Building an effective website that can stand the test of time requires a variety of considerations and skills. From picking the right design to optimizing menus and navigation, there’s much work to be done, even before going live. After that work is complete, the process then turns to content creation, marketing, and other vital aspects of promotion that’ll ensure your website is prominent and desirable.
Many people start their own websites without considering the level of dedication they require. After some time, the work can feel thankless – leading to neglect or outright closure of the website in question. To compensate for time spent building and maintaining the website, many choose to embrace monetization in a variety of ways.
As it turns out, there are many ways to earn money through a website. Let’s look at five of them today so that you’ll know how to proceed if monetization is your goal.
1. Digital Goods & Subscriptions
Not every item sold on a website has to be tangible. Many of the most successful brands online today provide digital downloads and services instead of physical products. Websites that provide information and valuable insight can monetize this by offering premium services such as e-books, subscription-only podcasts, and other valuable downloads.
Likewise, focusing on building subscription lists can provide inherent monetary value over the long-term. Through direct asks and promotional events such as giveaways, you can gradually collect more and more email addresses – which can be used in a variety of marketing capacities. For example, this website publishes publicly available free samples that can be used as freebies in contests where securing subscriptions is the goal.
2. Sell Merchandise
A website with an existing following and steady traffic likely enjoys a fairly robust audience of return visitors. These individuals return to the website over and over again because they have loyalty to the brand. Regardless of the focus of the website, these people trust the website to provide them with what they need.
Websites that have loyal visitors can take advantage of this dynamic through the selling of merchandise. From t-shirts and hats to mugs and other paraphernalia, generating income from users – in exchange for something they want – is a common tactic used. Coupled with contests and other promotional events, the use of merchandise can be a powerful tactic for revenue generation.
3. PPC Advertising
Last but not least, websites cannot overlook PPC advertising. This method is simple: add a bit of code to your website, and a variety of ads will be displayed to visitors. For each click, you earn a commission. While this is often a relatively small form of monetization, it can add up over time, especially for sites with large amounts of traffic.
4. Affiliate Marketing
If you are already producing content that relates to specific products and items (such as reviews), then one easy monetization trick is affiliate marketing. This tried and tested strategy involves including affiliate links in relevant pieces of content. If visitors click on the links in question and ultimately purchase products, you’ll be paid a percentage of the total sale. Many brands (usually in the form of online store-fronts) use affiliate marketing as their sole method of monetization.
5. Sponsored Content
If and when your website is drawing a respectable amount of traffic, you can use its prominence to generate revenue through other bloggers. A variety of websites and brands want to be featured, earn traffic and build links through the use of sponsored blog posts, so you can publish content and charge them for the privilege (please note the difference between guest posts and sponsored posts). Even with the price tag attached, many websites require the client to also supply the post, meaning no real work on your end.
Websites can easily be monetized through a variety of methods. The great thing about these five methods is that they can all be used concurrently. While the choice is up to each brand, combining a variety of different ways to generate income is the most successful strategy for long-term profit.