People across the world dabble in blog and website writing every single day. At a first glance, it seems like a great way to make money from home – or indeed, from anywhere else in the world! However, it isn’t as easy as everyone would have you believe. Monetizing your WordPress blog actually requires a lot of time and effort, and it certainly isn’t for everyone.
If you do want to earn a bit of money from your blog, then you need to make sure that you have a fairly decent amount of website traffic. The people who visit your website – your readers, followers, and viewers – are the people who will help you earn money from your content.
There are a number of ways to monetize WordPress blogs and websites, and the best ones for you will depend on your website and the types of content you have. Some of the more popular monetization methods include:
PPC (Pay Per Click) Advertisements
This is probably the most common website monetization method among part-time and casual bloggers. It is relatively simple, and doesn’t take a long time to set up or a lot of maintenance. PPC advertising is simple – you place advertisements on your website, and you get paid a small amount every time someone clicks on one of the ads. Payments vary according to the advertising broker you use, but generally aren’t huge.
If your blog already has a decent amount of traffic and fairly good content, then you may be able to advertise through a premium company like Google Adwords. However, if your site is only just starting to grow, you will find yourself stuck with poor-quality advertisers who pay very little.
Sponsored Content:
Although it can be difficult to develop a decent website or blog without a lot of income, there is a lot of potential for monetisation once your visitor numbers increase. Sponsored content – think blogs, articles, and videos – are a great way to add a bit of income on the side.
If your website is already going strong with a solid visitor base, you shouldn’t have a lot of trouble getting people to pay you to write sponsored posts for them. To these ‘sponsors’, you are essentially advertising their website for them, and they will pay you accordingly.
Affiliate Links:
If you have some sort of niche website which focuses on a particular topic, then you should consider adding affiliate links to your site. Affiliate links to online superstores like Amazon allow you to earn a small commission on everything people buy after clicking on your link. If you are clever, you can include affiliate links in your writing so that they don’t seem out of place at all. When done right, affiliate linking can help you present your content in a clear, non-confronting way without too much advertising.
Final Word?
If you want to monetize your website, you first need to focus on getting a lot of decent traffic. If you don’t have people visiting your site, you won’t earn anything, no matter how much effort you put in. So, create decent content, market your blog, and encourage people to engage with you and your content!
