it in no time.
