Are you wondering how to make money with your website?

“There was just one computer in my primary school, so we would ‘try’ to learn how to code together. That’s me on the far right!” CIRCA 1995

If you answered yes, you are definitely not alone!

Monetising a website in 2023 is a popular topic among website owners.

With thousands of articles available online, it can be difficult to know who to listen to for advice. As a web designer and digital marketer with over a decade of experience, I’ve built and managed hundreds of websites and have made a living through various methods such as publishing and web design. While many tech start-ups like Google, YouTube, and Facebook have been successful without initially having a plan for monetisation, it’s wise for smaller website owners to have a plan in place when creating or monetising their website.

It’s probably a good idea to be careful who you listen to, some article writers actually have experience making money with their website and others do not.  I’ll let you judge for yourself, but I’ve personally built and project managed hundreds of websites and I’ve been making a living from digital marketing, publishing, and web design since 2010 (although I did build my first money-making website back in 2000 when I was 16).

Many tech start-ups launch (for example, Google, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and others), they didn’t always have a plan for how they would make money.  The primary goal for these start-ups is to focus on creating something that will attract major attention and get a lot of website visitors.

Once website traffic is in place, there are lots of different ways these websites can utilise their audience to make money. I know that most people reading this won’t be creating the next big internet start-up (like Facebook), so it would be wise to have a few plans in place when creating a new site or monetising an existing one.

1. PAY PER CLICK CONTEXTUAL AD NETWORKS

Adsense is Google’s advertising network for online publishers.

Pay per click networks will pay you when someone clicks on an ad on your website; even if they don’t buy anything.

This is one of the easiest and quickest ways to monetise your website.

Simply sign up, get approved, and then copy and paste a short piece of code onto your website.

You will now be displaying an advert on your website.

This is an example of the most popular PPC network, Adsense by Google.

Pay per click or PPC networks like Google Adsense have ads displayed based on the content of your site.  Typically you will get paid per click from these types of contextual networks.

GOOGLE ADSENSE

Most well designed, content-rich and good looking websites should have no problem getting an Adsense account approved. Adsense is great due to its ease of implementation and relatively passive income for someone who is just getting started with PPC on their website.  Here’s an example of a Google Adsense ad:

If you need assistance setting-up your website with Google Adsense, you can visit the Firefly Digital Marketing page.

2. CPM ADVERTISING NETWORKS

Instead of paying on a per-click basis, the CPM ad networks pay on a per-view basis (usually around £1.00 based on around 1000 pageviews [ But this is just an example] ).

Most of these types of CPM networks require that you have a large visitor base to be approved to their network; therefore most of these won’t work for a small website.

Your ability to get into these advertising opportunities typically depends on how many page views your website is generating.

So, if you have a website that is getting tons of traffic from Facebook or Pinterest for example, then you can monetise your web traffic through CPM networks.

3. AFFILIATE NETWORKS

An affiliate network pays out a website owner a fixed amount or a percentage of the sale amount.  As an affiliate marketer, you refer someone through your website with a specific link and get paid if someone actually buys something after visiting your website and clicking the link. Some of these networks do however bleed together; meaning some of these affiliate networks pay out on CPA offers as well. 

Affiliate marketing is BIG business online and it’s one of the most profitable ways to make money online.

Example: AMAZON ASSOCIATES

Amazon Affiliates Network contains millions of products you can link to from your website to make a commission.

This can be a good option because you get paid no matter what the person buys on Amazon within 24 hours (not just what you referred them to).  If you happen to build a very niche website, then I think this is an ideal option to get started with to hit the ground running.

Amazon has millions of products that you could write reviews on. 

In addition, so many people are comfortable buying products on Amazon (and may even have a Prime account), that it makes it really easy to refer buyers to Amazon.

There are many many other affiliate networks to make money from other than Amazon, just find one that suits your website’s niche.

4. SELL AD SPACE DIRECTLY

Firefly New Media UK sells advertising space directly to local and national companies to advertise online on our magazine sites.

This is a big market as well with lots of options, for example, my company Firefly New Media UK publishes four local magazines (consettmagazine.com, durhammagazine.co.uk, sunderlandmagazine.com, and newcastlemagazine.com) have local advertisers utilising these online magazines to market their products and services to people throughout North East England.  You can contact advertisers directly on your own or use an ad manager/network to help.

5. CREATE YOUR OWN PRODUCT OR SERVICE

The most profitable way to monetise your own website is to simply launch and sell your own product. The different types of products you can create are only limited by your imagination, so think big and you could have a hit on your hands. Here are just a few common options:

CREATE A VIDEO TRAINING COURSE

Create a niche training website selling a course on something you’re an expert on, or partner with an expert to create a guidebook, tricks & tips, tutorials, or video training course.

CREATE AN EBOOK

Publish your ebook on your own website.  A digital book can really be just as simple as a PDF file that you deliver to people after they pay online.  We know of several ebooks doing really well on the market selling for £50.00 or more on niche websites and e-learning marketplaces. For assistance creating an ebook 

CREATE A MEMBERSHIP AREA or a PAID FORUM

Self-explanatory, you can create a private member area of your website or forum for a user to subscribe to for access. Many people will pay for access to exclusive content, this is a sure-fire way to entice people to spend money on your website.

CREATE A PIECE OF SOFTWARE

If you’ve got a great idea for software or can code an awesome new application, then creating a piece of software for website users to purchase is an excellent way to make money from your website.

If you have no coding experience, then you can find a quality web or app developer to help you with the project specifications, development, launch, and marketing.  

Ready to help you get the most out of your website?

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