You’ve put together the best website you could, but now it’s just sitting in the digital ether, taking up space. Now what?
It’s time to monetize it, of course. On the modern web, there are plenty of methods to make your website work for you. Don’t let it sit around. Websites that earn you money are worth the investment and may be worth more down the road, once you’ve proven its value to potential buyers.
Let’s examine the 20 best ways to monetize your site.
Sell Ad Space
Your website uses digital space. Any space that isn’t making you money is a waste! You can sell space on your pages to advertising companies that will pay you by the view or click. This method allows you to choose which ads are displayed on your site, which can be helpful if you are trying to curate a specific mood or look. But you’ll have to search out advertisers yourself, which can take time.
Utilize Ad Networks
Similarly, joining an ad network will have you paid for displaying ads from different companies on your website. This is distinct from selling space to a specific advertiser. Instead, your digital space will be used by various companies as part of the same advertising network. You’re usually paid once every 1000 clicks or impressions. The downside is that you don’t always get to choose what is displayed on your site.
Creating an E-Commerce Store
If you have the product to sell, sell it! Building your own e-commerce store is a great way to get physical or digital products to your consumers. This is a traditional method of revenue generation and is dependent on both having an audience and a niche that you successfully fill. You have an advantage in that you get to determine what you sell, and for how much. Having some business and financial savvy is a necessity for this path.
Monetizing
Monetizing your site can involve integrating paid content into your regular content stream, or making your service or site a paid-only experience. This is most effective after you’ve already built up an audience or crowd that regularly consumes your content.
Donations
If your site has a dedicated group of readers or consumers, you can always ask for donations from the crowd. This is a particularly effective monetization tactic if you are charismatic and primarily deal in the entertainment industry. However, donations are not very regular, even in the best of times. It’s best to rely on donations in conjunction with other revenue streams if you plan to make enough money to live off of your site.
Use Repixel
You can use Repixel to get paid for every time a visitor reaches your site. It’s a platform that joins companies in the same niche or industry together and links advertisements to all of their sites. In this way, companies can compete with each other rather than against one another. This gives you ultimate control over who you advertise and who you work with. It can also be beneficial for two complementary sites, like a bookstore and a music store, to join forces to capture more of the same market.
Portfolios
If your website is mainly used as a brochure for your skills, you should include portfolios of your work. Your website can demonstrate your expertise and value to potential clients by having a select offering of your past work on display. This method does not directly generate the revenue but it can lead you to future earnings down the road. This can be used either when you’re seeking out new clients personally or wrangle in new clients without you having to lift another finger.
Sponsored Posts
You can earn revenue by sponsoring certain posts on your blog or website. Companies may approach you if your site is successful enough to share a post that advertises or endorses their product or service. In exchange for this exposure, they’ll pay you a fee that will be higher based on the expected return or the number of clicks that the post gets. Sponsored posts are best for websites that already have a large traffic base.
Create and Sell Leads
As you develop content throughout your website, you can attract users that will qualify as leads for certain companies seeking new customers and clients. As you generate more leads, or potential customers, you can earn revenue by bringing them to a company seeking them out. For instance, leading some new customers to a local plumbing service can earn you a few from that service for your trouble.
E-Books
If you have the licenses for it, you should sell e-books! They’re doing just as well, if not better, than traditional paper books and don’t require you to expend energy on physical inventory. You can also sell your own e-books thanks to the easy access to services like Kindle. Anyone can become an author in this day and age, and it’s entirely possible to become a bestseller if you’ve got the wordsmithing ability.
Affiliate Promotion
Affiliate promotion and marketing is one of the most successful revenue generation methods on the Internet. By joining an affiliate program, you’ll earn a small commission every time a visitor to your site is sent via a link to a product that you mention on your site, then purchases that product. This ties in heavily with product reviews, but it doesn’t have to be so straightforward.
Sell to Email Subscribers
If you’ve got an active consumer base and a large email list, it may be worthwhile to develop content or products specifically for your weekly or monthly newsletter. Selling to your email subscribers is often more efficient for your effort since your subscribers are already interested in your site and products if they’re on the list. You won’t have to waste effort selling to random visitors to your site. Selling high-quality content or products to your subscribers is a great way to keep their interest in the long term, as well.
Product Reviews
This is especially effective if you’ve joined an affiliate program. Reviewing products is a great way to get into a specific market that might not yet be inundated. But you can also review products from other website owners or content creators, who might pay you a direct fee to provide your honest opinion on their latest offering. Product reviews are popular because there’s a lot to buy nowadays, and little time to sift through it all.
Add a Membership Program/Forum
Those with active subscribers or a large traffic base can implement a membership program and/or forum for their most loyal consumers. Membership programs need to come with benefits but can net you a consistent revenue stream so long as you can maintain content creation schedules.
Offer Consulting Services
If you’ve got skills in demand, advertise that you offer your services as a consultant somewhere on your website. While it may take some time to get started, you might be able to acquire significant and consistent revenue once your reputation is established in your field.
Create Online Educational Videos
Those with a teaching streak can make educational videos or seminars. You’ll have to establish your expertise in a particular subject beforehand and be able to convince others to buy for your teaching. Still, this can be an effective revenue generation method if you are experienced in a given niche and can explain the subject to laymen.
Make/Sell a Podcast
Podcasts are common, but not all are sold. If your content and personal voice are interesting enough, you can monetize your own podcasts by discussing whatever you fancy. It can be daily gossip, your site’s content, politics, whatever! Podcasts are a great revenue stream since they tend to earn you more the longer they continue.
Banner Advertising
Banner advertising can be lucrative if your site gets a lot of traffic. But be careful not to make too much of an annoying impression on your visitors with banner ads, as a cluttered site can easily turn new and old visitors away.
Create Site Tools or Software
You can make your own digital tools and sell those to the public if you have the programming expertise. You might even be able to advertise the tools you developed for making your own site to those who are impressed with its functionality.
Sell Your Website
If your site is booming but requires a lot of work, you should consider selling it to a worthy buyer. Selling your site can generate you a huge lump sum all at once and allow you to progress to a new business venture or develop a new site entirely.
Landocs PE is an excellent company to investigate if you want to sell your website. They have an experienced team of digital and financial experts that can value your site for its real worth and who’ll make you a fair offer for your digital property. Contact them today if you’re ready to sell your site and make some money!