Level up this 2021: 8 Tips and Tricks on How to Monetize your Website
The recent advancements in the information technology sector have certainly provided a ton of opportunities for people who want to earn extra income. Nowadays, anyone who has a computer and a working Internet connection can make money without even leaving the house. All he needs is a unique concept worth sharing that people will care about and earn from it.
Setting up a website is one of the more popular ways to earn money online. You can either choose a website builder or use a template provided by WordPress or other content management systems (CMS). Whatever the case may be, your website is where you’ll introduce yourself to the world, particularly to your target audience.
I Already Own a Website, What Now?
If you have already set up a working website with regular content updates, you’re now poised to move to the next level—website monetization. Monetizing your website isn’t something achievable after a week or two. It is an ongoing campaign that, when done correctly, could potentially cover not only your domain and hosting expenses but even your monthly salary.
So how does it work? There are a few essential guidelines that you should check if you are interested in website monetization. While following these tips may not automatically lead to the results you want, they are certainly steps in the right direction.
Website Monetization 101
Making money online has become quite the buzz in recent years as website owners are slowly quitting their offices to focus more on their online ventures. There are dozens of ways to monetize your website, but here are a few of the most popular and effective ways to do it:
- Affiliate Marketing and Links
Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular ways to earn money online. It is simply referring a product to your readers and then placing a link that directs them to a website to purchase the item. You need to describe in detail how such things or activities can benefit them.
Then, you may include an affiliate link to the beauty product or pair of sneakers you are trying to promote. Also, affiliate links can direct your audience to service providers and other establishments that have something to offer.
Once your readers purchase any of the recommended products through the affiliate link, you would earn a commission. Commissions range from 20% up to 70% of the item’s price, depending on what your affiliate provides.
- PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Advertising using Google AdSense
This advertising strategy is simple: you place banner ads made by Google on your website, and when a visitor clicks on them, you automatically earn money. This is one of the first monetization strategies new website owners use because it’s easy to set up. There are guides available to place these banner ads to increase their chances of getting clicked by visitors.
- Sell Ad Space
Another form of monetization is selling ad space on your website. It can be in the form of banners, links, small popouts, etc. Make the necessary preparations so that online stores and service providers would want to purchase ad space on your website. You either get paid on a pay-per-click or pay-per-visit model.
- Online Selling (e-Commerce)
If you think you have an actual product or service that you can sell, promoting it through your website is another way to monetize. However, unlike the previous points, this will require more logistical preparations on your part.
Some of the things you need to consider include item deliveries, invoicing, setting up payment methods, etc. Moreover, the overall format of e-commerce websites is different compared to conventional sites.
Essential Tips for Effective Website Monetization
Now that you know the ways you can earn money from your website, here are some crucial tips to ensure that you’re doing it right:
- Plan Ahead – Before you begin anything, you should first plan what you want to achieve. What are your goals? How much do you plan to earn? Are you willing to spend money in the process? Planning requires a vision of what you want and a set of strategies to get it. Without proper preparations, you are setting yourself up for failure.
- Stay in Your Niche – Your niche is the industry where you chose to work as you build your website. It can be about travel and tourism, fashion, business, information technology, or even household furniture.
Most website owners build their sites around niches that are closest to them. For instance, a doctor can create a website focused on health, or a retired athlete establishes an online portal for health buffs and enthusiasts. It’s about having something that others may not have—expertise in that particular niche.
Once you begin building your site and getting affiliate links, stay within your niche of operation. If your content is about the latest trends in fashion, getting affiliate links about mobile devices may not cut it.
- Stay Updated – Keep reading about your chosen niche, as well as other possible ways for you to earn money. Remember that as the Internet continues to grow and expand, more ideas for monetization may come up.
- Consistently Build your Audience – You need regular visitors on your website to build an effective campaign for website monetization. Without enough website traffic, earning online will be very difficult.
You can build your audience by encouraging comments and suggestions, announcing promos for select items, sending regular email updates, and engaging in social media. Earn your audience’s trust so that you can earn their loyalty.
- Branch Out if Possible – We mentioned earlier to stay in your chosen niche, primarily if you’re writing sponsored content, allowing banner ads, or promoting affiliate websites. However, it is still possible for you to branch out to related niches.
For instance, a website that only publishes content about tourism and travel guidelines may include material about hotel lodging, accommodations, and even food and beverage. Remember that you can only branch out to niches that are related to your main industry.
- Keep Your Website User-Friendly – See that your website is user-friendly to both computer and mobile users. This includes overall design, format, and navigation. Keep your website simple so that new visitors will know where to look. However, your website should also be complex enough to show a sense of trustworthiness and professionalism.
- Evaluate Regularly – How would you know if you were already earning more than spent in hosting and domain fees? This is where you evaluate your progress. You can’t just compute the money you’re making; you also need to take note of how much you’re spending.
For example, if you have an e-commerce website, you need to check every step of the purchase process so you’d know whether you’re actually earning or not. Moreover, you may need to look into e-commerce statistics for businesses to determine if your business is doing well.
- Aim Higher – Once you have made your evaluations and discovered that you are indeed succeeding in your website monetization campaign, then it’s time to set the bars higher. Your competitors in your chosen niche would continue to grow and look for better ways to monetize. If you become too complacent, you will soon be left behind.
Final Thoughts
Setting up monetization strategies for your website is relatively easy as long as you know where to go and what to do. However, your success in earning money online does not depend on that alone because countless people share the same goal as yours, and you should have what it takes to stand out.
Consequently, you can’t stand out amongst the crowd if you keep doing what everybody else is already doing. You have to go the extra mile and work harder if you truly want to succeed in website monetization. Hopefully, the simple tips provided above would become a good foundation for the endeavor you plan to pursue.
Author Bio:
Isabel has a passion for writing about lifestyle and shopping. She enjoys meeting new people and hearing different stories. Read more about My Shopping Box, shipping from the US to the Philippines.
