How to Start a Gardening Blog and Making Money [2020]

How to start a gardening blog? – this is the question that many gardeners are interested in. The main reason to start a blog is to be passionate about what you are going to write. If you are an experienced gardener, flowers and plants make you happy and your knowledge is useful for others - you should definitely start blogging. It will do a lot of good - apart from attracting like-minded people, you can earn money on your garden blog doing what you like! If you really enjoy what you do - you will turn your gardening blog in a full-time passion.

In this article, we will analyze all the stages of creating a gardening blog. Here you will find all the necessary information to start a WordPress garden blog on your own. My blog has changed my life and allowed me to make money online while doing what I love — gardening. And this is true, you can start making money on a garden blog, paying just a few dollars a month for it. Creating my own gardening blog was one of my BEST DECISIONS.

I enjoy sharing useful knowledge with people – not only about gardening, but also on how to start a garden blog. I know that the first steps are the most difficult. It seems that to start a blog you need to do a lot of things and often people don’t know what exactly to start from. In this article, I give a detailed step-by-step guide on how to start your garden blog.

So, what to begin with when starting a garden blog?

Determine Your Gardening Blog Niche

First of all, you have to focus on the niche you prefer, on something specific. Think about the topic you can become an expert in. You must have a really deep knowledge of the topic in order to be useful to others.

For example, you can concentrate on a particular plant, on indoor plants, on how to care for plants in winter, or on growing plants from seeds.

Think not only about which plant is your favorite, but also about the topics for posts in your future blog. You must be inspired enough to write a lot of posts on the topic of your blog niche. When choosing a blog niche, answer yourself 2 questions:

• Do you enjoy learning about this garden topic?
• Are there a lot of other people interested in the same topic?

Just do a Google search of your topic and check the results. The more the quantity is - the better for you it is.

Choose a Perfect Garden Blog Name

Your blog name should be short, bright and easy to remember. Choosing a blog name is a very important step in creating a gardening blog. It should reflect the topic of the blog, attract the readers and immediately make it clear what your blog is about. You should take a little time and think about your gardening blog name through.

After you get an idea of your garden blog name, check if this domain is available.

If it is - you should start creating your website. It may seem to be difficult, but the fact is you need only an hour to set up your website.

Set up your web hosting account

You also need hosting for the blog to work. Hosting is a service that provides resources for posting information on your blog, your website is downloaded from it. Simply put, if hosting is the land, then the domain name is the address, where you live. You do not have to pay for hosting if you do not plan to earn money on your blog. But if you have a commercial project, for example, a thematic blog and you want to make money on it, choose a paid hosting. I recommend Bluehost, as they offer an easy one-click WordPress installation tool, 60% discount on hosting and a free domain name. Below I have posted the discounted prices of Bluehost, so you can start a blog cheap using my Bluehost link.

Click here to start your garden WordPress blog, and then follow the directions in the guide below.

Bluehost is one of the leading web hosting companies in 2020, and you can start your own gardening blog for only $2.65 per month (this price is available only on my Bluehost link with my life hack). I recommend you to sign up for a 12-month hosting plan from Bluehost. This tariff is quite advantageous, moreover, you will save a lot with it compared to monthly payments. But if you want to get the best price for your gardening blog – a perfect option is to choose a 36-months tariff.

If you are interested in starting a gardening blog for earning money, freelance or turning it into a business, then you MUST pay for hosting, for example, through Bluehost. This service is really very convenient and cheap.

If you are interested in starting a gardening blog for earning money, freelance or turning it into a business, then you MUST pay for hosting, for example, through Bluehost. This service is really very convenient and cheap.

Of course, you can start blogging on a free platform, but over time you will have to move to a paid hosting. The most of advertisers and companies do not prefer cooperation with websites on free platforms because they consider such websites not professional enough. WordPress blogs, on the other hand, are popular among companies interested in working with bloggers.

How to Buy a Domain and Hosting for Gardening Blog with Maximum Benefit

To get the lowest price to start a gardening blog, I recommend to choose Basic plan from Bluehost – it contains everything you need for the first time, and there’s no need to pay for more expensive Plus and Business Pro. You can change the plan whenever you want (and just pay the price difference), so there is no need to subscribe to additional options that you do not need at first. If you choose 36 months, the cost on my link is only $2.65 per month. The cost of hosting for 24 months is $3,59 per month. And if you prefer a 12 months plan, the price is $4.95 per month, which is also quite profitable.

• 36 months plan – $2.65 per month
• 24 months plan – $3.59 per month
• 12 months plan – $4.95 per month

If you are not sure wether you would enjoy blogging for a long time or not, I recommend subscribing to 12 months plan, as it offers a good price and enough time to check the desire to run a blog. If you choose a 12 months plan, the total cost for the year is only $59,4 – so you can save money compared to paying month by month.

The most profitable option is to buy 36 months plan, because in the long run, your monthly rate will be the lowest and you will save more money.

✔ The total cost in this case is only $95.4 for three years!

Remember that if you register using my Bluehost Link, you will receive a domain for your gardening blog for free when you purchase a 12-month or longer hosting plan.

My Bluehost Life Hack to Start a Gardening Blog Cheap

When you are ready to start your own gardening blog, follow my step-by-step instruction or video tutorial below to buy hosting for your blog profitably:

1. Follow This Bluehost Link and click “WordPress” button at the top, then select “WordPress Hosting”.

2. Click “Choose Plan”, then “Basic”.

3. Enter a new domain name / the name that you already registered earlier or click “I’ll create my domain later”.

If you have not chosen a domain for your gardening blog before, I recommend to click “I’ll create my domain later”. This process is not easy and quick.

4. Now it’s time to reduce the hosting price.

After you have chosen a free domain / entered your previously registered domain / clicked “Create domain later” and got to the next page to enter personal data, simply move the mouse cursor to the browser line as shown below – and do not make anything else.

*Life hack will not work on a mobile phone.

When you move the cursor to the browser line, you will see a special offer, click on “Claim Savings”.

Special offer appears only once a day!

If you missed the special offer, try to get the best price for hosting of your gardening blog in another browser, or wait for 1-2 days.

5. Enter your personal and billing information by unchecking all the checkboxes with Package Extras.

If you do everything correctly, the Total cost for 1 year of hosting will be $59,4 and for 3 years - $95.4.

6. Finally, you have to enter the password

Make sure your gardening blog password is safe enough.

I hope you managed to buy hosting for your gardening blog at the lowest price! If you have any questions, please email me: [email protected]

Bluehost Hosting Cheaper - Life Hack Video Instruction

9 Reasons to Choose a Bluehost Hosting to Earn Money on a Gardening Blog

1. Bluehost is the most popular hosting company, which offers its customers cheap hosting. If you have your own blog, the only thing you have to pay for is blog hosting, the cost of which starts at only $2.65 per month. WordPress.org developers recommend using Bluehost. This is one of the world’s leaders in the industry, and it offers packages with settings for working effectively with WordPress.
2. You can start your garden blog without a domain name (this process is not always easy and quick, so you can choose the domain later).
3. FREE domain to start a blog.
4. Easy to use content management system. Bluehost makes it very easy to create a WordPress blog in one click.
5. DDoS attack protection.
6. Customer service with experienced staff. Bluehost Web Hosting Provides 24/7 Technical Support.
7. Free one-click WordPress installation.
8. 30-Days money back guarantee.
9. For followers and companies, you look much more professional if you have your own blog with Bluehost hosting, not a blog on Blogspot or other free platforms.

Create a Gardening Blog - Install WordPress

The blog runs on a free content management system – WordPress. You can easily set up a WordPress blog with Bluehost hosting.

This popular blogging platform is easy to use even for those who do not have special technical skills. Moreover, WordPress is also great for SEO (this is how your content is found on search engines like Google).

After analyzing many popular blogs, I came to a conclusion that the income of their authors did not increase until they left free platforms and switched to WordPress with paid hosting. This proves once again that WordPress is the right way for a profitable and successful gardening blog!

It’s free to start a WordPress gardening blog with Bluehost. After you create the password for your account, Bluehost will lead you through all the steps of starting a blog.

Install a WordPress Theme

To make your gardening blog appealing to your audience you should choose a perfect theme. WordPress has many free themes and you can choose one of them to get started with your gardening blog. Later, when you realize you enjoy blogging, you can buy a premium theme for $25 - $250. The advantage of premium themes is that they work faster, look better and offer more settings.

The theme of your blog should be responsive. When you choose an appropriate theme for your gardening blog you can preview it live on your website and if you like it - install the theme with the click of a mouse. You can customize any free or premium WordPress theme for your gardening blog using the tools in the admin WordPress dashboard.

Set up WordPress Plugins and Widgets

The popular blogging platform WordPress contains everything the users need to set up a basic website. With the help of plugins you can add unique features and specific functions to your gardening blog. If you need to add any option to your theme, be sure there’s a plugin for this. But do not overdo it with plugins, as a large number of them will slow down your gardening blog.

A lot of useful plugins for WordPress are free, so you can replace many paid functions with them. You can also buy and install plugins from third-party WordPress developers. The number of plugins available for WordPress users is impressive.

WordPress plugins help to install all the main functions to make your gardening blog successful: cross-posting to other websites, tracking analytics, tools for social sharing, optimize the content for search engines, avoid spam in the comments, set up daily backup copying, and more. The most popular plugin helps to maximize blog traffic and it is called Yoast SEO.

To set up the plugin, find it, click Download and activate. Done!

Here are the plugins I recommend you to use for your gardening WordPress blog:

1. WordFence
2. Google Analytics
3. Akismet
4. UpdraftPlus
5. Yoast SEO

Prepare The Equipment

You should know that blogging means writing, posting, taking photos/videos and editing them, running social media pages and using them to drive traffic to your blog. It’s better also to have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

What about a gardening blog, make sure that you have the equipment or tools you need for creating content. Your actions depend on what kind of blog you are going to run. In case of a video blog, for example, you need a good camera. And of course for every garden blog you need perfect gardening tools: a sprinkler, pruning shears, and other useful necessary equipment.

Gardening Blog: What to Start With

When you've finished installing your blog, it's time to plan your blog growth. Here are my tips that will help you:

1. First of all, remember that every blog should contain the page about the author. Write about yourself, let your readers know who you are and why they should trust you.
2. A good logo will help you make your gardening blog recognizable. I do not recommend spending a lot of money on a professional logo when starting a blog. You can create it by yourself using free platforms such as Canva or buy a cheap logo on Fiverr. To find logo ideas and create your own logo use Pinterest and enter various keywords, such as garden logo, flower logo, plant logo, etc.
3. Create also accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Youtube.
4. Collect emails of the visitors of your blog. The list of emails is the most valuable thing your website can give you, especially if you plan to make money blogging. There are many different email services, I use Getresponse, which I am completely satisfied with.
5. A good gardening blog is a combination of being an interesting and informative storyteller. Create the content, useful for your readers and it will greatly contribute to the growth of your gardening blog.

Plan The Content of Your Garden Blog

There are different types of gardening blogs. Some authors give tips and advice, some - share guides and reviews, while the others post interviews. There’s even an opportunity to make a mix of garden and travel blog - to post information about garden tours all over the world.

So, you should decide what content you will post on your blog. To start a blog I recommend preparing 2-3 informative posts in advance. It will help you attract more followers as it will be easier for readers to understand what to expect from your blog in the future. Several useful articles published at once will increase the time users spend on your website, and it will have a positive effect on the site's ranking.

Your content must be interesting, useful and relevant. Share in the blog posts your unique experience and the readers will appreciate it. Create a unique content, it should be attractive to readers. Even though you write about what other authors have, you can add uniqueness to your content through personal reviews, tips and recommendations. In fact, reviews and recommendations are exactly what most readers are looking for, of course in the gardening topic too.

Pay attention to quality when creating content for your gardening blog. Content planning is also important - you should always have topics for future blog posts. Do your best to reveal the topics as deeply as possible in your chosen gardening niche. Try to understand what your audience is most interested in and satisfy their interest with your blog posts. Interaction and contact with readers is one of the important characteristics of blog growth, so pay attention to the comments section.

Optimize Your Garden Blog for Search Engines

Google analytics allows you to track data about the visitors of your gardening blog. I recommend tracking analytics to get an idea of blog performance. To access Google Analytics, you need to:

• Have a Google account
• Create a GA (Google Analytics) Account
• Generate a tracking code
• Add the code to WordPress via a plugin

WordPress is a content management platform used for almost a third of all websites in the world. It is easy to use and optimize your blog content for search engines. If you have any troubles - you can always ask for help on the WordPress forums, use step-by-step guides and support resources.

How to Make Money With a Gardening Blog?

Every blogger is interested in how to make money with a blog. In fact, there are different ways of getting revenue. For example, I managed to return the money I paid for web hosting quiet quickly by selling information products. And I advise you to try to start your own gardening blog at least for this reason. I’m sure that you can also earn money and check whether you like blogging and making money from it or not.

Yes, you can make money even with a new gardening blog. Of course, at the beginning you won’t earn much, but over time your earnings will grow. The fastest way to start making money on a garden blog is to become an affiliate partner. I recommend joining the Amazon Associates program. In fact, affiliate marketing is my favorite source of blog income. This is how it works: you put direct links to the goods you describe in the article, your followers click the link and buy something you recommend, as a result you earn a percentage from every item’s cost. All you have to do as an affiliate partner is to attract the readers with interesting content and your personal reviews.

What products can you recommend as an affiliate partner? It depends on the niche of your blog. First of all, of course, you should promote gardening tools - choose the items that every gardener needs. Gardeners are always looking to upgrade their gardening tools, so post your reviews with direct links to goods you prefer and it will bring you money.

Here are the most popular gardening affiliate programs:

• SeedsNow.com - they offer 25% commission per purchase
• Gardener’s Supply Company - they offer up to 8% of sales
• DealYard - they also offer 8% commission

There’s an opportunity to earn on a gardening blog in other ways. For example, you can make money with Google Adsense Advertising or Sponsored Posts - when someone pays you for posting on your blog. These ways of making money can be used even for new blogs, but it will bring you money only with the growth of your audience and blog traffic.

And of course you can get money from blogging by selling your own information products. E-books on plant care, gardening guides on growing plants from seeds, worksheets with tips for beginner gardeners - the types of info products you can create and sell are limited only by your imagination. Think about what unique knowledge you have and how you can be useful to others, turn the document into an attractive information product and get a stable passive income from your gardening blog.

Here is the example of my FREE PRINTABLE PLANNERS

Here is the example of my Houseplants & Garden Planning Kit which I sell for money:

Here is the example of my Adenium eBook which I also sell for money:

Here is the example of my Handbooks which I also sell for money:

So, if you want to earn on your gardening blog - you should grow it, as the more popular your blog is - the more money you can get. Make your best to become an influencer in your blog niche. Be a source of useful knowledge for others and over time you’ll become an expert, as a result - your audience will grow.

Tips on How to Start a Gardening Blog

1. Be sincere

Of course, there already are a lot of books and gardening guides, but people follow garden blogs because of personal recommendations of their authors. Be sincere with your followers, give them useful tips and share personal experience, and they will appreciate it. The main key to a successful garden blogging is to write about what you really like and enjoy. To attract subscribers, your content must be sincere and unique, otherwise you will not offer your readers anything new, what they have not seen before.

2. Define the goals and principles of your blog

From the very beginning of running a gardening blog you should define the goals and principles of your blog. For example, you ought to use only your own photos, not to post the articles you are not fully satisfied with and know what you want from your blog.

3. Let your content be relevant

This is especially true for gardening bloggers as plant care differs depending on the season. I recommend creating content that is relevant at the moment and for several weeks in advance. Usually readers search for a solution to the problem they have right now or if they want to prepare their plants for the nearest future conditions. Don't forget about content planning, especially during the winter months when plants are dormant. Think about what topics would be interesting and useful to your readers at this time of the year.

4. Write literally

Your blog is your face and a source of useful information for others. Be literate, if you are not sure about your literacy, submit your posts for editing. Always check the spelling of plant names twice, it’s important for a gardening blog.

5. Be adventurous and open to new ideas

In order to be interesting to followers and attract new ones, you must be adventurous. Interact with readers, write about what interests them, think about how to make your blog attractive and not boring. Add interesting stories to your blog articles and it will not look like a monotonous encyclopedia of flower care. Don't be afraid to experiment with topics - your blog will benefit from it!

6. Don't get addicted to your blog

This is the mistake many bloggers make. The authors become too dependent on the reactions of followers, they constantly check statistics and spend all their free time writing new articles. If a gardening blog is not a commercial project for you and you do not make money on it, you should not forget about real life because of the blog. Post on your blog regularly, on a schedule, so your readers know when to expect gardening posts from you.

7. Try to understand your audience and how to attract new followers

Surely you dream of a large number of readers when you decide to start your own gardening blog. There are a lot of blogs out there at the moment, and the opportunity that the readers will find your new gardening blog on their own is very low. Promote your gardening blog and your audience will grow over time. Then try to understand your followers, what information they need and how to keep them interested. Update your most popular posts and it will help your blog to be more popular.

8. Interact with other bloggers

Read other blogs in your niche, like posts and leave comments. You will get inspiration and a community of like-minded people, who will also read, like posts and leave comments on your gardening blog. I recommend you always reply to comments, even if it’s just a simple “thank you”. So your blog will grow faster.

9. Safety first

Yes, many bloggers do not think about it until they face a problem. You have to pay attention to cyber security from the very beginning. When you decide which blogging platform to use, ask for help on how to protect your blog from hackers and viruses. You may think that nothing bad will happen to you and hackers are hardly interested in a gardening blog. But in reality, hackers hack any blogs regardless of the topic. I recommend using WordPress - it comes with a plugin that protects your website from the most sources of danger.

10. Enjoy blogging

Start blogging about what you are really interested in, otherwise you won't be motivated to run your blog for a long time. Do not force yourself to blog, nothing good will come of it. Blogging should be your sincere desire. If you don't have a lot of spare time - post once a week, but you should like it and enjoy it. Determine in advance how much time you are willing to devote to blogging so that it won’t be a burden for you. Always look for inspiration and motivation to blogging, but as soon as you feel like you've really stopped enjoying blogging - try changing the topic of your posts.

Writing Your First Blog Posts

Now it’s time to start creating your first posts! If you want to create a successful gardening blog, you need to make sure that you are strategic about what you write. To run an effective garden blog, you must regularly create high-quality and useful content for your readers. It’s so easy to get confused about what needs to be done, but as soon as you systematize the tasks, everything will be easy.

FAQ How to Start a Gardening Blog

Step-by-Step Guide to Start a Successful Gardening Blog

1. Pick a garden niche
2. Find the perfect blog name to suit your personality
3. Purchase WordPress hosting (Bluehost Life hack for the Best Price)
4. Install WordPress
5. Learn how your blog's dashboard works
6. Download a perfect theme
7. Install helpful for every garden blog plugins
8. Create content
9. Start building your audience and making money!

If you want to start your own garden blog, you can do it for only $2.65 per month. And the window below will help you find your ideal blog name:

Now It’s Your Turn

I hope you enjoyed my guide on how to start a gardening blog.

About Michael Bauer

Michael is the founder of TipsPlants.com. He writes about houseplants and gardening. The articles of the web site are useful to those who want to take care of plants and become a perfect gardener!

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