We are living in a digital world, and making money online is easier than it has ever been. There are a lot of ways of doing it, and monetizing a website is certainly one of the most effective ones. But how to do it exactly? There are a lot of answers to that question, most of which we will be covering in the following lines! So, if you want to monetize your website, here is all you need to know!
Different Ways of Making Money From a Website
There are a lot of methods you can use/combine to monetize your website. Here are the main ones you should definitely know about:
Ad Networks
If you are fine with having advertisements on your website, ad networks are among your best bets. Ad networks are basically technology platforms that match publishers with advertisers so that the former can earn money while the latter can market their products and/or services. A good example would be Google AdSense, the most popular of them all. How it works is -in a nutshell- that Google’s giant ad network matches ads to your website based on your content and visitors. These ads are created -and paid for- by advertising brands. Then, Google pays you a certain amount based on the clicks or impressions these ads get on your website. There is no fixed price for these ads, which means advertisers pay different prices, and the amount you will earn will change based on that.
Display advertising and native advertising are an ideal monetizing solution, especially for websites with quality content and a decent amount of traffic. To learn more about paid ads, take a look at our article on PPC advertising.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is another popular way of monetizing a website. Simply put, affiliate marketing is promoting other people’s products/services on your website, and getting a commission for every sale. Remember ever seeing the words “affiliate link” on a website you have visited before? That’s basically how affiliate marketing works: you place custom links inside your website content, which direct the users to your affiliate (your partnering brand), and if the user converts, meaning if he or she orders a product or signs up to a premium service, you get paid.
Affiliate marketing is a lucrative option, and it blends well with content, and does not interrupt the user experience- not everyone loves seeing giant ads disrupting the content on a website. There are 2 ways to do affiliate marketing. One is that as a website owner, you can get into contact with the brands you want to be affiliate of or you can make deals via affiliate marketing networks.
Sponsored Posts
As the name makes it clear, sponsored posts are content sponsored by third parties. For example, let’s say you have a website about fitness, which is filled with quality content and has a very decent amount of regular visitors. You can contact a sportswear brand, and tell them you can write an article about their tennis shoes and publish it on your website for a certain fee- or they can reach out to you for the very same reason.
You don’t need to be a content expert to monetize your website this way, as you can always hire a freelancer, or even work with an agency to help you with creating engaging sponsored content.
Opening an E-commerce Store
If you have products/services you think you can sell online, you can just open up an online store so that people can buy directly from you. You can just sell products of your own brand, or you can provide your visitors with merch from different brands. You need a bit of e-commerce knowledge though, to be successful.
Opening an e-commerce store can be a very effective way of making money using your website- just look at Amazon!
Premium Content/Membership
Websites owners can restrict access to certain pieces of content on their website for regular visitors, making it available only to those who are willing to pay. Of course, to be able to do this, your regular content should be valuable enough so that it can generate interest in your premium content. Another approach would be limiting the number of articles users can read for free on your website, then asking for a paid membership to continue reading- online magazines such as New Yorker do this.
If you can create unique content that benefits people and if you have a certain audience base, premium content or paid membership is a great way to monetize your digital presence.
Visitor Donations
If you are providing your readers with high-quality content for free, it is only fair if you ask for a modest donation in return! This method is preferred by a lot of websites, and you will most likely be surprised once you see how generous a loyal audience can be! Especially if your website is about a certain cause that people care about -animals, environment, independent art etc.- it is very likely you will get some donations.
If you are going to try this method though, it might be best for you to try it alone, without any other monetization system on your website. It is highly unlikely that people are going to donate to your website if they see that you are already making money off of it!
Monetize Your Expertise
If you are an expert on a subject and think that your experience will translate to information worth paying for, you can work on that as well. For example, you can write an e-book and sell it to your readers. Or you can sell online tutorials, one-on-one lessons, webinars, etc. With this method(s), you will not only be earning money from your sells, but you will gain very valuable leads as well.
Generating Leads
Lead generation can be summarized as matching companies with their potential customers. To elaborate, information about your visitors would be very valuable to several businesses looking for new customers while those businesses might provide services/products that will benefit your users. So here you play the matchmaker, and make money by basically bringing them together!
For example, if you have a website that helps people learn English, your users’ information will be very valuable for language schools looking for new students.
Tips for Monetizing Your Website
So, you have decided to make some extra cash using your website, that is cool! Make sure to check out the tips below, that we think will make things easier for you along the way:
Test Your Ads
Both publishers and advertisers typically use A/B tests to see what version of an ad is performing better. You should check the reach and engagement rates of your ads too, in order to find the best setup for your website.
Try Different Methods
We have listed all the major methods you can use to monetize your website. The thing is, what works for one website might not work for other. It depends on a number of factors such as your niche, audience, your technical knowledge, etc. Experiment with different methods/combinations and find the one that suits you the best.
Don’t Neglect SEO
No matter what method you prefer to make money from your website, you will need Google to get yourself more visitors. This means you will have to optimize your site to its best version with SEO, so it ranks higher on search results pages.
Be Patient
You’re not going to get rich overnight, no one does, usually. And for a while, you won’t really be making a lot of money, so you need to be patient, and consistently improve your website and monetizing strategies, instead of giving up or turning to shady strategies! (more on this below)
Stay Away From Spam
As bad as it is, spam can really be tempting sometimes, as it promises large gains in a short amount of time. This promise can be delivered but in the long run, it will almost always end up ruining your website, ultimately getting it banned from Google. So, take things slow, be unique, and don’t get tempted by the dark side.
Website Monetization FAQ
Here are some frequently asked questions about monetizing websites:
Q: How much money can I make from my website?
A: It depends- on a lot of factors. Your niche, monetization methods you use, your traffic, whether it’s your job or just a hobby, etc. Some people are glad they can pay their bills with their website, while others are making five-figures monthly. Both are possible obviously, but it all depends on you, the quality of your website, and the amount of work you are willing to put into it.
Q: Do I need any technical knowledge to be able to successfully monetize my website?
A: Not really, but it might help. As making a website is easier than ever these days -with ready templates and all kinds of other tools- it should be easy enough for you to incorporate ads/sponsored links to your website. Let’s put it this way, if you somehow can manage to make your own website, you will probably fine with making the necessary touches for monetization.
Q: What is the best method to monetize my website?
A: There is no “best” when it comes to monetization methods we have mentioned, as they all work, just in different ways. Try and find the one that works the best for you. Ad networks are a great start if you have moderate traffic. And if you are a good writer, you can almost always find sponsors for your articles. If you have content that creates above the average value, you can opt for premium content. But don’t just open a website and start asking for donations after just a few posts, without building an audience, which won’t work. Or don’t try premium membership when you don’t have any unique/quality free content interesting enough for your audience to try it. An advice- start with finding out what won’t work for you, then move on from that.
Conclusion
In the end, it all comes down to this- if your website is good enough, you can make money off of it, one way or another. But it is up to you to find the best way to do so. Obviously, it isn’t easy as it sounds -and certainly not as easy as those “get rich quick” sites try to make it seem- but if you find what method works for you, be consistent and stay away from spam, your hard work will certainly pay off.