With the rise of internet marketing in almost every field, having a website is no longer just for big companies with huge budgets. Many people are now choosing to develop their own sites and monetize them using one of the many options available.
In a recent survey, it was found that there are over 100 different ways to generate income from a website. Here are 15 of the most popular methods for you to get started with today.
Selling Products Online
Selling products online is the obvious choice for anyone looking to make money from a website. You can either create your product or promote someone else’s by becoming an affiliate.
Some popular places to sell products online include Amazon, Etsy and Shopify; with most of them allowing you to sign up easily without fees.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing refers to when you generate income when people purchase goods or services that link back to your site. It is one of the easiest ways to earn a passive income because all you need to do is write reviews on relevant sites and include links in your posts. As long as people buy within 24 hours, you’ll get paid automatically.
Membership Sites
This option requires users to pay a small monthly fee in order to access special content on your site. This allows you to limit the number of members.
Webinars and Courses
If you have a specific skill set or product that you can teach, this is a great way for people to learn while earning income from it at the same time. Most online education sites, such as Teachable and Udemy, will pay you a commission for anyone who signs up through your link – not including any refunds; allowing you to make money even if no one purchases anything!
Blogging
Blogging remains one of the biggest tools available today thanks largely to social media sharing. According to Bright Hub Media, there are over 150 million blogs out there today with thousands more being started each day. Becoming a blogger is a great way to spread your influence and become an influencer, which can have a big effect on your earnings from other revenue streams.
Social Media Marketing
Social media has given rise to the ‘influencers’ of today. These are regular people – just like you or me – who have amassed large followings that view them as an authority figure in their industry of choice. With some effort put into social media marketing, you can reach thousands of potential customers every day through this channel alone.
Email Marketing
If done correctly, email marketing is a highly effective way to build a fan base and increase website traffic by sending out newsletters with relevant information to your audience.
eCommerce
Ecommerce is all about selling goods and services directly to your customers, with many options available today for you to set up a store online. This includes individual stores on major eCommerce sites, such as Shopify and Etsy, as well as cross-platform sites that allow you to sell from any of your existing websites through one simple website address – most notably Amazon.
Product Licensing
In most cases, product licensing means someone else is paying you to use your intellectual property. In some cases, they may even be willing to pay ongoing royalties every time it’s used by others; resulting in regular income for years to come. Popular examples include book series like Harry Potter and movies like Ghostbusters.
Dating Website
This is one of the most unusual ways to earn an income from a website, however, pulling it off successfully can result in millions through paid subscriptions. Creating an interactive dating or sugar daddy website can be difficult, but the rewards are well worth it.
Selling Data
This option is similar to product licensing, except you’re giving away your intellectual property instead of selling it. The most common example is search engine data that allows other people to see which websites are the most popular online for any given topic.
Selling Exclusive Products
This can be anything from t-shirts to electronic gadgets, with custom products being the biggest draw here. You’ll need help from a designer or artist if you don’t have these skills yourself, but once complete you can sell your product on sites like Redbubble and Teespring; allowing you to create cool things for your fans every month.
Brokering Deals for Other People
If someone else has an idea or invention but doesn’t have the means to get it developed or manufactured, you can step in and offer your service as an intermediary. This makes you the middleman between them and whomever they’re trying to work with; resulting in commissions for every deal made.
Daily Deals (or Flash Sales)
Daily deals involve offering select products at a discount for a short period of time. The most popular example is Groupon, which offers customers steep discounts on goods and services – usually only available for 24 hours or less before expiring. Daily deal websites can be extremely lucrative if done correctly, but don’t expect someone else’s idea to sell well unless you make it unique or offer something better than what already exists.
PPC Advertising (Paid Search)
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is one of the easiest ways to make money online as it can be set up and executed by anyone. All you need to do is find a relevant topic, create an eye-catching ad campaign, and wait for the traffic to roll in, which you can then convert into paying customers.
Conclusion
Many opportunities are available to make money online but remember that it’s not always easy. Even if you have an amazing website with tons of traffic, converting readers into buyers or email subscribers can be difficult – especially if your online store isn’t designed well. If you’d like the best chance of success, try more than one option at once by setting up multiple websites with different purposes.