17 SEO Mistakes, How to Fix Them, and What to Avoid

Search engine optimization continues to trip up even experienced marketers, costing businesses visibility and revenue.

This article breaks down 17 common SEO mistakes and provides clear solutions to fix them, drawing on insights from industry experts who have diagnosed these issues across hundreds of campaigns.

Each mistake comes with a practical remedy and guidance on what to avoid moving forward.

Other people are reading: Best Subreddits for SEO, Marketing, Social Media, Product, Technology, Development, Business and Bonus!

1. Too Much AI:

Access to everything is bad. The same applied to AI. At the same time, AI tools are making the job of SEO professionals and content creators easy. But relying too much on AI hurts the quality, human insight, and organic ranking.

It is advisable to use Ahrefs, SEMrush and other SEO tools. But only to understand the issues and fixes. You cannot let AI do SEO or generate content for your website.

I have already shared why you should not use ChatGPT for Law Firm SEO.

Gaurav Kumar, Founder and CEO at eAskme.  

2. Handle Noindex and Launch Checks Seriously

We relaunched a client's e-commerce website a few years ago and about 1,500 URLs ended up as "crawled - currently not indexed" in Google Search Console. It happened because every new category page got shipped with a global noindex tag in the frenzy of the final stages of the relaunch. As a result, the client's organic revenue fell by about 30%.

I will admit that a bit of panic did set in at first, but we were able to jump in and fix it in time.

- We stripped the rogue tag and rolled out a new lean XML sitemap with priority pages only.

- We also built a new internal-link web that pointed to the affected categories and requested re-indexing (in batches to avoid crawl-budget shock).

The pages eventually regained rankings in about six weeks and sales then began to bounce back.

The lesson we learnt is that your staging-to-live checklists should be treated as sacred.

Isaac Bullen, Marketing Director, 3WH

3. Slow Down and Earn Trust

When I first started my business, I was very focused on getting content out quickly, rather than spending time on creating quality content. I wrote a tremendous volume of AI-generated SEO articles for clients (all B2B) in a very short period of time, and I believed that boosting the articles with internal linking and optimizing my website would make up for any shortcomings in the articles, quality-wise.

This did increase the amount of digital traffic to our websites, but it did not convert into increased leads. Even though the content ranked well, it did not align with the challenge that our target audience was attempting to address.

While I technically did match what our target audience was searching for, I had not built any trust with them. Per comments from the sales team, prospective customers viewed our content as being "generic," even though, by the metrics of Ahrefs, our articles looked good.

Therefore, I ceased publishing content because I had the opportunity to interview the sales staff to learn about the challenges faced by prospective customers and what words they were using to describe the transactions, as well as examples that were received well during earlier calls.

I utilized AI to generate outlines of the content and to clean up the final drafts of the articles, but the primary authorship remained with humans.

Tracking rankings is not an accomplishment; tracking revenue is more important.

Do not use AI or the need for speed as an excuse to publish subpar content.

Mike Khorev, SEO Consultant, Mike Khorev

4. Guard Robots Files With Rigid Checks

I once blocked an entire subdirectory in robots.txt during a site migration and killed 40% of our organic traffic in three weeks. We caught it during a routine crawl audit, but the damage was already done... Recovery took us 2 months even after we fixed the file and resubmitted the sitemap.

Everyone makes technical errors - the lesson was that I had no process to catch it before it shipped.

So now I run a staged deployment checklist that includes:

• A crawl simulation on staging,
• A manual robots.txt review by two people,
• And a post-launch monitor that alerts me if indexed page counts drop more than 5% week over week.

I also keep a rollback-ready version of every configuration file we touch.

My recommendation is to treat robots.txt and canonical tags like you treat database migrations. One wrong line can erase months of work, so you should always build a review gate.

Milosz Krasinski, International SEO Consultant, Owner, Chilli Fruit Web Consulting

5. Validate SERPs, Not Just Scores

One SEO mistake that taught me a hard lesson was relying too heavily on keyword difficulty scores from tools. Early on, I targeted keywords labeled "easy," only to find page one dominated by high-authority brands that perfectly matched user intent.

Rankings stalled, and a lot of time was wasted.

I fixed this by making SERP review mandatory before creating content.

Now I check:

• Who ranks
• Their Domain Rating
• Traffic
• Backlink depth
• How well they answer the query

In many cases, that shift helped pages rank within 60 days because we focused on keywords where competitors had thin content and fewer than 10 referring domains.

My advice is simple. Treat keyword difficulty as a directional signal, not a decision-maker. Always validate the SERP manually.

Nick Mikhalenkov, SEO Manager, Nine Peaks Media

6. Strengthen Strategic Internal Links

Early on, I made the error of neglecting internal links while chasing external backlinks. I used to assume that authority came only from external sources.

At the time, I would publish great content and move on to outreach, which leaves new pages un-integrated into the site's structure. This created a growing number of orphan or poorly connected pages that Google could index, but couldn't crawl, analyze, and rank consistently.

We rectified this by embracing a streamlined hub-and-spoke model. We evaluated the site for high-performing authoritative pages and linked them to relevant new pages, both topically and chronologically, to redistribute link equity and reinforce contextual relevance.

Furthermore, we instituted a publishing rule that every new page has to be contextually linked to multiple relevant pages and has to have significant inbound and outbound links at launch.

I recommend applying the same level of thought and strategy to internal linking as you would to external linking. Internal links guide crawler behavior, outline the interrelationships of the content, and indicate to the algorithm the hierarchy and importance of the content.

Overlooking internal links means you are leaving one of the best, most efficient, and high ROI levers in SEO untouched.

Brandon Schroth, Founder, Reporter Outreach

7. Fix Foundations Before You Scale Content

One of the biggest SEO mistakes I made was focusing too much on publishing content quickly without first fixing the technical foundation of a website.

We once pushed a large batch of blog and service pages for a client, but traffic barely moved because the site had indexing issues, slow load times, and weak internal linking.

Adil Rafeeque, Co-Founder and CEO, SEO Expert

8. Delete Thin Lists, Focus Relevance

I wrote too much content, and ended up with irrelevant content.

I run a blog about Lisbon, Portugal, and I had written a lot of great content, the blog was growing, but then I hit a wall and started writing "best X" articles, and a lot of them, and this started hurting me. It was clear that Google saw this as thin, easy-to-duplicate content, especially if you don't add a personal edge to each piece.

I then deleted all of these and significantly reduced my content, which actually made my traffic start growing again. Likely because Google started scoring my overall website content score higher.

Phillip Stemann, SEO Consultant, Phillip Stemann

9. Create Hyperlocal Pages With Real Proof

Okay, so here's a little SEO lesson I learned the painful way. Years ago, I worked with this multi-location firm.

We were in a rush, so we cranked out location pages with almost identical content, just changing the city name. And yeah, it actually worked for about three months.

But then Google updated the algorithm, and traffic nosedived. They went from pulling in 180 leads a month to struggling to break 60.

Had to go back and do it right. We rebuilt every page from the ground up and made it hyper-local.

Showed who worked in that office, pulled in actual reviews from people in that city, talked about real cases, and even gave directions from local landmarks.

It was a pain, but six months later not only were they ranking again, but their conversion rate doubled. Because people actually felt like the content was for them.

Since then, I keep saying the same thing over and over. If your content doesn't feel like it was written for a real person in a real place, it's not worth publishing. Templated junk won't cut it anymore with Google or with people.

Sasha Berson, Grow Chief Executive, Grow Law Firm

10. Chase Gaps, Not Competitors

I used to just copy what my competitors were ranking for.

Sure, I got some traffic, but I was always one step behind. Now I look for the specific questions people are searching for that nobody is answering. That's what actually works.

My advice is to stop chasing the crowd and find those gaps for yourself. It's a much better way to grow.

Justin Herring, Founder and CEO, YEAH! Local

11. Use Natural Anchors With Context

I once went too far with anchor text optimization. The rankings jumped up fast, but then Google caught on and our organic growth flatlined.

Working with national brands since then showed me that natural, relevant links are what actually last. My advice?

Be genuine with your linking. Focus on context over keywords to avoid penalties.

Miguel Salcido, CEO, Organic Media Group

12. Refresh Winners Before You Pursue New Topics

Years ago I made the mistake of letting my old blog posts get stale.

Our best repair guides started dropping in Google, and traffic fell off a cliff. But once we went back and updated those old posts with fresh info and clearer photos, the traffic came right back. Seriously, don't just chase new topics.

The real opportunity is updating what you already have out there.

David Fuller, Marketing Director, WorkshopManuals

13. Prefer Evergreen Guides, Skip Trend Bait

My big early mistake was chasing whatever tech keywords were trending. I had one post get a huge spike in traffic for a week, then it vanished as soon as the news cycle moved on. It was ugly.

I switched to writing detailed guides and updating them regularly. Our traffic stopped being a roller coaster and I could tell people were actually finding the content useful.

Now I build content that lasts instead of chasing those quick hits.

Branden Shortt, Founder & Product Advisor, The Informr

14. Recommit to SEO for Durable Growth

I believe that in past years I neglected my SEO strategy, partly due to the success I achieved on other platforms when it came to converting clients. It wasn't until about a year ago that I started giving it the importance it truly deserves again.

In recent times, SEO has become more important than ever, and there are significant opportunities to be found.

First of all, many people have stopped investing in it after the latest Google updates, which penalized many small businesses that were not engaging in any bad practices.

Secondly, this has impacted many agencies that were doing good work but, after traffic drops, ended up losing clients. If we add to this the fact that SEO is not "trendy" right now, we find a large number of empty spaces waiting to be filled.

On the other hand, artificial intelligence and LLMs are fed by search engines. So the way to appear in them is, once again, SEO.

As if that weren't enough, just look into the most disruptive brands and I can assure you that the most successful ones all have a strong SEO strategy. It doesn't matter if they are better known for their social media presence or for viral videos—those that perform best have an SEO strategy behind them.

For these reasons, I have launched several websites and am collaborating with other media outlets to strengthen my presence in organic search.

Jose Garcia, Economista 3909 - Marketing 447, Economista Jose Garcia

15. Make SEO a Continuous Discipline

I started a global branding and digital marketing firm 24 years ago. It is a common mistake to believe that SEO is a one-time activity—set it and forget it.

Search engines are constantly updating their algorithms and keywords and evolving, so SEO needs to be an ongoing commitment for content to stay on top—page 1. Search engines will continue to find and serve up websites that contain the best content and information to meet its users' needs, so make it an ongoing priority.

Google updates algorithms regularly to make sure sites aren't tricking audiences with their process to move up the ranks unfairly.

One big danger is making a lot of small SEO changes to your site. Although it's smart to update your site with fresh content, you have to be careful it doesn't look suspicious and get penalized by the search engines.

It's also a danger and rookie mistake: if you discontinue a product or service, do not delete the page from your site.

Once the page is deleted, both the URL and the keyword for which it was ranked will disappear. Don't risk losing your ranking if you delete a product or service. Simply add a message for visitors to your site to redirect them to the relevant page. You work hard to get your strong rankings, so don't let that effort go to waste unnecessarily or by accident.

It is important to conduct thorough SEO audits to uncover any technical SEO issues, including broken links. Good internal and external links show both users and search crawlers that you have high quality content.

Over time, with content changes, links can break, which creates a poor user experience and reflects lower quality content, a factor that can affect page ranking.

SEO is a great strategy to increase your visibility, awareness, credibility and rankings online.

Paige Arnof-Fenn, Founder & CEO, Mavens & Moguls

16. Target High Intent, Not Volume

I'm with Gotham Artists, a boutique speaker bureau, and the SEO mistake that probably cost us the most time and money early on was getting obsessed with high volume keywords instead of actually thinking about search intent.

The Mistake:

I went hard after broad terms like "motivational speakers" because the search volume looked incredible—like thousands of searches every month.

We eventually ranked pretty well for it, traffic started coming in, and I felt like I was crushing SEO.

Except almost none of that traffic actually converted.

When I finally looked at what these visitors were doing, most of them were students doing research projects, people just browsing for inspiration, or folks looking for free content. Not a single company with an actual budget trying to book a speaker for their event.

Meanwhile, we were barely showing up for searches like "keynote speaker for healthcare conference" or "innovation speaker for tech summit"—way lower volume, but those were the people actually trying to book speakers with real budgets and timelines.

What I Learned:

Traffic by itself is basically a vanity metric if it's the wrong traffic. A hundred people searching "book keynote speaker for annual sales kickoff" are worth way more than ten thousand people searching generic stuff. Search intent is everything.

How I Fixed It:

I completely flipped the strategy. Instead of chasing volume, I started looking at what actual buyers were searching for.

I went through our inquiry forms to see what phrases people used, listened to how prospects described what they needed on calls, looked at the specific types of events and industries we actually served.

Then I built content around those long-tail, high-intent searches. Things like:

• "how to choose a speaker for a virtual leadership conference"
• "typical speaker fees for corporate events"

The search volume looked tiny compared to what I'd been targeting before, but the traffic that did come was actually qualified.

Traffic went down overall, but leads and actual conversions went up, which is obviously what actually matters.

What I'd Recommend:

Don't get seduced by big search volume numbers.

Before you invest time optimizing for any keyword, ask yourself: if someone searching this lands on my site, are they actually a potential customer, or are they just... someone who typed some words into Google?

If they're not in your target market, the ranking is worthless. Good SEO isn't about more traffic—it's about the right traffic.

Austin Benton, Marketing Strategist, Gotham Artists

17. Align Topics With Real Questions

Keywords must be backed with intent and alignment. During the first months of EVhype, I managed to publish dozens of EV-related pages. They were great in tools, but they didn't match the search intent.

Thus, they prompted users to abandon the pages. We had lots of visitors, but repeat visits were absent, and bounce rates were above 75%.

Deleting non-performing pages didn't seem like a productive step to many. Consolidating content and optimizing the pages to new, specific, user-generated questions, such as:

• The costs of charging an EV.
• The home installation steps.
• Or the calculations of range anxiety, helped the pages perform better.

In a brief period, we reduced the number of indexed pages by 40% and more than doubled the number of visits attributed to organic search. Moreover, people started staying longer on the new pages.

I would say step aside from the volume trap. It doesn't matter if you rank for 10,000 keywords and none of them are the right ones.

Rob Dillan, Founder, EVhype

Other helpful articles:

• 10 Beginner PPC Mistakes to Avoid
• 15 Common SEO Mistakes You Must Avoid
• Mistakes That Invite Google to Punish Your Blog or Site

26 Unconventional Content Strategies That Grew Blog Audiences

Do you want to grow blog audience? Is your content strategy matching your goals?

Growing a blog audience requires strategies that break from conventional playbook advice. This article presents 26 unconventional tactics that delivered measurable results, collected from experts who tested them in real campaigns. Each strategy includes the discovery story and the outcomes it produced.

Use these strategies to find out how to turn your content into result oriented marketing asset.

1. Focus User Intent

In every content piece, the focus is on the audience. I consider user intent satisfaction the ultimate signal of content strategy success. To achieve that, one should focus solely on what the user wants, what the pain points are, and how your content can satisfy them.

Whenever I am writing a new post, my goal is to research and study every piece of information that is useful for the user with a similar question. Then filter out all the necessary information. Use content marketing tools like Google, Trends, and AnswerthePublic to find relevant questions and queries.

List down everything and hire a professional writer—a write you can trust with credible writing experience, or learn to write.

For more, I have shared everything at eAskme. Feel free to check my SEO guides.

Gaurav Kumar, Founder and CEO, eAskme. 

2. Boost Proven Pieces With Micro Budgets

I accidentally found our best growth hack when we started spending $10 to boost organic posts that already had natural engagement. Most people either post organically with no reach or dump money into untested ads. We found the middle ground—test content organically first, then invest in what's already working.

Here's how it worked: We'd collect actual customer questions from AnswerThePublic and Quora, create comprehensive answer content, then post it organically across social platforms. Whatever got natural engagement in the first 24-48 hours, we'd boost with just $10. One e-commerce client went from 400 to 45,000 monthly visitors using this exact method because we were amplifying content that audiences had already validated.

The math is ridiculous—$10 can save you thousands in wasted ad spend on content nobody wanted in the first place. We transformed a local business's entire traffic profile because we stopped guessing what would work and started letting real engagement data tell us. Most businesses are either too scared to spend anything or too eager to dump their budget into unproven content.

The key is treating that micro-investment as data collection, not advertising. You're buying proof of concept before scaling, which is the opposite of how most agencies blow through client budgets hoping something sticks.

Chris Hornak, Co-Founder, Swift Growth Marketing

3. Mine CRM Insights To Remove Friction

One unconventional approach that paid off was using sales calls and support tickets as my content roadmap, instead of relying only on keyword tools. While competitors chased high-volume terms, I noticed the same objections and questions repeating in CRM notes, with no content directly answering them.

I turned those into straightforward, problem-first articles with no keyword stuffing. One post answering a common pricing question had fewer than 50 estimated monthly searches, yet it became the most visited page on the site and consistently generated demo requests. Within about six months, organic traffic increased roughly 40 percent, and demo request rates from blog traffic climbed noticeably.

My recommendation is to focus on content that removes buying friction, not just content that targets volume. If a question slows purchase decisions, answer it clearly. Those pages attract higher-intent readers and keep compounding over time.

Nick Mikhalenkov, SEO Manager, Nine Peaks Media

4. Show Candid Launch Decisions And Results

I stopped creating "marketing content" and started documenting actual product launches in real time—messiness included. When we launched Robosen's Elite Optimus Prime, instead of polished case studies after the fact, I shared raw decision-making processes: why we chose premium packaging that mimicked the change sequence, how we allocated budget between Forbes coverage vs. social seeding, the exact pre-order numbers we hit in week one.

The shift came from noticing our Channel Bakers redesign content performed 4x better when we showed the actual persona workshops and wireframe iterations rather than just the finished website. People don't want the highlight reel—they want to reverse-engineer what actually worked. So I started publishing "launch autopsies" within days of product drops, complete with what flopped and budget breakdowns.

Our Syber brand evolution post got shared in 47 different gaming industry Slack channels because I included the uncomfortable truth: transitioning from their iconic black aesthetic to white lost us some die-hard fans initially, but testing showed it pulled in 3x more creator partnerships. Competitors started asking us to consult because we were the only agency showing our actual playbook, not theoretical frameworks.

The ROI isn't traditional traffic spikes—it's that 60% of our new clients now come in having already decided to work with us because they've seen our methods applied to real launches with real results attached. They're not shopping around, they're ready to sign.

Tony Crisp, CEO & Co-Founder, CRISPx

5. Pair Articles With Embedded Clips

I've been running Real Marketing Solutions since 2015, and here's what accidentally worked: we started turning our top-performing blog posts into YouTube videos, then embedded those videos back into the original articles. Our mortgage compliance blog traffic jumped 67% in four months.

The finding was pure laziness. A client kept asking the same questions about our most popular SEO post, so I recorded a quick screen-share video explaining it. We threw it on YouTube with keyword-rich descriptions, linked it back to the blog, and suddenly Google started ranking us for both the article AND the video. We were basically competing against ourselves in search results and winning twice.

What shocked me was the dwell time. People who landed on the blog with the embedded video stayed 3x longer than on text-only posts. Google's algorithm loved that engagement signal, which pushed our rankings even higher. We turned one piece of content into multiple ranking opportunities without creating anything new from scratch.

The mortgage industry is drowning in generic advice articles, so having video embedded gave us an edge. Now every client gets this treatment—write once, film once, rank everywhere. It's not sexy, but it converts blog readers into actual leads because video builds trust faster than text ever will.

Sarah DeLary, Owner, Real Marketing Solutions

6. Publish Skeleton Hubs Before Content

I grew TechAuthority.AI by doing something most content sites avoid: I started publishing incomplete, "under construction" category pages before I had any articles written for them. Just the category description and a "No Results Found" message.

This sounds backwards, but Google started indexing these empty hub pages immediately. When I finally published articles weeks later, they inherited the age and authority those placeholder pages had been building. Our WordPress Development category hit page one within 3 weeks of adding actual content because the URL structure had already been crawling for a month.

The specific win was our Sales Funnels category--published the empty page in March, added first article in April, and we jumped from nowhere to position 12 for "WordPress sales funnel tools" within 18 days. Traffic to that section went from zero to 847 monthly visits in under 60 days.

Most people wait until content is perfect before publishing the architecture. I learned from 500+ client sites that Google rewards site structure first, content quality second. Build the skeleton early, let it age, then add the meat.

Randy Speckman, Founder, TechAuthority.AI

7. Expose Costly Mistakes And Prevent Waste

We noticed that "how-to" posts were getting traffic, but the posts that held attention were the ones that explained why something wasn't working.

We discovered this approach while onboarding new clients and realizing we were repeating the same corrections during audits. Instead of turning those into polished guides, we wrote posts focused on one specific mistake and what it cost the business if left unfixed.

For example, we published a post explaining why publishing more content actually lowered rankings for a B2B client due to content cannibalization. That post brought in fewer visitors than trend-based content, but it attracted more qualified readers who spent longer on the site and explored related articles.

Jock Breitwieser, Digital Marketing Strategist, SocialSellinator

8. Reveal Internal Debates And Tradeoffs

I grew one of my outdoor brand clients' blog traffic by 340% in six months by doing something counterintuitive—we stopped creating "outdoor content" and started documenting internal debates our team had about controversial industry topics. We published a post titled "Why We Turned Down a $50K Partnership with [Outdoor Retailer]" that detailed the actual email thread and our reasoning around brand alignment.

The post went semi-viral in outdoor industry circles because nobody talks about the money decisions publicly. It generated 47 inbound links from industry blogs and forums without any outreach. More importantly, it attracted our ideal clients—brands that cared about authenticity over quick wins.

What I learned is that B2B audiences don't want more "how-to" content. They want to see your actual decision-making process with real numbers and trade-offs. We turned this into a monthly series called "The Marketing Decision We're Debating This Week" and it became our highest-converting content for consultation requests.

The key was making our internal Slack conversations public (with client details removed). It cost us zero extra time since we were having these discussions anyway—we just started formatting them for publication.

Adam Bocik, Partner, Evergreen Results

9. Perform Public Teardowns For Franchise Wins

I started creating "SEO teardown" blog posts where I'd publicly audit real multi-location franchise websites and show exactly what was broken—duplicate content across location pages, missing schema markup, templated garbage that Google hated. I'd break down the mistakes by screenshot and explain the fix in plain English, not SEO jargon.

This came from franchise owners constantly asking me "why isn't this working?" during conference talks. They'd describe their setup and I could instantly spot the problem, but they couldn't visualize it. So I started writing these teardowns on our blog, sometimes even using competitor examples (anonymized) or prospects who ghosted us.

One post on fixing templated location pages for a fitness franchise got picked up in a franchise industry newsletter and drove 340% more qualified leads that quarter. We went from 4-5 inbound calls a month to 18, and our average project size jumped because prospects arrived already understanding why they needed the work done. The transparency built trust faster than any case study ever did.

The kicker: other agencies told me I was "giving away too much for free." But franchise buyers don't want mystery—they want proof you actually know their specific pain points before they write a check.

Rusty Rich, President, Latitude Park

10. Tell Hard Truths In Comparisons

Instead of typical "our product is best" pages, we'd write things like "This camera has excellent night vision but the mobile app is clunky—here's when you should buy it anyway and when you shouldn't."

The finding happened accidentally when one of our writers got frustrated and just told the truth about a product limitation in a blog post. That article started ranking #1 for commercial terms because people linked to it as "finally, an honest review." Our bounce rate dropped 40% because visitors trusted they were getting real information, not sales pitches.

When you help people make the right decision even if it's not always buying from you, they remember that when they are ready to buy.

Damon Delcoro, Founder, UltraWeb Marketing

11. Share Actual Email Exchanges With Permission

I'd say our blog growth exploded when we started publishing CLIENT EMAIL THREADS (with permission) showing actual question-and-answer exchanges rather than polished tutorials. These raw conversations revealed how real businesses think about marketing problems and how we explain solutions in plain language. Readers appreciated the authenticity compared to sanitized educational content.

The approach emerged accidentally when I copied a detailed email explanation into a blog post because I'd answered the same question multiple times. That post generated 4X more engagement than carefully crafted articles because the conversational tone felt accessible. One email thread about fixing Google Business Profile issues became our most-shared content with 2,400 social shares.

Results were substantial: blog traffic increased 178% over nine months after adopting this format. These posts converted readers to consultations at 8.7% compared to 2.3% for traditional posts because prospects saw exactly how we communicate and solve problems. One published email exchange about local SEO strategy earned 23 backlinks from marketers who appreciated the PRACTICAL back-and-forth over theoretical best practices. The strategy worked because it showed our thinking process rather than just presenting conclusions.

Jimi Gibson, VP of Brand Communication, Thrive Internet Marketing Agency

12. Run Monthly Autopsies And Show Receipts

it was publishing a monthly content autopsy. I'd pick three posts that lost rankings, show the exact query drop, and share the rewrite plan, including what I cut. I used a simple scorecard: impressions, clicks, and scroll depth. I also posted before and after screenshots from Search Console, plus the checklist I handed my writer. It felt risky. Readers stayed because it was raw and useful.

I found the idea after watching older posts fade while new ones barely moved the needle. I ran one autopsy, refreshed those pages, and tracked the same keywords for 30 days. Impressions came back fast.

After six months, organic sessions were up 64%, email signups doubled, and I earned five podcast invites from people who saw the transparency. Now the autopsy drives my editing calendar and keeps my topics tied to real demand.

Ihor Lavrenenko, SEO Manager, Pesty Marketing

13. Turn Prospect Problems Into Useful Solutions

Unconventional strategy: We stopped blogging about what we wanted to say and started recording actual client calls (with permission), then turned the questions into blog content.

When I was building Foxxr in Santa Cruz, I noticed our best-converting content wasn't the polished "23 ways to improve SEO" posts—it was messy FAQ pages answering bizarre specific questions like "why does my HVAC site rank in Dallas but not Fort Worth?" I started keeping a spreadsheet of every question prospects asked during sales calls and discovery meetings.

We'd publish raw answers to these questions, sometimes just 300 words with a couple screenshots. No keyword research, no content calendar—just solving the actual problems people called us about. Our lead quality jumped dramatically because people were finding us through their exact pain points, not generic terms.

The specific win: A plumber in Tampa found us through "why do my Google reviews show up for competitors" (a technical schema markup issue we'd written about after a client asked). That single post generated 6 clients in the home services space because it answered something nobody else was talking about—they were all chasing "plumbing SEO tips" instead.

Brian Childers, CEO, Foxxr Digital Marketing

14. Target Platform-Specific Hurdles Precisely

One unconventional strategy that worked for us was focusing on "niche crossover" content rather than broad e-commerce advice. We realized our users weren't just "resellers"; they were specifically people juggling inventory across very distinct platforms like Poshmark, eBay, and Mercari.

I discovered this by lurking in Reddit communities where sellers complained about the specific pain of formatting images for different sites.

Our organic traffic grew by 40% in two months, and more importantly, the sign-up conversion rate on those specific blog posts is triple our average because we're solving an immediate, annoying problem.

Daniel Nyquist, CMO, Crosslist

15. Answer Real Tenant Concerns With Quick Videos

I found an unconventional content strategy while analyzing resident feedback data at FLATS—we were getting the same questions repeatedly after move-ins, particularly about how to operate appliances like ovens. Instead of just answering these one-by-one, we created a library of quick maintenance FAQ videos that our leasing teams could share during tours and move-ins.

What made this different from typical apartment blog content was that we weren't trying to rank for SEO keywords or showcase amenities—we were solving actual friction points in the resident journey. We stored these videos on YouTube, linked them through our website using Engrain sitemaps, and made them easily accessible for both prospects and current residents.

The results were immediate: move-in dissatisfaction dropped 30% and positive reviews increased noticeably. More surprisingly, for our lease-up properties, we saw a 25% faster lease-up process and cut unit exposure time in half with zero additional overhead costs. Turns out prospects valued seeing the practical, everyday details more than polished marketing shots.

Gunnar Blakeway-Walen TRA, Marketing Manager, The Rosie Apartments by Flats

16. Call Out Neglect And Name Issues

I've been running JPG Designs for 15+ years, and the weirdest thing that grew our blog traffic was writing "negative" content—specifically posts titled things like "Why Your Website Is NOT Attracting Traffic" and "Is Your Social Media a Ghost Town?" Instead of the typical "10 ways to improve your site" fluff, we called out the exact problems businesses were ignoring.

What happened was unexpected. Our bounce rate dropped by about 40% because people were reading the whole post to see if *they* were guilty of these mistakes. Then they'd send the article to their boss or business partner like "this is literally us." We started getting inbound calls from people saying "I read your ghost town article and yeah...our Facebook hasn't been touched since 2019."

The strategy works because business owners already know something's wrong—they just don't want to admit it. When you give them permission to acknowledge the problem (and show you understand their exact situation), they trust you to fix it. We went from generic traffic to qualified leads who were pre-sold on needing help before they ever filled out a contact form.

Jeff Pratt, Owner, JPG Designs

17. Teach A Simple Decision Framework

Here's what worked for me: I wrote about the 4 types of advertising (Awareness, Directional, Promotional, Presence) on our blog—not because it was trending, but because I was exhausted from client calls where business owners kept asking "should I do Facebook or SEO?" They didn't realize they were comparing apples to oranges.

That single framework post became our most-shared content because it gave people a mental model they could actually use. A goat farmer in Texas left a comment saying it was the first marketing advice that made sense to her. We started getting inbound leads from industries we'd never targeted—churches, construction companies, authors—all saying the same thing: "Finally someone explained this in plain English."

The finding came from my AT&T days training marketing teams. I noticed the same confusion patterns across hundreds of people, so I knew if trained professionals struggled with this, small business owners definitely did. The post itself doesn't rank for any sexy keywords, but it gets passed around in business owner Facebook groups and forwarded in emails, which drove a consistent 15–20 qualified leads per month for almost two years.

My takeaway: Document the question you answer verbally ten times per month. If you're repeating yourself that much, thousands of people are googling variations of it and finding garbage results.

Brian Taylor, Founder, E67 Agency

18. Post Raw Field Notes And Invite Response

I noticed in my analytics that my highest time-on-page was not on my long guides. It was on short posts where I shared a messy screenshot, a quick test result, and one clear lesson. People were also replying with questions. That was the signal.

So I made it a repeatable format: once a week I posted a 10-15 minute field note from the trenches. One small experiment, what I changed, what happened, and what I would do next. No big intro, no perfect storytelling, just proof.

The unexpected part was the CTA. I ended each post with one specific question like "Want me to share the exact ad + landing page?" or "Should I run the same test on LinkedIn next?" People commented because it was easy to answer.

Results: over 8 weeks, my email list grew by about 38%, average comments per post roughly tripled, and I started getting inbound invites for podcasts and guest posts because the content felt more "real" than polished marketing articles.

Kseniia Andriienko, Digital Marketer, JPGtoPNGHero

19. Address Painful Patient Realities Clearly

Publishing answers to uncomfortable patient questions resulted in the best growth. Topics such as out-of-pocket surprises, denied referrals, explanations for long waits, and billing disputes usually were handled one-on-one and never made public. Repeated impressions of fragmented, anxious queries related to those issues were revealed from analysis within Google Search Console. Clicks remained low due to avoidance of clicks in existing content.

Those gaps became the strategy. Short posts were written to describe what really happens when things go wrong with timelines and dollar ranges. No reassurance language. No soft framing. Just process clarity. Readers stayed longer and shared posts directly with family members navigating care.

Results showed up fast. Organic traffic increased by approximately 35 percent for four months. Return visits increased, and inbound appointment inquiries referenced specific articles by name. The great takeaway I had was that trust compounded faster around friction than it compounded around success stories. A straightforward, open discussion of the stress points developed a relevance that was never achieved in general health education.

Ysabel Florendo, Marketing coordinator, Davila's Clinic

20. Challenge Orthodoxy With Data-Backed Proof

I stopped writing general SEO posts and focused on takes that went against common advice. One example: I wrote "Stop chasing DR 70 links" arguing that one relevant link from a trade site beats ten directory placements from high authority domains. I used real campaign numbers showing actual conversion assists.

I found this by luck - one LinkedIn comment where I said to ignore Ahrefs DR got more engagement in two hours than my last five posts. People wanted someone to say the accepted wisdom was wrong, with proof. So I turned it into a series where each post challenged one standard belief in link building using anonymized client data.

That's how our newsletter signups went up 140% over four months. Prospects started mentioning specific posts in sales calls before we talked scope.

Milosz Krasinski, International SEO Consultant, Owner, Chilli Fruit Web Consulting

21. Take Bold Stands And Spark Resonance

One unconventional move that worked really well was publishing fewer posts but making them unapologetically opinionated. We stopped trying to be comprehensive and started writing pieces that took a clear stance on stuff people in our space quietly argued about but rarely said out loud.

I discovered it by noticing that our spikiest traffic and shares always came from posts that made someone feel seen or slightly uncomfortable.

The result wasn't just more readers, it was better readers who stuck around, subscribed, and came back. Those posts also attracted organic backlinks because other writers referenced them as a point of view, not a how-to.

The lesson for me was that audience growth accelerates when content gives people language for thoughts they already have. Being useful is good, but being resonant is what actually spreads.

Justin Belmont, Founder & CEO, Prose

22. Build Uncopyable Tools That Readers Use

AI made content cheap, so usefulness is what wins.

With AI making written content easy to reproduce, I focused on assets that were harder to copy and genuinely useful. In the strength space, that meant powerlifting calculators and tools that let people compare their lifts with well known strength athletes.

Those pages ranked organically with minimal SEO work and became highly shareable on social media. They consistently outperformed traditional posts for traffic, time on page, and repeat visits.

Adam Boucher, Head of Marketing, Turtle Strength

23. Systematize AI Drafts And Edit For Quality

An unconventional strategy that moved the needle was using AI with a structured prompt template to scale long-form articles around search intent and competitor outlines. I developed this workflow to speed up production, then edited and fact-checked every draft to protect quality. It cut production time by 60 percent, tripled monthly output, and lifted organic traffic by 80 percent in three months.

Oun Art, Founder & Chief Link Strategist, LinkEmpire

24. Ungate Flagship Guide And Earn Trust

We grew our blog by offering a comprehensive guide that competitors usually gated, and we made it free. We arrived at this by challenging the industry habit of gating high-value content. The guide was widely shared and outperformed prior campaigns on traffic and engagement, leading to new partnerships, more inquiries, and lasting audience loyalty.

Tom Sargent, Founder & CEO, Marketing with Tom

25. Maintain A Live Project Log

Instead of publishing a "Top 10 Tips" post and moving on, I selected one high-potential topic and updated it every single week with new data, failures, and screenshots. It became a live log of a specific project.

Saba Raheem, seo, seo website

26. Lead Deep Essays With Hand Drawn Visuals

I have always composed lengthy, research-based papers. The issue is, in a world of infinite scrolling, a block of text appears to be a hassle, irrespective of the quality of the content. I found out that my readers had not lost interest in the deep topics, they were just tired. Information is a continuous blast in digital life and I was asking them to dive into the deep end of a pool without showing them the water.

My approach was to quit living under the misconception that my writing and my drawing were worlds apart. To begin with, I used my sketches to open my essays. It was not a calculated marketing move. I just noticed that when I published a 1,000-word essay on its own, the place was still. But when I added a single, rough pastel drawing—one that captured the gut feeling of that research—people actually stopped. 

It's a map, not an ornament. It provided them with a justification to believe the text. They were able to grasp the core concept in a matter of seconds and that enabled them to patiently spend ten minutes reading the finer details.

They were not intimidated anymore because I had already given them a key to the story.
The transformation of my site was not intended to be viral. I had no intention of having a million pointless hits. It is the people who remained who changed.

My blog was converted into a field of visual essays. I began to receive important feedback from people who bothered to read the entire thing, and they included researchers, other writers and independent publishers. These individuals were not interested in refined AI-generated digital art. Their interest was in the human aspect of the data. They appreciated the pencil marks which were visible and the rough surfaces of the pastel. It made the research personal—a conversation in a studio, not a lecture in a hall.

It was also clear to me that you do not need to choose whether you are an artist or a writer. Better yet, you should not. In an age where everyone else is using tools to make things perfect and clinical, the most unconventional thing you can do is show the marks of your own hand.

To be precise, in case you have a complex story to tell, then provide the people with a visual handle. Do not simply provide them with data, give them a means of seeing what that data feels like. It not only creates an audience but also creates a community that is very willing to take time and think with you. This is the only kind of growth that is useful in the long run.

Anett Győri, Researcher, Author, Visual 'Translator', Science Artist

Conclusion:

These are the expert strategies to create unexceptional content for your audience. Follow these tips and let me know.

Other helpful articles:

• How to Scale Content Without Losing Quality
• Uncommon Digital Content Types Marketers
• Law Firm Marketing Strategies 

How do Google AI Overviews Affect Bloggers in 2026?

How do Google AI Overviews affect bloggers? Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode are replacing blogs and websites from the first position. Bloggers are divided into two sides over the benefits and usability of AI Overviews.

One side of bloggers confirms that Google AI Overviews has helped them reach the target audience and boost organic traffic; the other side of bloggers are complaining about the loss of traffic and ranking.

What is the truth?

Let's uncover it with the help of expert bloggers.

I am inviting bloggers to this expert roundup. Share your best tips about "How do Google AI Overviews affect bloggers in 2026?

Please fill your answer in this expert roundup form.

Note:
"This expert roundup is invitation based. If you have not received the invitation, then you will not be able to publish your tips.

If you still want to publish your tips in this expert roundup, then ask for the invitation."

Please make sure that the tips are helpful and effective. Also share how the tips have helped you.

Best Unique Ways to Make Money Blogging in 2026: Expert Blogger Roundup

Are you still making money in old fashioned ways?

Do you still think blogging is a joke? Or you think that we are fools who are making thousands of dollar every month working online. No matter what you think, blogging is always the best way to make money online even in 2026.

I have already shared a lot about how to make money online and best ways to make money blogging.

A successful blogger knows how to discover and monetize every single opportunity available online. How to write, promote, engage and make blog a brand in 2026 also.

Best Unique Ways to Make Money Blogging in 2026: Expert Blogger Roundup: eAskme

 

Other people are reading :  How to Make Money Online Faster than Ever

There are so many successful blogger who knows how to make money in blogging better than many others. So today I am going to share the expert blogger roundup to explore the best unique ways to make money blogging in 2026.

Let`s see what these bloggers do to make money blogging and find out how you are going to do the same. 

Best Unique Ways to Make Money Blogging in 2026

Ryan bidddulph

The best way to make money online is to follow your fun. Or, whatever you have fun talking about all day long, blog about it. That's your niche. Your profits sit where your passions lay.

As for actual income streams I reckon writing and self-publishing eBooks on Amazon Kindle is a fun, freeing way to make money blogging in 2026, or any year where Amazon exists. Because we're writing anyway, so why not write a 6,000 to 15,000 word, short read for our audiences to digest and consume with relish. Amazon gives you a worldwide platform to work with. It is the Google of eBooks. Churn out a handful of eBooks, give each out for free for a few days and add income to streams.

Note: all blogging income streams are useless/worthless unless you really, genuinely, passionately enjoy what you do on the blogging side of things. Your passion/fun is the true money maker, the same passion which bleeds into your blog and eBook content. If you focus on anything in 2026 focus on your energy. That's where all the fun and fulfillment is.

Best Unique Ways to Make Money Blogging in 2026

Donna Merrill

Besides developing income streams through my own blog, I also coach clients to make money with their blogs.

Here are 3 of the more unique ways I believe can put you ahead of the crowd when it comes to making money on your blog in 2026.

1. Sponsored Posts

There's nothing new about writing sponsored posts, but I think it's something that doesn't get used effectively by most bloggers.

Sponsored posts generally refer to articles you publish on your blog to promote a product for a third party.

A lot of people don't like sponsored posts because they feel that they hurt the reputation of their blog.

They can be used very effectively, however, when they are done infrequently, and focus on informational posts instead of sales promotions.

I have worked with some clients, for instance, who tap into advertising agencies and pubic relations firms.

Agencies focus on promotions that are building brand awareness for their clients, and don't typically do any direct selling or link building.

This allows for articles that are information based, and will satisfy your readers while developing the brand awareness for your advertising source.

If you can work with them to do reviews and interviews then it can actually help you bolster your own authority, while driving a lot more traffic back to your blog and into your sales funnel.

2. Free Membership Sites

Create a  free membership site and promote it on your blog.

Your readers will love joining something of value, especially when it is free.

A free membership site is a great place to bring people that are interested in your niche.

This is sort of a take-off on the idea of a lead magnet.

But instead of asking people to subscribe to your email list in order to get a specific freebie, you can ask them to join your free membership site.

This will not only get them on your email list, but will keep them far more engaged as they keep their eye out for new free trainings that you post on your membership site.

Each time you release a new lesson or video inside of your free site, notify people on your email list.

Each new lesson you post will draw people into your sales funnel.

That's because each new training or value lesson will natively point to specific affiliate offers or even your own products and services that are related to the training.

Write occasional blog posts that summarize some of your "membership" training in order to maintain the interest in it, and to always add new members.

3. Make Money For Other People

Undoubtedly, the most effective way to make money on your blog is to focus on ways you can make money for other people.

Find influencers in your niche, particularly mid-level influencers that have products and service to sell.

Promote their offers within your blog posts, and advise them when you do.

When you give them a shout out and a flash promo without asking for anything in return, you'll be surprised how many of them will reciprocate.

It may be that they feel obligated to return the favor, or maybe they are just sincerely grateful.

It may also be that they want to encourage you to continue to promote for them.

A mutually beneficial arrangement can evolve over time, of course, into a promotional swap.

But it can also be be repeated purely spontaneously and informally on a regular basis.

Just start reaching out to influencers and give them lots of promo love.

Then count all the ways it comes back to you in 2026.

Best Unique Ways to Make Money Blogging in 2026:

I don't think bloggers should try to find new or unique ways of making money online. No point in inventing the wheel again. Unless you are an influencer, is very difficult to start a trend. So, in my opinion, it is best to stick to ways of making money that have been tested and confirmed many times before. 

Focus on increasing your email list. Offer a gift to your readers to make them subscribe to your newsletter. Then send them good content and offers for your products or services. You can sell e-books, courses, coaching, video courses, live webinars etc.

If you are just starting, affiliate marketing is a good way of earning a decent income. It takes time until you can create your own products and have a powerful brand that will make people buy from you. Some bloggers build niche sites and monetize them as affiliates to Amazon. 

Many lifestyle and beauty bloggers write sponsorship posts and they receive free stuff and money. In exchange, they have to test the products and write a review about them.  

If you have technical skills, web design is an excellent way of earning an income online. You can charge a much higher price if you sell your services to companies rather than to new bloggers that need a mentor.

Another great way of making money is to sell physical products through an eCommerce site. You can see here what are the best eCommerce software.

There are numerous ways of making money online. Remember that you need focus, perseverance, and hard work. Stop chasing shiny objects.

Best Unique Ways to Make Money Blogging in 2026

Atish Ranjan

There might be hundreds of ways to make money online with blogging. The monetization techniques are same such as Affiliate marketing, Adsense, Sponsored Reviews, CPM ads, Banner ads, etc.

The main thing is how you use these monetization techniques to make money quickly and consistently. A few things I would like to suggest:

-  No matter which monetization technique you are focusing, always focus more on organic traffic because that converts the most.

- Don't rely only on one blog. Do work on some micro niche sites as well which can earn you quite well if you are able to rank them. Amazon niche sites are what in the trend, and you must go try your luck in it.

- Work consistently and seriously. Don't work like hobby blogging because if you do this way, money won't come easily.

To make money from your blog, you can implement the above ideas. Moreover, the most common thing in all is you have to do a lot of keyword research to find the best and profitable niches, and then you can write articles based on those keywords which you can publish on any of your regular blog or on micro niche blog if you have on similar topic.

Keyword Research is the first key to success because until you find the best keywords, you won't be able to rank your articles and sites easily. Then comes link building which you cannot ignore too.

If you can do better keyword research and link building, you can make more money using various techniques.

Best Unique Ways to Make Money Blogging in 2026

Allan Pollett
Those who believe that simply adding Google Adsense to their blog will make them rich are in for disappointment. Adsense can help but if you truly want to make money from your blog you need to offer a product or service. Realize this product doesn't have to be your own but it needs to be very closely related to the blog content. My blog offers information on SEO and social media marketing where I give insights into how to do better with both of these types of marketing. My blog showcases my knowledge and adds credibility to my services. Each article is written to target questions or problems people have regarding marketing. I give the method to solve their problems but also offer additional help if people want to contact me direct. As a result, this filters out those who will try to do things on their own, who are not seen as good potential clients, and those who will contact me for further assistance that make ideal clients. As the blog grows and more articles get added, the opportunities to target new keywords increases and it generates more and more income. This approach works regardless if you are offering your own product or someone else's. The point is to write in such a way that you help people decide to make the purchase with you. If you need help setting this up, please feel free to contact me for more information. See how that works.

Best Unique Ways to Make Money Blogging in 2026

By : Lilach Bullock
Blogging offers quite a few different monetisation opportunities. First of all, there are all of the usual’s: banner advertising, sponsored posts and affiliate networks, among others. But there is a multitude of other, more unique and profitable ways of making money from blogging.

For example, one of my new favorite ways of making money from your blog is by creating an online course. It’s a huge industry and there is very big demand, as people want to learn more from the comfort of their own homes and for much less than they would’ve had to pay just a few years ago. As you grow as a blogger, you also grow a bigger audience, one who trusts your opinion and knowledge – which means you already have a decent potential audience for your first online course. It’s also easier than ever to create courses by yourself, as there are quite a few tools that you can use, even without any experience. It’s also something that can grow over time if you’re successful and people enjoy your online courses.

Another similar way of making money from blogging is to create a webinar. There are two ways to make money from that: either charge for people to attend the webinar, or sell products on the back of the webinar.

You can also create other digital products that you can sell, such as e-books. It’s definitely a pretty big time investment though, but if you have a strong, interested audience, it can help you both with making more money and with boosting your influence in your niche.

If you manage to create a very successful blog, you can even sell it for a big profit – and start on creating your next successful blog.

Best Unique Ways to Make Money Blogging in 2026

Lorraine Reguly

There are many ways you can earn money, especially online. I'm not sure how "unique" they are, however.

For example, you can sell your services. (I sell several of my services on Wording Well, including writing and editing services. I also help others become authors.)

You can sell someone else's product and earn affiliate income by promoting it to your audience.

You can create something of your own to sell, whether it's a book (or an e-book), an email course, a video course, or some other type of digital product.

You can earn through AdSense.

You can earn through charging others for link placements (if you have a high authority site or posts that rank well in Google Search).

I actually earn money through ALL of these ways.

If you are really smart, you can develop an app that people will pay to use. 

You can also create a membership site and earn income from monthly subscribers.

Really, with the way technology is nowadays, the sky is the limit when it comes to earning online.

Offline, some of the best jobs still include those that are OFFLINE, where you can make tax-free tips, such as waitressing (or being a waiter).

There are no BEST ways to earn money, in my opinion. It depends on your interests, your skills, and your financial situation.

I've earned fast and easy money through prostitution. In fact, I even quit teaching high school to return to this field because it offered more flexible hours, less stress, and more money. (I shared my true story about how I got into this after I was raped.)

So, really, it is up to each individual what he or she wants to do, or what he or she is WILLING to do to earn money.

Best Unique Ways to Make Money Blogging in 2026

Janice Wald
The content marketing funnel is a great idea. The content marketing funnel is a four-step action plan for making money online.

First, create quality content. It should be content that solves a problem, called a "pain point" for your readers. You can vary the format of the content, but the posts that get the most traffic and the most social shares solve problems for readers.

Then, promote the content on social media. I recommend Facebook, but you can promote on any social media site. Go where you think readers are. For example, if I want to promote a marketing post, I'd go to a site that marketers use like BizSugar, Inbound, or Kingged.

Third, build an email list by offering your visitors an incentive for subscribing when they arrive. Anything visitors would pay for make good incentives. Many bloggers offer ebooks and cheat sheets.
Last, attempt to market to them a product or service. I was advised to try to market the most expensive item first. Then, if they can't afford it, you can offer the lesser priced item.

Best Unique ways to make money blogging in 2026

Shiwangi Shrivastava
If I have to portray about the unique way of making money in 2026 in blogosphere then that would be plenty. About few years ago, Blogging was very unpopular word but for now it is social media sensation and it is omnipresent. With the jet speed it is grabbing the market’s major space and keeping the other profession behind. You may consider the fact that Bloggers are addicted to their freedom and love to be their own Boss rather being a part of office which runs through skeleton staff. In Blogging you need to be super-creative in your prioritizing and planning when it comes to make money. 

The New Year has come and the approach of the making money in Blogging should be trendy in the market. Adsense is monotonous way of generating income via Blogging but I have total admiration these days is Affiliate Marketing and as an Influencer. Direct connection with the Brands is the next best thing so there is no cut and matter of commission. You will get 100 % of what you do. Your blog is your publishing house and if it has earned goodwill in the market then Brands will choose you to publish their matter on your publication. It feels great honor when Brands approach you to sponsor to cover them. This takes you to that long term dream accomplishment. So the Brands Sponsorship and my Blog Endorsement is my favorite way of generating income via my Blogs.

Best Unique Ways to Make Money Blogging in 2026

Evgeniy Garkaviy

1.    Adsense. I’m sure a lot of bloggers have Adsense code placed on their site. Of course you can use other CPC or CPM ads and for some niches you can earn much more than with Google Adsense.
Personal for me, I prefer Google Adsense because it is very easy in use and to implement. You do not need to be in direct contact with advertisers. The platform is doing everything for you. Also very important for me is withdraw process because I’m from Ukraine and PayPal is not working in our country. So not all payment methods really work for me.

2.    Affiliate links. It works in the following way:
a.    One person has a product he wants to sell. In SEO world it could be paid subscriptions on different tools like Ahrefs, Majestic SEO, SemRush, Aweber etc. Ahrefs has released new ahrefs SEO Toolbar.
b.    They have very good affiliate program. On their sites you can find how to get a unique tracking URL.
c.    Then you write a good post where include an affiliate link. And once a reader clicks on your unique URL and buys the product, you earn your part or money.

3.    Sell video/PDF tutorials. Very popular nowadays. I can see many bloggers online started doing such thing. For example Brian Dean from Backlinko. They create a very detail case-study with quality pictures, graphics and examples. And at the end of the post they can add something like “Get 3 additional proven tricks to increase your traffic in 2 weeks.” and sell membership. So you can get that information not free of charge.
But to do this your blog needs to be the highest quality since people trust to real gurus.   

Best Unique Ways to Make Money Blogging in 2026

Erik Emanuelli
I make money online writing sponsored posts and selling ads.

Affiliate marketing works really well too, specially on my niche sites.

Then, I earn with my services (freelance writing and social media marketing).

In 2026, I plan to create my product (an eBook and an online course).

Best Unique Ways to Make Money Blogging in 2026

Sue Anne Dunlevie

As more and more bloggers see the value in seeking help from someone who has been there and done, that I think coaching and consulting will continue to thrive in 2026, and I think email coaching will become more and more popular.

The majority of bloggers I talk to claim that lack of time is one of the biggest things holding them back, and being able to have access to a coach through email lessons and back and forth emails for a set time period, without having to spend hours on the phone, will prove to be valuable for many people.

From this roundup you may have discovered the various ways which you are not aware about. I highly recommend you to monetize every single opportunity to find out which is best for you.

Best Unique Ways to Make Money Blogging in 2026

Vladimir Gendelman

Ad revenue isn’t what it used to be. Rather than relying on Google AdSense, try using your free blog content to funnel readers toward other products you sell. This could be an ebook, a whitepaper, or even a series of informative podcasts.

Remember that you can’t expect to build up a large following through word of mouth alone. Create ads on social media to specifically target audiences that are most relevant to the particular piece of content you’re promoting. There’s no “one size fits all” option here; try to target influencers who are likely to share your posts with a wider audience.

Once you’ve built up a decent audience of people who appreciate your work, you may want to look into crowdsourcing your monetization. Platforms such as Patreon are mostly geared towards endeavors like music or visual arts, but it also encompasses blogging; this is a very convenient way for your most loyal readers to help support your content."
 
Let`s make money blogging and grow blogs in 2026 also.

I thank all of the bloggers for their valuable input. Do comment If you also want to participate in this or similar expert roundups.

Do share what you think about this roundup and how you monetize your blog or make money blogging? If you still have any question, feel free to ask via comments.

 
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