All The Ways To Monetize Your Website or Blog
The goal of most website or blog owners is to eventually make some money from it. While you are focused on providing quality content, and engaging with your readers, it would be nice if you got back a little something in return. To do this, you need to learn how to monetize your website or blog.
There are a lot of ways to go about this – too many to cover in one post, in fact. To help you out, below is a brief overview of each method, followed by links to more complete guides.
Advertising
Placing ads on your website is one of the most common methods for monetizing. With this system, you place a snippet of code someplace on your website. If that ad is clicked (or sometimes, just seen), you earn revenue. It’s a fairly easy way to monetize a website, so most beginners choose this as their starting point. For more information on using Advertising, check out our guide here.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is similar to advertising, except in this case you only advertise for one product/client. With affiliate marketing, you partner with another company, and promote their product/service on your website. If someone ends up making a purchase because of your website, you get a commission. With affiliate marketing you have more control over what you are advertising, and the commissions are typically higher, but it can be harder to make a sale. Our guide on Affiliate Marketing can be found here.
Sell Your Own Product
Rather than promoting someone else’s product, you could sell your own. For example, if you have a blog about how to be a better golfer, you could sell an e-book with more detailed information. Some people earn a living by creating things – such as woodwork, or custom clothing – and then selling them on their website. When you sell your own product you have a lot more control, but it usually requires more legwork. Visit our guide here for more info on selling your own product.
Sponsored Posts
Finally, you could use the posts themselves on your website/blog to bring in some money. If your website is receiving a large amount of traffic, other people will want to post on it. By selling the posts on your site, you could bring in revenue, and in some cases, not even have to do the writing. There are some pratfalls to be aware of before you start getting sponsors for your blog posts, so read our guide here before you begin.
Other Methods
These are the primary methods for monetizing a website, but there are some others. For instance, if your blog produces something creative, you could set up a Patreon account and ask your fans to support it. Or if your website is providing a free service, some people get by simply by having a place for visitors to donate. These methods will depend on your type of website, and much you want to earn, but they are available to you.
Monetize Your Website Or Blog In The Way That’s Right For You
Each of the above methods has pros and cons attached to them. The method that will work best for you will largely depend on your own situation. How much do you want to earn? How much work do you want to put in? Do you want to just set it up and leave it, or constantly work on it? Ask yourself these questions, then go through the guides linked above before making your decision. Monetizing your website or blog in the right way could be the key towards earning a living from home.