Many people nowadays are making money online by building websites and selling them on platforms like Empire Flippers and Flippa. This article will explain how you can monetize a website in order to gain a steady source of income or even sell that website to make a sizeable profit in a short time.
What does it mean when people talk about monetizing a site?
When bloggers, YouTube content creators or other individuals online speak about monetizing a site, they are referring to ways in which they can use their website to make money. Almost any type of content on the Web can be monetized, if you own it. Some investors also buy domain names and sell them. This process is known as domain flipping and it can be quite profitable.
If you have a blog on WordPress, Blogger, Wix or another popular platform, you can make changes to it that allow you to earn money from every page view. Similarly, if you own a website, you can earn when visitors to that site take specific actions, such as signing up for a course, purchasing a product or requesting information on a free program.
How can you monetize your website for free?
Whether you have a website that’s focused on cars, perfume or raising chickens, you can monetize it today. If you already have traffic coming in to your site, there are several ways to leverage that traffic in order to earn money. Some website owners aim to earn just enough to cover the expenses of domain hosting and content creation but others want to pay their mortgage, fund family vacations and add to their IRA through the work that they do on their website.
It’s entirely possible to earn $1,000 or more from your website each month. Some of the most popular ways of monetizing a site are:
- Affiliate marketing
- Selling your own products
- Teaching a course
- Display ads
- Direct sponsorship
How To Collect Payments On Your Blog
Monetization options are usually free and most allow you to get paid by the provider of the program, so you don’t have to handle credit cards yourself. For example, if you’re a ClickBank affiliate, your revenue will be transferred to your account from ClickBank. However, if you sell homemade jam on your home cooking website, you’ll need to ensure that your site is set up to facilitate direct payments from your customers.
One of the easiest ways to collect payment for woodcrafts, handmade toys and other items that you might sell, is via Shopify or Woocommerce. You can also use PayPal Checkout to collect payments. Just log in to your PayPal account and under your Dashboard, click Quick Links and then Accept Payments.
Follow the steps and you’ll be able to accept credit cards and other payment options. This can be done with Blogger, TypePad and most other blogging platforms. When you monetize your blog by selling your own physical or digital products, you’ll keep 100% of the profits.
Support Your Cause With Donations
Some bloggers use their blog to raise awareness about a cause that’s important to them and others. For example, their blog may focus on HIV awareness or supporting people who have overcome serious injuries. You can add a Donate Now button to your blog, via PayPal, to complement other monetization strategies that you use to raise funds.
How do beginner bloggers make money?
Most beginner bloggers make money from display ads. For example, they may sign up for a program such as Google AdSense. AdSense creates ad blocks of different sizes. These ad blocks display content that matches the topic of your webpage.
For example, if your website is focused on tango techniques, the ads that are displayed will be related to tango lessons, tango costumes and so on. The correct ads will only be displayed if the keyword density and other relevant factors are correctly addressed
For example, if you’re targeting ads on “tango dance techniques”, your content can’t keep mentioning “fly to Los Angeles”. If the keyword density of the latter keyword is too high, you may see ads for airlines appearing on your tango website.
Bloggers can also sell ad space directly to businesses in their community or seek sponsorship from organizations that are connected to the theme of their blog. For example, if your blog is about a local sports team, a sporting goods retailer nearby may want to purchase ad space on your site.
How To Monetize Website for Beginners – Use Ad Networks
AdSense is a Google product and it’s an ad network that’s available to bloggers who use Google’s Blogger platform. Videographers who post content on YouTube can also monetize their videos by using AdSense.
With AdSense, you can place different types of display ads on your site, such as banner ads. You’re free to experiment with the type of ads that you show on your site and if you find that banners aren’t effective for you, you can adjust the size, color and other aspects of the ads via your dashboard.
Like other ad programs, AdSense is free. You don’t have to pay any monthly fees and your account is credited every time a person views your webpage or clicks on your ad. The payment for page views is minimal but it adds up if you’re getting thousands of views a week. You’ll usually earn more for ad clicks than page views, especially if the ad is in a competitive niche, such as “lawyer in New York” or “mesothelioma lawyer”.
Word Ads is another popular option, that’s offered to bloggers who use the WordPress platform. As with AdSense, it’s ideal for beginners because it’s easy to set up. Like AdSense ads, the type of ads that are displayed depends on the type of content you have on the page. If you want to earn more money as a beginner, ensure that you create content that generates ads in competitive niches.
How To Monetize Website for Beginners – Focus On The Right Keywords
It’s important to build your blog around profitable keywords. Tools are available to help you determine how much is being bid for an ad for a particular keyword. You can use Wordsstream or Keyword Spy to find out how much you could earn if a visitor clicks on an ad for a particular keyword. Ensure that you develop content on your webpage with these keywords in mind.
How do you monetize yourself?
In order to monetize yourself, you’ll need to create a personal brand. For example, consider Rihanna or Kim Kardashian. Whether you choose to like or dislike these women, they’ve both worked hard to create personal brands and leverage those brands to make money.
If you’re a teacher, think of how you can make your brand stand out. You can be known as the Geography teacher who makes other parts of the globe real to people of all ages. You would earn from your brand via speaking engagements that are hosted by tour companies, books that you write on travel or through semars you host which focus on applications of geography.
If you cook very well, you could build your personal brand around food. You may even choose to focus on a particular technique, taking advantage of trends in the market. For example, if you notice that consumers are moving towards healthier food preparation techniques, you could market yourself as the Steaming Chef, Raw Organic Chef or something similar.
You could teach courses on steaming different types of food and earn when peple pay to do those courses. The best thing about course creation is that once you’ve created an online course, you can keep earning by giving viewers the freedom to use the materials, for a fee.
You might also create a library of courses. You could provide access to members who pay a one-time fee upfront or who pay a smaller fee each month. Subscription models bring in a steady stream of income for people in a wide range of sectors but you’ll need to build your personal brand and leverage that.
How can I make my website profitable?
To make your website really profitable, you’ll need to:
- Select a profitable niche
- Use profitable monetization strategies
- Produce quality content that engages your attention
- Drive traffic by using SEO, email lists and social media marketing
- Use A/B testing to increase conversions
If you’ve built a website but it’s not making a lot of money for you, there are several things that you can adjust to improve your profits. Sometimes new bloggers target a keyword that could pay a lot per click. However, they don’t get any traffic or clicks because the keyword is too competitive.
It’s important to check the level of competition that you have for a keyword before you start building your blog. Good keyword research is essential, whether you plan to sell products or create a membership site.
Sometimes bloggers decide to sign up for an affiliate marketing program. This means that whenever a visitor to their site takes a particular action, such as making a purchase on the partner site, the blogger will get a commission.
Unfortunately, some affiliate programs don’t pay well. You may need to switch to a program with better rewards, to increase your earnings. A lot of Amazon affiliates saw their earnings plummet when Amazon drastically lowered the percentage that they paid as a commission.
Amazon did this overnight. Oftentimes, the best way to secure your site’s revenue is to create and sell your own product. This includes ebooks, online courses and even apps.
Flip A Domain
Domain flipping is one of the easiest ways to make money but you’ll need to have money to invest. When you flip a domain, you’ll purchase a domain name that you think will be in demand. You can sell that name at a higher price and make a profit.
This system works for several reasons. Google’s ranking system considers the keywords that are in the domain name, so for SEO purposes, certain domain names are in high demand. When you aim to flip a domain to make a profit, you’ll identify a good domain name and register it on a site like GoDaddy.
Different sites can’t have the same name, so if a particular name gets a lot of traffic, a lot of people will want it. The competition for that name drives the price up. It’s like buying an empty store in the busiest spot in a city. For example, these combinations are likely to be profitable:
- DropshippingGuide com
- Freegrocerycoupons.com
- Cheapautoparts.com
Investors who buy domain names don’t add content to the site. They just buy the domain name and sell it at a profit. They don’t even need to worry about driving traffic to the name. This is what makes the process so easy.
Several investors look for expired domains. When you flip a domain that’s expired, you can often get a good price for it. You can use sites such as DomainHunter.net and tools like Domain Hunter Gatherer to find expired domains.
Flip A Website
Instead of just buying a domain name, some investors buy an entire website. This is more expensive than purchasing names but you can make a bigger profit. Empire Flippers often has websites for sale. These are in different niches, so you can often find one in an area that matches your expertise, passion or knowledge.
You can purchase a site that you like and even make adjustments that might make it even more profitable. You can sell it back and earn thousands of dollars. You’ll also collect all the revenue that the site generates while you’re waiting for it to be sold.
Of course, you can also sell a website that you’ve built from scratch. If you don’t want to only flip a domain and like the creative process, this will give you big returns. Some people like to build websites but the process of maintaining a website can feel restrictive. In that case, building, monetizing and then selling websites can help you to achieve your financial dreams.
