Ways to Make Money with Your Website
There are several lists with “ways to make money with a website” on the Internet,
but none of them seem to be complete. That is why I decided to create this one.
If you know a method that is not listed below, just let us know and we’ll update
it.
Notice that ways to make money with a website are different from ways to make more
money from it. Methods to increase your traffic or click-through rate will help
you make more money, but they do not represent a method of making money per se.
For example, one could suggest that blending AdSense ads with the content is a way
to make money from a website. In reality it’s not; it’s just a way to make more
money by improving your ad click-through rate. The real monetization method behind
it is a PPC ad network.
The list is divided into direct and indirect methods, and examples and links are
provided for each point. Enjoy!
Direct Methods
1. PPC Advertising Networks
Google AdSense is the most popular option under this category, but there are also
others. Basically you need to sign up with the network and paste some code snippets
on your website. The network will then serve contextual ads (either text or images)
relevant to your website, and you will earn a certain amount of money for every
click.
The profitability of PPC advertising depends on the general traffic levels of the
website and, most importantly, on the click-through rate (CTR) and cost per click
(CPC). The CTR depends on the design of the website. Ads placed abode the fold or
blended with content, for instance, tend to get higher CTRs. The CPC, on the other
hand, depends on the nice of the website. Mortgages, financial products and college
education are examples of profitable niches (clicks worth a couple of dollars are
not rare), while tech-related topics tend to receive a smaller CPC (sometimes as
low as a couple of cents per click).
The source of the traffic can also affect the overall CTR rate. Organic traffic
(the one that comes from search engines) tends to perform well because these visitors
were already looking for something, and they tend to click on ads more often. Social
media traffic, on the other hand, presents terribly low CTRs because these visitors
are tech-savvy and they just ignore ads.
List of popular CPC advertising networks:
2. CPM Advertising Networks
CPM advertising networks behave pretty much as PPC networks, except that you get
paid according to the number of impressions (i.e., page views) that the ads displayed
on your site will generate. CPM stands for Cost per Mille, and it refers
to the cost for 1,000 impressions.
A blog that generates 100,000 page views monthly displaying an advertising banner
with a $1 CPM, therefore, will earn $100 monthly.
CPM rates vary with the network, the position of the ad and the format. The better
the network, the higher the CPM rate (because they have access to more advertisers).
The closer you put the ad to the top of the page, the higher the CPM. The bigger
the format (in terms of pixels), the higher the CPM.
You can get as low as $0,10 and as high as $10 per 1,000 impressions (more in some
special cases). CPM advertising tends to work well on websites with a high page
views per visitor ratio (e.g., online forums, magazines and so on).
List of popular CPM advertising networks:
3. Direct Banner Advertising
Selling your own advertising space is one of the most lucrative monetization methods.
First and foremost because it enables you to cut out the middleman commissions and
to determine your own rates. The most popular banner formats on the web are the
728×90 leaderboard, the 120×600 skyscraper, the 300×250 rectangle and the 125×125
button.
The downside of direct banner advertising is that you need to have a big audience
to get qualified advertisers, and you will need to spend time managing the sales
process, the banners and the payments.
Related links:
4. Text Link Ads
After Google declared that sites selling text links without the nofollow tag would
be penalized, this monetization method became less popular.
Many website owners are still using text links to monetize their sites, though,
some using the nofollow tag and some not.
The advantage of this method is that it is not intrusive. One can sell text links
directly through his website or use specialized networks like Text-Link-Ads and
Text-Link-Brokers to automate the process.
Text link marketplaces and networks:
5. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a very popular practice on the Internet. Under this system
you have a merchant that is willing to let other people (the affiliates) sell directly
or indirectly its products and services, in exchange for a commission. Sometimes
this type of advertising is also called CPA (cost per action) or CPL (cost per lead)
based.
Affiliates can send potential customers to the merchant using several tools, from
banners to text links and product reviews.
In order to find suitable affiliate programs you can turn to individual companies
and publishers like
Dreamhost and
SEOBook, or join affiliate marketplaces and networks.
List of popular affiliate marketplaces and networks:
6. Monetization Widgets
The latest trend on the web are widgets that let you monetize your website. Examples
include Widgetbucks and SmartLinks. Some of these services operate under a PPC scheme,
others behave like text link ads, others yet leverage affiliate links.
Their main differentiator, however, is the fact that they work as web widgets, making
it easier for the user to plug and play the service on its website.
List of companies that provide monetization widgets:
7. Sponsored Reviews
PayPerPost pioneered this model, with much controversy on the beginning (related
to the fact that they did not require disclosure on paid posts). Soon other companies
followed, most notably Sponsored Reviews and ReviewMe, refining the process and
expanding the paid blogging model.
Joining one of these sponsored reviews marketplaces will give you the opportunity
to write sponsored posts on a wide range of topics. Not all bloggers are willing
to get paid to write about a specific product or website (because it might compromise
the editorial credibility), but the ones who do are making good money out of it.
If your blog has a big audience you could also offer sponsored reviews directly,
cutting off the commissions of the middleman.
List of sponsored reviews and paid blogging networks:
8. RSS Feed Ads
With the quick adoption of the RSS technology by millions of Internet users, website
owners are starting to find ways to monetize this new content distribution channel.
Feedburber already has its own publisher network, and you can sign-up to start displaying
CPM based advertising on your feed footer. Bidvertiser recently introduced a RSS
feed ad option as well, with a PPC scheme.
Finally, some blogs are also opting to sell banners or sponsored messages on their
feed directly.
John Chow and Marketing Pilgrim are two examples.
Related links:
9. Sponsors for Single Columns or Events
If you website has specific columns or events (e.g., a weekly podcast, an interview
series, a monthly survey, a special project) you could find companies to sponsor
them individually.
This method increases the monetization options for website owner, while giving advertisers
the possibility to target a more specific audience and with a reduced commitment.
Mashable
illustrates the case well. They have several advertising options on the site, including
the possibility to sponsor specific columns and articles, including the “Daily Poll”
and the “Web 2.0 Invites.”
Problogger
also runs group writing projects occasionally, and before proceeding he publicly
announce the project asking for sponsors.
10.Premium Content
Some websites and blogs give away part of their content for free, and charge for
access to the premium content and exclusive tools.
SEOMoz
is a good example. They have a very popular blog that gives advice and information
on wide range of SEO related topics. On top of that visitors can decide to become
premium members. It costs $48 monthly and it grants them access to guides, tools
and other exclusive material.
11. Private Forums
While the Internet is populated with free forums, there is also the possibility
to create a private one where members need to pay a single or recurring fee to join.
SEO Blackhat charges $100 monthly from
its members, and they have thousands of them. Obviously in order to charge such
a price for a forum membership you need to provide real value for the members (e.g.,
secret techniques, tools, and so on).
Performancing
also launched a private forum recently, focused on the networking aspect. It is
called The Hive, and the monthly cost is $10.
These are just two examples. There are many possibilities to create a private and
profitable forum, you just need to find an appealing angle that will make it worth
for the members.
List of popular forum software:
12. Job Boards
All the popular blogs are trying to leverage job boards to make some extra income.
Guy
Kawasaki,
ReadWriteWeb,
Problogger… you name it.
Needless to say that in order to create an active and profitable job board you need
first to have a blog focused on a specific niche, and a decent amount traffic.
The advantage of this method is that it is passive. Once you have the structure
in place, the job listings will come naturally, and you can charge anywhere from
$10 up to $100 for each.
List of popular job board software:
13. Marketplaces
Sitepoint
is the online marketplace by excellence. Some websites and blogs, however, are trying
to replicate that model on a smaller scale.
Depending on your niche, a market place that allows your visitors to buy, sell and
trade products could work well. Over the time you could start charging a small fee
for new product listings.
The problem with this method is that there are no standard software on the web,
so you would need to hire a coder to get a marketplace integrated into your website.
You can see an example of a marketplaces being used on
EasyWordpress and on
Mashable.
14. Paid Surveys and Polls
There are services that will pay you money to run a small survey or poll on your
website. The most popular one is called Vizu Answers.
Basically you need to sign up with them, and select the kind of polls that you want
to run your site. Most of these services operate under a CPM model.
15. Selling or Renting Internal Pages
Million
Dollar Wiki made this concept popular, but it was being used on the
web for a long time around (check
Pagerank10.co.uk for instance).
These websites sell for a single fee or rent for a recurring fee internal pages
on their domain. Usually they have either high Pagerak or high traffic, so that
people purchasing a page will be able to benefit in some way.
Implementing this method on a small blog would be difficult, but the concept is
interesting and could be explored further.
16. Highlighted Posts from Sponsors
Techmeme
probably pioneered this idea, but somehow it has not spread to other websites. The
tech news aggregator displays editorial posts on the left column, and on the sidebar
they have a section titled “Techmeme Sponsor Posts.”
On that section posts from the blog of the advertisers get highlighted, sending
qualified traffic their way. Considering that the monthly cost for one spot is $5000
and that they have around 6 sponsors at any given time, it must be working well.
17. Donations
Placing a “Donate” link or button on a website can be an efficient way to earn money,
especially if your blog is on a niche where readers learn and gain value from your
content.
Personal development and productivity blogs, for instance, tend to perform well
with donation based systems (one good example being
Steve Pavlina).
A small variation of this method appeared sometime ago with the
Buy Me a Beer plugin. This WordPress
plugin enables you to insert a customized message at the bottom of each article,
asking the readers to chip in for a beer or coffee.
18. In-text Adverting
In-text adverting networks like Kontera and Vibrant Media will
place sponsored links inside your text. These links come with a double underline
to differentiate them from normal links, and once the user rolls the mouse over
the link the advertising will pop. Should the user click on it the site owner will
make some money.
Some people make good money with this method, but others refrain from using it due
to its intrusiveness. It is also interesting to note that very few mainstream websites
have experimented with in-text advertising.
19. Pop-ups and Pop-unders
Pop-ups are a common yet annoying form of advertising on the Internet. If you are
just trying to make a much money as possible from your website, you could experiment
with them.
If you are trying to grow the traffic and generate loyal visitors, however, you
probably should stay away from them. Just consider the hundreds of pop-up blockers
out there: there is a reason why they are so popular.
Ad networks that use pop-ups:
20. Audio Ads
Also called PPP (Pay Per Play), this advertising method was introduce by Net Audio Ads. the concept
is pretty simple: play a small audio advertising (usually 5 seconds) every time
a visitor enters into your website. The user should not be able to stop it, creating
a 100% conversion rate based on unique visitors.
The company is still rolling tests, but some users are reporting to get from a $4
to a $6 CPM. Regardless of the pay rate, though, this is a very intrusive form of
advertising, so think twice before using it.
21. Selling the Website
Selling your website could be your last resource, but it has the potential to generate
a big sum of money in a short period of time.
Market places on online forums like DigitalPoint and Sitepoint are always
active with website buyers and sellers. Keep in mind that they most used parameter
to determine the value of a website is the monthly revenue that it generates, multiplied
by a certain number (the multiplier can be anything from 5 to 30, depending on the
expectations of the seller, on the quality of the site, on the niche and other factors).
Some people also make money trading and flipping websites. They either create them
from scratch or buy existing ones, and after some revamping they sell them for a
profit.
Related links:
Indirect Methods
22. Selling an Ebook
Perhaps one of the oldest money making strategies on the web, using a website to
promote a related ebook is a very efficient way to generate revenue.
You could either structure the website around the book itself, like
SEOBook.com, or launch the ebook based
on the success of the website, like FreelanceSwitch did we the book
How to be a Rockstar Freelancer.
Related links:
23. Selling a Hardcover Book
Many authors and journalists leverage their blogs or websites to sell copies of
hardcover books. Examples include
Guy Kawasaki,
Seth Godin and Malcolm Gladwell.
While most of these people were already renowned authors before they created their
website, one could also follow the other way around. Lorelle VanFossen did exactly
that with her
Blogging Tips book. First she built her authority on the subject
via her blog, and afterwards she published the book.
List of self publishing and publishing services:
24. Selling Templates or WordPress Themes
As more and more people decide to get an online presence, website templates and
WordPress themes become hotter and hotter.
On this segment you have mainstream websites like
TemplateMonster, as well as individual
designers who decide to promote and sell their work independently.
Brian Gardner
and Unique Blog Designs are two examples of websites
that make money with the sales of premium and custom WordPress themes.
25. Offering Consulting and Related Services
Depending on your niche, you could make money by offering consulting and related
services. If you are also the author of your blog, the articles and information
that you will share will build your profile and possibly certify your expertise
on that niche, making it easier to gain customers.
Chris Garrett
used a similar strategy. First he created a highly influential blog on the blogging
and new media niche, and afterwards he started offering consulting services to clients
with related problems and needs.
26. Creating an Email List or Newsletter
Email lists and newsletters represent one of the most powerful marketing and money
making tools on the Internet. They offer incredible conversion rates, and the possibility
to call people to action in a very efficient way.
Creating a big list is a difficult task though, so if you have a popular website
you could leverage it to increase the number of subscribers on your list.
Yaro Starak
is a famous Internet marketer, and if you visit his blog you will notice that right
on top he has a section encouraging visitors to subscribe to his email newsletter.
Yaro generates five figures in revenues each month from his email newsletters, proving
that this method works.
List of software to manage email newsletters:
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