Ways to Monetize a Blog and Make Money Online

Monetize a Blog

If you are in the process of setting up your own brand new WordPress blog, then you should know that there are various ways by which you can make your blog earn some money for you.

But keep in mind that the ideas listed below are wholly dependent on the theme and the design aspect of your blog along with the content and media files that you host on the same.

The point is that unless a blog is attractive and offers something of value to others, traffic would be minimal at best.

This is what you need to keep in mind when picking out your blog theme and you also need to make sure that your blog features original, high quality content as opposed to low quality content that’s rife with spelling errors, grammar issues and the list goes on.

Just check out our collection of top 10 ways to monetize your blog and make money online.

1. Cost per mile advertising (CPM):

This is similar to pay per click advertising but here, you get paid by the number of page impressions or page views your blog gets. Essentially, you need to register your blog where you are credited with some amount per 1000 page impressions.

For example, let’s say that you are running a $1 CPM ad on your website which in turn receives over 200,000 page impressions per month. Your take would be calculated on the basis of per 1000 page impressions and you should get to earn at least $200 per month.

That’s it, the only downside to this method, is that you need to have a decent traffic to see some real money.

2. Text link ads:

One of the best ways to further monetize your blog is to add text link ads among your content.

You would need to register for the same, and while you cannot market any product, you can advertise products that you are registered for, and you should be credited with a certain amount as each user clicks on the ad in question.

These ads are often double underlined and only thematic ones are displayed, which should increase the probability of your users clicking on the same.

3. Widgets:

This is one of the easiest ways to monetize your blog and happens to be relatively new to the scene. Essentially, all that you would be doing is installing specific widgets eg. AdRotate on to your website.

These widgets can be used to run PPC ads, as well as text link ads and affiliate links. An each time a user clicks on the same, you would be credited with a certain amount. These are designed in such a way so that they can be easily installed on the website in question.

4. Advertising space:

One of the lucrative ways by which you can monetize your blog is by selling the space on it to interested parties. They can either permanently park their banner/ advert on your website for a certain compensation.

The only issue is that you must have a well trafficked blog for any advertisers looking to pay for premium space on your blog. The only downside is that you are required to keep the ad or banner in question for the entire duration of the period.

You can also do reviews for select merchandize – your blog must be good and have some decent traffic in which case companies may want to host a review or two on your blog and you get compensated for the same.

The offers may vary, some may offer you $5 or more but in reality, it depends more on the blog you have, the niche and the sort of content featured on the same.

All that you would have to do is to register your blog, enter the details and if approved, you can do a review for the company and get paid for your trouble.

5. RSS feeds:

If you are looking to monetize your blog, then you can easily do so with your news feeds or RSS feeds.

These days most PPC and other forms of advertisements have started designing the same for RSS feeds, so you should be able to host a few PPC ads on your RSS news feed with ease, and as the process is more or less automated, you should be able to do so with ease.

6. Audio ads:

Yes, you heard it right – remember the youtube videos which stop in the middle of the clip for an ad? These are somewhat similar where the audio ad starts to play the moment a visitor lands on your page.

The ad in question lasts only for a few seconds and your visitor cannot do anything about it, which is why it boasts of a good conversion rate. These ads usually pay about $5/visit but your audience may find it somewhat tad intrusive.

That being said, this is a nifty way by which you can monetize your blog. Just keep in mind that some of the users may end up staying away from your blog if these ads continue for too long or get more intrusive.

You can also do podcast ads which runs along the same line as audio ads. If your website gets some decent traffic and if you are in the habit of hosting pod casts and webcasts, then you can run a few ppc ads. And like every other form of monetization, you get paid by the visit.

7. Pop up ads:

Pop up boxes can be somewhat irritating which is why many users prefer to block pop up ads. But that being said, these pop up boxes are still a lucrative way to monetize your blog.

Granted that you may not want to use the pop up feature to run adverts or for that matter, host one too many on your website.

But you can still run a select few and moreover, it is also quite effective at getting users to opt in, which you can use to streamline your marketing campaigns.

The Pros and Cons of Running Advertising on Your WordPress Blog

8. Affiliate marketing:

There are any number of affiliate marketing companies that will pay you good money to host affiliate links to their product.

You would have to first register with Amazon, or Clickbank and once you have done so, you should be able to copy and repost the affiliate link on your website.

The only catch being here is that you would be required to develop a short review that would entice others to purchase this product and include the affiliate link within your post.

And when the online user purchases the product, you get a certain commission which can vary from one company to another.

The range of commission can also vary widely between different products with select ones offering nearly 75% as commission, which is why you may want to take a closer look at this.

Just keep in mind to check out the reviews for the various affiliate marketing companies before you opt to sign up – these reviews should give you a good idea as regards the affiliate marketing companies, whether they pay on time and as to how good they really are.

9. Create and sell your own product:

One of the best ways to monetize your blog is to create some product that your users would be into and to sell the same online. You can easily set it all up, with integrated products listed on your website.

And you can also market the same and once the user purchases it, you should start receiving your payment right away.

You can also develop an ebook or for that matter, use sites like Amazon among others to host it.

In addition, you can even write up a review of your product or better yet, get someone else to do it so that it looks authentic. You can also manufacture your own product or remarket traditional and ethnic products.

And it should also be pointed out that as nearly every user is bound to use a handbook or guide to several activities, you can develop your own version which should definitely come handy.

Moreover, you can utilize several marketing channels to drive visitors towards your guidebook and your conversion rate’s bound to go up as well.

These are some of the ways by which you can monetize your blog for free; keep in mind that most of the methods listed here only work if your blog gets some decent traffic and features great content.

And as long as the blog meets the requirements set up by various advertisers, you should be able to use your blog to make some good money in the long run.

Granted that $200 may not sound like a great deal but you can always set up another blog and extend your reach and in the process, your ad revenue as well.

It makes perfect sense to go ahead and monetize your blog rather than just allow it remain ‘as it is’.