5 Steps to Starting a Beauty Blog That Makes Money

Starting a beauty blog is a fun and exciting way to make money as a blogger. It’s also a terrific way to share your passion for all things beauty-related. Even better, the demand for beauty content is exploding, and so there’s never been a better time to become a beauty blogger. You can launch a new blog in just six simple steps.

1. Select Your Beauty Blog Niche

Before starting as a beauty blogger, it’s best to consider the types of content you’ll produce for your blog. Some bloggers focus on a narrow blogging niche —such as skincare only—while others cover all types of beauty-related subjects, including hair styling, makeup techniques, nail art, and beauty products. Other bloggers choose to develop a hybrid blog that covers both beauty and fashion.

In selecting your blogging niche, you want to consider both what content you’re going to create as well as who your ideal blog audience is. For example, you could develop a beauty blog directed specifically to millennials or create a blog exclusively for baby boomers.

How to Stand Out as a Beauty Blogger

Beauty-related content generates more than 169 billion views a year on YouTube, and the lion’s share of the content comes from beauty bloggers and influencers, not beauty brands. Interest for beauty subjects is sky-high, but so is the competition among beauty bloggers. If you hope to create a money-making beauty blog, you need to do something that helps you stand out in a very crowded blogging niche.

The 15 Minute Beauty blog sets itself apart from other blogs by focusing on quick and easy beauty tips. (Source: 15minutebeauty.com)

Because it’s so difficult to be known for being great at all things, it’s wise to choose a particular focus for your blog. The most successful beauty bloggers are recognized as experts in specific beauty-related areas.

Here are some examples of beauty blogging niches:

• Makeup tips for special occasions, such as weddings, reunions, and holidays
• Nail art
• Secrets of professional makeup artists
• Organic, cruelty-free beauty products
• Skincare advice for those with specific issues, such as acne or eczema
• Ethnic hair care and styles
• Cosmetic products for women over 40
• Celebrity-inspired beauty trends
• Bargain beauty finds
• Beauty tips for busy people
• Minimalist and natural beauty techniques

The Green Product Junky blog focuses exclusively on non-toxic, organic makeup and skincare products.
(Source: thegreenproductjunkie.com)

Once you’re clear about what you want to blog about—and who your ideal blog audience is—you’re ready to move on to the next step: naming your blog.

2. Name Your Blog

Your blog’s name is a critical component of your brand. Your blog’s name introduces you to the world and is the first thing your audience will know about you.

While there are no hard rules about what to name your blog, there are a few tips that are worth following. These include:

• Keep your blog’s name short—around six to 18 characters is best.
• The simpler your name is, the more memorable it will be.
• If you focus on just one beauty topic, then include that topic in your title. For example, if your blog is exclusively about makeup, add the word “makeup” in your blog’s title. This will make it easy for new visitors to know what your blog is about.

Not surprisingly, many beauty blogs contain the word “beauty” in the name. Here are some examples of actual beauty blog names that may inspire you as you consider names for your blog:

Should You Use Your Name in Your Blog’s Name?

Many beauty bloggers like to include their name as part of their blog’s title. It may be worthwhile to include your first or last name in your blog’s title to make a personal connection with your audience as well as to enhance your online presence as a beauty influencer.

Some beauty influencers like Lisa Eldridge and Wendy Rowe blog under their full names. If you’re a famous makeup artist or hairstylist, then you could go this route; otherwise, you’re better off launching your blog under a name that more precisely describes what your blog is about. You can then prominently feature your full name in your posts and on your site to build your professional reputation as a beauty influencer.

The Huda Beauty Blog is named after its founder, makeup artist Huda Kattan. (Source: hudabeauty.com)

Acquire Your Domain

Before you commit to a blog name, you need to make sure the domain is available for it. You can do this quickly and easily using the Bluehost domain availability checker below.

Many top blogging platforms and hosting providers offer a free domain as part of their services. However, if you’re not ready to start blogging just yet but want to make sure you grab your name before anyone else takes it, you could purchase your domain now and then select a blogging platform later. Registering a domain typically costs less than $20 a year.

3. Choose a Blogging Platform

The best blogging platforms are flexible, easy to use, and make it easy to monetize your blog. For beauty blogs, I recommend going with one of two platforms: WordPress or Squarespace.

My top recommendation is a self-hosted WordPress blog using Bluehost as your hosting provider. WordPress is the top blogging platform in the world, but its power and flexibility come with a bit of a learning curve. For some beauty bloggers—particularly those who have minimal technical expertise—I recommend using Squarespace as an alternative to WordPress.

Both WordPress and Squarespace make it easy to add ecommerce functionality to your blog so you can fully monetize your online presence.

How To Set up a Beauty Blog on WordPress

Each blogging platform has a slightly different setup process. Starting a WordPress blog requires just five simple steps. They are:

• Choose your hosting provider.
• Install the free WordPress software on your computer.
• Choose a WordPress theme.
• Add WordPress plugins.

Choose Your Hosting Provider

A self-hosted WordPress site allows you tremendous flexibility in blog design plus monetization capabilities. You’ll need a reliable and secure blog hosting provider for your website. I recommend going with Bluehost, which offers 24/7 expert support via phone, chat, and email. You can launch your beauty blog with Bluehost for as low as $2.95 per month.

Visit Bluehost

Install WordPress on Your Computer

It’s easy to install WordPress. Just visit WordPress.org and download the program for free. Some hosting providers, including Bluehost, will install WordPress for you as part of their service.

Visit WordPress.org to download WordPress for free. (Source: wordpress.org)

Choose a WordPress Theme

A blog’s theme offers an overall layout and design guide for the site. One of the key advantages of using WordPress as your blogging platform is that you have access to thousands of themes. Many are free and others will cost in the range of $29 to $179 per year. While premium themes tend to have more exquisite design features, beginning beauty bloggers often launch with a free theme. You can always change themes down the road.

There are several WordPress theme providers. To find the perfect theme for your beauty blog, I recommend reviewing options from Envato Elements, Elegant Themes, or Creative Market. Each of these providers offers themes that are specifically tailored beauty blogs.

Example of a WordPress theme for a beauty blog (Source: elements.envato.com)

Add WordPress Plugins

One more feature that makes WordPress my top choice in blogging platforms is the sheer volume of plugins available. A WordPress plugin is a pre-developed piece of code you can place on your blog that adds a specific function to your site. For example, an ecommerce plugin helps you sell products on your blog while a social share plugin makes it easy for your blog visitors to share your content with their friends on various social channels.

As with themes, there are thousands of WordPress plugins available for your blog. Here are a few of the most popular:

• WooCommerce: Adds ecommerce functionality to your site so you can add a shop to your blog
• Akismet: Blocks spam comments
• Elementor: A drag-and-drop page layout tool that makes it easy to customize blog page layout (this is one of my favorite plugins!)
• WP Rocket: Shortens site loading time, which makes for a better experience for your blog audience
• Social Warfare: Makes it easy for site visitors to share your posts on social media
• Insert Headers and Footers: Lets you add code (such as Facebook ad tracking or blog analytics code) to your site’s header and footer section without needing to know how to code
• Yoast SEO: Guides you through search engine optimization (SEO) basics, so your blog is more visible in search engines

To add a plugin to your WordPress blog, navigate to the Plugins option on your WP dashboard and select “Add New.” (Source: wordpress.org)

When to Use Squarespace: The Best WordPress Alternative

If you find WordPress a bit too daunting, you might want to use Squarespace to create your beauty blog. Squarespace is an all-in-one blogging platform, which means you get everything you need to set up your site within the platform. However, you can use plugins from sites like Elfsight and SquareStudio to add more functionality to your Squarespace site.

In user reviews, Squarespace bloggers gush over the platform’s intuitive dashboard. They also appreciate Squarespace’s stylish and modern design templates that are gorgeous but come with customization constraints.

Starting a Squarespace blog will cost you more than a WordPress blog. Squarespace offers a 14-day free trial and after that, you’ll pay from $12 to $40 per month. If you plan to sell products on your beauty blog, you’ll want to start with the $26 per month Basic Commerce plan; you will need to upgrade to the $40 per month Advanced Commerce plan down the road when you have more traffic and customers.

Setting up a Squarespace site is relatively straightforward. Just create an account, select a plan, and choose a Squarespace design template. Then, customize the template by adding your logo and brand elements. Once that’s done, you’re ready to start blogging.

Visit Squarespace

Makeup artist Katie Jane Hughes’ beauty blog is built on the Squarespace platform. (Source: katiejanehughes.com)

4. Start Blogging

Once you’ve chosen a platform and set up your blog, you’re ready to start blogging. Creating high-quality content for your beauty blog that blows the competition away is a top priority. A strong blog content strategy is key to attracting and building a large, highly-engaged audience.

Decide What You’re Going to Blog About

The types of subjects you’ll cover on your blog will be primarily determined by the beauty niche you’ve selected. Here are a few examples of common types of blog posts that many beauty bloggers add to their sites:

• New product reviews
• Best product listicles
• Makeup, hair, and nail tutorials
• Skincare regimens
• Tips and tricks
• Best budget finds
• Beauty ideas for special occasions
• Beauty product “this vs that” comparisons
• Fixes for special skin, hair, or other problem areas
• How to get celebrity looks for less
• Interviews with experts
• Seasonal trends

Lists of “best” products for specific situations or seasons are popular on beauty blogs. (Source: wendyrowe.com)

Your goal is to find out what your ideal readers want to know more about and provide that content to them in compelling forms. The most successful beauty bloggers add variety to their posts by using a mix of text, gorgeous images, and helpful videos.

Create a Blog Editorial Plan

If you’re serious about making money with your beauty blog, you need to get serious about creating a content plan for your blog. Building a blog editorial calendar is one of the best ways to organize your thoughts and establish deadlines and goals for your blog content.

I recommend using a free tool like Trello to manage your editorial workflow. You can use Trello to organize your post ideas, schedule content for creation, manage posting timelines, and keep track of published content.

Example of a beauty blog editorial plan created with Trello (Source: trello.com)

Make Sure Your Posts Are Both Gorgeous & Helpful

As you review beauty blogs that compete in your niche, you’ll notice one thing: the blogs themselves are absolutely beautiful. You simply won’t stand out as a beauty blogger unless you create a gorgeous site.

In addition to choosing an attractive blog template or theme, you’ll also want to be sure to use exceptional images on your posts—and use lots of them. Beauty blogs tend to include far images than other types of blogs. Also, much of your audience will be looking for how-to content and tutorials. These are best created via video.

You may want to explore using freelance services that can create and edit images and videos for your site—as well as to assist you with creating your overall brand look. You’ll find several highly qualified and affordable freelancers on Fiverr.

Tutorial videos are extremely popular on beauty blogs.
(Source: janeiredale.com)

5. Use Effective Monetization Techniques

If you hope to create a profitable beauty blog, you need to treat your blog like a business. That means you need to think about how you intend to make money. Luckily, there are several ways to monetize your blog. The most successful bloggers use multiple monetization techniques.

Best Affiliate Marketing Programs for Beauty Bloggers

As a beauty blogger, you’ll likely be discussing many beauty-related products on your site. As a convenience to your readers, you’ll link to where your readers can purchase those products. You can join affiliate programs and networks to earn a commission every time one of your blog readers makes a purchase from one of your blog links.

Top affiliate programs for beauty bloggers include:

• Amazon Associates
• BH Cosmetics
• Madison Reed
• Target
• Sephora
• Ulta Beauty
• Integrity Botanicals
• SkinCareRx

You can also join affiliate networks like ShareASale, CJ Affiliates, or Rakuten Marketing to access to even more beauty-related brands and businesses. If you use a beauty product or want to discuss it on your blog, it’s worth doing a Google search to see if that brand has an affiliate program available.

The amount you’ll earn from affiliate marketing depends on the programs you join. On average, expect to earn anywhere from 1% to 25% of the total product price.

It’s best to limit your recommendations to products you’ve used and love. Don’t ever sacrifice your integrity to earn a commission; you’ll lose fans in the long run if you recommend subpar beauty products.

The Meg O. On the Go beauty blog monetizes through affiliate marketing. (Source: megoonthego.com)

Create Sponsored Posts

Many beauty influencers work directly with brands that pay a fee for sponsored posts. One of the easiest ways to connect with beauty brands is to join influencer networks like TapInfluence, Linqia, Izea, and Collectively.

You can also work directly with brands to negotiate arrangements for sponsored posts. To do this, you’ll want to create a blogger rate card that lists your sponsored post rates along with details about what brands will receive when they work with you.

Your earnings from sponsored posts will depend on many factors, including your overall site traffic, social reach, and the quality of your website. You may earn as little as $50 per post to well into the thousands. Influencers with millions of followers can make five- and even six-figures per post, but that’s the exception, not the norm.

Linqia is a popular influencer network for beauty bloggers who want to monetize their blogs. (Source: linqia.com)

Sell Beauty Products on Your Blog

Many beauty blogs feature online shops where site visitors can make purchases directly on the blog. You can sell either third-party products or create private-label beauty products to sell.

Join a Top Ad Network

Advertising is another popular way that beauty bloggers make money. You can work directly with brands and businesses to negotiate advertising rates and terms, or you can join a top advertising network that will handle all the details for you. The most popular advertising networks for beauty blogs are Google AdSense, SheMedia, and Mediavine. AdThrive is a high-paying network you’ll want to check out once you reach more than 100,000 monthly page views on your blog.

The quantity and quality of your blog traffic determine how much you’ll earn through advertising. Most new bloggers only make a few dollars a month through ads, but advertising earnings can scale into the hundreds and even thousands per month as monthly page views move up into the five- and six-figure range.

Top Success Tips for Beauty Bloggers

You now have everything you need to start your beauty blog. There are just a few more tips I want to share with you to help you make your beauty blog even more successful.

Pay Close Attention to Your Competition

As a person who is passionate about beauty, you’re probably already following several beauty bloggers and influencers. As a blogger who is now hoping to build a business, you need to take your competitive monitoring to the next level.

Keep a close eye on what others are doing, what they’re blogging about, what their fans are commenting on and sharing, and how those competitors are monetizing their blogs. Learn from what they do well, what they don’t do so well, and devise ways to make your beauty blog unique and even better than competitor sites.

Master Basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques

If you want people to find you on Google, you need to learn the fundamentals of SEO. The basics of SEO include:

• Developing posts based on keyword research
• Getting other influencers to link to your blog (these links are called backlinks)
• Creating high-quality posts that exhibit expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (EAT)

Actively Promote & Market Your Blog

Last but certainly not least, you need to promote and market your blog effectively. The most crucial marketing strategy for beauty bloggers is to develop a strong social media presence, preferably on at least two or more social channels.

The most successful beauty influencers create profiles on Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Facebook, and TikTok. Creating posts for so many social media channels can be time-consuming. If your budget allows, you may want to work with a virtual assistant or a freelancer from Fiverr to help you maintain an active social media presence.

If your budget is thin and you are crunched on time, I recommend focusing exclusively on Instagram and YouTube, where demand for beauty content is sky-high. In time, you can always add additional social channels to your marketing mix.

The Sara Beauty Corner blog has 10.6 million subscribers on its YouTube channel. (Source: youtube.com)

Bottom Line

It’s easy to start a beauty blog if you follow the five steps outlined above. The best ways to make money as a beauty blogger is through affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, advertising, and selling beauty products directly on your blog.

Demand for beauty content online is growing, but you still need to develop exceptional blog content that will stand out in the crowded world of beauty influencers. And, don’t forget to promote your blog on social media, especially Instagram and YouTube.

Profitable beauty blogs are built on flexible, scalable, secure platforms. The best blogging platform is a self-hosted WordPress site using Bluehost as your hosting provider. You launch a gorgeous blog with Bluehost for as low as $2.95 per month.

Visit Bluehost