Monetization Strategies

Every website has a bunch of web pages which get more search traffic than others. These pages are constantly visited daily by new visitors, people who have never seen the site in question before. I call these ‘money pages’ because they are a reliable source of immediate and future income.

But they’re not just ‘money’ because they bring in revenue: they are one of the easiest ways to grow your audience without much work. If you learn how to optimize these money pages (its not hard to do), you’ll really improve your website in so many ways. More revenue, more members, more influence and authority. Doesn’t that sound good?

Visitors often visit websites and perform keyword searches in order to find the information they require. One way to make money from this often repeated user action is to display targeted advertisements on your search results pages.

Ideally, you want to monetize while adding value for your visitors and a means to achieve this aim is to use Google’s Adsense for Search, which places text-based ads next to your search results

I’ve inserted a Google Custom Search engine on Dosh Dosh a few months ago and I thought it’ll be helpful to share the process of setting up a Google Custom Search for your own site, in order to generate some extra income.

Google Adsense has a referral program which will allow you to earn up to US $1 everytime you refer one new user to install the Firefox browser. The more people you convert to the Firefox browser, the more income you will earn from your website.

Unlike other Google Adsense units, this referral program allows you to directly recommend products by using action-based text, which directs a user to click through on any specific links or ad banners.

Google Adsense’s Help Center clearly shows that this is something that is allowed:

I have the habit of googling for information about a certain product before I decide on buying it, especially if its expensive or new. For example, if I’m buying electronics I’ll usually visit websites like Amazon.com or Circuit City.

Why? Because the user reviews there give me more details on the actual product’s design or usability. I like to have as much information as possible before paying for an expensive camera.

And it looks like I’m not the only one. A recent social commerce report on online retailers shows that the use of customer reviews will increase the overall sales for your website.

It’s possible to increase the amount of money you earn from your blog or website without increasing the amount of traffic you currently receive. While the amount of traffic greatly affects how much money you earn, all income sources can be tweaked to generate more revenue without an proportionate increase in traffic.

One simply needs to strategically optimize your website in order to best accommodate whatever traffic you are currently receiving.

This article will provide some useful details on the various methods and principles you can immediately use to improve the overall net revenue from your website or blog.

Originally online journals used for recording and sharing personal perspectives, blogs have gradually become an established form of online media.

Mini-hubs of social interaction, blogs have gained an interested audience derived from a smörgåsbord of keywords, communities, interests and demographics.

They have evolved into platforms allowing traditional media and businesses to reach communities hitherto immune to their advertising efforts. Because of their strong integration with niche communities, blogs are also becoming an invaluable part of any viral marketing or promotional campaign.

Many online businesses use subscription-based monetization because it provides consistent recurring income over a period of time. This is particularly important when the business needs capital to expand its service or product offerings.

Subscription-based models often utilize a trial subscription program which allows customers to try the product or service, in order to see if it fits their needs.

These free trial subscription periods usually offer less functionality than paid subscriptions and are designed to encourage a transition from free usage to paid subscriptions.

An effective way of making money from your website is to practice direct advertising sales or the sale of ad space to potential advertisers without the intervention of advertising brokers or middlemen.

Instead of relying on popular online marketplaces and networks which take a cut of your earnings, you focus on negotiating and acquiring advertisers directly for your websites.

I’m a strong advocate of direct ad sales and have written extensively about it in my beginner’s guide to direct advertising sales. This is something anyone can do for themselves and you don’t even need a terrifically popular website to get advertisers on board.

At the end of most blog posts you’ll often come across empty space. A gap between the last word and the opening comment. This area is often unexploited and unjustly so, because it’ll definitely help make more money from your blog.

If you want more monetary benefits from your content, you should probably spend some time optimizing what I call the Gap or the space between your blog post and the comments section.

In this article, I will outline four methods you can use to effectively monetize this untapped space, while correspondingly increasing both your profit potential and your reader base.