Okay, so you want to build something online.
Yeah. Maybe share your thoughts with the world
or make some money online. And you want to do
it the smart way. Without drowning in a sea of
information. That's exactly why we're here. To
give you the shortcut. We dove deep into a ton
of YouTube tutorials. All about blogging. Building
a website. And making your mark online in 2025.
We'll break it all down for you. The essential
strategy. Oh, ha! Moments. So you can start building
your own little corner of the internet. Now the
first question everyone always asks. Is blogging
even relevant anymore? Yeah, like isn't it all
about video now? TikTok? Instagram? Right, it's
a question that comes up again and again. And
she dreams all day pointed that out in her video.
She said it's been a debate for years whether
blogging is dead or not. But her take is... Blogging
has changed. But it's not dead. It's evolved.
Okay, so how has it evolved? Well she really
emphasized that having your own space online.
A place you control. That's still so valuable.
Okay, I can see that. And it kind of connects
with what Journey with the Hinton said too. Oh
yeah. They were talking about how a blog is like
owning a piece of the internet. Hmm, interesting.
It's like a foundation that you control. Not
like social media where everything can change
so fast. Exactly. Like one day your shadow ban,
the next day, the whole platform is gone. Right.
You don't have that risk with your own website.
Makes sense. So that stability is a huge plus.
OK, so let's say I'm convinced blogging is still
a good move. Where do you even start? Right.
There are a million different things you could
write about. Well, caffeinated blogger was very
clear about this. What do you say? First step.
Yeah. Find your niche. Pick a topic. Exactly.
And he had a really interesting method for this.
OK, I'm all yours. He said, Use Google to search
for blog income reports. Blog income reports?
What are those? So basically, these are reports
where other bloggers publicly share how much
money they're making from their blogs. Oh, that's
interesting. And how they're making it. So it's
like a peek behind the curtain? Exactly. You
get to see what's working for others. OK. And
these reports often break down earnings by niche.
So you can see which topics are the most profitable.
Yeah. You can see things like how much ad revenue
Different niches tend to bring in. Smart. It's
like market research. Yeah. But specifically
for the blogging world. That's a really great
idea. Yeah. And he actually has a whole other
video just on finding your niche. Oh, wow. So
he must think it's pretty important. Definitely.
But she dreams all day, had a slightly different
perspective. Oh, how so? She said, don't get
too hung up on finding the perfect niche right
away. Interesting. Her feeling is it will probably
evolve as you go along. OK. I like that. Less
pressure. She recommends starting with what you're
passionate about. Yeah, what you genuinely enjoy.
And what you think you can provide helpful information
about. So it's a bit more organic. Yeah, let
it unfold naturally. OK, and Journey with the
Hinton's also had a similar perspective. Yeah,
they were talking about thinking about your life
experiences, your passions. What comes naturally
to you? Yeah, and they even suggested using AI.
Like chat GPT. Yeah, to help you brainstorm niche
ideas if you're feeling stuck. That's a good
tip. So we have kind of two approaches here.
Yeah. One that's very data driven. Look at income
reports, see what's working. And one that's more
about your own personal interests. I think finding
the sweet spot between those is probably the
key. Definitely. OK, so let's say you've got
your niche figured out. Now comes the scary part.
The technical stuff. Setting up your website.
Yeah. All the hosting and domains and WordPress?
It can seem intimidating. But all three of the
YouTubers we looked at? They made it pretty clear.
Okay, walk us through it. So the essentials are
web hosting. Which is basically where your website
lives online, right? Exactly. Then you need a
domain name. That's your website address. Right,
and then you need a content management system.
Which pretty much everyone agrees is WordPress.
Pretty much. Okay, so let's start with hosting.
Where do you actually put your website so people
can see it? Where do you recommend? Well, caffeinated
blogger loves Cloudways. Cloudways, okay. He
says it's super fast and reliable because it
uses cloud hosting. Dedicated cloud hosting.
Yeah, so it's like you have your own little server.
Not sharing resources with a ton of other websites.
Right. And he mentioned they have a free trial.
Always good. And a discount code CB25 for 25
% off for the first three months. Not bad. Prices
start at around $11 a month. Before the discount.
Yep. And he walks you through the whole process
of getting set up. Signing up, picking a server,
getting it running. Exactly. He recommends starting
with the cheapest 1GB Digital Ocean option. So
basically your hosting is super important because
it affects how fast your website loads and how
smoothly it runs Yeah, which is huge for user
experience. People are impatient They are if
your site takes too long to load They'll just
go somewhere else and it also affects how well
you rank in Google. Absolutely Google loves fast
websites Okay, so cloudways is a good option
for speed and control. Yeah, but what if you're
not so techie? Yeah, are there options that are
more beginner friendly? For sure. She dreams
all day. Why? And recommends Bluehost. Bluehost,
okay. She says it's super easy to use. Especially
for newbies. And she pointed out how well it
integrates with WordPress. Streamlined setup.
Exactly. And she has a discount link too. Always
a bonus. And she said a nice thing about Bluehost
is you can often register your domain name right
when you sign up for hosting. That's convenient.
Keeps things simple. Less to think about. She
also recommended getting SSL encryption. That's
the little padlock icon in the browser, right?
Yeah. It shows that your site is secure. Important
for building trust. And for protecting any data
your visitors might share. Like if they sign
up for your email list. Exactly. And she also
mentioned domain privacy protection. What's that?
So when you register a domain name, maybe your
personal information. Like your name and address.
Gets stored in a public database called WHOIS.
Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, so domain privacy
protection. keeps your info private. Makes sense.
So you don't get spammed or harassed. Okay, and
Jurty with the Hinton's had another recommendation.
What was theirs? Hostinger. Hostinger. And they
were really excited about their AI website builder.
I've heard good things about those. They said
it can get a basic website up and running crazy
fast. Like, how fast? They claimed maybe even
under a minute. Wow, that's amazing. And they
said you don't need any technical skills. So
that's perfect for people who are afraid of code.
Totally. And they talked about their business
plan and how cost -effective their 48 -month
plan is. 48 months? That's four years. Yeah,
it's a long commitment. But it includes a free
domain name. Which is a nice perk. Definitely.
And they also have a discount code, the Hinton,
for an extra 10 % off. Nice. Yeah. So how does
this AI website builder actually work? Yeah,
I'm curious. Well, they said you basically answer
a few questions. Like about your website? Yeah,
it's about who your target audience is. OK. You
select WordPress as your platform, create a login,
and then the AI takes over. Wow. It generates
an initial structure for your site. Like a basic
framework. Yeah. And it can even create some
starting content for you. That's pretty incredible.
It is. It's a really fast way to get something
up and running. So we've got Cloudways for speed
and control. Bluehost for beginner friendliness.
And Hostinger with the AI -powered option. Yeah,
a good range of choices. Now once you pick your
hosting, you need that domain name. Your online
address. Right, caffeinated blogger. Use Namecheap
as an example. He showed how you can search for
available domain names. Like slowtravelpro .com
or something. Yeah, and he said wild .com is
the most common. and probably the most recognizable.
Other extensions work just as well. Okay, good
to know. So you don't have to limit yourself
to .com. Now once you have your domain name,
you have to connect it to your hosting. Link
them up. That always sounds a bit complicated
to me. Yeah, how does that actually work? Well,
the hosting companies usually have pretty clear
instructions. Okay. Caffeinated Blogger showed
how to do it with Cloudways and Namecheap. You
basically add your domain in your Cloudways control
panel. And then you have to update your DNS records
at Namecheap. Exactly. Think of DNS like a phone
book for the internet. That's a good analogy.
Your domain name is like your name. Okay. And
the server IP address is like your phone number.
So DNS tells computers where to find your website.
Yep, you usually add a CNME record. So the WWW
version of your site goes to the main version.
And an A record that links your domain to your
server's IP address. Sounds more complicated
than it probably is. It's not too bad once you
get the hang of it. And you mentioned SSL encryption
earlier. That's super important. Makes your site
more secure. And it gives you that little padlock
icon on the browser. Shows your visitors that
their data is safe. Builds trust. Definitely
Caffeinated Blogger showed how to install an
SSL certificate. Using Let's Encrypt on Cloudways.
And once you have all that set up. You can access
your WordPress backend. Which is basically the
control panel for your website. Exactly. And
he showed it to change some basic settings. Like
the title of your site? The tagline. And your
permalinks. Yeah, he recommended setting those
to post name. Which is the web address for each
blog post. Right, it makes it clearer for both
people and Google what the post is about. Good
for SEO. Okay, so now your website is technically
up and running. Now the fun part. Creating content.
Yeah, what are you actually going to put on your
website? Caffeinated blogger emphasized how important
Google search is. Yeah, if no one can find your
content, it doesn't matter how good it is. Exactly.
He explained that people use search engines to
find answers to their questions. So if you can
create content that answers those questions,
you have a good chance of showing up in Google.
OK, so how do you know what people are searching
for? That's where keyword research comes in.
Ah, yes, the magic word. He recommends a tool
called SEMrush. SEMrush, yeah. That's a powerful
tool for finding out what people are actually
typing into Google. And he has a link for an
extended 14 -day free trial. Yep. So you can
try it out. Cool. He showed how to use their
keyword magic tool. You enter a seed phrase.
Like, are there in lake? And it shows you all
kinds of related keywords. That people are actually
searching for. OK. And then what? He said to
look for keywords with a low difficulty score.
Which Semrush marks in green. Exactly. Those
are the keywords you have the best chance of
ranking for. Less competition. Yeah. He even
gave a specific example. What was it? Are there
alligators? in Beaver Lake, Arkansas. Very specific.
Yeah. Apparently there's not much competition
for that keyword. Interesting. So if you wrote
a blog post about that, you'd have a good chance
of ranking high in Google. Exactly. Now how do
you actually create the content? Well, he outlined
a few approaches. OK. One is just the classic
way of doing research. Reading a bunch of articles,
watching videos. Yeah. And then writing the content
yourself. The old school way. But he also talked
about using AI. Like chat GPT? Yeah, to help
draft content. But he had a strong warning about
that. He said never just copy and paste AI generated
tech. Okay, that makes sense. You have to edit
it carefully. Fact check it. Add your own personal
type. Make it sound like you. Yeah, otherwise
it can sound really robotic. And Google might
penalize you. Definitely Google is getting better
and better at detecting AI written content. And
they don't like it. Nope. So what did she dreams
all day say about AI? Oh, she was much more against
using it. Really? Yeah, she said it's just not
worth the risk. She's worried about Google penalties.
Makes sense. And she said AI written content
just doesn't connect with people the same way.
It lacks that human touch. Exactly. Oh. She said
write for humans, not for robots. I like it.
I can get behind that. Tell a story. Be yourself.
Share your experiences. Exactly. And she gave
some really practical advice for writing online.
Like what? She said people have short attention
spans. Especially online. So keep your paragraphs
short. Use plenty of white space. Break things
up with headings and bullet points. Make it easy
to read. And use visuals. How curious. Yours.
Videos. Yep. And for longer articles. She recommended
a table of contents. So people can jump to the
section they're interested in. That's smart.
And importantly, she said to embed videos from
YouTube, Instagram, Reels, TikTok. Cool. In your
blog posts? Yep. It makes the content more engaging.
And Google likes it. Yeah. It can help your SEO.
OK. So you've written your amazing content. Optimized
it for short attention spans. And embedded some
cool videos. Now how do you get people to actually
see it? Yeah. How do you drive traffic to your
blog? Well, we've already talked about Google
search. That's the big one. But she dreams all
day. Had another great suggestion. Oh, what's
that? Pinterest. Pinterest, okay. She said it's
a really valuable source of traffic for bloggers.
Really? I always thought of Pinterest as just
for recipes and DIY projects. Yeah, a lot of
people think that she said it's actually a visual
search engine. Hmm, interesting. People go to
Pinterest to find ideas. So if your content is
visually appealing... And optimized for Pinterest
search? You can get a lot of traffic from there.
And Journey with the Hinton's had some tips for
video optimization. Yeah, they said make sure
your video titles and descriptions have relevant
keywords. So they show up in Google search. And
they even suggested using AI. Like ChatGPT to
help you write those descriptions. Makes sense.
And all three YouTubers agreed that you should
promote your website on social media. Yeah, cross
-promote. Let your followers on other platforms
know about your blog. Drive them to your website.
Exactly. Okay, so you're getting traffic. Yeah,
the big question. How do you make money? Let's
talk monetization. Yeah, how do you actually
turn your blog into income? Well, one common
way is display advertising. Ads on your website?
Yep, caffeinated blogger. Shared his experience
with Mediavine. Okay, I've heard of them. They're
a popular ad network. But they have a pretty
high traffic requirement. Yeah. You need at least
50 ,000 monthly visitors to join. Wow. That's
a lot. It is. So for beginners, he recommends
Ezoic. Ezoic, OK. They don't have any traffic
requirements. So you can start using them right
away. Exactly. And they even help you set up
the ads. That's great. He said you can typically
earn between $5 and $25 per 1 ,000 visitors with
Ezoic. Not bad. And he said Mediavine typically
pays more like $20 to $60 per 1 ,000 visitors.
Once you reach that higher traffic level. And
she dreams all day. Yeah. Also mention Google
AdSense. Yeah, that's another popular option.
Especially if you don't have a lot of traffic
yet. OK, so ads are one way to monetize. What's
another? Let me guess affiliate marketing. You
got it. All three YouTubers talked about that.
It's a really popular way to make money online.
How does it work? Basically, you recommend products
or services that you love. And if someone buys
through your special affiliate link, you earn
a commission, a percentage of the sale. Caffeinated
blogger said he'll include links to more detailed
tutorials on affiliate marketing in his video
description. OK, we'll make sure to include those
in our show notes, too. Great. And she dreams
all day suggested, starting with programs like
Amazon Associates. Yeah, Amazon has a huge affiliate
program. It does. And she said to look for other
affiliate programs that are relevant to your
niche. So if you're writing about travel. Partner
with travel companies. Makes sense. And Journey
with the Hinton's actually shared a video about
how they made $67 ,000 from one company through
affiliate marketing. Wow, that's incredible.
Yeah, it shows the potential. So affiliate marketing
is basically recommending products you already
love. And getting paid for it. I like it. What
else can you do? Well, you could create your
own product. Yeah, like digital products. Online
courses. Ebooks. Templates. Printables. Loading
merchandise. She dreams all day. This is a good
strategy. Once you have an audience. And an email
list. OK, so you need those relationships in
place. And Journey with the Hentons were really
excited about e -commerce. Selling physical products
online. They said trillions of dollars are spent
through e -commerce every year. It's huge. And
they explain how you can set up a shop. right
on Hostinger. Using their AI website builder
or their pre -built themes. You can sell your
own products. Including digital products. Or
you can do drop shipping. Where you don't have
to handle inventory. They actually have a whole
other video about creating an e -commerce store
with Hostinger. We'll link to that too. Great.
And they also mentioned sponsored posts. Where
brands pay you to create content. that features
their products or services. So lots of different
ways to make money. From ads to affiliate marketing
to selling your own stuff. It sounds like building
a successful online presence takes time. It does.
She dreams all day. I was adamant about that.
It's a marathon, not a sprint. Yeah, she said
don't expect to get rich quick. Okay. And she
really stressed the importance of consistency.
Keep creating content. Ideally, at least one
new blog post per week. If you can manage it.
Especially when you're first starting out. Okay,
so consistency is key. What else? Well, I remember
they all talked about building an email list.
Yes. That's so crucial. Why is that so important?
She dreams all day. And caffeinated blogger both
said to start building your list from day one.
And she dreams all day. recommended some platforms
like ConvertKit. Which is now called Kit. And
Flodesk. Yeah, those are both popular email marketing
services. And Journey with the Hinton's really
hammered home at this point. About owning your
audience. Yeah, don't just rely on social media.
Because the algorithms can change. Your account
could get shut down. You're at the mercy of these
platforms. But if you have an email list. You
have direct connection with your people. No matter
what happens with social media. They talked about
building your own digital empire. I like that.
Owning your platform. Your content. Your audience.
And Journey with the Hinton's had this really
cool idea. Oh, what was it? They're talking about
creating your own mini TikTok. Oh, yeah. By hosting
your videos directly on your website. Instead
of just on YouTube. And they said you can use
Hostinger's AI Builder to do this. So you can
upload your videos. Optimize them for search.
And you get to keep all the ad revenue. If you
choose to run ads. That's a big plus. Yeah, it
cuts out the middle man. So we've covered a lot
of ground here. They have. It's clear that the
online world is constantly changing. But some
things stay the same. Blogging is still a powerful
tool. If you use it strategically, finding your
niche is essential. Whether you go the data -driven
route or the passion -driven route, you have
options for setting up your website. From DIY
to AI -powered, creating great content is key.
Content that answers people's questions and connects
with them on a human level. Get that content
scene. Use Google search. Pinterest, social media,
and then there are all sorts of ways to monetize
affiliate marketing, your own product, sponsored
posts. The possibilities are endless. But the
one thing that all three of these creators emphasized
was that building a successful online presence
takes time and effort. It's not a get -rich -quick
scheme. It's about consistency, providing value
to your audience, and building genuine relationships.
So as you're thinking about creating your own
online space, ask yourself, what path? feels
right for you. A video focused platform. An online
store. What unique perspective do you bring to
the table? What value can you offer? What's your
story? That's the thing to really think about.
As you start your own deep dive into building
your online presence. Thanks for joining us on
this deep dive. We'll see you next time.