Now that you created a website, applied useful SEO practices, made it as fast as possible, and made it prominent on social media, it is time to take the next step – monetize your site and enjoy the sweet fruits of your endeavors.
You may be wondering what exactly you can do to earn money via your web pages. Well, in this article, we share 16 of the most profitable ways you can earn cash via your website.
Read also:
- How to Sell Ads on Your WordPress Website
- How to Get Started with Affiliate Marketing
- How to Add Google AdSense to Your WordPress Website
How to Monetize Your Website
To be able to benefit fully from website monetization, it is important to understand that you should be aware of who your site visitors are and how they behave, what they exactly need, and what approach would prompt them to become paying customers.
Although you may be an expert on the topic your website is about, and know what kind of people visit it, it is important to analyze them even deeper.
This is where web analytics comes into play.
Delving as deep as possible into details about who your visitors are and how they behave on your pages can greatly help you find out which monetization approach would be most lucrative.
Also, as you will read later in this article, paying advertisers would want to know whether it is profitable to advertise via your website. In such cases, to prove that your website generates high traffic and to ensure high ROI to advertisers, you should provide some statistics via web analytics.
So, to understand how to monetize your website in the most efficient way for your case, check our article on the topic of web analytics and use the knowledge to your advantage:
Also, make sure that your website is fast, as this helps SEO and contributes to a better user experience. Read more on the topics:
- Why Your Site Speed Matters and How to Measure It
- How to Optimize Images for Web (7 Key Tips
- What is SEO and How Does it Work
9 Ways to Start Monetizing Your Website
In the following sections, you will read about the most lucrative ways to monetize your website. Our suggestions are not ranked in a particular order, as we are aware that each monetization way is unique and can either fit your website concept and personal preferences or not at all.
In short:
- Sell Ad Space on Your Site
- Use Google AdSense
- Conduct Affiliate Marketing Strategies
- Sell Your Products and Services
- Offer Online Courses, Seminars, and Coaching
- Publish Sponsored Content
- Allow Guest Posting
- Create Paid Membership
- Accept Donations
1. Sell Ad Space on Your Site
By far, selling ad space is one of the most popular ways you can generate funds via your site.
The idea behind selling ad space is simple – you place ads on your website for various products and services and get paid for doing so.
Ads can be in various forms – links that lead to the advertiser’s website, banners that appear on the homepage, and pop-ups.
To benefit fully from selling ad space, you need to prove high website traffic rates (as for advertisers more site visitors means that more people would see and eventually click on the ad), and high conversion rates (high number of site visitors who clicked on the ad).
There are two ways you can find people who are willing to pay for ad space on your website:
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- If your website becomes popular and more people visit it and share it, sometimes advertisers would reach you first.
- You can make a summary of your website statistics via various web analytics tools, offers, and facts about your website and start reaching out to various organizations and advertisers, so to make an offer.
If you want to delve deeper in the topic, then have a look at our comprehensive guide:
How to Sell Ads on Your WordPress Website
2. Use Google AdSense
Google AdSense is a great way of monetizing your website.
In short, the system allows you to publish ads on your website designed by third-party brands.
The idea is that Google AdSense searches for ads that match the content of your website and conducts bidding in which the highest paying advertiser gets to publish their ad on your pages.
The great thing about Google Ad Sense is that the system is automated and very simple to use with minimal to no risk for you.
So, have a look at how to add Google AdSense to your website, and incorporate it into your website to add a new revenue stream.
3. Conduct Affiliate Marketing Strategies
Affiliate marketing can be very lucrative and there are numerous different strategies you can apply.
The idea behind affiliate marketing is simple:
- You make a review of a product place an ad, or share some products/services you are using.
- Place links on your website that lead to a web page through which said products/services can be purchased.
- Once your site visitors follow such links and make a purchase, you get a certain percentage of the price they pay in the form of commission.
Affiliate marketing is widespread and because of its great flexibility, it can be applied to numerous types of websites – affiliate blogs, company sites, personal projects, and numerous more.
To get the most out of affiliate strategy, you should make sure your website is prominent and generates lots of traffic. This is because brands that would want to advertise their products on your pages, would also want to be rest assured that more people would see the ad and eventually buy their products.
As a rule of thumb, it is a good idea to promote products and services that are a part of your website content niche. For example, if you have a website for reviewing music gear, a great way to incorporate this strategy is by leaving an affiliate link to a purchase page for each product you are using and reviewing.
3.5. (Bonus) Offer Coupons and Discounts with an Affiliate Program
A smart way of benefiting from affiliate programs is by establishing business connections with various businesses, so they grant you various discount coupons and offers that you showcase on your website. The idea is that such offers and coupons are exclusive and available only via your website.
Once a visitor of yours pays for such discounts and offers, you get a percentage of the paid price.
Unfolding such an affiliate campaign can be very hard, but is also very beneficial as if conducted properly, it can make your website more often visited and popular, along with being more lucrative.
4. Sell Your Products and Services
If you are an expert in a given field, a website can be greatly beneficial for monetizing your skills.
For example, your website can be focused on sharing your photography, reviewing hand-made jewelry products, or, for example, you share your thoughts about matters you are an expert in.
With time, you can start selling your photos, hand-made jewels, or, act as a consultant and charge for your advice, all directly via your website.
You can approach this idea in many different ways. For example:
You establish yourself as an expert in a given field via your website and once you are already popular, you can start promoting various services and products online via your site.
Or, for example, you can directly launch a website that has a store and start promoting your products and services directly from day 1 of your website launch.
AwardSpace can help you start today easily.
You simply register to any of our premium web hosting plans, or try out our free hosting service. Then, you choose a domain name, install WordPress, and start working on your website.
4.5. (Bonus) Open an E-Commerce Store
If you notice a considerable expansion of purchases of your goods and services via your website, then consider launching an e-commerce store.
An e-commerce platform can help you establish more control over the goods and services you sell, make a more detailed analysis of how to expand your market share, and eventually build a reliable network of paying customers.
If you are interested in e-commerce, then definitely check out our articles delving into the topic:
- What is an e-Commerce Website and Why Do You Need One?
- How to Create an E-commerce Website Using WordPress?
5. Offer Online Courses, Seminars, and Coaching
If you are an expert in a given niche, you can monetize your experience by teaching others your craft.
Online courses are a very popular way of generating funds and can be very beneficial for you, should you wish to create and promote educational materials.
There are numerous formats you can use to generate funds:
- Write physical books on the topic
- Offer PDF files
- Record audio
- Make video lessons
- Launch seminars
If you search for ways of selling online courses, then launch your website today, publish your content, and promote it today.
6. Publish Sponsored Content
Sponsored content is a widely spread business practice. It revolves around the idea that a brand approaches you and asks you to create content that promotes them and their product and publishes it to your website in exchange for payment.
The content you are to create depends on the requirements of the asking brand – it can be a blog post, announcement, offer, review, or even an infographic.
If a brand approaches you and asks you to create sponsored content, you should take several factors under consideration:
- What number of sponsored posts you will be writing?
- How much time you will spend working on the sponsored content?
- What influence such sponsored content would have – consider the possibility that such sponsored content can become more influential on your website at the expense of your brand, so be careful with the amount and frequency of promotion across your web pages.
Should you decide to be proactive and approach brands and promote your website as a sponsored content platform, here’s what to do:
- Start small and approach local small and mid-sized businesses.
- Create a portfolio of successful sponsored content projects on your website and showcase these to future clients.
- Reach out to various marketing agencies, as they can find clients for you.
7. Allow Guest Posting
Guest posting is very similar to sponsored content.
The idea is that а certain brand creates some content and you publish it on your site for a certain amount of money. In most cases, the content is promotional and prompts people to follow a link to the brand’s website, products, and promotions.
If your website becomes popular and generates a lot of traffic, brands will likely approach you with various proposals for guest posting.
If your website is still not that influential, you can start approaching various brands and make offers for guest posting on your site.
Should this be the case, for optimal results, start reaching out to small brands and sites, gradually build your website portfolio, and try contact marketing and PR agencies – many of them might propose guest posting on your web pages to their clients as a part of their marketing strategies.
8. Create Paid Membership
Create a paid membership area on your website and provide your customers with exclusive content and materials. Depending on the topic and type of your website, you can grant paying members tons of benefits:
- Private forums
- Exclusive articles
- Exclusive events
- Special discounts
- Bundle offers
Paid membership can be very profitable, however, you should make sure that your premium content is worth the price you charge for it, otherwise, being willing to pay site visitors would revert to other websites similar to your premium content.
8.5. (Bonus) Monetize Your Email List Access
If email marketing is a part of your website project, then consider creating premium email content that is accessible only after the subscription fee is paid.
9. Accept Donations
Although very hard to achieve, monetization via donations is still possible.
However, to benefit from such a method, your content should be of the highest possible quality. Most site visitors should remain very satisfied by it and by the overall website browsing experience you grant them.
In short, to benefit from donations, make sure your website provides excellent UX and your content is relevant, helpful, and up to date.
The easiest way to prompt your visitors to donate is by simply asking. Upload an open and honest message in which you share details about your hard work and dedication that is needed to provide such high-quality content and user experience, and that donations can help you keep your work up and running.
Conclusion
There are numerous ways to monetize your website and benefit from additional streams of income.
In this article, you read about the most lucrative ways of doing so:
- Sell Ad Space on Your Site
- Use Google AdSense
- Conduct Affiliate Marketing Strategies
- Sell Your Products and Services
- Offer Online Courses, Seminars, and Coaching
- Publish Sponsored Content
- Allow Guest Posting
- Create Paid Membership
- Accept Donations
