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How to Monetize Your WordPress Website

The right website monetization method will help you reap amazing outcomes. Below are smart ways to monetize a WordPress site.

WordPress is a platform that empowers website owners with many tools to create, manage, and even monetize their site. It boasts a whopping 65% of the CMS market share, and 42% of all websites and blogs are powered by WordPress. Many are inclined to monetize WordPress blogs as a way to earn some extra bucks, or much more.

Since WordPress offers a hassle-free website development experience, it is simple to implement any niche business idea and market it across the internet through using various WordPress plugins for social profiles.

And when it comes to turning your idea into money, there are numerous popular methods for monetizing your WordPress website. Bolstering your business revenue through a WordPress site demands a systematic plan to find sources and invest accordingly. The competition is fierce, and to stand out from the rest would require you to consider multiple factors that drive revenue.

WordPress website monetization can provide game-changing results if done in the right manner, whether you’re a freelancer or running a business. Choose wisely, and the right monetization method will help you reap amazing outcomes.

However, for any kind of monetization to be effective, your website needs to be built right and optimized for Google rankings — with clean code, fast load speeds, and intuitive navigation — as your website is the foundation of your monetization venture.

So once your WordPress website development and launch is on point, check out the following smart ways to monetize a WordPress site. That means you may choose whatever strategy works best for you and stick with it until you start making money.

#1. Affiliate marketing

An affiliate marketing program lets you earn a commission on each business or product that you suggest, and your users buy. For instance, joining an affiliate network, like Fiverr affiliate, will open ways for you to earn a revenue share from anybody who clicks on your affiliate link (displayed on your WordPress site) and signs up for a premium account.

Book bloggers may make additional revenue if a reader purchases a book through the blog’s backlinks (often through Amazon).

However, there is one critical caveat — do not look to thrive in affiliate marketing by jeopardizing your integrity or reputation. Therefore, ensure you need to keep in mind the below-mentioned tips:

  • Avoid advertising the products without trying them first. If that is not possible, check its authentic reviews.
  • Make recommendations for services and products that are relevant to your user base.
  • Ensure that any affiliations you have are properly disclosed without the need to pitch yourself on your website.

To get started with affiliate marketing, all you need to do is concentrate on a three-step process viz; Solve, Show, Share. First, you need to solve an issue for someone, show how to accomplish something, and share your reviews based on your experiences.

You are required to propose items and services in exchange for a share of the money spent by the users who trust your website. Here, you establish yourself as an influencer by following these three steps while reaping a percentage of affiliate product sales that unlock maximum gain using your WordPress site.

#2. Sell Your Own Digital Products

Of the many ways to make money online from home, you can leverage your WordPress site to start selling digital products you create. This will need you to create something of value and increase profits by offering that product directly on your website. Here, you eliminate the need for intermediaries who would take a cut from each sale your site makes.

The wider the repertoire of digital products, the higher the chances of your profit. This includes selling eBooks, templates, icons, images, sports cards, and the like. However, this may not be a simple route for everyone since selling anything may bring up complications like taxes, shipping (if it’s a physical product), and payment methods. If you believe you can manage the technical aspects of this choice without difficulty, you should go for it.

Check out some of the digital products you can start selling on your WordPress site to make money.

Ebooks and audiobooks

Start creating eBooks and audiobooks by consolidating your knowledge into a practical guide and charging a fee for it. This works if you are an expert in the field with a wealth of experience to share with users.

You will need to spare time to write down what you want to communicate and transcribe them to the audio while creating an audiobook.

Also, you’ll need to design a cover as a part of the marketing element to ensure communicating the message of the eBook and audiobook to your users. However, once you do the needful, market all you created on your website and profit for each digital product you sell.

Launch an e-course

You can also use WordPress to commercialize your skills and generate revenue when launching your course. For instance, Joshua Becker (a WSJ Best-Selling author) is selling his Uncluttered course to adopt a healthy, minimal lifestyle. Similarly, you can tailor a technique that adds value for your users.

Creating, publishing, and selling such an e-course will need only the WordPress site to begin the business.

Sell digital downloadables

If you have any graphic design talents (or the financial means to purchase one), consider selling a digital product on your website. Here are a few ideas you can start selling:

  • Templates, checklists, trackers
  • Photoshop and Lightroom presets
  • Blog graphics
  • Stock photo bundles
  • Video effects or stock footage
  • Illustrations
  • Website themes
  • Premium design elements (icons, fonts, etc.)
  • Audio elements (jingles, brand tunes, etc.)

#3. Running Advertisements with Google AdSense

AdSense offers one of the highly successful techniques of monetizing a WordPress website. Google AdSense enables you to show adverts from reputable businesses on your website or a blog. Your WordPress site will function as a publisher, with its content opening up the revenue stream from the adverts.

The image below shows the types of ads you can implement.

ad unit options google ads

There are two ways to make money using AdSense viz; pay per click (PPC) advertising or through pay per view advertising. You can optimize the advertising on your platform using the Easy Google AdSense plugin on your WordPress website will spare you the hassles. With this simple plugin, you can integrate Google AdSense and banner adverts into your website and manage them seamlessly.

To begin, AdSense gives you access to the world’s largest advertising network where Google verifies and operates all adverts. This prevents the danger of inadvertently including irrelevant content. Second, any website that meets the AdSense eligibility requirements is eligible to register an AdSense account.

Here’s what your WordPress site needs to ensure:

  • Publishing a unique, relevant, and original content
  • An intuitive layout that is easy to load
  • Seamless navigation throughout the site
  • Robust functionality that drives more user stickiness

Setting up an AdSense account on your WordPress website will require you to keep content unique to visitors. Additionally, it should be relevant to your visitors’ interests and give an excellent user experience. Therefore, you must evaluate your pages before signing up for AdSense to verify they are in excellent condition.

#4. Start a paid membership website

Create a separate themed section on your website and infuse it with additional value to justify the cost. You may integrate this capability onto your website using MemberStack for WordPress.

Some of the popular membership models are:

  • Paid communities like private forums, discussion boards, a member director, and exclusive deals. Example: Couchsurfing and Workaway.
  • Education sites let customers purchase access to a collection of courses, webinars, podcasts, and other educational resources. For instance, gameartsacademy.com
  • Experience professional groups provide highly personalized coaching and expert training sessions with a selected set of students. Example, MasterClass.com

You can use the Pay per Post Plugin for WordPress to configure and establish a subscription service customized for your website. It hides your websites and posts from public view and lets you charge for access per post. Additionally, you can design price plans to provide visitors with various payment alternatives tailored to their specific requirements.

#5. Marketplace for Skill Exchange

Making your professional services well-known to your internet community is an excellent way to leverage your WordPress website. Create a platform for web designers, writers, coders, and other technology experts who can offer their skills on your platform. In return, you earn the markup based on commission similar to Fiverr.

A marketplace for talent can provide a suitable platform for talent across countries who can offer services at a competitive rate. This is a great way to utilize your WordPress site for generating revenue.

You need to invest a bit in gatekeeping the community of talent by validating their identity and skillset. For instance, checking their existing work, evaluating a portfolio, or even examining to gauge their skills.

There are many small businesses and established freelancers in the world who are looking to hire top talent, and you could offer the solution. You can also create a niche by hosting specific services like UI/UX, software development, digital marketing, etc.

#6. Publish sponsored posts and product reviews

If you want to get the best out of your WordPress website without much of a fuss, start with negotiating sponsorship deals with other companies.

Here’s what all you can charge for:

  • Writing a blog article on a related issue and include a link to the sponsor’s website (advertorials)
  • Including a review of a sponsor’s product in your article as a part of the sponsored review.
  • Incorporating material into your e-newsletter as a way of newsletter sponsorship
  • Any further social media marketing

While sponsored content is not a scalable website monetization approach, you can always convert your blog into an advertising platform to leverage AdSense. This way, it opens up an

additional avenue to monetize your WordPress site.

There are websites, like Fitnancials, that charge businesses between $750 and $1,500 per blog post, plus an additional $100 for promoting it on their social media.

#7. eCommerce & Dropshipping

WordPress websites can do more than simply hold the information. It includes selling physical goods and hosting financial transactions. It takes some time to get started that way, but WordPress is an excellent platform for developing an e-commerce website.

WordPress lets you create an online shop by installing a plugin such as WooCommerce. Compared to other e-commerce platforms, WooCommerce is free and has a slew of useful tools for setting up your site. You can use WordPress to create a dropshipping shop and a standard storefront for your products.

Instead of shipping items directly to customers, you can outsource distribution to a third party, much as Amazon does for smaller sellers that utilize their marketplace. If you’re using WooCommerce or Shopify, this method will need you to install a plugin or modify the procedures to ensure shipping information is communicated directly to the supplier.

If you’re interested in utilizing WordPress to establish a dropshipping business, there are numerous plugins available.

In a Nutshell

We hope you’ve been inspired to monetize your website and feel ready to take your next steps towards getting a little more cash in your pocket, thanks to the wonders of WordPress. If you don’t like to be stuck within a cubicle or are looking for some passive income, choose any of the options mentioned above and begin implementing your ideas right away. While it may take a while to start earning out of it; however, it’s going to be worth it.

Implementing some of these tactics demands an initial commitment of time and money. But, once you are willing to take the leap, stick to it and make sure you follow it till the end. To begin using any of these options, you must first establish your self-hosted WordPress site and make sure it is glitch-free.

If you’re a blogger, you should consider giving affiliate marketing a go, and in case you are planning to build it from scratch, try WP Astra the Most Popular theme of all time,  also remember an eCommerce website should turn profitable.

Lucy Manole

Lucy Manole

Lucy is a creative content writer and strategist at Marketing Digest. She specializes in writing about digital marketing, technology, entrepreneurship, and education. When she is not writing or editing, she spends time reading books, cooking and traveling.

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