There are plenty of ways you can turn your website into a moneymaker.
Some methods are more effective than others, and some require much more work than others.
Before we dive too far into how to make money with your website, you first need to determine if this is going to be your primary source of income, or if it's a side hustle to generate a little extra money on the side.
Once you have goals set for your website, you can determine which monetization method works best for your situation.
Method 1 - Join an Ad Network (Adsense, AdThrive, MediaVine, etc. )
Placing ads on your site through an ad network is one of the quickest and easiest ways to start monetizing your website. All you need to do is sign up, go through the approval process if it exists, then start placing ads.
One of the biggest kickers to using ad networks is their notoriously low payouts. For the ad network model to work, you need to generate thousands of visitors a day.
Without a significant amount of traffic, you'll make pennies at best.
Skills Needed:
In order to make money with ad networks, you need to have some way of generating traffic. Whether that's through SEO, social media, or some other platform, you need to have a plan.
Pros:
- A minimal barrier to entry
- Passive Income
- Can be added to any existing site
Cons:
- Low payouts
- The website can appear spammy to visitors
- Adblockers
Method 2 - Affiliate Marketing
My personal favorite way to monetize a website is through affiliate marketing.
In short, affiliate marketing involves promoting products and services to your audience in exchange for a commission. With the right website, the payout potentials are huge.
With affiliate marketing, you get to push out quality content that helps users without throwing a ton of ads in their face. You get to build your brand trust and credibility in the process as well.
There are a ton of affiliate marketing platforms available, the most popular one being Amazon.
With the right set up, affiliate marketing can be a pathway to quitting your day job and making all of your money online.
Skills Needed:
The most effective way to make money with affiliate marketing is to be good at SEO. By ranking for the types of terms people are looking for when they are in the mindset to make a purchase, you can set your profits on autopilot.
Pros:
- Passive income
- High earning potential
Cons:
- High SEO skill needed
- Slow to get rolling, can take 6+ months
Method 3 - Selling Ad Space Manually
If you have a niche website, there is a case to be made that your website ad space is valuable enough for other companies to bid on it manually.
You can price it per month, per click, or per conversion.
Generally speaking, manually placed ads make more money than ads placed using an ad network. With manual ad placements, you get better control over what ads are on your site, and you can better target the ad's audience.
Skills Needed:
To sell the ad space, you need to have a decent amount of sales experience to pitch the placement effectively. You're also going to need a decent amount of traffic to your website to begin with, so expect to need skill with social media, SEO, or paid ads.
Pros:
- Higher payouts than ad networks
- Passive income
Cons:
- Need existing traffic
- Need to find businesses interested in ad placements manually
Method 4 - Ask For Donations
Nowadays, people are becoming more and more oblivious to ads they see online. In the best-case scenario, someone may click on your ads, but more than likely one of two other alternatives will occur.
1 - they ignore your ad
2 - they leave your site because it has ads
For popular websites, asking for donations is becoming a popular alternative to running ads on a site. If you have a loyal audience, you can make a living off of donations to your website.
Skills Needed:
To effectively make money with donations to your site, you need to have an online persona that people like. You need to make a brand for yourself. People don't just open up their wallets to anyone they see online.
Pros:
- Promotes brand loyalty
- High earning potential
Cons:
- Need to build a likable brand identity
- Likely requires fresh content to keep donations coming in
Method 5 - Retargeting
Businesses are always looking for creative new ways to target prospective customers. Retargeting is an innovative way to make money with your website without having ever to place ads or promote any products.
In short, retargeting is a way for other businesses to advertise to your visitors. For example, if you have a website about vacation destinations you've visited, companies that sell vacation packages might be interested in your traffic.
Using a platform like Repixel, you can sell a retargeting code from your website to other businesses. By selling your retargeting code, you give businesses the ability to advertise directly to your visitors on platforms like Facebook.
Skills Needed:
Retargeting is one of the easiest ways to monetize your existing traffic. You don't need to change anything about your blog; you simply need a blog that has traffic. The more traffic you have, the more advertisers are willing to pay.
Pros:
- Scalability - Unlike ads, there is a limitless amount of money you can make. The more traffic you generate, the more money you make.
- No spammy ads
Cons:
- A low-traffic website won't qualify
Method 6 - Create an Online Store
When people think about making money online, one of the first things people are likely to think of is creating an online store. What better way to generate income than to...ya know...sell things?
All things considered, running an online store is one of the toughest ways to make money online. Unless you're dropshipping, you're going to need to keep inventory on hand, manage customers, shipping, and operating costs.
For all intents and purposes, creating an online store is nothing short of running a business.
Skills Needed:
To have an effective online store, you need to have a decent business sense. You're going to need to convince people to buy from you, and you're going to need to fulfill orders and manage your inventory.
Pros:
- Has the potential to be your main source of income
- Potential for high-profit margins
Cons:
- A lot of work
- Requires space to store inventory
Method 7 - Create an Online Course
If you're good at something...like really good...odds are there's an audience out there willing to pay for your skills. Creating an online course (a good one!) is a great way to make a little extra money on the site.
With an online course, you do a lot of upfront work, but after the course is completed, you will likely have a source of income that runs on autopilot.
Skills Required:
You need to be an actual expert at something. It doesn't matter what it is, but you can't be mediocre. To create a good reputation for yourself, you need to have knowledge that people can't find anywhere else online.
Pros:
- Big earning potential
- Passive income
Cons:
- A lot of up-front work
- You need next-level knowledge of what you want your course to be about
Closing Thoughts
Sometimes it can seem like everyone and their brother is monetizing websites. Making money online isn't easy, and it definitely isn't for everyone.
The one thing that is consistent with all of the above monetization methods is the need for traffic. Without traffic, you don't stand much of a chance of monetizing anything.
If you have an existing website that you need help monetizing, we may be able to help! Our SEO consulting services can help website with low traffic break into the world of making money online.
Let us know your main way of monetizing your website in the comments section below!
