So you already have a website that’s getting some traffic? Now you’re looking for the next step and are wondering how to monetize website traffic in order to profit from your efforts. That’s a great idea actually because the good thing about the internet is that literally everybody can earn an income online from putting out quality content and helping people. Let’s look at some ways you can use convert your website visitors to income flowing into your pocket.
Make Money from Ads on Your Website
One of the most frequently used ways to monetize your website’s traffic is by allowing other people to advertise on your website and that makes perfect sense! Everyone who starts an online business knows that the more eyes see your offer – the more people will end up buying it, even in the long run. So, when you already have a website that generates traffic on a regular basis it makes sense to give other people the possibility to leverage that.
How can you do that? Most people actually use Google AdSense to allow people using Google’s display network to advertise through their own blog or website. It’s also pretty easy. Google gives you a code that you then implement into your website and that’s it.
This is what you can expect the advertising to look like:
So it’s doesn’t really bother while reading the article but if your readers are interested in whatever it is that’s being advertised on your website, they’ll click it to find out more about the offer. And whenever someone clicks an ad, you get paid! So generally speaking: The more visitors you have on your website, the more money you can expect to make with Google AdSense.
Recommend Products or Services that You Like
This is what I do mostly to make money online. Recommending products (or services) that provide value to yourself and that you know could benefit others as well is a great way to generate an income. It’s generally referred to as “Affiliate Marketing” and I’m sure you’ve heard about it before.
The great thing is that there are affiliate programs for practically everything you can think of. If for example you have a blog or a website that publishes content around learning and getting smarter, you could recommend Udemy as a great resource! I for example already did a lot of courses on there and I actually got my job as a UX Designer after following a course on Udemy.
Or if you’re in the online marketing space and have had good experiences with a specific software or web app, why not talk about it? For example, I personally love ConvertKit when it comes to email marketing because of their easy to use interface and beautiful design.
To find affiliate programs that match your needs, just do a quick Google search and look for “[brand name] + affiliate program”. Fill out the information they’re asking for and you’ll usually be approved as an affiliate within a few days.
If you’re not sure where to start, read my guide on how to get started with affiliate marketing.
Get Tips from Your Readers
Another viable way to monetize your traffic is by asking your readers to contribute a small donation, or “buy a coffee” for
you. That’s a great way to get a few bucks that don’t hurt the person giving it and can add up really quickly. Also, it shows you how much people appreciate you putting in the effort to provide quality information on your website.
There are a few ways to implement this in your website, some more complicated than others. My favorite way to implement a button where people can tip me is (again) through ConvertKit, because they make it so easy to get everything ready.
Just click the menu item, write a quick text about why you’re grateful for your readers tipping you and what you’re planning to do with the money – just so they know their investment money is well spent, click publish and that’s it!
When someone then clicks the button and tips, they even get a confirmation email and receipt so everything’s done correctly.
You can check out how that looks like by visiting my tip jar here (you won’t be charged).
Sell Merchandising or Other Products
Another great way to leverage an existing amount of visitors on your website is to sell your own products. If you have established a brand, which can either be you as a personal brand or a brand that you created (like me with “Make Money And Thrive!”), you can start selling merchandising around it. That could be t-shirts, mugs, hats, bags, sneakers (whaat!), posters and basically everything you can think of.
I like to use Printful as a great drop shipping service that lets me customize just about anything very easily. They also have very high quality products, I love their cotton t-shirts as they’re really well done and the fabric is so smooth!
You can also implement their service just about anywhere so if you have a Shopify store, an Etsy, a WooCommerce shop, Amazon, eBay or anything else, it’s easy to connect. And if people regularly visit your website, chances are good that they actually identify with your brand and therefore would also like to own a piece of your brand like a t-shirt for example to showcase that they identify with your brand.
Of course, if you don’t want to sell physical products, maybe you like to stay digital, you can always sell e books, online courses or create a paid newsletter and get paid that way.
If you already have traffic and recurring visitors on your website, you might consider publishing all of that yourself instead of using a marketplace like Udemy for example. That’s because you’ll end up with more money in your pocket as you don’t have to pay a commission to the marketplace for using their traffic (which usually doesn’t convert too well anyways). You can do all of that with a free account on ConvertKit. If you don’t know how to go about it, read this step-by-step tutorial.
Conclusion
There are so many ways you can make money online once you’ve established regular traffic on your website. I highly advise you to actually leverage every single one of them! As you surely know: The more income streams, the better! It’s always a good idea to have your own website and keep it fresh with new content to keep the traffic flowing but it’s even smarter to leverage that traffic to help you to make more money. Oftentimes what’s holding us back is actually our mindset, so I wrote an article on how to overcome limiting beliefs and have success as a blogger.
I know that as long as you put out valuable content also on your new income streams like the paid newsletter or an online course, people will continue to like what you put out and therefore gladly pay for it. You can get paid by letting other people advertise on your website, by recommending other people’s products through affiliate marketing, by selling merchandise or digital products like an online course or simply by getting tips from your regular readers.
I hope this article has helped you to get some ideas on how to monetize website traffic and you’ve got some more clarity on the subject.
As always, if you have any questions in regard to this topic, feel free to comment below and ask your questions or let me know your thoughts about it and I’ll be more than happy to get back to you!
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