Starting a website or blog on the internet is one of the easiest things you can do today. Thanks to the power of WordPress, now anyone can get started with a blog of their own. All you need is to register a domain name and set up a shared hosting web account and you are ready to go. Best of all this will only cost around 10 bucks a month, and with some time and effort, you can have a legitimate business on the internet.
However, it's important to mention that there are currently over a billion active websites and blogs on the internet today. What this means is that there is a lot of competition out there that you are going to have to compete against and try to rank ahead of in the search results. If you want to create a successful blog that serves a purpose, it's important to make sure you choose the right niche. For this to happen you are going to need to focus on high-quality content while also promoting your site in an effective way. The more you know about your audience, the easier it will be for you to create such content and then market it to the right audience. To learn more about this you can refer to my how to start a blog guide which will set you off in the right direction.
Once you have all of this in place, you can then start focusing on how to make money with your blog. Be sure to try each of the four recommendations below, as they have been proven methods to help some of the top bloggers and site owners in the world today generate millions of dollars in the process.
Google Adsense
Google AdSense is the program created by Google to serve advertising on websites and blogs around the internet. The great thing about Google AdSense is that they basically do all of the advertising for you. The site owner just has to place a line of code on their website and Google will do the rest. Site owners will then be paid on a per click basis for any ads that appear on their site.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is the concept of earning a commission every time a new lead, sale, or specific call to action is sent to an advertiser's website. The great thing about affiliate marketing is that there is no inventory that you need to hold, there is no upfront investment cost, and you also get to partner with some of the biggest brand names in the world today. One of the largest and most successful affiliate programs in the world right now is through Amazon.com.
Selling Direct Ads
Once you've created a website or blog that is getting a decent amount of traffic, you can then explore your options with selling your own advertising right on the website. The benefit here is that you are going to earn 100% of the revenue generated from these campaigns, versus earning a percentage of the total order amount as with the two scenarios mentioned above. Once selling advertising on your website, be sure to work with the advertiser to keep them happy and make sure they are seeing a long-term ROI.
Create a Product or Course
If you have a specific expertise within any niche market, along with a great following, it might be in your best interest to start an online course or create a product of your own. Again with this scenario, you were going to earn 100% of the sale, while also building a powerful brand in the process. Also, with this method, you are going to be owning the customer information and can continually make money off this audience for life. When going with this option always focus on creating the highest value possible for your audience.
How to Make the Most Money with Your Website or Blog
As you can see, there are plenty of ways to make money with a website or blog. Also, don't forget that there are a billion active websites on the internet today that you are going to have to compete against. For you to actually make money with your own website or blog, you are going to have to provide the best value possible to your audience so people have a real reason to visit your site. When creating content, always think about the final solution that you are providing to your audience and how you can give them a call to action to act upon as well. If you have any monetization methods that match with this solution, it's a great way to incentivize your audience to take action, while also earning some Revenue in the process.
Zac Johnson is an entrepreneur who has been in the internet marketing industry for over 20 years now and has helped thousands of users around the world make more money online.