10 WAYS TO MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR WEBSITES

1. Affiliate promotion

   
   Being an affiliate means you promote a product or service to your website visitors in return for earning a commission if a purchase occurs through your link.
   Join the Awin network to access thousands of affiliate programs, including major brands like ASOS, EE and Expedia.
   Then simply include an affiliate link (provided by Awin) when mentioning products from your chosen partners on your website.

2. Skimlinks

   Skimlinks is fairly similar to Awin (and other affiliate networks), in that it allows you to earn commission on purchases made through links on your site.
   The key difference is that as well allowing you to create individual affiliate links as and when you'd like, Skimlinks can also be installed on your website to automatically monetise your content.
   If, within your content, you’ve linked to a merchant that’s part of the Skimlinks network, Skimlinks will automatically convert the link into an affiliate link!
   You’ll get paid if a visitor makes a purchase via your link, and commissions vary from 2% – 10%.

3. Feature banner and display adverts

   You can easily set up network adverts using Google Adsenseor Media.net by copying and pasting code into your site to create adverts that are relevant to a visitor’s recent internet search.
   Taboola is another increasingly popular service for bloggers monetising their content. It works by displaying relevant articles (rather than banners) from advertisers on their network.
   These networks will pay you every time a visitor clicks on an advert (cost per click, or CPC), or per 1,000 impressions (cost per impression, or CPM).
   You can also sell banner ads directly to companies with a relevant product/service. This option can be much more profitable as not only will you set the rates yourself, but the advertiser will (hopefully) know that your audience is one that they'd like to target!

4. Sell to email subscribers

   

   Credit: Universal Pictures
   The biggest regret I hear from bloggers is not starting an email list sooner.
   So get an account with AWeberfrom day one to capture your audience and communicate with them after they’ve left the site!
   You can then email them with recommended products that they may be interested in (affiliate promotion), and earn various commissions if they sign up or buy something.

5. Use text link advertising

   Sell basic text links to an advertiser’s website (in-content advertising) and charge a fixed rate per month (e.g. £20). Alternatively, you could charge per click.
   There are plenty of marketplaces such as Backlinks and LinksPanel where you can buy both and sell links.

6. Publish sponsored posts

   This is an advert in the form of an article, usually containing the advertiser’s website link.
   An advertiser may send you the article, but if you can write the content for them, you’ll be quids up as you can charge for your time too.
   You can earn £35 to £200+ for a sponsored post, depending on your website’s popularity.
   Join blogger network groups on Facebook and share your website, as that’s where the advertisers are looking!

Advertising regulations state if you're paid to publish an article on your site by a third party, you must always write "Sponsored Post" on the page somewhere.

7. Review products

   

   Credit: Nickelodeon
   This one is especially applicable if you've got a niche readership, like new parents or keen gamers.
   But even if your readers aren't from a specific pool, you can still get on the product testing gravy train. As long as you're happy to write a review of the product after trying it out, companies will be more than happy to send some freebies your way – and possibly even pay you!
   Sign up with Toluna and SurveyBods as soon as possible to receive the latest opportunities.

8. Sell digital products

   eBooks, printables, graphics, templates and podcasts are all examples of digital products that can help you earn a passive and ongoing income from your site.
   You could charge around £2.99 for a 5,000 word eBook – doesn't sound like much, but 20 eBook sales per month will soon add up!
   Check out the Envato Marketplace for inspiration and ideas.

9. Sell physical products

   Use your website as a base to sell your own physical products too. For example, you can create designs for t-shirts or mugs with Zazzle – perhaps even with your site's branding on it, if you think people would buy it!
   Or create handmade products to sell on Etsy or eBay.
   But wherever you're selling, just make sure you link to the marketplace from your site – straight off the bat that'll give you an advantage over the other sellers on the platform!

10. Publish premium articles

    
    If you can create incredibly useful content, you can earn from it.
    Let’s say you have a gaming website, and you’re able to share some little known strategies in an article. You can hook the visitor in by sharing a few tips, then linking to a password protected page (this is an option within WordPress) for the most valuable information.
    The reader gets the password to unlock the premium content once they’ve paid a fee to you via PayPal. Charge what you like, although £2 – £10 is a realistic price for a premium article.
    You may have seen some of the big media outlets, like The Telegraph and The Times, using this strategy in recent years – so clearly it's got some merit!