Monetize Your Web Site

Now you have a domain, a web host, and have created your first page or two, you need to design it to make money.  There are 3 ways to make money on your site.

Adsense

1) Adsense -  Adsense by Google is the simplest method of creating a cash flow from your web site.   It is realtively easy just click here: , and sign up your information.  Google Adsense pays out when you have reached $100 in advertising, if you don't make it the first month, it rolls over until you reach $100.  You can have this money set up to be direct deposited in your bank account also, which is easy.

Adsense is a good place to start, but it's weakness is it doesn't earn a lot of money.  If your planning on building a website and buy adwords advertising and making a profit off Adsense, forget it.  once google or Yahoo advertising see's what you are doing, suddenly your adsense revenue will drop radically.  It appears to us as though Google will deliver weaker ads.

2) Selling advertisement - If you have a relatively high profile web site and are generating a lot of traffic, you may well be able to sell advertising space directly from your web site.  Offer a spot on the top right, or a 468 X 60 banner across the top of your pages.  If you are a craft site, these spots would not be worth a lot, maybe $10 or $20 per month, or if you have a Music wb site, you might be able to pull $50 to $100 to musical instrument dealers, however you might do much better with #3

3) Affiliate banners - in the case of our sample site, Debs pansies, you may want to sign up to the affiliate sites like Linkshare, and joing floral dealers and gardening supply companies, and put their banners on your web page.  If someone clicks through one of your affiliate banners and makes a purchase, you can make anywhere from 1% to 20% of the sale.  Some affiliates pay a flat fee for the lead, and some of these are realtively high.

Here is one of the keys to affiliate marketing.  Select merchandise that has 3 qualities, desirable, expensive, and good commission.  If you attract the right individual and they click on your ad and make a purchase, would you prefer to make $2.00 on that purchase or $50 on that purchase?  I think that is an obvious answer.  Do you want to promote something that maybe only 1 in a million would be interested in, or something that 50% of the people who visit are interested in?  Again and obvious answer.  As far as the expensive goes, don't find things that are out of your visitors price range.  At Christmas time and during the tax return season, people will spend $400-$700 to get what they want, and sometimes more.  I sold several $1500 items a year ago at Christmas at a 5% commission rate, but this past year having learned a little more, and finding better deals, we sold $600 at 6%, and sold so many some days we generated $15000 in sales for a 6% commission which is $900 commission for one day.

THE BALANCE - Adsense, selling space, and affiliate marketing, you need to figure out what will serve you best for your web site.  Sometimes Adsense, while not making a lot, will provide a steady flow of a little money.  If you have enough sites, it can add up.    On the other hand, depending on what you site content is, it is possible that Adsense may take customers away from your site to another site that is making money through affiliates.  It really depends on if your site gives people a desire to buy something from you.  There are ways that make people interested in what you are promoting, and this will in turn create more affiliate sales for you.