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How do websites make money without ads?
Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. If you’re reading this, then the following things are probably true about you:
- You value your time.
- You hate ads.
- You use ad blockers.
- You know that ads are bad for everyone (except the companies making money from them).
- The rest of this article is going to be dedicated to solving these problems.
Websites make money without ads by placing affiliate links to companies that are willing to pay the website owners for leads either with CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) or by commission.
What is an affiliate link?
An affiliate link is a link that goes to another company’s product page where if someone buys the product, you get a cut of their purchase.
Companies will offer these affiliates up to 50% of the profits! That’s a lot of money coming your way for sending them an interested customer.
You can also create your own products, physical and digital, and or eCommerce, etc. The only limits to making money are your ability to create content people are looking for to drive traffic i.e visitors to your website and creative ways to best monetize those eyeballs, i.e. visitors, traffic, etc. You get the gist.
How do websites make money from traffic?
The short answer is they don’t. Most websites are lucky to cover their server costs, but generating revenue from traffic is something that every website owner dreams of.
The reason for this is that you can’t directly charge people or companies for access to your site. You can ask them for money, but it’s unlikely you will ever get rich doing so.
What do most sites do instead?
They rely on advertising to provide their revenue stream. This can come in many different forms, but typically websites display ads which are paid for by the advertiser and shown alongside content provided by the website owner.
The hope is that a user will click an ad at least once, this provides the opportunity for the website to make some money.
If you’ve ever seen a page with multiple banners or text links in strategic places designed to draw attention then you’ve witnessed online advertising.
The problem with this model is that, although it may not seem like it sometimes, no-one actually wants to click on ads.
As such, website owners need to make the ads more and more eye-catching in order to get visitors clicking them. Does this sound like a nice user experience?
Enter Sponsored Content…
This is where paid content comes in. Instead of your readers having to endure irritating banner ads, you can simply sell space on your site to companies who are looking for exposure.
This has the added benefit of being much more pleasant for your readers, and if you’re providing unique content then it’s also likely that your articles will be shared like wildfire on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Who should use paid content?
Realistically every website owner can harness this method of advertising, but it’s particularly effective for any website which deals with news or reviews.
For example, technology websites like TechRadar could sell sponsored content to smartphone manufacturers who are looking for exposure.
The manufacturer would set up a deal with the site and pay them every time they mention their new phone in an article.
For these sites, this method of advertising is much more sustainable than the alternative.
On the other hand, if you’re running an entertainment website where users are looking for news about their favorite TV programs or music artists, then selling sponsored content becomes a no-brainer.
All in all, you have to decide if your website’s demographic is going to appreciate an injection of paid content, but it certainly isn’t a bad idea!
How do websites make money with ads?
When you look at a website, chances are, there’s ads everywhere. When you’re on Facebook and someone comments on your photo, there’s usually an ad in the sidebar or in the newsfeed.
However, it is possible to run a website without ads and still be able to monetize it positively. It will take some time and effort, but if you put in the effort, it will help your website become profitable.
In fact, here’s a list below on how websites make money, some with ads, some without ads. You choose which method or methods would be right for your website.
12 ways to make money with a website.
1. Sell your own products.
2. Sell affiliate products.
3. Adsense ads to create revenue on your website.
4. Use donations as a form of revenue for the website using PayPal or other online payment processing companies, etc…
5. Be an affiliate marketer and promote other people’s products in exchange for a percentage of their profits. Amazon Affiliates being the most popular of these.
6. Sell t-shirts, hats, mugs, etc… with your website’s logo on them. Check out Printful and Teespring to get started.
7. Ask for donations or sell advertising space to other companies/individuals within your website content.
8. Create an online course and charge monthly fees for access to it by users from across the web.
9. Create an online course and charge a one-time payment for access to it by users from across the web!
10. Use a service like Patreon that allows you to set up a monthly payment system with your fans or patrons, etc…
11. Sell digital products such as eBooks, audio files containing information, software, etc…
12. Sell your artwork or knowledge of something that you’re an expert in! Try Etsy.
How do websites make money without ads? Final thoughts.
There are several ways to make money with a website without ads as you can see above.
For example, you can either create a business that can be monetized or integrate affiliate links into your site that will pay you if someone buys something.
When writing blog posts you should always include at least one link where it is possible for people to buy the product and click on them as this increases your chance of getting money from whatever product is being advertised.
However, you do need to be careful. The problem with including affiliate links in blog posts is that you may annoy your readers and they’ll stop coming back to your site if there’s too many of them all over the place.
You’ll need to find a good balance between advertising on your site and adding value with high quality content.
At the end of the day, picking a strategy is key. Just know that it all starts with your passion and builds from there. There’s no magic bullet or secret sauce to get traffic and subscribers as well as monetizing it all without putting in the work!
