A pretty website is cool.
Traffic is also cool.
But at the end of the day, we want to pay the bills.
For that, we need monetization.
In this article, we'll look at multiple ways to monetize a website.
We'll also be addressing a few important questions about website monetization.
Let's dive in.
How to Monetize a Website
Understand Your Audience
Here's a well-established digital marketing fact:
Before you think of monetizing your website, identify the people you should be monetizing it with.
The most important thing is to understand their needs, wants, pain points, or desires.
Then, use that information to create a tailored content marketing strategy.
Create a Solution for Them
Once you've identified your target audience's pain points or desires, come up with an effective solution.
The solution could be anything from an e-book on losing belly fat or a video course on developing an app.
It could also be a service that helps e-commerce business owners get more sales.
The goal is to offer a solution and charge a specific amount for it.
Test Your Idea
Test a new idea or product before going all in.
This will help you identify any loopholes in your initiative so that you can fix them before launching it.
For instance, if you want to sell a comprehensive e-book on a particular topic, launch a shorter version of it.
Observe the feedback and see if you can make any improvements based on that.
Launch
As soon as you feel confident about your idea, it's time to launch it on your website.
This involves introducing your new product to your website audience.
You may have to come up with some creative marketing strategies.
The right way would be to create a converting landing page or sales page that dives deep into your product.
Pro tip: Use only one call to action (CTA) throughout your landing page to avoid distracting the visitor.
Here are a couple of powerful ways to promote an initiative.
Send Out Emails
Email marketing is a powerful way of promoting a newly launched product.
Email subscribers are people who're interested in reading about your offers.
Since an email list tends to be a warm audience, it's easier to convert it.
If you have an email list, send out a bunch of emails around your launch.
For instance, if you've launched an e-book, send out several emails about how it can benefit them.
Promote on Your Website
A professional website is the best place to launch an idea because it's like a virtual home of your business.
It can have all the information that a visitor needs to know about a product before proceeding:
Basic product information
How it can help them (Benefits)
Customer testimonials (Trust-building)
Blog posts (Authority building)
And a call to action
Your product's landing page is where all the action happens.
So, you need to make sure it's optimized around a single call to action.
Now that you know all the prerequisites, let's talk about the strategies you can use to monetize a website in 2023.
Ways To Monetize a Website in 2024
Ads
Display ads are arguably the easiest way to monetize a website. It's easy because you don't have to worry about creating and marketing a product and can rely on a third-party ad network.
Ad networks play the role of a middleman between advertisers and you, the content creator. From placing the right ads on your web pages to sending the payment to your bank account, everything is taken care of by these advertising networks.
Let's take a look at two of the most common and easy-to-join ad monetization platforms.
AdSense
AdSense, a platform owned by Google, lets website owners monetize their content by displaying relevant ads.
Although you have to go through an application process, it's pretty easy to get accepted.
All you need is some valuable, high-quality content. After you submit your application, their team analyzes your site and approves/disapproves it within a few days.
Your website also needs to have all the core pages in order to get approved.
But, how much can you make by monetizing a blog with AdSense?
The official AdSense website gives you an estimate based on the:
Category
Target region
And estimated monthly visitors
For instance, for the North American target audience, you can expect to generate $10k per month in the business and industrial category. One easy way to make passive income from a website is by selling ad space. It's a popular option among website owners.
AdSense isn't the only ad network though.
Here's how to monetize website without AdSense.
Ezoic
Ezoic is a platform that uses an AI-driven approach to optimize your own website for maximum revenue.
You can harness the power of Ezoic to amplify revenue, enhance user experience, and execute automated optimizations.
This powerful platform has features like Layout Tester, Ad Tester, and Heatmaps that let you test different layouts and ad placements to find the right balance.
Ezoic Leap, another stand-out feature, optimizes your website for speed, improving its chances of ranking for your target keywords.
Display ads aren't the only way to monetize website with this platform though.
Ezoic Humix, a video platform like YouTube, lets you monetize your video content as well.
Using this integrated video platform, you can place videos on any web page you want.
Half of the revenue generated through a video goes to the website owner.
You can even create these videos with Ezoic's own AI tool Flickify.
The tool creates slideshow videos from scripts.
You can even use it to create videos from your published blog posts.
Just enter the link of your post and it'll fetch all the content.
It even has in-build voiceovers that you can add to your videos.
As soon as your video is rendered, it'll start showing on the Humix network.
Humix videos don't only offer an additional source of passive income.
A video on a web page improves its chances of ranking on the first page.
This is because videos tend to be more engaging than text. And longer dwell times (The time an average user spends on a web page) are a positive SEO ranking factor.
This was all about how to monetize a website with ads. Here's how to monetize a website without ads.
Private Sponsors
You don't need to rely solely on ads or affiliate networks to monetize your website.
Private sponsorships are one of the other options.
If you have an audience, it's almost certain that there are companies that would love to target them.
Reach out to them and pitch your services.
Take into account the type of companies that would be interested in your audience, and then approach them.
Your pitch should be creative and focused on their needs rather than yours.
Talk about what value you offer to their product, how you can help them reach their goals, and how it would benefit the audience.
Your Physical Product
The room for creativity is infinite when it comes to selling physical products.
The trick here is to understand the needs of your audience first, then come up with profitable product ideas.
The physical product route calls for a bit more resources.
Plus, delegating inventory management, fulfillment, and shipping to a third-party provider will free up your time to focus on more important tasks like marketing.
And if you're using WordPress, the only plugin you'd need to start selling physical products is WooCommerce. And it's free.
You can use a dedicated e-commerce platform like Shopify to make things further simpler for yourself.
E-commerce businesses do need to build their brands in order to stand out in the market though.
This can be done with effective e-commerce marketing, but you'd need an expert to steer you in the right direction.
Info Products
Info products started off as PDFs, eBooks, and audio files. Now they're also taking the form of webinars, online courses, and even membership sites.
People need information and are willing to pay for it if they believe you can be of help.
So, the revenue you generate solely depends on the value you can offer to your audience.
You can sell information products via social media, word of mouth, email marketing, or any other marketing channel.
Here are the three most common info-products out there:
E-Books
An e-book is a digital version of a physical book. You can sell an e-book on your website or any other third-party platform like Amazon.
Even if you sell your book via Amazon, your website will play an important role in marketing your e-book.
Before creating an e-book, think about what your target audience would like to read about.
Plus, avoid trying to sell your e-book right away.
Add a lot of value with free content first. Maybe create a shorter version of your e-book and give it away for free.
That way, you'd be collecting high-quality leads and selling the original product to them later.
The goal is not to give away all the information for free.
Instead, offer only a fraction of it for free and keep the rest of the content locked away.
You can write and design an e-book yourself if you have the skill and time.
If not, you can always hire Legiit freelancers to take care of everything at a reasonable cost.
Recommended e-book design service: Design Unique E-book, Book Cover
Recommended e-book writing service: 20,000 Words E-book for Lead Generation
Courses
Online courses are becoming increasingly popular. With the help of video tutorials, webinars, and other interactive tools, you can teach others about your area of expertise.
To be successful, you must create an engaging learning experience. So, use visuals, animations, and quizzes to make the course more interactive.
As for monetization, a one-time fee will be your best bet. On the other hand, you can also run a subscription-based program to give users access to all the content for a monthly or yearly fee.
However, setting up a course on a new website can be overwhelming.
What you can do is host your course on Legiit and use your website to promote it.
Legiit lets you create and host your courses for free. All you need to do is sign up for a free freelancer account and you'll be ready to go.
Events
Live events are an excellent add-on to an online course. They allow you to take your content and turn it into a physical experience, allowing people to ask questions, connect, and collaborate.
You can charge an entry fee for the events or offer a combination of subscription-based and pay-per-view options.
Services
You already know it: if you're an expert at something, never pass up an opportunity to make money online with it.
From web design to SEO, there are dozens of services you can offer as an online freelancer.
For instance, currently, the demand for digital marketing services is on the rise.
So, if you have any experience in that field, now would be a great time to start offering your services.
Legiit makes it super easy to sell virtually every service online.
Create a Free Freelancer Account
Affiliate Marketing
Like display ads, affiliate marketing also involves leveraging third-party products to earn money from your website.
All you have to do is find the right fit for your audience, create content that drives clicks to your affiliate link and make a commission from each sale.
Affiliate marketing strategy works best when you have a passionate audience to whom you can recommend products. Also, ensure the product is relevant and provides real value to your readers.
For instance, if you have a gardening blog, you can recommend greenhouses or soil. In contrast, if your website is about web hosting, you can recommend hosting plans and even domain name registrars.
Sponsored Posts and Link Building
Sponsored posts and link-building are two of the best ways to monetize a website.
A sponsored post creates a win-win situation; you get paid to publish content on your site, and the brand gets exposure.
In sponsored posts, the advertiser pays you to write a post about their product or service.
In link-building, you need to include a link to the advertiser's website in your article.
These methods are only suitable for websites that have decent traffic and backlink profiles.
The payment generally depends on the authority and traffic value of your website.
So, if your website is new, this won't be the right monetization strategy for you just yet.
Start by writing great content on in-demand, low-competition keywords and build links to your website first.
The higher the website traffic and number of high-quality, relevant backlinks, the more you can charge for a sponsored post or guest post.
Membership
Do you have a loyal following? If so, you can monetize your website by offering exclusive content to members only.
It could be anything from an online course or events to access to digital products.
Creating a membership site requires effort and planning, but it's worth it once you get things up and running.
You will also need to actively engage with your members, provide value, and offer incentives to keep them interested.
The best way to get started with a membership site is to use an online platform like MemberPress.
It's user friendly, integrates with WordPress, and offers a range of membership plans. Plus, you can monetize your content by setting different pricing levels and offering discounts.
SaaS
Software as a Service (SaaS) is another way to monetize your website.
You can create an app or software and charge users monthly or yearly.
It works best when you have a unique product to offer, and your target audience is willing to pay for it.
Creating a SaaS product is no easy feat. But if you have a unique concept, it can be super profitable.
Subscription-based SaaS products can bring in handsome revenue on a monthly or yearly basis.
However, developing and promoting a SaaS product can be overwhelming, especially if you're not a developer.
What you can do is work with a developer. Have them realize your idea.
Alternatively, you can leverage third-party platforms to quickly get things up and running.
SaaS business is one of the most popular ways to monetize a website these days.
It's also one of the most sustainable ways to monetize a website, especially if your product has a monthly pricing plan.
Once the development phase is over, start promoting it to relevant online audiences.
Use email marketing, pay-per-click ads, blogging, influencer marketing, or any other marketing strategy to spread the word around.
Buy and Sell Services on Legiit
A great way to start an online business is by selling something you're good at.
Or, something that's in demand.
Legiit gives you everything a service provider needs to build a sustainable business online.
If you think you don't have any skills to sell yet, take this free course to kick-start your journey.
You can also buy all kinds of services on Legiit at super affordable prices.
For instance, you may need someone to handle all the SEO aspects of your website.
Or, maybe you want to outsource content creation?
There's a Legiit freelancer for everything you'd ever need to grow your website business.
How to Monetize a Website: FAQ
How Do I Get My Website Monetized?
There are multiple ways to monetize a website, including affiliate marketing, display ads, publish sponsored posts, digital products, email marketing, physical products, and more. The best part is you can use several of these methods to maximize your website's earnings.
How Much Money Can You Make from a Website?
The amount of money you can make from a website can vary depending on a number of factors including your niche and monetization methods used. The amount of traffic it gets is also a determining factor. The best thing is there's no limit on the revenue you can generate with a website; some are even generating millions of dollars per year.
How Does Monetization Work on Websites?
So, how do websites make money? Monetization on websites involves using different methods to generate income from the traffic they get. Some popular ways to monetize a website are affiliate marketing, ads, e-commerce products, digital products, sponsored content, and more.
How to Monetize a Website with AdSense?
To get your website approved by Google AdSense, make sure it has all the important pages and is technically sound. Some high-quality blog posts will also help. Once you have a website that follows Google's quality guidelines, create an AdSense account and add it there.
How Do I Monetize My Website Without Ads?
Ads are one of the many monetization methods you can use on your website. Popular ways to monetize a website without ads are digital products, courses, membership sites, physical products, and more.
What Are the Requirements to Monetize Website?
The requirements to monetize a website vary depending on the strategy you're using. For instance, if you go the ads route, your website will have to follow the guidelines of the ad network. Some affiliate programs require that your website should have a set number of monthly website visitors in order to be eligible.
Can You Monetize a Free Website?
Yes, it's possible to monetize a free website. For instance, Google's Blogspot lets you create and monetize a free website. However, if you want to have full control over your content, consider investing in a custom domain and a third-party hosting service.
How Much Time Does It Take to Monetize a Website?
It may take anywhere from a few months to a few years to start generating decent revenue from your website. But, if you're patient enough, a website can make you a lot of revenue on autopilot.
Conclusion: How to Monetize a Website
If you want to monetize your website, start by understanding your target audience.
Whatever it is that you want to sell, it needs to address a pain point or fulfill a desire.
One of the easiest ways to get a website ready for monetization is by showing ads.
If you want to monetize your blog posts right away, sign up for a free Google AdSense account.
Other website monetization methods include:
Affiliate marketing
Info products
Physical products
Private sponsors
Sponsored content & link-building
Membership
SaaS (Software as a service)
Services
Events
Related Posts:
How to Increase Domain Authority
