How to Start A Successful Christian Blog (For Ministry)

Studies show that there has been a steep decline in church attendance in the past two decades. For example, a 2020 study by Faith Communities showed that 70% of churches have 100 or fewer weekly attendees.

It is getting harder with each passing day, to get a message of hope to those who need it most. However, embracing technology can help reach these people wherever they are.

Starting a Christian blog is an effective way to share your faith while making a good enough income to support yourself and your ministry.

In this article, I will show you how an easy you can start a Christian blog the right way. I will:

• Explain the major benefits of starting a Christian blog.
• Show you some examples of successful Christian blogs.
• Give you the exact steps you need to start your blog.
• Explain how you can get visitors to your blog.
• Show you how to make money with your Christian blog.

So, let us get into how you can start your Christian blog the right way.

1. What is a Christian Blog?

A Christian blog is a blog where you share the word of God and your experiences as a Christian.

There are several types of Christian blogs you can start for example:

• Ministry Blog. A ministry blog is geared towards preaching the word of God.
• Personal blog. You can blog about your personal experiences in your Christian life, for example, dealing with temptation or hardships.
• Christian Lifestyle Blog. You can write about your life as a Christian, for example, about what hobbies you do or how you make money.
• Church Blog. You can start a blog for your church where you write about activities and events in your church.

2. Why Should You Start a Christian Blog?

Starting a Christian blog can enrich your spiritual and personal life in many ways. Some of the main benefits of starting a Christian blog include:

• A blog is effective in sharing God’s word. Even with a small blog of say, 10,000 visitors a month, you can reach more people than most pastors. Also, a blog works 24/7 and is not restricted to a particular region.
• Blogging is great for introverts. If you are an introvert, it can be overwhelming to minister to strangers one-on-one. Blogging gives you an alternative way to share your passion for God’s word.
• You can make money. Blogging, if done well, can bring a decent income every month. You can use this money to support yourself, expand your ministry, or donate to charity.
• You can use a blog as a journal. Journaling can be very effective if you want to study God’s word at a deeper level. When you record your thoughts in a blog, you have access to them anywhere, and you can share them with others if you want.
• You can connect with other Christians. You can use your blog to meet other Christians who share your interests. For example, if you enjoy traveling, your blog can connect you to Christians in other countries.
• You can mentor new Christians. New Christians often struggle with many challenges. You can use your blog to share your Christian journey and help mentor other Christians who are facing challenges that you have successfully overcome.

For more benefits of blogging, see my article on why you should start a blog.

3. How Much Does It Cost to Start a Christian Blog?

Starting a blog is not complicated and it will not cost you much. There are three main things you need to get your blog up and running:

• Webhosting. This will cost you around $5 a month (or $60 if you pay annually).
• A domain name. This costs about $15 a year.
• Plugins. You can get started with free plugins and then buy paid plugins once you have the budget for it. See my list of necessary plugins for a new blog.

So, with less than $75 a year, you can get a professional blog up and running.

If you want to get great deals on web hosting, I suggest you go with a company like ChemiCloud because they give great discounts that can bring costs to under $50 a year. Also, they give you a free domain.

In this article, I will take you through the steps you need to follow to start your blog on ChemiCloud. If you need a summary of the steps you can also check out my quickstart guide.

4. Can You Make Money From a Christian Blog?

Blogging can be highly profitable if you do it the right way. If you read my article on the highest-paid bloggers, you will see that there are bloggers who make over $200,000 a month. That is an insane amount of money.

If you apply the correct principles to a Christian blog, there is no reason why it should not generate a good income.

Is it okay to make money from a Christian blog?

Before we estimate how much you can make from blogging, it is important to address an important point.

Some Christians struggle with the idea of making money from their ministry activities. Some feel that ministry is a sacrifice to God and earning money from it diminishes the sacrifice. Others feel that money can detract them from the core mission (which is spreading the word of God).

However, the Bible allows making money from ministry as long as it is done the right way. Here are a few Bible verses on this issue.

Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. –1 Corinthians 9: 13-14

The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.” – 1 Timothy 5: 17-18

However, there are some safeguards that you can put to ensure that your attempt to make money does not conflict with your faith.

• Keep God first. If you seek first the Kingdom of God,all else will be added to you.
• Listen to your conscience. The Holy Spirit will warn you whenever you try and monetize in a way that can pull you away from your faith.
• Carefully vet money-making opportunities. Avoid opportunities that do not genuinely improve the lives of your audience. Recommend only helpful products from providers that you trust.
• Charge a fair price. Do not be greedy for money otherwise, you will deny life-saving information to people who need it.

How much money can you make from a Christian blog?

With blogging, you can make anywhere between a few hundred to thousands of dollars a month. According to blogger surveys, roughly 15% of bloggers make over $2,500 a month ($30,000+ a year).

The main factors that determine how much you can earn are:

• The number of visitors you get to your blog. This is influenced by the number of ranking articles you have on your blog.
• Your monetization strategy. You will earn more if you target monetization opportunities with higher margins (such as courses or high-ticket affiliates).
• Your conversion. If you are good at convincing people to buy your products or services, you will make more.

Generally, if you are a decent blogger, you can make an average of $30 per 1,000 visitors to your blog. For example, if you receive 50,000 visitors, you will earn $1,500 (50*$30).

For more, see my article on how to calculate blog earnings.

5. Examples of Successful Christian Blogs

In this section, I will highlight three successful Christian blogs that are also highly profitable. There are many more successful blogs but you can research them on your own.

A quick tip when researching blogs, if you want to find out how many visitors they get, you can use a keyword tool like KWFinder. You can then use an average RPM of $30 to estimate how much the site can earn.

#1. Desiring God

Desiring God is a blog by Desiring God Ministries. This site was started around late 1997 and currently receives over 3.5 million visitors every month.

The site is monetized mainly through donations (98%) and book sales. There are at least 145 books listed for sale on the website.

According to the audited financials on their website, they had revenues of $9,490,336 in 2022.

#2. Answers in Genesis

This site was started around mid 1997 and it focuses mainly on proving the Bible as a reliable source for information on how the earth came to be.

Answers In Genesis makes money mainly from donations and selling products in their store. For example, at the time I was researching for this article, the site was fundraising for 20 million dollars and they had already received $18 million.

Some of the products they sell include:

• Books, ebooks, and audiobooks
• Online courses
• Tickets (such as those to the creation museum)

#3. Challies.com

Challies.com was started in 2002 by Tim Challlies, a pastor at Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto, Ontario.

In his blog, Tim writes about a variety of topics including Christian living, theology, and ministry.

Tim monetizes the blog through affiliate marketing (including Amazon) and selling products (books). He has written about 15 books and e-books. He also has an email list.

6. Steps in Starting a Christian Blog

The process of starting a blog can seem intimidating but it is actually quite straight-forward.

Even if you don’t have technical skills, you can have your blog up and running in less than 30 minutes. There are plenty of software and tools that will help you in this process.

In this section, I will summarize the main steps you need to set up your Christian blog. For a detailed step-by-step guide check out my quick-start guide on how to start a blog. It will take you through the entire process with no steps skipped.

For now, here are the main steps.

#Step 1: Choose a niche for your Christian blog

A niche is what your blog is about. When starting out with a new blog, it is better to focus on a particular niche so that you can quickly gain topical authority. As your blog grows, you can expand into other niches.

Examples of niches you can get into include:

• Christian parenting.
• Christian dating.
• Christian finances.
• Christian entrepreneurship.

For more ideas on what you can write about in your Christian blog, check section 7.

When choosing a niche for your Christian blog, there are several things you should consider:

• What is the Holy Spirit guiding you to do? This will require prayer, soul-searching, meditation, and journaling.
• Who do you want to serve? It can be young mothers, people battling drug addiction, or dating couples.
• What problems do you want to solve? Think of how you can use your experience and skills to solve other people’s problems.
• What do you enjoy? Think of things that get you excited and make you want to get up in the morning.

#Step 2: Choose a name for your Christian blog

Choosing a good blog name is important because it gives your visitor the first impression of who you are and what your blog is about.

Here are some tips you can use when choosing a name for your Christian blog:

• Avoid names that may reflect badly on God and Christians, for example, names with profanity.
• Choose a name that indicates what you write about in your blog, for example, if you deal with dating, you can have a name like Christian Mingle.
• If you want to build your personal brand, you can use your name (e.g. John Walker). This is good for pastors, authors, musicians, or actors.
• Ensure that you don’t infringe on other people’s trademarks. This can get you sued and you can lose your blog name.

As you think about your name, you can also develop your logo. Don’t take too much time on this. Design a simple logo using a free service like Visme’s logo maker.

#Step 3: Choose a blogging platform

It is important to choose a good blogging platform especially if you have intentions of monetizing your blog later.

While it can be tempting to go with a free blogging platform, these often lack many features and as your blog grows, you will have to upgrade to expensive plans.

The best blogging platform for a Christian blog

I would recommend going with a self-hosted blog on WordPress (WordPress.org not WordPress.com) because:

• It is the most popular blogging platform. Over 40% of all websites online use it.
• It is free and open-source. All you need to pay for is hosting. This means that you can save a lot of money.
• It is highly customization. You can use themes and plugins to turn it into anything you want (e.g. online shop, forum, or membership site).
• There are plenty of WordPress tutorials available online. Whatever problems you face, you are likely to find a solution for it online.

In #Step 6, I will touch on how to install and customize WordPress.

#Step 4: Choose a web hosting company

A web hosting company will host your blog and make it available online for a fee.

It is crucial to get a good web hosting company. If you go with a bad company, you will have frequent downtimes, slow loading speeds, and security issues. Check user review sites like Trustpilot or Hostadvice before you purchase.

Here are some popular web hosting companies.

• ChemiCloud. This is a highly-rated company known for great customer service and good discounts. Check the current price.
• Hostinger. If you are on a budget, this is a great option as they have some of the lowest prices. Check the current price.
• Bluehost. They have been in the hosting business for a long time so if you need a well-known brand, try them. Check the current price.

Of the three, my favorite is ChemiCloud because they:

• Have great ratings. They have a perfect 5-star rating on both Trustpilot and Hostadvice, one of the highest ratings for web hosting companies.
• Are affordable. Their pro-plan costs $4.79 (Discounted) and $15.95 (on Renewal).
• Have impressive features such as 30GB SSD, 350,000 inodes, and 45-day money-back guarantee.
• Have plenty of freebies such as free domain, free website migration, free SSL, free CDN

#Step 5: Register your domain name and sign up for hosting

After you have chosen the web hosting company you like, go ahead and sign up.

The process of signing up for web hosting is straightforward and should take you about 10 minutes.

Here are the main steps you will follow:

• Select your preferred package. If you are on ChemiCloud, they have 3 packages (Starter, Pro, and Turbo). The pro package will be sufficient for most blogging needs.
• Check if your preferred domain name is available. If it is not, choose another name.
• Fill in your account details. Ensure that you give the correct contact details.
• Select the data center. Choose a data center that is closest to where most of your visitors will come from.
• Select extras. I would suggest enabling domain privacy protection to protect your personal information online.
• Purchase the hosting service. You will get better discounts if you select a longer billing period.

#Step 6: Install and configure WordPress

Once you have bought your web hosting package, the company will email you your login details and links.

If you are using ChemiCloud, you can log in right on their home page.

Once you are logged in, you can install WordPress with just a few clicks using the softaculous installer in the cPanel.

Once you have installed WordPress, you need to do some configurations such as:

• Delete unwanted themes and plugins.
• Update the remaining theme and plugins.
• Set the permalink structure.
• Install an SSL certificate. You can do this for free using Let’s Encrypt SSL.

Check out this video to see how to do the major configurations.

#Step 7: Install WordPress plugins

WordPress plugins can help you to customize the function of your blog. For example, you can use plugins to add security features, speed up loading speeds, and add analytics.

Having too many plugins can slow down your site and make it vulnerable to hacking, so you need to choose your plugins carefully.

Here are the most important plugins you need for a new blog.

• A speed optimization plugin such as WP Rocket. This will help you to increase your blog’s page loading speeds.
• A backup plugin such as WPVivid. This will help you make regular backups of your blog.
• A design plugin such as GenerateBlocks. This will help you to design your blog.

For a full list of the most important plugins for a new blog, see this article.

To add a plugin, go to your WordPress dashboard, then ‘Plugins’ and ‘Add New’

#Step 8: Design your blog

In the old days, if you needed to design your blog you either had to hire an expert or learn how to use a tool like Dreamweaver.

These days, you can design a beautiful site by yourself using a WordPress theme and a design plugin.

When choosing a WordPress theme, ensure that it is lightweight, secure, and fast.

I would recommend using the premium version of GeneratePress theme and the free Generate Blocks design plugin. The premium version goes for about $59 a year and is packed with features (check current price and features).

If you are on a budget, they have a free theme that is one of the best free themes.

There are plenty of YouTube videos (such as this) that will take you step by step through the process of designing your blog using GeneratePress.

#Step 9: Create important pages

In a blog, pages are used for content that does not change very often. Some of the important pages you need to create include:

• Homepage. This serves as the hub for your blog and helps to drive visitors to other pages or posts.
• Blog page. This is where you will find all your blog posts.
• About page. This is where you can tell your visitors more about you or your blog.
• Legal pages. These include the privacy policy, terms, and disclaimer pages. These tell your visitors about the data you collect, any advertising affiliation, and your terms of use.

To create a page, go to your WordPress dashboard then navigate to ‘Pages’, then ‘Add New’.

You can add pages to your menu by going to your WordPress dashboard and selecting ‘Appearance’ then ‘Menus’.

# Step 10: Create your posts

Most of the content you write on your blog will be in the form of blog posts. Blog posts are different from pages in that they allow comments and they often have a date for when the posts were written.

To create a blog post, you need to go to your dashboard and then navigate to ‘Posts’, then ‘Add New’.

7. What Can You Write About In a Christian Blog? Christian Blog Ideas

What you write in your blog depends on your niche and target audience. However, here are some types of articles you can target, for example:

• Lists.
• How to Guides.
• Beginner guides.
• Reviews of helpful products and services.
• Personal stories.

You can come up with lots of such ideas. If you are struggling to come up with ideas, you can use a keyword tool like KW Finder to discover topics that drive traffic to other blogs in your niche.

#1. Spreading the word

Spreading the word of God should be the central theme of your Christian blog even if you are not an ordained minister. Christians are commanded to share the gospel with everyone.

Here are some of the posts you can write to share God’s word:

• Examine and make notes from sermons or books from respected preachers.
• Share notes from your Bible study sessions.
• Do reviews of good Christian books, songs, and movies.

#2. Christian Advice

Many Christians struggle with various aspects that relate to their Christian life such as marriage, finances, dating, and parenting. They are looking for a Christian perspective on how to navigate these challenges and your blog can help them out.

Some of the posts on Christian advice you can write include:

• How to overcome debt and build financial freedom in a Godly way.
• How to start and run a business as a Christian.
• How to keep yourself pure and overcome sexual temptation.

#3. Christian lifestyle

Christians are often curious about how other Christians live. A Christian lifestyle blog mainly covers topics related to what you do in your daily life. It can include activities like shopping, exercise, food, or travel.

Some of the topics you can cover in your lifestyle blog include:

• Christian-friendly hobbies and activities.
• Recommendations for great places to visit or go on holiday.
• Recipes for Christmas or other holidays

#4. Church and Ministry activities

If you have a ministry, your blog can help you update your church members on upcoming events or report on activities that have already been done.

Some of the posts you can write in a church blog include:

• Upcoming missionary trips, events, and concerts.
• Events that were held such as barbecues or youth events.
• Fundraising activities you are planning.
• Transcripts of the sermons and interviews with church members.

8. How to Write Great Content for Your Christian Blog

Writing good quality content is the most important thing you can do if you want to be successful in blogging.

There is a lot that goes into crafting a high-quality blog post. To get started, here are some quick tips that will get you writing good-quality content in no time.

• Write SEO-optimized blog posts. Your posts should target particular keywords or questions that people are searching on Google. This will give your posts the highest chance of ranking on search engines like Google. Use a keyword tool to find out these keywords.
• Write content consistently. The more posts you have, the higher the number of visitors you can get. Create a schedule for writing your blog posts, for example, you can write 2-3 blog posts every week.
• Take advantage of AI. Some AI tools like Writesonic or ChatGPT can help you speed up the writing process. They can help you come up with titles, outlines, and first drafts for your posts.
• Outsource. If you don’t have time but you have money, you can outsource some of your blogging tasks to others. You can use a platform like Fiverr for this.
• Use images. Images help to add visual interest to a post and they can be great for SEO. You can use tools like Visme to create appealing logos, infographics, featured images, and graphs. They also have free images you can use without infringing on copyright.
• Fix grammar. Spelling mistakes can make your blog post look unprofessional. Get someone to proofread your post or you can use a tool like Grammarly which uses AI to detect errors in your post.
• Making your easy to skim. People don’t like to read walls of text. Use sub-titles, images, and bullet points to break up the text.

9. How to Get Visitors to Your Christian Blog

Writing great content does not guarantee that you will get visitors to your blog. You need to implement various strategies to attract visitors to your blog.

Here are some beginner-friendly methods you can try.

#1. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO involves optimizing your blog and blog content to attract visitors from Google and other search engines. This is one of the most effective methods of getting visitors, so you should learn as much as you can about SEO.

Here are some simple SEO strategies you can implement.

• Use a keyword tool (such as KWFinder) to find keywords with a high volume of searches and low competition.
• Have your target keyword in your title, URL, and introduction.
• Improve the technical aspects of your blog such as speed and security. To improve your page loading speed, you can use a plugin like WP Rocket.

#2. Build an Email List

Most visitors to your blog will not return so you need to capture their email addresses before they leave. This way, you can send them an email whenever you have a new post.

You can use an email service provider like Systeme.io that simplifies the whole process of collecting and sending emails (check out their free plan here).

To encourage your visitors to sign up for your list, offer them something valuable (such as an e-book or a short course) in exchange for their email address.

#3. Outreach

Outreach can be a powerful way to leverage people with a bigger audience than you. To do outreach, you can:

• Reach out to other Christian bloggers and ask if you can guest post on their blogs
• Get featured on Christian YouTube channels or podcasts. These will often link back to your site.
• Network at Christian and church events. Here, you can meet with and form friendships with Christian content creators.

#4. Promote on social media

You can create social media accounts on platforms like Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram and use them to drive traffic to your site.

At the moment, a lot of bloggers are having success with Pinterest. Try creating pins with Bible verses or Christian quotes.

10. How to Make Money From Your Christian Blog

There are plenty of ways you can make money from your Christian blog, but when you are just starting out, it is better to concentrate on a few easy methods so that you don’t get overwhelmed.

Here are some great ways you can start to make money from your blog.

#1. Display Ads

Monetizing through display ads is one of the easiest ways to start earning money with your blog. Once the ads are on your site, you don’t need to do much else.

To get started you need to sign up for an ad network. Ad networks like Google Adsense and Ezoic have no minimum traffic requirements so they are great for beginners.

Once you start getting a good amount of visitors, you can try premium ad networks like Mediavine or Ad Thrive/Raptive. Mediavine requires that you get 50,000 visitors per month, and Ad Thrive requires 100,000 visitors.

#2. Sell Products

Selling products is another easy way to start making an income through your Christian blog. You can sell Christian-themed information products or branded merchandise, for example:

• Books and ebooks
• Music
• Print-on-demand products such as posters, stickers, coasters, and bookmarks.
• Physical products such as t-shirts, mugs, hoddies, water bottles, and jewelry
• Courses

You can sell your products through platforms like Amazon or Etsy. Alternatively, you can sell from your blog using a service like Payhip.

With Payhip, you can sell digital products, courses, memberships, and physical products. They have several membership plans at different price points (see pricing). You can use coupon code HOBBY 10 for a discount on the paid packages. They also have a free tier where you are charged a transaction fee only when you make a sale.

#3. Affiliate Marketing

You can recommend products that you trust or enjoy using and receive a small commission if people purchase through your link.

To get started, you need to check if the company has an affiliate program. For some of the affiliate programs, you have to apply through an affiliate network like CJ Affiliates.

Here are some examples of Christian affiliate programs that you can target with your blog.

• Alpha Omega (AOP) homeschooling is a company that provides resources for Christians who want to homeschool their kids. They pay a commission of 4% per sale.
• PureFlix is a video streaming service that focuses on Christian and family-friendly content. Access is through CJ Affiliates.
• Christian Cafe is a Christian dating site that has been in existence since 1999. They pay affiliates 40% of every membership sale.

Some affiliate networks require that you have a certain number of visitors to your blog before they accept you so you need to build up your blog’s traffic.

11. Quick Tips for Success in Christian Blogging

Success in blogging takes time so don’t get discouraged when you don’t get visitors immediately. Even if you do things the right way, it can still take 6-12 months before you start seeing a significant amount of traffic.

Here are some of the most important tips for success in blogging.

• Aim to serve people. Your blog is there to help people solve challenges in their lives. Find out the challenges Christians you know face, and write articles to help them.
• Write on topics that people are searching for. Use keyword tools or Google autosuggest to discover keywords or questions that people are typing into Google.
• Write a lot of blog posts. The more blog posts you have, the higher the chances that some of them will do well. Aim to write at least 2 quality blog posts a week.
• Keep learning. The blogging world is always changing and you need to keep learning to keep up with the changes. Learn all you can about topics like SEO, copywriting, graphic design, and digital marketing.

For more tips, check out my article on 105+ blogging tips for beginners.

Wrapping Up

Hopefully, this guide has given you some good ideas on how you can start your Christian blog.

The best time to start your blog is now so that in two or three years you will have a well-established blog that helps you to minister, but also helps you make a bit of income.

So, plant now so that you can reap later. Remember, “Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap” –Ecclesiastes 11:4

I wish you well in your blogging journey.

Further reading

Here are some more articles that will help you in your blogging journey.

• How to start a blog (A quickstart guide)
• Blogging 101: Free blogging course for beginners
• 105+ blogging tips for beginners
• The highest-earning bloggers