It is the dream of millions of individuals to quit their 9-to-5 job and become their own boss. When the Internet first spread its wings and became available to more people around the globe, millions dreamed of working from home. Whether they operated their own website for business, or blogged every waking thought, these people sought to monetize their website and break free of the corporate bonds.
In reality, monetizing your website or blog is not something that can occur overnight. If it were as simple as setting up a new page and watching the money pile up, cubicle farms in offices across the country would be ghost towns. We’d all be sitting at home in our sweatpants, writing a new blog post each day, and just watching the visitor count rise. Monetizing your blog will take work, but that shouldn’t translate in your mind as impossible. In the following paragraphs, we’ll cover six ways that you can monetize your blog and enjoy financial rewards from managing your own site.
Pay-Per-Click Ads (PPC)
PPCÂ ads are relevant ads that are placed on your website by a third-party service based upon the content of your page. You’ve seen these on nearly every page you visit, and modern tools allow Google and other providers to place extremely relevant ads that rotate based upon user decisions. When you search for a veterinary office near your home or local college information, you’ll undoubtedly begin seeing random ads for a vet down the street or major universities near you as you read the news online or flip through your social media account.
Google AdSense is the most popular tool when it comes to PPC ads, but there are similar programs offered by other providers. Signing up for an account allows you to place three different types of ads (generally speaking) on your page. These ads will rotate based upon the individual users that visit your page. Every time visitors click on those ads and follow them to other sites, you get paid. You’ll have to bid on keywords. The downside is that popular keywords can get expensive. The upside is higher pay each time someone clicks on your ads. Remember, bid on the keywords that are relevant to your industry.
Cost-Per-Impression Ads (CPM)
Similar to PPC ads, CPM ads will generate on your page based upon the content your users have been searching for recently. Each time a new visitor clicks over to your page, an ad is generated that is likely to attract their attention. While PPC ads need to be clicked by the user to generate income for you, CPM ads pay you simply for providing space for an ad to be seen. The downside to these ads is the much lower pay you receive.
Text Links
Text links require you to set aside space on your page for links to appear. Rather than advertisements, simple text appears that entices users to click and visit a different page. You’ll need to submit specific pages from your site into the inventory in order for text links to work properly, and for you to receive payment for the actions. We strongly recommend that you only add popular pages from your site the inventory, such as your homepage, category landing pages, and popular articles. Rates you pay to place text links are based on your PR, which itself is based upon the number of other sites linking to your page. Each time you get linked and mentioned by other sites, text links generate a profit for your site.
In-Text Ads
As the name suggests, these ads appear within your content. The advertisements are often enclosed within a paragraph or set between paragraphs as a clickable ad that viewers can select as they scroll down your page. We suggest approaching in-text ads with caution. They are a great tool for generating income, but they can also be an annoying distraction that might cause users to avoid your site. Many in-text ads will underline words to make them clickable, which is a good approach. What you need to watch out for are the ads that produce small pop-up ads when readers mouse over the underlined word.
Be a Merchant
Search Engine Journal’s top suggestion for monetizing your website or blog is to sell products or services. There are few people making living by simply providing poignant rhetoric that the world cannot live without. However, plenty of people make a living selling products or services online, and enjoy a side stream of revenue as a result of traffic to their page.
Selling your own product or service will take time, and there will be bumps along the way, but there are also more tools available down this path than any other to aid you in your success. Services such as Clickbank.com, E-Junkie, Commission Junction, and LinkShare, to name a few, can help you monetize the flow of traffic on your website or blog, while you also work to gain revenue from the products you sell on your page.
Operating a proper business online is the best way to earn money from your online activity. Establish your website as a trusted source for your chosen product or service. Take the time to research the keywords that boost visibility for your page, and don’t be afraid to work tirelessly to establish a stream of relevant information from your site that helps gain the trust of visitors. The more people that visit your business site and find it relevant, the greater your customer base becomes.
In the End
Remember that it will take time and effort to make all of this happen. Whether you sign up for a Google AdSense account, place a few text links, or launch your own business website, you won’t be rolling in the dough after a few days. Vigilance is required to ensure that your blog or website is running smoothly at all times, and you’ll need to put in the effort to generate quality content. If you follow those steps though, you’ll establish a strong flow of revenue from your website as a reward for all the hard work.
