In this article I am going to explore how blogs about WordPress make money – and show you some tips you can use as a freelance writer to win writing gigs from such sites, taking home a piece of what they make monthly. I am focusing on blogs in the WordPress niche because:

Every new blogger will have to come across some content piece recommending WordPress as the best content management system / software if they want to start a blog of their own. It won’t matter if they want to start a blog on parenting, relationships or personal finance (other big niches online for people starting blogs), they will come across this tool called WordPress regardless of whatever we niche they want to establish their blog in.

Most people looking at blog monetization always turn to sites about WordPress / blogging tips to learn strategies and tactics they can implement on their own sites to make money blogging. I mean the blogging / WordPress niche is so big to the extent that some think that the only way to make money blogging is to blog about blogging (WP, hosting etc.) which is not the case – but people just believe it somehow.

People in this niche are usually known to spend a lot of time finding out more about how to grow their sites’ traffic / revenue / profits.

And my hope is that once you finish reading this article, you will learn a few things that can help you when you are looking for blogs to reach out to when looking for freelance writing work.

WordPress blogs are the blogs you will often find talking about:

1. How to start a blog. So, providing you with resources that can help you find the best domain registration providers, the best web hosting providers, SSL certificates, installing WordPress, installing WordPress themes and plugins, adding pages and posts.
2. How to optimize WordPress pages and blog posts for search. So, sites talking about on-page and off-page SEO. Sites talking about Google Search Console and Google Analytics. Sites talking about keyword research tools, backlink checkers and such.
3. Blogging tips individuals, freelancers and businesses can use to grow their blogs.
4. Design tips bloggers can implement on their blogs using various WordPress page builders.

WordPress blogs make money by

Selling WordPress themes and plugins. There are lots of theme marketplaces that theme and plugin developers worldwide use to sell their products to webmasters. These sites usually have a blog section that talks about everything to do with themes and plugins: news, tutorials, HTML / JavaScript / CSS / PHP code examples and more. Examples include Theme Forest, Template Monster and Mojo Marketplace.

Then there are individual companies that also sell their own plugins and themes. These too have regularly update blog sections. Examples include sites such as Thrive Themes, Elegant Themes and OptinMonster. And there are more like them (check Niabusiness’s Tools & Resources page).

Selling web hosting and domain registration services. Companies like HostGator and Bluehost, two of the popular hosting companies popular with people starting WordPress sites also run blogs just targeted at this group with regularly updates blogs. These companies primarily make their money by selling hosting services (shared hosting, VPS, WooCommerce hosting, dedicated servers) via monthly and yearly plans.

Their blog posts usually just link back to the services they sell – and to a few third party services and products. Other examples of sites like these include Namecheap (check the Tools & Resources page for more).

Publishing content. Here is where a majority of WordPress & blogging blogs fall. These are blogs that are usually run by individuals and companies (as multi-author online publishing businesses). They publish blog posts about WordPress core news, WordPress plugin & theme news, WordPress tutorial and reviews (that are sometimes take the format of how to posts).

These sites will often use affiliate marketing to make money by referring their visitors to WordPress hosting companies, domain registrars, WordPress theme & plugin sellers, ebook & course sellers, keyword tool providers and service providers fixing errors on WordPress sites.

Then some will also use sponsored posts and banner advertisements to make money as well. This is how they make enough money to be able to afford to outsource content writing to freelance writers profitably.

Selling WordPress website building services. Businesses that help other businesses fix WordPress problems also usually have blogs on their sites talking about different topics all related to running sites on WordPress.

Providers in this area, usually make money selling different plans WordPress site owners can purchase monthly / one-time so they can get access to WordPress experts / developers to help them resolve errors on their sites. They will often use their blog posts to link back to their plans / pricing pages while occasionally linking out, via affiliate links, to other websites selling research tools, hosting, themes and plugins.

Selling online courses. This is also another way blogs in the WordPress niche make money. Some sites will make available to their users e-courses with videos, text, workbooks and examples that beginners can use to start their sites from scratch and turn them into profitable properties over time.

Some of these sites will often sell courses that can help bloggers master how to drive traffic from platforms such as paid ads / PPC programs like Google Ads, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram or organic search traffic from Google.

Selling ebooks. Like e-courses, some blogs in the WordPress / blogging niche make money by selling digital books to their audience. These books are usually on WordPress itself or about various inbound and outbound marketing strategies businesses and individuals can turn to, to get more of the right people to visit their sites.

Usually the ebooks are hosted and sold on these blogs using WordPress e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads. Some bloggers however just use Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing platform to self-publish and sell their ebooks.

Most of these blogs are usually monetized using affiliate links and sponsored posts. Some will sell ebooks and courses. Then there are those that will sell plugins, themes and various services.

But the majority of the sites you want to target as a WordPress freelance writer are those that generally publish review content and tutorials and monetize via affiliate links. If you like cold pitching, you can usually go to Google and search for a keyword with the word review at the end to find new blogs you can write for.

For example you can just type the name of a plugin with the word review (such as Thrive Leads review or OptinMonster reviews or MonsterInsights review) to find blogs that can hire you to write for them.

These sites make good money monthly that hiring freelance writers to create quality for them isn’t that big of a deal.

Of course don’t forget to reach out to the theme and plugin sellers as well. You never know where you may get your next writing opportunity.

Also make sure you add your own ad listing on Niabusiness.com Freelance Writers / Content Creators category with details about your freelance writing service. You never know who might see it. Placing an ad on Niabusiness Classifieds is free.

And if you already run a blog in the WordPress / blogging niche and are comfortable outsourcing some content writing work, place your ad on Niabusiness for free.