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February 4, 2021
Website monetization refers to the numerous ways that can be used to convert your site’s traffic into online revenue. Although these methods can lead to increased income for businesses, not every tool is suitable for every company. If your website is well developed, receives a good amount of traffic and generates a high level of engagement, there’s an excellent opportunity to monetize. However, knowing the right monetization technique is crucial.
Your website can turn into a profit-making powerhouse if you are able to figure out which type of monetization can prove to be successful for your business.
Here’s a look at 11 methods that can convert clicks and visits into revenue.
If your website is designed to completely support a product or service, the simplest way to generate revenue is to use the same tool to increase the total amount of sales. It could be a subscription service that enables users to buy more of your products on a frequent basis, or an Amazon Alexa tool that helps them add your products to their shopping carts.
When you start promoting another business’ products or services on your website, it is known as affiliate marketing. In this type of marketing program, the host website gets a commission when a visitor makes a purchase from one of its affiliate links. Affiliate marketing can be profitable; however, you need to evaluate whether the affiliate is an appropriate one. Ensure that the products you endorse are of high quality and relevant to your website, and that they don’t look like spam. It shouldn’t affect your traffic and brand trust. Amazon Associates, ClickBank and eBay Partner Network are some popular affiliate programs.
Display adverting is considered the key revenue source for many websites. Just by selling ad space on your website, you can earn ad revenue. Display ads are either text-based, image or video ads that encourage the visitor to click through and take an action. This method doesn’t require a payment from your audience, and you are able to earn money from every page and visitor. Ad revenue can be calculated based on clicks or impression for each ad. Remember that traffic plays a crucial role here. Higher traffic means better performance. Display ads can be in the form of banner ads (ads in banner format), interstitial ads (which appear as web pages), rich media (includes interactive elements), and video ads (YouTube, Instagram, Facebook or other social media networks).
PPC is an advertising model that is used to drive traffic to your website. This method is an effective way of website monetization. It allows advertisers to place ads on the host platform, and each time their ad is clicked, they need to pay a fee. This is a lucrative monetization method only when the traffic of your website is regular and high. Keyword insertion plays a key role here, as these ads are targeted to users who are most likely to click on the ad. Google AdSense is the most commonly used form of PPC.
Site sale, also known as site flipping, involves selling your website to another party to make a profit. In order to attract a potential website buyer, you should have good revenue from other monetization sources, or your website should generate a good amount of traffic. The key factor that decides the salability of your website is your overall income.
This is a form of content marketing where advertisers pay for content (reviews, newsletters and case studies) produced by a third party that is relevant to them. This gets you quality content on your website, and adds more credibility to the brand. Don’t accept sponsored posts from a company who is your direct competitor, and ensure that the company posting promotional content on your website isn’t involved in any fraudulent activity. You’ll also need to have a strong understanding of SEO and Google’s webmaster guidelines.
Mailing lists are usually used to keep your customers informed about your products, services, or new launches and events. Renting out these mailing lists to other companies can be a source of income as well. Email marketing can yield a hefty revenue, but sending out emails on behalf of other companies may also cost you your customers, as some promotions might be irrelevant to them and turn them off.
Websites sometimes take the membership route to earn revenue. This model includes paywalls, online memberships and subscriptions. The membership program give access to premium content to users who pay a subscription fee. Subscriptions are considered a more sustainable method of monetization, which promises a dedicated readership who are willing to pay for unique content.
Consulting is another way to make money through a website. If you’re an expert in a dedicated field, have immense knowledge and skills, you could probably counsel people who are willing to pay you. Once it starts to pick up, you can have multiple plans for visitors to choose from.
Once you gain the “thought leadership” status, you have a lot more to offer people, and they’ll be more willing to pay. Online courses, case studies and webinars can prove to be a quality revenue channel. Additionally, LinkedIn can be a powerful tool to promote such content.
Hosting an online podcast and starting a YouTube channel will help generate more income. For podcasting, you just need to find a niche, grow an audience for it, and then scout for ways to monetize and get sponsors. As for YouTube, once you start a channel, you get to choose from multiple revenue streams:
For best results, you need to have a strategic approach, adapt to the evolving digital landscape and plan ahead to ensure your revenue stream stays steady.
Tasnim Ahmed is a content writer at Escalon Business Services who enjoys writing on a multitude of subjects that include finops, peopleops, risk management, entrepreneurship, VC and startup culture. Based in Delhi NCR, she previously contributed to ANI, Qatar Tribune, Marhaba, Havas Worldwide, and curated content for top-notch brands in the PR sphere. On weekends, she loves to explore the city on a motorcycle and binge watch new OTT releases with a plateful of piping hot dumplings!
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