We like to talk about the benefits of building or investing in passive income streams and one of our favourites is building or buying a website. Websites can offer some fantastic rates of returns, they are a great option for someone who wants to begin investing but may have limited capital or cash flow options and they are a great investment for someone with more capital on their hands looking to buy something established.
From a simple mummy blog to an intricate online business, a website offers a wide range of options and investment returns for many people. You could be based in Brazil or you could be living in Japan, owning a website gives you great access to earning a living online while offering a valuable asset that you can build into something great.
Assuming you own or are looking to build or buy your own website, we will go through 5 ways to earn money from a website.
1. Affiliate Marketing
We’ve gone through the topic of affiliate marketing in more detail previously, however Affiliate marketing is “the practise of promoting a product to your readers, viewers or subscribers where the promoter receives a payment or commission for a successful
sale. Done the right way (and assuming you have a sufficient audience) this can be an excellent revenue stream for you and your website.”
Build up sufficient website traffic, write engaging content with relevant affiliate recommendations and voila you are earning a nice income stream! Examples of affiliate marketing including writing a product review on your favourite dehumidifier or you could write a comparison post between your favourite big screen televisions.
You could ever create a video or podcast episode around a product review and link to the affiliate product in the notes.
For ideas on affiliate marketing for your website, look at what your competitors are offering. Alternatively look at affiliate program providers such as Click Bank or CJ (formerly Commission Junkie) or reach out to some of the products you like to use and see if they offer an affiliate program.
Depending on the traffic numbers to your website or the quality of this traffic, affiliate marketing can be a very lucrative income stream to your website
2. Website Advertising
Earning money through advertising on your website can take many forms. This could include the more popular option in banner ads (where you earn money when someone clicks on the ad), it could be from an embedded video you have on your website that is linked to your YouTube channel or it could be from an advertiser approaching you directly asking to
advertise their product or business on your website.
Ideally the more traffic you receive the more potential advertising income you will receive however as with the email list example we touch on below, if you have a dedicated community and the advertising options are great compliments for your niche then your earnings will likely boom.
There is more detail involved in earning income via advertising (such as ad placement and finding the best advertising management platform) however advertising on your website is a great first step to earning money for your website.
3. Sponsored Articles or Posts
Earning website income through sponsored content (i.e. paid posts, sponsored ads or video shout outs) is another great option. Typically this is more lucrative the bigger your brand or community however the more engaged your readers the more lucrative this form of website revenue can be.
For example, if your website is in the fitness niche and you have a large enough or engaged enough community you can reach out to supplement providers or fitness equipment providers who would benefit from a sponsored post or a sponsored link to your community about a certain fitness or health product that is relevant to your niche.
On a more extreme level you can see some of the obscene amounts that Hollywood movie stars or very famous people and influencers are paid for a social media post about a product recommendation.
Alternatively the more popular your website becomes you will find yourself approached by product or service providers. Done right, this can be a very lucrative revenue stream particularly with websites that have a large amount of readers or followers.
4. Selling a product
Creating (and selling) a product is a great way to earn money, particularly if you have highly engaged readers. This option will provide you with some great margins. The great thing about selling products is you don’t need a massive community or following.
Let’s say you create a course and you only have an average of 5,000 website visitors per month and an email list of 250. At face value this wouldn’t be seen as a huge achievement however if these readers and email subscribers are big fans of your website and its offerings then your course will be a great earner for your website.
The more engage you are with your audience, the better your product creation can be. Gaining their feedback will enable a more efficient product and a higher sales percentage.
Aside from courses other options include e books or how to guides, info graphics or even coaching or membership. Another bonus about creating/selling a product, it’s almost entirely passive. Nearly all the effort goes into creating the course, once it’s finished (aside from product updates) the income is near 100% passive.
5. Building an Email List
Building an email list can be niche or topic specific however this is a very underrated way to earn money for a website. Most people tend to focus on affiliate marketing or advertising to earn income for their website however a well cultivated email list can be the most lucrative option of all.
The more connected you are with your readers and website community (and by extension your email list) the more income your email list should provide. So how can you earn money from your email list?
You can offer affiliate recommendations (though be aware that some affiliate programs such as Amazon outlaw affiliate links being emailed).
An even more lucrative email list income stream is to email your list with your own product offerings (point 4 above) such as courses or e-books. A highly cultivated email list also provides you with great feedback (i.e. open rates or through direct survey emails) and future ideas.
Building (and buying) a website is a great way to build a passive income stream and profitable asset. It’s also a great asset that allows for diversified income streams. Using the options above it can also insulate you from the whims of the Google SEO algorithm and the more income streams your website has the more valuable your website will be.
We recommend owning websites in your portfolio both as a way to grow your capital and as a way to increase your passive income.
For more information on building a website click here or for more information on buying a website, click here.