Now that you have your website online, how can you make money from it? We share the best ways to start monetizing your site today.
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Once you have your own Bluehost website online (click here for our guide), there’s an endless stream of opportunities to start making money.
It’s not uncommon for committed bloggers to quit their day jobs after a couple of months. I did it!
In this guide, I’ll share some of the best ways to monetize your website, with lots of handy tips and resources to get you started from day one.
But don’t chase them all at once! I highly suggest picking one or two from this list that resonate with you and your website, and really focus on them first.
Let’s start (in no particular order) with my 20 ways you can monetize a site Web. !
How to make money with a website
Here are the best ways to monetize your website:
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Affiliate Marketing
Being an affiliate means that you promote a product or service to your website visitors in exchange for earning a commission if a purchase is made through your link.
Join the network Awin to access thousands of affiliate programs, including major brands like TripAdvisor, Etsy, and Nike.
Then, simply include an affiliate link (provided by Awin) when you mention products from your chosen partners in your website.
Check out our complete guide on how to get started and make money with affiliate marketing.
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Using Skimlinks
Skimlinks is quite similar to Awin (and other affiliate networks) in that it allows you to earn a commission on purchases made through links on your site.
The key difference is that, in addition to allowing you to create individual affiliates whenever you want, Skimlinks can also be installed on your website to automatically monetize your content.
If you link to a merchant in your content that is part of the Skimlinks network, Skimlinks will automatically convert the link to an affiliate link.
You will be paid if a visitor makes a purchase through your link, and commissions range from 2% to 10%.
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Adding Banner Ads
You can easily set up network ads using Google Adsense or Media.net by copying and pasting code into your site to create ads that are relevant to a visitor’s recent Internet search.
Taboola is another increasingly popular service for bloggers who monetize their content. It works by displaying relevant articles (instead of banners) from advertisers in your network.
These networks will pay you each time a visitor clicks on an ad (cost per click or CPC) or per 1,000 impressions. (cost per impression or CPM).
You can also sell ads directly to businesses with a relevant product/service. This option can be much more cost-effective as not only will you be setting the rates yourself, but the advertiser will (hopefully) know that your audience is one they’d like to target.
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Use text link advertising
Provide basic text links to an advertiser’s website (in-content advertising) and charge a flat rate per month (eg £20). Alternatively, you can charge per click.
There are many marketplaces, such as Backlinks and LinksPanel, where you can post your offer.
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Sell to email subscribers
The biggest regret we hear from bloggers is not starting an email list sooner.
So get an account with AWeber from day one to engage your audience and communicate with them after they have left the site.
You can then send them an email with recommended products they might be interested in (affiliate promotion) and earn various commissions if they sign up or buy something.
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Publishing Sponsored Posts
Sponsored posts, sometimes known as advertorials, are advertisements in the form of an article, usually containing a link to the advertiser’s website.
An advertiser can send you the article, but if you can write the content for them, you win quids as you can get paid for your time too.
You can earn between £35 and £200 for a sponsored post, depending on your website’s popularity.
Join the blogger network groups on Facebook and share your website, as that’s where advertisers look.
Note: The advertising rules state whether you get paid for To publish an article on your site by a third party, you should always write “Sponsored Post” somewhere on the page.
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Review Products
This it’s especially applicable if you have a niche readership, such as new parents or keen gamers.
But even if your readers aren’t from a specific group, you can still participate in gravy train product testing.As long as you’re happy to write a review of the product after trying it, companies will be more than happy to send you some freebies, and possibly even pay you!
Sign up with Toluna as soon as possible to receive the latest opportunities.
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Sell Digital Products
Ebooks, printables, graphics, templates, and podcasts are all examples of digital products that can help you earn ongoing passive income from your site .
You could charge around £2.99 for a 5,000 word eBook; Doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s soon adding up to 20 eBook sales per month.
Check out Envato Marketplace for inspiration and ideas.
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Sell physical products
Use your website as a base to sell your own physical products as well. For example, you can create designs for t-shirts or mugs with Zazzle, maybe even brand your site if you think people would buy it.
You can also create handmade products to sell on eBay. or other sites like Etsy.
But wherever you sell, just make sure you link to the marketplace from your site; right away, that will give you an advantage over the other sellers on the platform.
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Include a business directory
Set up a business directory page, where companies pay you a flat fee to get their business listed.
You can charge a monthly or yearly listing fee and charge between £20 – £500 (and more) per year, depending on your site’s traffic levels.
For example, let’s say you have a website that reviews sound systems. Assuming that sites like Amazon are probably pretty popular already, you could charge independent retailers (both offline and online) to appear on a page listing places that sell high-end speakers.
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Post Premium Articles
If you can create incredibly useful content, you can win from it.Suppose you have a gaming website and you can share some little-known strategies in an article. You can hook the visitor by sharing some tips and then linking to a password protected page (this is an option within WordPress) for the most valuable information.
The reader gets the password to unlock the premium content once once a fee has been paid to you through PayPal. Charge what you want, although £2 – £10 is a realistic price for a premium item.
You may have seen some of the mainstream media such as The Telegraph and The Times, using this strategy in recent years, clearly has some merit.
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Adding a membership forum
You can add a forum ‘just for members’ to your site by using free WordPress plugins like bbPress. You can then monetize this by charging a regular subscription or a one-time access fee.
Crucially, the amount you can earn depends on how much value you can create for forum members. If you can turn your forum members into a real community, one that interacts and shares advice, you’ll be a winner.
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Create an online course
Create an online course to complement your website. This is another type of paid premium content where visitors pay to access additional information.
The course can be delivered automatically via AWeber to those who paid and subscribed with their email address, or you can add it to Udemy to reach a broader customer base.
Check out our guide to free online courses if you’re looking for some inspiration, or just think about what your readers might be interested in. If your website is about arts and crafts, for example, you could have a course that teaches people how to crochet.
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Create your own affiliate program
Once you’ve created your own website products, such as a course or eBook, you can create your own affiliate program and recruit affiliates to help spread the word.
This can drive more product sales and more traffic to your website It’s a win-win, and there are plenty of free WordPress plugins to get you started.
We work with many brands here at Save the Student, and while some tend to use networks like Awin to handle their affiliate marketing, many others (including Amazon, mostly) do it alone. In other words, any way will work.
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Create a ‘Hire Me’ Page
When you build a website, you will develop some new skills that will also help you earn additional money .Set up a ‘Hire Me’ page on your site and offer freelance blogging and writing services to get started.If you’ve taken on a more involved role in setting up the basic elements of your website, why not advertise your services as a developer as well?
Beyond your site, you can offer these services through Upwork like good. A freelance writer can make quite a bit of money, around £20 – £50 an hour.
And Upwork isn’t the only freelance job site out there. Read our guide for freelancers for more tips, including the best places to advertise your services.
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Ask for donations
Add a simple donation button from PayPal on your website and ask people to donate a couple of pounds (the equivalent of buying you a coffee) if they like your content. You can also link to your Buy Me a Coffee page, if you have one.
Some of the biggest websites are powered in part or solely by donations, including mine and your friend’s, Wikipedia.
In the end, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
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Create an Amazon Store Page
The beauty of Amazon is that it sells almost everything you could wish for. So, no matter what your website is about, there’s a good chance that Amazon sells relevant products.
You can easily add a separate Amazon store page to your website, and if people like it If they see you as an authority on your topic, they will listen to your recommendations on which products to try that are relevant to them.
Join the Amazon Affiliate Program and you will earn between 1% – 10% commission on product sales if one of your readers buys something through your link.
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Create YouTube Video Content
Create Video Content for your website to not only help you keep visitors entertained; it could also earn you income.
One of the ways you can monetize video content is by uploading it to YouTube and setting up Google Adsense (Google has a handy guide). And while you’re at it, check out our guide to making money with YouTube.
Once you’ve created your video content, you can embed your YouTube videos on your blog. If your video goes viral, you can earn hundreds in ad revenue.
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Become a Consultant
If you’re an expert in a field, why not do it? share your knowledge in exchange for an hourly consulting fee?
Advertise via your website and deliver your expertise via monetized webinars and podcasts, or even a Skype call where visitors pay upfront to benefit from their knowledge.
Whichever channel you choose, if people come to your website looking for your explanations and expert opinions, you should definitely consider charging for some personalized advice.
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Sell your website
Once you have a website that is already monetized and receiving good levels of traffic, you will have an asset.
As with any asset, your website can be sold and when the time is right, websites like Flippa and the aptly named BusinessesForSale.com are there to help you find a buyer.
Wait earn two or three times the annual earnings of your website if you decide to sell.
This list is just the tip of the iceberg. Its purpose is to inspire you to take real action and make your website work, knowing that there is a GREAT opportunity to earn money in the future.
If you haven’t set up your website yet, do so now myself. We have a step-by-step guide on how to start a website with Bluehost and WordPress.
You don’t have to be a techie to start your own site, like my own grandmother did. tested!
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