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.