Many people have already thought about starting a blog, especially to make it a real online business. The problem is that while many web entrepreneurs talk about blogging, few show a working blog that makes money. 💰
However, there are quality blogs in France. By quality blog, we mean a site that provides value-added content, but which is also monetized. Because a blog that doesn’t make any money, it’s not necessarily interesting!(especially if you want to earn your living thanks to the internet )
If you’re interested in blogging, we’ll help you by showing you examples of successful blogs. And you’ll see that in addition to attracting traffic, all these blogs are real businesses, which allow their creator to make a living. 😎
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Contents
What is a blog?
About ten years ago, a blog was a “skyblog“, i.e. a personal blog where people told about their life. Now, this era is totally over and it would be wrong to present the blog as such. Today, almost all blogs are professional.
They are published by a company in order to attract traffic to promote their products. On the other hand, there are still many bloggers, but they are professional bloggers. That is, they earn their living with their blog. 💻
Definition and example
The blog is the part of a site that contains articles. It is a kind of media support for personal or professional use. What you need to understand is thata blog is part of a website. However, many sites describe themselves as blogs. 🤔
In fact, as soon as a site contains a majority of articles, we can say that it is a blog. For example, if you create a website only to publish cooking recipes, it will be a food blog.
In blogging, we distinguish between personal and professional blogs. The personal blog is simply centered around a person and is not necessarily for profit. On the contrary, a professional blog is usually focused on a theme(health, high tech, travel, etc.) and has a profit-making purpose. 💸
Clearly, if a site has many items and is set up in different ways(advertising , affiliate marketing selling sponsored articles, etc.), we can say that it is a professional blog.
We told you that many companies create a blog part on their website in order to attract traffic. This technique is part of a content marketing strategy, which consists in attracting potential visitors and customers by providing quality articles for example.
There is no limit as such. Any company that has a website can create a blog part. Obviously, this strategy is much more effective for companies that sell online.
Let’s take an example. 📝
Kinsta is a web hosting company Kinsta is a web hosting company that provides shared hosting solutions, specialized for WordPress and others. To attract traffic, Kinsta writes many articles related to web hosting, online business, WordPress, digital marketing, etc.
All these articles are translated into several languages and are positioned on Google. Thanks to all these published contents, Kinsta generates millions of visits every month throughout the world. These visitors are all potential customers, sent for free by search engines.
Thus, blogging can also be a strategy for an e-commerce or a site selling services.
The difference between a simple blog and a successful blog
As you have seen, a blog is simply a website that contains mostly articles. Nevertheless, you can imagine that most blogs are not really successful. Most of the blogs created are not visited and do not make any money. 😱
According to us, a successful blog is a website that generates traffic thanks to natural referencing and this for several years. The goal is tohave long-term visits, not to create a buzz to get a large number of visits once.
But traffic is not everything, because many very popular blogs are not profitable. To be a successful blog, a site must earn money. To do this, he must use several monetization methods such as advertising, affiliate marketing, link selling and others.
In itself, a successful blog is a real online business that makes money in the long run. 📈
Examples of blogs that work in 2022
Now you know what a blog is and how it can help you earn money from your computer. But all of this is very theoretical and you may find it difficult to plan to create your own blog. Therefore, we are going to show you several popular blogs that are models of success.
Each time, we will present you the content of the blog, but also its monetization strategy. ⤵️
1/ Presse-citron.net
Press Lemon is a blog specialized in computers and new technologies. You can find many articles on computer news, but also on startups. Next to that, Presse Citron writes a lot of reviews about recent High Tech products(new smartphones, drones, laptops, etc.). 📱
Presse Citron is one of the most influential French blogs, which could therefore be classified as media. In fact, the owner of the site is not the only one who writes the articles, he has a team of editors. However, Presse Citron does not have journalists and can not be a media like TF1, BFMTV or others. We think it’s an example of blogging taken to the max.
If Presse Citron works so well, it is because it brings in money. As you can imagine, a site this important must earn money. In particular to pay the editors, the graphic designers and the hosting of the site. And unlike many media, Presse Citron is a profitable site. 🤑
Indeed, the site uses several monetization strategies. Press Lemon posts ads on its blog, which earns it money. But advertising doesn’t bring in much money, unlike its second source of monetization. The latter is simply affiliation.
Affiliate marketing is the process of earning a commission by recommending a product or service. In short, each time a user of Presse Citron buys a product through an affiliate link, he gets a commission. And in the world of affiliation, Presse Citron is known to be an important competitor.
We’ll explain.
As said above, Presse Citron presents many tests. They write articles about a new smartphone, an online banking offer and more. For each product or service, they will create a detailed article and present the offer in detail.
In these “reviews” articles, Presse Citron also includes affiliate links. For example, in this Orange Bank test article, we can see “Discover Orange Bank” buttons. These buttons are affiliate links, meaning that if a user clicks on them and signs up for this online bank, Presse Citron will earn a commission. 💳
As you can see, Presse Citron also recommends other online banks, even if its article refers to Orange Bank. This is a very good strategy to earn extra commissions.
In short, all these tests and guide articles allow Presse Citron to earn thousands of euros every month. And it is mainly this technique of monetization which makes this site a profitable blog.
Key SEO metrics:
Presse Citron is a very big blog, which generates several million visitors per month. Besides, the site has tens of thousands of pages. Creating a blog of this caliber is clearly not possible alone. You will have to invest time and money, and be surrounded by a team. However, it is a success story that proves what can be done with a simple computer blog.
2/ Selectra
Selectra is at its beginning a blog specialized in energy consumption. However, the site has diversified to offer articles related to insurance, internet boxes, online banks and others. To be more precise, Selectra is a comparison site. 📊
In other words, this blog will present several offers from energy suppliers for example. In detailed articles, Selectra describes each offer in detail(price, benefits, operation, etc.). Obviously, these articles contain either affiliate links or a contact form.
Selectra uses two monetization techniques. The first is affiliation. The site promotes online banking offers, internet box and will be remunerated for each customer brought. The second is the sale of leads. To sell leads, Selectra must have its users fill out forms such as a quote request. ✍️
Many companies are willing to pay to get qualified leads. Thus, for each form filled out on the Selectra site, the site receives a fee. Less known, the sale of leads is very lucrative, especially in areas related to finance and insurance.
Key SEO metrics:
Well, Selectra is an example of blogging taken to the extreme. Nevertheless, in our opinion, it is an example to follow, especially in writing articles. If you want to start blogging, you can take inspiration from what you find at Selectra. The blog as a whole is of excellent quality.
3/ Lesnumeriques
Lesnumeriques is one of the most famous blogs in France. They mainly deal with computer news, but also present many tests, guides and good plans. 💻
Like Presse Citron, Lesnumeriques works with several monetization strategies. The blog displays advertising on its articles to earn revenue, thanks to the large number of visitors who come to the site every day. But again, it’s not the advertising that pays the most.
As we told you, Lesnumeriques presents many High Tech products (smartphones, drones, consoles, etc.). In test articles, Lesnumeriques describes a product in detail, and places affiliate links to several merchant sites(Amazon, Cdiscount, Fnac, etc.).
As such, if you are interested in affiliation on the High Tech and computer theme, there are great chances that you will find Lesnumeriques among your competitors. Simply because they write about so many products. Thus, they are present on tens of thousands of keywords such as “product + review“.
Lesnumeriques is, according to us, the perfect example of a big blog that uses affiliation to not depend on advertising revenues. And it works quite well, because it is considered as one of the biggest affiliate sites in France. 🤝🏽
Key SEO metrics:
Lesnumeriques is one of the most visited websites in France. It will therefore be almost impossible to overtake. However, it is a good source of inspiration to find a niche or learn how to write quality test articles.
4/ Books to change your life
Des Livres Pour Changer de Vie is the blog ofOlivier Roland, the most famous French blogger. As its name suggests, this blog summarizes books in several themes such as personal development, investment, entrepreneurship, productivity, telecommuting, etc.
On this blog, you will find many tips on how to improve your life and create your own online business. The philosophy of the creator of this blog is to create a business “toserve his life“, which allows to earn money while traveling! ✈️
In terms of monetization, no advertising is integrated on the site. However, every article featuring a book contains an affiliate link to Amazon. In this way, Olivier Roland gets a commission as soon as an Internet user buys a book that he has presented through his link.
But it also uses another monetization technique. The latter is the sale of sponsored articles. Indeed, it is possible to pay to have an article as well as a link to its own website. For each sponsored article sold, the blogger gets a hundred euros. 💸
If you visit this site, you will also notice that Olivier Roland offers a free ebook if you subscribe to his newsletter. Thanks to this, it will collect a complete email list of people who are interested in blogging. Then, he will use email marketing to sell trainings, books and others.
Key SEO metrics:
Books to Change Your Life is a success story in blogging. As you can see, the site attracts tens of thousands of visitors per month for about a thousand articles. That’s clearly achievable in a few years of work, even working alone. 💪
5/ Aux-fourneaux.fr
Aux fourneaux is a cooking blog, known for providing many recipes. You can find all kinds of recipes to cook salty, sweet, healthy and other dishes. The blog is also known for publishing recipes from all over the world. 🌎
As far as monetization is concerned, Aux fourneaux only works with advertising agencies and does not do any or very little affiliation. However, as it is a fairly visited site, the revenue from advertising can be substantial.
In fact, all the queries related to cooking recipes are highly searched on Google. By writing articles on this type of keyword, Aux fourneaux can attract thousands of visitors per month. Recipe articles are easy to write and then bring in regular visitors. With this strategy, advertising alone allows the blog to be profitable. 💸
Key SEO metrics:
Aux Fourneaux is a big cooking blog that attracts several hundred thousand visitors per month. It is a site that has existed for many years and has a few thousand pages. Therefore, this site is a very good example to follow if you want to succeed in blogging.
6/ Docteurbonnebouffe.com
Docteur Bonne Bouffe is a blog created by dietician Nathalie Majcher. On this site, you will find advice on how to eat well, gain or lose weight, but also a whole bunch of healthy recipes. 🥑
As far as monetization is concerned, the blog does not contain any ads. On the other hand, Good Food Doctor has a few partnerships with nutrition brands and home-delivered prepared meals, for example. But this is onlya small part of the blog’s income.
In fact, Nathalie Majcher offers for sale ebooks directly on her blog. On the side, she also offers private coaching sessions to have a personalized follow-up of her diet. 🥦
In summary, Dr. Good Food is an example of a blog that allows you to sell your own infoproducts. Her owner attracts traffic through SEO, some of which will buy her ebooks and books or even take a coaching session.
Key SEO metrics:
Docteur bonne bouffe is a reference blog on the theme of nutrition. As you can see, the site attracts nearly 100,000 visitors every month, for a total of about a thousand pages. Here, we are clearly on an example reachable with work, even if you are alone.
7/ Business Attitude
Business Attitude is a blog owned by Cedric Annicette, one of the most famous web entrepreneurs in France. On this blog, you can find articles to learn how to create an online business, invest in real estate, stock market, crypto and others. In itself, the purpose of this blog is to learn how to get rich using several pillars. 🏦
The site contains mostly informative articles and guides on how to invest, generate additional income and more. Here again, all the articles answer specific queries in order to attract traffic through natural referencing. However, there is no advertising on the Business Attitude blog.
The main purpose of the blog is toattract prospects to sell ebooks, comics and video training.
Next to that, you can also see that the site offers to subscribe to an email list to receive free advice. Thanks to this technique, the blog will collect emails and will then be able to contact them again, to doemail marketing. This is a great method to diversify your traffic sources. 👀
In itself, Business Attitude is the perfect example of the ecosystem that can be created from a blog. Its creator Cédric Annicette creates videos for YouTube, then transcribes them into articles, in addition to the pages already published. Thus, it can generate traffic on both YouTube and Google.
Key SEO metrics:
Although the Business Attitude YouTube channel is better known than the blog, this is a good example of using blogging to attract leads. As you can see, the site still generates thousands of visitors every month.
8/ WP Marmite
WP Marmite is a blog specialized in the WordPress CMS. On this site, you will find many tips, tricks and tutorials to learn how to create your own WordPress site. WP Marmite also presents themes and plugins for this CMS.
The site contains no advertising, yet is a profitable blog. Indeed, WP Marmite does affiliate marketing for WordPress themes and plugins . Thus, we can find many articles of type “tests & reviews” on extensions and themes. Each time, WP Marmite includes an affiliate link. 🤝🏼
But that’s not all. WP Marmite is also known to offer training on WordPress, WooCommerce and SEO. It is indeed possible tobuy a video training directly on the WP Marmiteblog.
Here again, the blog is a support to attract prospects. As you can see, each article is optimized on a particular keyword. Thanks to all the articles published, WP Marmite receives tens of thousands of visitors per month. Part of which will be training clients.
WP Marmite is also an example of a complete ecosystem, created from a blog. Its owner has a YouTube channel as well as an email list, which allows him to have different sources of traffic.
Key SEO metrics:
WP Marmite is a blog that has been around for several years. The site attracts tens of thousands of visitors every month, for a total of about 1000 articles . This in itself is an example of what can be done in a few years of work. 🤓
9/ Like a truck
Commeuncamion is a blog specialized in men’s fashion. On this site, you will find many tips for dressing according to the seasons, styles, and others. But the blog also presents beauty, seduction and fitness tips.
In short, Commeuncamion is a lifestyle blog for men. The site presents inspirations for elegant, casual, trendy and other looks. Next to that, Commeuncamion offers many tests on clothing, watches or beauty products. 👔
As you will have understood, Commeuncamion is also an affiliation site. The blog promotes several brands and earns a commission if their users buy a product. However, the site does not display advertisements.
Thanks to affiliate marketing, Commeuncamion is a profitable blog even though they publish many articles regularly. This is an example of a successful affiliation on the theme of fashion.
Key SEO metrics:
Commeuncamion is an important fashion blog. But like the others, he started from scratch one day. So this is a good success story that shows what you can do with a blog, while staying within a particular theme(fashion). 👀
Now you have good examples to follow if you want to start blogging and make a living out of it. These blogs are very advanced, have been around for several years and most have thousands of pages. So you may have a hard time projecting yourself to create a blog of this caliber in turn. 😰
Don’t worry, all these blogs started one day and you don ‘t need to create such a big site to make a living. In fact, there are much lesser known and newer blogs that allow their creator to make a decent living. Simply because the most important thing is the monetization strategy used.
Thus, some blogs that get hundreds of millions of hits are barely profitable while unknown blogs earn 10.000€ per month. If you want to start blogging to create a profitable site, we invite you to download our free ebook “Affiliate Marketing and SEO“.
In this ebook, you will learn how to create an affiliate blog from scratch with very little budget. We’ll also teach you how to find a profitable niche, to make sure your blog is making you money, even with little traffic! 💪
Join 10,000+ makers and get all our latest tips for making a living from Blogging and Affiliate Marketing.
