Table Of ContentGUIDE TO
WEBSITE MONETIZATION
A definitive guide to monetizing your website
Guide to
Over the years MonetizePros have helped thousands of readers
make money online through various monetization strategies.
Website While the process of monetization can be challenging and
complex, the concept is rather simple: website monetization
refers to making money from a website or other online property.
Monetization
This e-book covers the basics of monetizing online properties,
defining what it is, and which methods are the most common
and successful.
To your success,
MonetizePros
What Is Monetization? 1
Table of
Seven Most Common Monetization Methods 6
Contents
Which Monetization Method? 12
Seven Mistakes to Avoid as a Publisher 22
How Much Should My Website Make? 27
Chapter 1
What Is
Monetization?
What Is MonetIzatIon? 2
1. how much traffic a site generates (i.e., how many visitors
come to the site); and
2. how much revenue is earned from each visitor to the site.
this ebook won’t deal much with variable 1; there are countless sites
dedicated to increasing traffic via seo and other methods. We do,
however, offer resources and insights that can help you make more
money off of the existing traffic coming in the door already.
the concept of website monetization may be difficult to grasp, since
no hard currency is exchanged when someone visits your site. But
odds are that there are a number of companies who are interested in
reaching your website’s audience – the visitors to your site. the most
common source of monetization (the people who will be writing your
What Is Monetization? checks!) are third parties who are interested in communicating in some
way with the folks who visit your website. that communication may
If you own a website and are attempting (or succeeding) at making
take many forms; it could be as simple as showing them a banner
money off that website, you already know a thing or two about
ad or getting them to click on a link to their own site, as complex as
monetization. While the process of monetization can be challenging
gathering specific personal information from them or even making a
and complex, the concept is rather simple. Monetization simply refers
purchase of a product/service.
to making money from a website. there are a wide range of ways to
monetize a website (more on this below) and endless permutations of think of the website owner as a gatekeeper; he has the ability to connect
strategies that can be devised and implemented to make money. But advertisers and other companies with his audience (in various ways).
for many, the primary goal is straightforward: make as much money as Website owners will, of course, charge companies for this privilege.
possible. that’s monetization at its most basic.
so the concept of “monetizing your web traffic” simply translates to Many website owners also monetize their traffic bases directly,
“making money from your visitors.” accepting payment from their visitors in exchange for various products
or services. examples of this (which you encounter everywhere you
Monetization is a function of two simple variables:
What Is MonetIzatIon? 3
look on the Web) include paying for a product to be shipped to you It follows that if you want to increase your bottom line revenue, there
(e.g., a t-shirt) or access to a “premium” article or tool. (Check out this are two primary routes to do so: 1) increase your traffic or 2) increase
good post on preparing to sell to your audience.) your eCPM.
How Is Monetization Measured? How Much Do Websites Make?
as mentioned above, the amount of money you make from your web as in many areas of business, there is a wide range when it comes to
site depends on 1) the volume of traffic and 2) average revenue derived the revenue of websites. Websites that serve a relatively unattractive
from each visitor or pageview. think of it as this formula: demographic and are poorly monetized may have eCPMs of less
than $1 (meaning they generate less than $1 in total revenue for every
Total Revenue = Pageviews x Revenue per Pageview
1,000 pageviews on the site). Websites that attract highly sought after
the most meaningful way to measure how effectively you’re monetizing
demographics and are monetized very well can see eCPMs well in
your traffic base is through effective cost per mille or eCPM. Put another
excess of $100.
way, this metric measures total Monthly Revenue per 1,000 pageviews.
obviously, this range of eCPMs can result in very different top line
so if your site has an eCPM of $3 and generates 1,000,000 monthly
revenue for two hypothetical websites of comparable size:
pageviews, you would have total monthly revenue of $3,000.
1,000,000 monthly pageviews 1,000,000 monthly pageviews
x $1 CPM x $100 CPM
= $1,000 monthly revenue = $100,000 monthly revenue
What Is MonetIzatIon? 4
there are a number of factors that determine how much money you 2. Affiliate Marketing: Many sites operate under an affiliate
can potentially make from your website: model, whereby they attempt to send referrals to a partner
merchant. If the referral ultimately generates revenue for the
1. Value of Audience: Different advertisers have very different
merchant, the affiliate gets a cut of the check. (Check out our
ideas of quality; one company’s target market may be wholly
guide to affiliate marketing.)
unattractive to someone else. Generally, the wealthier an
audience, the more attractive it will be to advertisers. 3. Lead Generation: In certain niches, sites can generate
qualified leads for third parties who are willing to pay on a per
2. Presence of Relevant Monetization Sources: Basically,
lead basis for information on individuals whom they believe
you will be able to more effectively monetize if your website
may ultimately become paying customers.
operates in a niche where there are multiple companies /
advertisers willing to spend to reach your audience. If no one is 4. eCommerce: online stores are another money maker for
looking to reach your audience, it will be difficult to monetize. many websites; selling goods or services online is a way to
generate revenue from your traffic. Many websites operate
3. Monetization Efficiency: this essentially refers to how well
exclusively as ecommerce sites, while others may incorporate
you take advantage of the opportunities available to you,
an e-store into a content-heavy site.
and how well you get the most possible revenue out of your
audience. 5. Subscriptions / Premium: some sites make their money
primarily by selling access to their content. this can be a tough
Ways To Monetize
niche to break into–many major publishers have been moving
there are several different ways to go about monetizing a website, and away from it in recent years–but if the nut is properly cracked
different strategies will work more effectively for different types of sites. there can be a big pay day. Don nicholas has a good post on
the general strategies for web monetization are listed below: profitable subscription website models if you’re interested in
1. Display Advertising: Most websites out there utilize display this option.
advertising to generate part of their revenues; this stream Daniel scocco at DailyBlog tips has an even more extensive list with
includes the banner ads that you see dozens of times each 28 ways to monetize your traffic. Michael Dunlop at Income Diary also
day. has some creative ideas for making money off a website.
What Is MonetIzatIon? 5
Bottom Line
Website monetization is far from an exact science; there’s no manual
with the steps you need to take to maximize earnings from your site. In
most cases, there is plenty that can be done in order to more efficiently
monetize your traffic, including opening up new revenue streams and
cultivating relationships that will allow you to make more from your
existing sources of cash flow. the best advice any website owner can
heed is to experiment regularly and think creatively; always be trying
new things and maintain a willingness to think outside the box (wild
ideas are oK!)
Chapter 2
Seven Most
Common
Monetization
Methods
seven Most CoMMon MonetIzatIon MethoDs 7
Seven Most Common Monetization Methods
here’s the good news: if you’re looking to make money off of a website
you own, there are a lot of different ways you can go about effectively
monetizing your traffic. the exact approach you should take to
maximize your cash flow will depend on a lot of different factors, such
as the nature of your audience, the subject matter you cover, and the
presence of third parties willing to work with you. Below is a brief outline
of several different avenues you can go down in your monetization
quest; and next, we’ll discuss which types of monetization techniques
generally work for specific types of sites.
note that these revenue streams are not mutually exclusive; many
websites employ multiple monetization strategies to maximize overall
revenue.
Method #1: Display Advertising though the concept of display advertising is generally straightforward,
there are several ways to tweak and optimize this revenue stream.
Display advertising is the monetization technique with which most
Perhaps the biggest distinction is between selling directly to advertisers
webmasters are probably most familiar; this is the banners and text
(or their agencies) and using a middleman network to sell your ads.
ads that you see when you visit most websites. Display advertising is
Within each of those streams lie countless further decisions and
bought and sold in several different ways. some ad inventory is sold
opportunities to optimize. on ad networks such as adsense there are
on a cost per thousand (CPM) basis, meaning that you will receive a
a number of experiments you can run to improve cash flow; similarly,
predetermined amount for every 1,000 ads you display. other networks
the direct sales process can be optimized in several ways to boost your
such as Google adsense will pay you for every click your visitors make
overall revenue.
on ads (don’t be tempted to click your own ads, though!)
If you want more on this topic, check out this guide to direct ad sales.
For many websites, display advertising is the largest single source of
revenue. there are countless examples of display advertising out there;
here is one of a viral photography website that is advertising a movie.
Description:monetize a website (more on this below) and endless permutations of . such as Google adsense will pay you for every click your visitors make.
