Websites to Earn Money
How to make money from a website
To make money from any site you need to have visitors. Lots and lots of visitors. And visitors will not be attracted to a scruffy, hard to read, quickly put together site that's full of ads. What do visitors want? They want good quality content - something that tells them something they want to know.
So the first way to make money is to have an attractive, well laid out site, with good information. If you've a hobby or a special interest you can use this as your basis.
Once you have set up any website you can become an affiliate of any number of organisations and put adverts up on your site. If anyone buys a product through a link on your website you get paid a commission. The only problem with this is that the products really need to be in line with the subject matter of your site. If people have found your site because they searched Google looking for photos of puppies, they may not be all that interested in the ads for mobile phones or MP3 players they see there!
Google Adsense
One way of getting adverts which are targeted to your site is to use Google Adsense. Google displays adverts on your site which are connected with the content on your pages - you do need to have a content rich site, as Google may not accept you if you don't. When people click on the adverts you get paid - sometimes it is only one or two pence a click, but sometimes you get pounds for each click! You can track your earnings in the Adsense reports - at first it may be a bit of a disappointment, as you may not earn anything, or only a few pence per day. Sit back and wait though - as your site attracts more visitors you'll find that your earnings begin to rise.
To make money from any site you need to have visitors. Lots and lots of visitors. And visitors will not be attracted to a scruffy, hard to read, quickly put together site that's full of ads. What do visitors want? They want good quality content - something that tells them something they want to know.
So the first way to make money is to have an attractive, well laid out site, with good information. If you've a hobby or a special interest you can use this as your basis.
Once you have set up any website you can become an affiliate of any number of organisations and put adverts up on your site. If anyone buys a product through a link on your website you get paid a commission. The only problem with this is that the products really need to be in line with the subject matter of your site. If people have found your site because they searched Google looking for photos of puppies, they may not be all that interested in the ads for mobile phones or MP3 players they see there!
Google Adsense
One way of getting adverts which are targeted to your site is to use Google Adsense. Google displays adverts on your site which are connected with the content on your pages - you do need to have a content rich site, as Google may not accept you if you don't. When people click on the adverts you get paid - sometimes it is only one or two pence a click, but sometimes you get pounds for each click! You can track your earnings in the Adsense reports - at first it may be a bit of a disappointment, as you may not earn anything, or only a few pence per day. Sit back and wait though - as your site attracts more visitors you'll find that your earnings begin to rise.
So how much income can I expect from my website?
Most webmasters can at least expect to pay for their hosting fees from hosting Google ads on their sites, but you shouldn't expect to be able to retire on the income.
I'm not after earning pennies - I want to get a proper second income!
If you really want to get serious money there are some things you can do.
1. Have a number of different websites - you may not make a fortune from each, but having a number on different subjects will allow you to experiment, try different ideas and generate a better income!
2. Base your websites on keywords where clicks on google ads pay the highest amount - but you will need to make your site attractive so that you get enough visitors to make it pay!
3. Base your websites on keywords where there are only a few competing websites (thus guaranteeing you a position on page 1 of the search engines) which will ensure you get the number of visitors you need!
OK, good advice but where on earth do I start?
Firstly, remember that for each website you are going to need to purchase a domain name. Multiple websites are therefore an investment. Make sure that your hosting company enables you to have more than one domain on your account - otherwise it is going to be very expensive to set up and before you see any return!
Most webmasters can at least expect to pay for their hosting fees from hosting Google ads on their sites, but you shouldn't expect to be able to retire on the income.
I'm not after earning pennies - I want to get a proper second income!
If you really want to get serious money there are some things you can do.
1. Have a number of different websites - you may not make a fortune from each, but having a number on different subjects will allow you to experiment, try different ideas and generate a better income!
2. Base your websites on keywords where clicks on google ads pay the highest amount - but you will need to make your site attractive so that you get enough visitors to make it pay!
3. Base your websites on keywords where there are only a few competing websites (thus guaranteeing you a position on page 1 of the search engines) which will ensure you get the number of visitors you need!
OK, good advice but where on earth do I start?
Firstly, remember that for each website you are going to need to purchase a domain name. Multiple websites are therefore an investment. Make sure that your hosting company enables you to have more than one domain on your account - otherwise it is going to be very expensive to set up and before you see any return!
I've got an idea, but is it competitive?
Wordtracker is a progam that is extremely useful when you are deciding to set up a website for making money. It will tell you how many people actually search for the keywords you have in mind, and how many other sites there are that will be in competition with you for that top spot in the search engines! You can get a 7 day trial from Wordtracker.
Remember, people normally only look at the first 10 items returned by a search engine. If there are many competing sites, the chances of you being in the first 10, or on the first page is very small.
For example,
Wordtracker is a progam that is extremely useful when you are deciding to set up a website for making money. It will tell you how many people actually search for the keywords you have in mind, and how many other sites there are that will be in competition with you for that top spot in the search engines! You can get a 7 day trial from Wordtracker.
Remember, people normally only look at the first 10 items returned by a search engine. If there are many competing sites, the chances of you being in the first 10, or on the first page is very small.
For example,
| Keyword | Number of searches in last 24 hours | Number of competing websites | Good keyword to use? |
| "travel website" | 200 | 2.5 million | Competition is extremely high - chances of being on first page zero |
| "National Community Housing Program" | 9 | 2 | There are currently only 2 other sites competing against you. You may therefore expect at least to be the third entry on the search page. |
Keywords are just one element - although some sites do read like a list of key words (a trick search engines are aware of and will black list) - what is really necessary is to put up some quality content based around the key words you have chosen. This way you will be offering something to your visitor, and can now start to put targetted adverts to generate an income stream as well. Remember though you do need to get visitors - it is no use using keywords which no one ever searches on!
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Affiliate Marketing
This can be a good way of making money - you display banners on your website advertising other products and services, and if someone buys after having been directed from your website you will recieve commission.
Some companies offer you a range of different advertisers and programs that you can join. You apply to each program, and your website will be assessed and then accepted or turned down. Again, have good content will help you get accepted. An example of a wide ranging affiliate program is Tradedoubler You will be spoilt by choice by big name brands.
This can be a good way of making money - you display banners on your website advertising other products and services, and if someone buys after having been directed from your website you will recieve commission.
Some companies offer you a range of different advertisers and programs that you can join. You apply to each program, and your website will be assessed and then accepted or turned down. Again, have good content will help you get accepted. An example of a wide ranging affiliate program is Tradedoubler You will be spoilt by choice by big name brands.
If you have a website you can earn money from it!
Sometimes this will be obvious, as you'll have set it up specifically to sell goods, and will have a shopping cart, payment facility and postage and packaging facilities.
Sometimes this will be obvious, as you'll have set it up specifically to sell goods, and will have a shopping cart, payment facility and postage and packaging facilities.
But you can also earn money from your website when you're not actually selling anything at all - you're advertising or promoting someone else's products!
But it's unfortunately not just a matter of setting up a website, putting up ads and sitting back and becoming a millionaire overnight. It takes a lot of effort, thought and time.
But it's unfortunately not just a matter of setting up a website, putting up ads and sitting back and becoming a millionaire overnight. It takes a lot of effort, thought and time.
Obviously it depends how many visitors your site gets as to how effective affiliate marketing is. If you only get a few visitors, or are trying to interest them in buying something totally unrelated to your content you will have little success. Placing the ads right is another tip - try and experiment with different arrangements to see what works best for your site!
I've joined affiliate programs but I'm not making any money!
The relationship between Content, Visitors and the money making potential of your site cannot be emphasised enough. Some people get disillusioned when they appear to make very little to start off with. But check the number of visitors coming to your site - if it's only in the 100s you are unlikely to be making very much money. If it's in the tens of thousands then you will.
You can actively try and improve the number of visitors by improving your content, but the search engines do take time to index a new site properly, and websites seem to get better search engine rankings with age. So patience is definitely a virtue.
Time will tell (or in time you'll sell!)
The relationship between Content, Visitors and the money making potential of your site cannot be emphasised enough. Some people get disillusioned when they appear to make very little to start off with. But check the number of visitors coming to your site - if it's only in the 100s you are unlikely to be making very much money. If it's in the tens of thousands then you will.
You can actively try and improve the number of visitors by improving your content, but the search engines do take time to index a new site properly, and websites seem to get better search engine rankings with age. So patience is definitely a virtue.
Time will tell (or in time you'll sell!)
One of the best affiliate programs is Amazon (.co.uk or .com depending where you are. You can hand pick the products you wish to promote on your page, and get from 5% up (although in the UK the amount you can earn through product sale is capped). If you pick the right products and play around with a commentary as to why you are recommending them you may well end up with a nice little income stream.