Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links. We receive a commission if you sign up or purchase the product through our link, but the price is the same for you. We thoroughly vet and approve of all products before recommending them here
Did you know that one website can be used to create up to 8 different income streams? That’s right, this one asset can make money in multiple different ways, and, in most cases, simultaneously.
As we discuss in most every article, creating a new income stream can be your key to reaching financial freedom and retiring early. The best part? No coding or web design experience is necessary. Several website builders, such as WordPress, Squarespace, and Shopify, have been created over the past few years to help you quickly, easily, and affordably create websites that can earn you money.
And of course to make money with any website, you have to generate traffic. So, in this article we are discussing the 8 ways to make money with your website and 3 ways to generate traffic to your website. Let’s start with money making opportunities:
8 Ways To Make Money With Your Website
- Ads
First up is the most common source of revenue for websites, and that is ads. This is most popular with blogs, news sites, social media sites, recipe sites, and other similar sites that focus mainly on written content (like this site). It is a quick and easy way to monetize your content without infringing on it or “selling out”.
A lot of similar articles to this one will recommend selling ad spots on your site and blog. That is a great idea if your site has a lot of traffic and bargaining power. But, if you are a smaller site, a better option may be Google Adsense or similar services like WordAds. The services are there to help you, then you just have to generate traffic.
- Sponsored Posts
Next up is sponsored posts. If you have a blog, a podcast, video content, or another similar content website, companies will pay you to create posts and share them with your followers. These posts may be product reviews, an article on a certain subject, or ad reads inside of your normal content. Once you start generating enough traffic, companies may start reaching out.
- Affiliate Marketing
You have most likely heard of affiliate marketing as it has been growing in popularity over the past several years. If you haven’t, affiliate marketing is when you use your platform to sell someone else’s product for a commission. This is usually done through a link that people can click, then if they purchase the product through your link, you get the commission. This is great for sellers and buyers as it does not change the buyer’s experience or price at all.
Want to learn more about affiliate marketing? Here is a great course on using your Twitter account to start affiliate marketing (and yes, that is an affiliate link).
- Subscriptions
If you have a large enough user base or audience that enjoys your regular content, you can start creating premium content and put it behind a paywall. Think about the content you are currently creating and what a next level version of that would be. If your web host does not support monthly subscriptions and premium content, services such as Patreon, can help you create premium content.
- Selling Products
Like we discussed in our last article, the ecommerce industry is growing fast and now is a great time for you to take advantage of that growth. Creating your own products to sell, dropshipping, or a mix of both are all great ways to get started.
- Selling A Service
Similar to selling products, you can also sell a service. Great examples are social media marketing, virtual assistants, digital design, or other freelance type activities. Creating a website to show off your portfolio can be extremely helpful in finding new clients and increasing your bottom line.
- Lead Generation
This is a bit complicated compared to the other ideas on this list. Firstly, you will need to find companies that are willing to work with you and buy leads from you. From there, you need to build your website with a strong call to action to get users to fill out a form with their personal information. From there you can sell this information to companies who want it and a lot of companies will pay top dollar for quality sales leads.
- Donations
Last on this list is donations. If you have recurring fans or website visitors, some may be willing to donate to help support your content. Most site builders have a built-in plug-in to accept donations, but if yours doesn’t, several services such as BuyMeACoffee.com, have been created to help content creators receive support for their content.
Generating Traffic
Of course the key to generating revenue from any website with any method listed here is generating regular traffic. So, here are three tips to help you bring traffic to your website:
Tips to Generate Traffic
- Create Quality Content
The first step is to create quality content. Creating regular content that keeps your existing audience coming back is one of the most important factors in generating traffic. It is up to you to create content that will make people keep coming back.
- Build A Brand
The next step is to build your brand. This includes creating a social media presence for your brand and making content that fits your brand’s image.
- Buy Ad Space
The last step is to purchase ad space on other platforms. Depending on your brand image and the product that you are selling, this may be through social media marketing on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, influencer marketing, or traditional ads through programs like Google Ads.
Conclusion
Starting a website can be an amazing side hustle and extremely profitable. It is not an easy task and it is not a set and forget, it can be extremely worth it.