How to Monetize Your Website
Earning money from a website is like a passion for some people. In this article we would tell you some of the best ways of monetizing your website. Before moving one, let me clear you that the effectiveness of these methods would depend on the amount of traffic you are getting. If you are not getting enough visitors then concentrate on increasing traffic for your website.
Below are some of the most effective ways of monetizing your website and turn it into a money making machine.
1. PPC Advertizing networks
2. CPM Advertising Networks
3. In-text Advertising
4. CPA Advertising
5. Selling products online
6. Banner Advertising
7. Text Links
8. Affiliate Marketing
9. RSS feeds ads
10. Job boards
11. Premium content
12. Organizing Conferences
13. Donations
14. Pop ups
15. Selling EBooks, templates and themes
16. Offering Services
17. Mentoring programs
18. Audio Ads
PPC Advertising Networks:
Pay per Click (PPC) advertising generates revenue whenever someone clicks on an ad on your website. Pay per click (PPC) is an Internet advertising model used on websites, in which advertisers pay their host only when their ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target. Content sites commonly charge a fixed price per click rather than use a bidding system. Websites that utilize PPC ads will display an advertisement when a keyword query matches an advertiser's keyword list, or when a content site displays relevant content. Such advertisements are called sponsored linksor sponsored ads, and appear adjacent to or above organic results on search engine results pages, or anywhere a web developer chooses on a content site. Among PPC providers, Google Ad Words, Yahoo Search Marketing, and Microsoft ad Center are the three largest network operators, and all three operate under a bid-based model. Cost per click (CPC) varies depending on the search engine and the level of competition for a particular keyword. Some keywords are highly competitive and generate more revenue while others are not that highly paid, it depends on customer behavior. Google with its Adsense service is the most popular service under this category. The profitability of PPC advertising depends on the general traffic levels of the website and, most importantly, on the click-through rate (CTR) and cost per click (CPC). The CTR depends on the design of the website. Ads placed abode the fold or blended with content, for instance, tend to get higher CTRs. The CPC, on the other hand, depends on the nice of the website. Mortgages, financial products and college education are examples of profitable niches (clicks worth a couple of dollars are not rare), while tech-related topics tend to receive a smaller CPC (sometimes as low as a couple of cents per click).
The source of the traffic can also affect the overall CTR rate. Organic traffic (the one that comes from search engines) tends to perform well because these visitors were already looking for something, and they tend to click on ads more often. Social media traffic, on the other hand, presents terribly low CTRs because these visitors are tech-savvy and they just ignore ads.
To use this service you have to add a piece of code inside your website, which displays relevant adds on your website.
Google Adsense:
It’s the biggest and by far the most popular CPC (Cost Per Click) Ad Network. These days, Google Adsense serves CPM Ads as well, so it’s not a CPC only Ad Network. Google Adsense is a fast and easy to use way for publishers of all sizes to display ads on their website and earn money. The program is free to join.
To join Google Adsense, you need to have a website that complies with Google Adsense Program Policies. Those policies are not that tough and your website should get approved unless you are publishing something illegal. You must be at least 18 years of age to participate. After you register with them, you need to wait till the fellows at Google approve your website. Then you can get Ad codes from the Google Adsense site and place them at desired spots on your website. Once you have pasted the code on your page, ads will instantly start appearing. Google Adsense serves contextual ads, which means the advertisement shown in the webpage is relevant to the content of the webpage. Google serves both text as well as image ads. Color, size and font of the ads are customizable which means you can customize the ads to match the look and feel of your website which ensures higher conversions.Google Adsense has one of the best reporting systems, so you can easily track who clicked what and how much you made for that click.
CPM Advertising Networks:
CPM stands for Cost per Thousand ad views using the Latin word mille in the acronym. CPM is one of the most commonly used bench marks in the advertising industry and is not only used online, but in radio, TV and other forms of advertising. Instead of an ad network giving you the total cost for an advertising campaign, it easily states its ad rates at the cost per 1,000 views. CPM rates vary with the network, the position of the ad and the format. The better the network, the higher the CPM rate (because they have access to more advertisers). The closer you put the ad to the top of the page, the higher the CPM. The bigger the format, the higher the CPM.
You can get as low as $0,10 and as high as $10 per 1,000 impressions (more in some special cases). CPM advertising tends to work well on websites with a high page views per visitor ratio (e.g., online forums, magazines and so on). CPM ad networks usually act as brokers bringing together advertisers that would like their advertisements viewed and publishers that have web sites that advertisements can be placed on. The CPM ad network usually has several channels or categories that an advertiser can have their advertisement viewed on. Using CPM ad networks, an advertiser can effectively target their products to those that are interested in the same category that the site attracts. CPM ad networks offer an affordable way for advertisers to target their market. For advertisers to get started, they usually will need an advertisement and to set up a campaign. For the most part, banner ads, pop up & pop under ads, as well as skyscraper or side bar ads must be created. Most CPM ad networks can either refer you to creative services that create ads or can provide you with in house creation of ads.List of popular CPM advertising networks:
· Casale Media
· Burst Media
· Value Click
· Advertising.com
· Tribal Fusion
· Right Media
In-Text Advertising:
In-text ads don't require any additional real estate, which is attractive to many site owners. Ads are attached to text in your content, showing up as underlined or double underlined words that are clickable. Some will pop up a little advertisement when the word is moused over. Many viewers, however, find these ads distracting.
CPA (Cost Per Action)
CPA ads pay per action. Viewers don't just need to click on them, but they actually have to do something, either sign up/register or make a purchase. Not surprisingly, they are the highest paying ads. However, how likely your visitors will click on the ad and perform the desired action will depend very much on how relevant the ad is to your content. For example, a site about digital photography may do very well showing digital camera CPA ads. Some sites are much better suited for CPA ads. Consider whether any CPA ads would add value to your visitors.
Selling Products Online:
Selling products via E-commerce embraces everything from Clothing, Shoes, Books, Computers, Electronics and the entire array of ancillary supporting products akin to their category. Although the barrier to entry may be more competitive and the needs to have a firm privacy policy, area for inventory and solid reputation in addition to a merchant account, EIN number and all of the things that go along with commerce, it is one of the most proven monetization methods online. Some of the most trafficked sites online are either sites that sell products direct or are portals like amazon.com and overstock.com which sell virtually every type, model and category of products you would find in commercial retail environments and have either have fulfillment arrangements or stock levels themselves to accommodate sales. Digital products are relatively easy, as they have a much lower cost of sale than physical products. With a digital product there’s no physical warehousing, shipping or cost to reproduce the product. You can create your own products to sell, pay someone to develop a product for you, or promote other people’s products via affiliate networks Direct Banner Advertising
Selling your own advertising space is one of the most lucrative monetization methods. First and foremost because it enables you to cut out the middleman commissions and to determine your own rates. The most popular banner formats on the web are the 728×90 leaderboard, the 120×600 skyscraper, the 300×250 rectangle and the 125×125 button.The downside of direct banner advertising is that you need to have a big audience to get qualified advertisers, and you will need to spend time managing the sales process, the banners and the payments.
Text Links
Text links work the same way as the above. You set aside a space on your page and text links will start showing up when they are purchased. You need to submit specific pages into the inventory, so enter your most popular pages (homepage, category pages, and very popular articles). Rates are based on your PR, which has to do with how many other sites link to your page. If you often get linked and mentioned, text links may be profitable for your site.
Affiliate Marketing:
There are many, many affiliate programs available on the web that allows you to join simply by filling out an application. The key is to find products and services your visitors want to buy. A good place to start is (http://www.linkshare.com/) LinkShare, a sort of affiliate consolidator for many major companies. Browse their affiliate partners and be selective- only choose the ones that will appeal to your audience. Many companies only offer their affiliate program through their site so don't overlook those programs you glanced at while looking for link partners. Knowledge goods (reports and e-books) are a great product to sell when they relate to your topic. Authors often have an affiliate program available to resellers. Make sure you DO want to recommend the product before offering it for sale. If there aren't any knowledge goods in your chosen field, why not write your own e-book? Don't repeat general knowledge- have a reason for writing it. A helpful e-book can not only make money, but it can help establish your reputation as an expert. If you have a newsletter or blog on your site, you can mention the affiliate products you sell for an even bigger boost in sales. Don't lower your credibility by promoting junk! Only promote those things you really believe in.RSS Feeds Ads:
With the quick adoption of the RSS technology by millions of Internet users, website owners are starting to find ways to monetize this new content distribution channel.
Feedburber already has its own publisher network, and you can sign-up to start displaying CPM based advertising on your feed footer. Bidvertiser recently introduced a RSS feed ad option as well, with a PPC scheme.
Job Boards:
To create a profitable and active job board you must have a website with good content and a fair amount of traffic. The advantage of this method is that Once you have the structure in place, the job listings will come naturally, and you can charge anywhere from $10 up to $100 for each.
List of popular job board software:
· Job Thread
· Web Scribe Job Board
· Simply Hired Job-o-matic
· Jobbex
Premium Content:
Some websites give away part of their content for free, and charge for access to the premium content and exclusive tools.
SEOMoz is a good example. They have a very popular blog that gives advice and information on wide range of SEO related topics. On top of that visitors can decide to become premium members. It costs $48 monthly and it grants them access to guides, tools and other exclusive material.
Organizing Conferences:
If your website takes off and becomes an authority on its niche, you could create a conference around it. Depending on the size of your audience, the event could attract thousands of people, and you could make money directly from conference passes and sponsors.
Donations:
Pop Ups:
Pop ups are annoying, yet they are an effective way of advertising and generating revenue from your website. If you are just trying to make as much money as possible from your website, you could experiment with them. If you are trying to grow the traffic and generate loyal visitors, however, you probably should stay away from them. Just consider the hundreds of pop-up blockers out there: there is a reason why they are so popular.
Ad networks that use pop-ups:
· Tribal Fusion
· Pay Popup
· Popup Ad
· Adversal
Selling EBooks, Templates and Themes:
Perhaps one of the oldest money making strategies on the web, using a website to promote a related ebook is a very efficient way to generate revenue. You could either structure the website around the book itself or launch the ebook based on the success of the website. As more and more people decide to get an online presence, website templates and WordPress themes become hotter and hotter so you can earn a fair amount by selling these templates and themes.
Offering Services:
There are services that will pay you money to run a small survey or poll on your website. Depending on your niche, you could make money by offering consulting and related services. If you are also the author of your blog, the articles and information that you will share will build your profile and possibly certify your expertise on that niche, making it easier to gain customers.
Audio Ads
Also called PPP (Pay Per Play), this advertising method was introduce bywww.netaudioads.com,
the concept is pretty simple: play a small audio advertising (usually 5 seconds) every time a visitor enters into your website. The user should not be able to stop it, creating a 100% conversion rate based on unique visitors.
Mentoring Programs:
People are willing to pay for someone or something that will teach them and give them knowledge (as opposed to mere information). Education is one of the biggest industries in the world, and the online landscape behaves in a similar way. Creating a mentoring program related to the niche of your website could be very profitable if you manage to structure and promote it adequately. There is a wide range of media and tools that you can use to deliver the information, from text articles to audio and video lessons.
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