Building a website is a tedious process whose benefits might not be instantaneous. However, there are a few ways through which you can monetize your website and earn some cash online doing what you love.
So in the long run, it does pay, and today I want to share with you some of the ways through which you can make your website a real money machine and be able to pay those bills that are continually piling up.
How to monetize your website
1) Running ads
Running ads is a simple and passive way of making cash as a website owner. You can either sign up to some online programs or approach a business to put up relevant banners on your website.
Approaching businesses can be the most lucrative but it has a low success rate. It typically involves you targeting a specific company that is relevant to the content on your website. You would offer to run ads on their behalf and they then pay you for ‘renting’ the ad space.
You can also run ads using online Ads companies. Google Adsense is the most popular and well-known advertising program and is relatively easy to get started. However, the pay is often low and requires you to have thousands of views to even make $10.
Infolinks is another reliable online program. This one does not have any restrictions. It is best suited for smaller websites.
Different advertising programs will have different requirements for you to get paid. This is how most of them pay:
- pay per click on the ad
- pay per impressions (views on each ad)
- or pay per sale of each product.
2) Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is simply ‘advertising’ a company’s product on your website and hoping that a potential viewer purchases it. If they buy it, you get a commission. This commission often ranges from 5-20% of the cost of the product.
Want to master the art of affiliate marketing? I highly recommend The She Approach’s Affiliate Marketing Training Bundle. Ana makes thousands of dollars per month promoting the products that she loves. You can too. Check out this bundle now
There are dozens of affiliate marketing programs out there and you can select whichever one you like.
One popular program is Amazon affiliate marketing. It has been so lucrative in the last decade that an entire industry has been built off of it. People create niche websites with product reviews and buying guides to take advantage of them and make money.Â
You should consider this method as it is probably the best. You may have to put in a little more work but you will love the returns.
3) Brand deals
This method is a big money maker for social media presences and people with a large following online.
Brands typically want access to an audience to advertise their product. What is especially valuable to them is an audience that has a core interest in their industry. It allows them to skip the general advertisements (billboards, TV ads, etc.) and to really target the people who will purchase their product. This is known as ‘native advertising’.
You as a social media presence (or blog) can be their way into this target audience. They are willing to pay you to:
- write sponsored posts containing their products
- use their products in your day-to-day life
- ask your followers to try the products
However, this method does require you to have a few thousand followers or a steady stream of traffic to your website.
4) E-commerce and Dropshipping
Selling merchandise and other products online is another great online business idea. It is a bit more time-consuming and difficult than the other methods but you get to keep 100% of the profits you make. Some ideas of products you can sell include:
- E-books
- Courses
- Coaching programs
- Clothes
- Memberships
- Webinars etc.
Which method works best for you?
It definitely will not be easy to turn your website into a money maker but it is possible with hard work. I would even suggest you combine two or more of the methods above in order to maximize your income.