You can create your own website for different purposes – to develop a business, share useful information and your views with the world, promote products, and services, or help people find each other. But sooner or later there will be a desire to monetize your site, providing you with an opportunity for passive income.
Opened this article for a reason, right? Most likely, your site (or even several sites) already has stable traffic. Or maybe you even started to receive some offers from advertisers …
In this article, we will go through real and proven ways to monetize the site. You can choose one or several strategies at once to get the maximum income 😉
1. Affiliate programs
Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular ways to monetize a website. The mechanism of earning is to resell targeted traffic to another source. If a user comes to the affiliate program from your site and performs a certain action (orders a product or service, subscribes, buys a VIP status, leaves his data), you will receive a monetary reward. It is important here that the topics of your resource and the affiliate program match, as not only the number of clicks, is valued, but also the conversion.
An important note – we will talk about search engines affiliate programs in greater detail in a separate paragraph 🙂
Pros
- meeting the requirements of affiliate programs is easier than passing moderation in search engines or being liked by advertisers;
- good payouts per click or per lead;
- more often than not tools are available for convenient data analysis and statistics;
- a large selection of verticals and offers;
- no need to hold the agreement, as in dropshipping;
- it is possible to use cookies to make sure that the reward is accrued, even if the target action was completed later;
- by placing an affiliate link on your site, you don’t need to do anything else but simply sit back and get passive income.
Cons
There are no real cons to affiliate programs. But to sell your Internet traffic, in some niches you need to be creative and regularly update banners and other content on the site as well as carefully monitor conversions.
What verticals are available in affiliate marketing?
Each affiliate program has one or several options at once, which in affiliate marketing are called verticals.
| Vertical | Description |
| Crypto | Cryptocurrency transactions |
| Dating | Dating, communication, search for a one-night stand (casual dating), games, and photo/video content 18+ (adult dating) |
| Pin-Submits | Mobile Content Subscriptions |
| Finance | Insurance, lending |
| Betting | Bookmakers |
| Gambling | Online casino, online poker |
| eCommerce | Food, household appliances, clothes, and other goods for everyday life |
| Nutra | Goods for weight loss, beauty, health |
| Sweepstakes | Online draws and lotteries |
| Installs | Installing mobile and desktop applications (Antivirus, Utilities, VPN) |
At this point, we simply can’t resist but to mention the earning opportunities with our advertising network.
And of course, at this point, we cannot keep silent about earnings in our advertising network. Because (if you didn’t know) you can also monetize your sites with us 😉
How to monetize your website with TacoLoco?
With us, you can monetize the traffic in two ways:
• get the code and place it on your website — the script will offer the audience to subscribe to push notifications;
• get a link and place it in any form on your resource – by clicking on it, users will be redirected to the landing page.
You will earn money for showing ads to users who subscribe to push notifications. We have direct clicks and impressions monetization, withdrawal of funds to different payment systems, and special conditions for webmasters – 90% payout on RevShare (this is a very profitable offer).
2. Monetizing with search engine advertising
A long time ago, only contextual advertising blocks could be integrated into the site. Now search engines’ affiliate programs have stepped up their game.
You can register in the Yandex or Google Adsense advertising network and offer advertising space on your site. Moreover, it will be relevant to the audience, that is, interested people will click on a small banner with a picture and a concise title. To make money on advertising in this way, you need to meet search engines’ requirements.
How much can you earn?
As the owner of the site where the ad is placed, the advertiser pays you for the number of clicks of unique visitors on the link. This type of income is popular and prestigious; there is simply no upper-income limit here. But to see a good income you need to have a sufficient number of visitors and meet the requirements of those systems that act as an intermediary between the advertiser and the owner of the resource.
Which search engine to choose?
As a site owner, to start making profits advertising in this manner you need to first select a search engine affiliate program you would like to work with:
- Yandex Advertising Network (YAN) – there is a huge target audience reach and an intuitive interface, but to register for the service, the daily traffic to your site must be at least 300 people;
- Google Adsense – the system offers a lot of opportunities but is focused on a Western audience, whereas Yandex remains a priority for the Russian-speaking segment.
Pros
- when displaying advertisements, search engines’ “smart” algorithms allow taking into account users’ interests based on the search history and pages viewed, so the target audience will see the advertisement, which means that click probability will be high;
- the income potential of the webmaster is unlimited;
- you can set the display time and geo;
- audience coverage is huge;
- a wide range of destinations.
Cons
- now all sites are overloaded with ads and it is difficult to make it unobtrusive so that users click on the ad and don’t leave (ads are annoying to most of the audience, so there is a risk of losing your traffic);
- many users have plugins installed that block ads, so not everyone will see them;
- your site may be rejected by the moderators if it does not meet their requirements (low traffic or prohibited content);
- advertising slows down the work of the site itself since it takes time to load scripts;
- you must understand that you are offering your audience to go to another resource, and there is a possibility that they will not return.
3. Direct advertising
A direct link implies a partnership between the advertiser and the webmaster without intermediaries. This may look like placed links in the text or an advertising banner. Unlike affiliate networks, where the network itself does all the work of finding advertisers and setting partnership terms for you, you will have to spend time and effort finding offers yourself. As with search advertising services, it is important to have a well-promoted resource (your site) with high traffic. Then you can dictate terms to advertisers, but be sure to take into account the interests of your audience, otherwise, you risk causing a negative image.
Usually, this method is actively used by the owners of large forums, sites, and the media. Direct agreements with the advertiser are one of the main ways of monetization.
4. Teaser advertising
To make money this way, you need to register with the teaser network and add your resource. If it successfully passes moderation, all that is left is to set teasers. A very important factor here is to correctly place ad blocks on your site, that is, organically fit them into the concept, and set limits on the display of cheap ads or those that can cause negative feedback for your audience.
Pros
- an interesting ad format, which consists of a beautiful image and enticing text, makes many users want to click;
- goes well with other types of third-party advertising on the site;
- it is not possible to block teasers in most browsers;
- does not irritate the audience, unlike banner and contextual advertising;
- there is a possibility of flexible settings;
- the site owner chooses the location of the teasers;
- does not slow down page loading.
Cons
- the audience quickly develops “immunity” to teaser ads;
- the advertiser pays only per click and not for impressions;
- most teaser ads have content that does not fit into the framework of serious resources;
- there is a chance of falling under search engine filters if aggressive advertising or malicious components are observed in ads.
5. Site sale
Some sell the site at a time when it is no longer needed, while others specifically create and promote Internet resources to sell. This is not a permanent income, but a one-time deal. If the owner no longer needs the site, it can be disconnected from the domain and hosting and forgotten but you can still earn a profit, even if it’s the last one for this resource.
How much can you sell a site for?
This is a rather difficult question. If you are going to sell your resource, its value will be affected by:
- “age” of the domain name;
- site development quality;
- daily visits;
- position in the search results;
- authority – the more third-party sites re-direct to it, the higher this indicator will be;
- loyalty and activity of the audience;
- site’s current profitability.
6. Placement of advertising articles on the site
You can earn income if you post customers’ articles on your site. Thus, you not only fill your site with quality content (which has a positive effect on its organic promotion and growth) but also can earn you money. The quality content here would be better described as unique, competent, useful, interesting, and informative material. To find customers, use trade markets that act as intermediaries between site owners and people who want to post articles on your site.
Use sites with manual text moderation and guaranteed stable indexing (Miralinks, Sape, Telderi, GoGetLinks) to be sure of the quality of the articles posted on your resource. Never pollute your site with copy-paste or the “product” that was auto-generated. The article should not contain too many links, depending on the text size, 2-3 are enough. It is somewhat more difficult to make money this way than on links alone, but the income here is also higher.
7. Site with paid access
If your site has professional secrets, exclusive materials, up-to-date life hacks, or in other words, valuable author’s content, feel free to restrict access! Not every user is ready to pay for using an Internet resource, but an interested audience will come to the site. It is easier for professionals who work with narrow niches where the amount of information in the public domain is limited or completely absent to earn money.
8. Dropshipping
Dropshipping has long become a popular way to make money. Its essence lies in the standard model “buy low – sell high”. Place popular products from Chinese or other cheap sites on your resource, having previously set a markup on them. When a buyer places an order, you order it from the supplier, immediately indicating the address of your client. The price difference is your income.
Pros
- no need for a warehouse and space for the goods/items;
- no packaging, sorting, sending and receiving – the parcel is immediately sent to the customer’s address;
- you can set any markup;
- the ability to fully automate processes through plugins and other tools.
Cons
- it is almost impossible to personally control the quality of products and compliance with the selected parameters;
- replacement or return is often very inconvenient and stressful, the dropshipper and the site owner will have to communicate with the buyer instead of the seller, answer questions and resolve disputes;
- delivery times do not depend on you, you will not be able to speed up the shipment;
- you will have to spend time to find products that can bring you a good profit margin.
9. Selling links
Links are bought to raise the site to higher positions in search results, increase the recognition and authority of the site, and outperform competitors. You can do it manually or via popular link exchanges – Rotapost, Webartex, Mainlinks, Trustlink, and Sape.
Trade markets act as intermediaries between site owners and advertisers, where you can earn money by selling permanent or temporary links. Permanent links are perceived by the audience as the most natural, whereas temporary as a rule, give the best profit due to the quantity. You can sell links of any type, as it all depends on the amount that you will be offered for the purchase of one link and its potential number within your resource.
How to make money selling links
To earn, it is enough to register with the service and implement the code correctly on the site. This is a good way not only to earn but also to bring more traffic to your resource. Unlike advertising, your site’s traffic volume does not matter here.
What determines the price of a link
- nesting level (main page links are the most expensive, links from the second page are cheaper, and the following levels are no longer accepted);
- domain name age;
- indexing speed;
- number of indexed pages;
- content quality.
How to make money selling links and avoid filters
Selling and buying links carries the risk of the site falling under the search engines’ filters since this does not apply to “white hat” methods of SEO optimization. To avoid sanctions for artificially cheating indicators (in particular, Yandex TIC), follow these rules:
- first check if the site is indexed, if not, then find out the reason (possibly questionable or malicious content, after which your site will be downgraded in the search results);
- do not place links in already indexed articles;
- create text content that matches the advertiser’s anchor link;
- the anchor should look harmonious and appropriate in the text;
- do not link to newer sites;
- use permanent links;
- limit yourself to 2-3 links to the article.
10. Selling Leads
Generally speaking, this is a type of direct advertising. If you have a website with good daily traffic, you can earn on leads. Unlike CPA networks, downloading an application or registering on a website is not considered a lead here. You offer your audience a specific resource where they can find a product or service they are interested in and receive a reward from its owner for the attracted target audience. But first, you need to find out what services are relevant for your visitors and identify a partner who provides such services. As practice shows, there is a chance of being deceived and not getting your commission.
How to develop your site to earn money
Before you start making money with your site – whether it’s monetizing a blog, reselling traffic, or making money on advertising, you first need to make sure that your site has been well developed with good traffic flow to it. Your resource will not be of interest to advertisers if there is practically no traffic there, pages are not indexed, and the website interface is not user-friendly.
If you are the owner of a relatively new resource and do not have the desire or ability to pay specialists for its promotion, follow these tips.
- Ensure maximum page loading speed.
- Adapt the site for mobile devices.
- Work on structure and navigation.
- Fill your site with unique and useful content.
- To drive free traffic, promote your product on social media, send email campaigns, leave comments on posts, and chat on forums.
In other words, do everything possible to get into the search engine’s indexing. Do not take contextual advertising as an alternative to search engine optimization. PPC and SEO are best done in parallel. It is possible to make a site popular enough to start driving profit in 3-6 months.
Popunders, push notifications, or banners? Which option is better?
Let’s go back to affiliate programs for a moment. More often than not they offer to embed code to place links, display popunders, banners, or push notifications.
In the case of popunders that use the CPM payment model, often there is no auto-optimization provided. Offers often are irrelevant, as such most of the audience is “cold”. Full-screen pop-ups annoy users.
Push notifications provide a good conversion. The unique aspect of push notifications is that you can promote different verticals. When site owners find out what push notifications are and how to work with them, they opt-in for this particular traffic monetization option.
Of course, pay-per-click is worth less than per action or personal data (CPL, CPI, CPS, etc.), but this is a great option for passive income.
If you want to make money with your site quickly, choose advertising push networks. The owner of the traffic source here receives a reward from the advertising network for each click or view of an ad until the user unsubscribes.
What is the best way to make money with your website?
This question is as old as time, the answer to which depends on the individual parameters of your resource – the choice should be yours. We recommend testing several ways and scaling the best one.
If you have chosen to make money on advertising, take care of your audience – carefully check what you are advertising, choose a topic close to your resource, and do not turn your site into a banner or link dump. You will not only not earn, but also lose your audience if the advertising of questionable content is placed on your site or there is too much of it.
P.S. Some webmasters make over $5,000 a month selling their web traffic through push ad networks. If you choose TacoLoco, it will be enough to register as a publisher and place a push subscription code or link on your site. This type of monetization is suitable even for those who do not yet know enough about the features of push advertising and are just starting to take their first steps;)
