BWMagic’s Internet Marketing News

How To Monetize Your Web Content

Perhaps one of the most frequently asked questions for webmasters
has to be: How do I monetize my web pages? How do I make money
from my online content?

As a full-time online marketer and webmaster, this is a question I
have considered many times and found my own answers through years
of trial and error. Of course, I have taken the passive route in
my quest for that online income. This means instead of producing
my own products, I market and promote affiliate goods and services.
I do NO direct selling on any of my websites, I collect no money
and I don’t even have a payment program or system in place.

All my income and commissions come from referring traffic or clients
to the affiliate companies which I promote. Totally passive.

These companies do all the selling, delivery of products, customer
support, everything… I just get a small percentage for having
referred that customer or client. This passive method has worked
extremely well for me but keep in mind, selling your own products
and services will be much more lucrative since you will receive
the majority of the profits instead of just a small commission
or referral fee.

However, if you’re like me and want a more “hands-off” passive income
from your web content, here are some of the things I have learned over
the years. You might find some of these tips helpful in your own
monetization. I have placed these tips in the form of a “q and a”
format…

1. Should I use Google Adsense?


While placing Google Adsense ads on your site or blog is extremely
easy, the rates are very low. You can make 10 to 100 times more
by using affiliate links instead of these ads. For example, for one
Adsense click you could get anywhere from a few cents to several dollars,
whereas with an affiliate program you can get from $10 to $100+ for
a click which turns into a sale. However, Google is one of most respected
and reliable companies on the web. They pay on time and should not be
ignored. I have used Adsense for years mainly because you can’t always
find affiliate programs for some content and besides, you can place
both affiliate links and Google Adsense on your pages.


2. Should I use Amazon?

Another very simple way to monetize your content is to place Amazon
products and referral links on your pages. Amazon’s referral rates
are slightly better than Google Adsense especially if you have high
volume sales but they are still lower in general. However, I have
found users tend to really trust Amazon and buy from them more frequently
and more often so conversion rates are much higher than any other
affiliate program I have used. For this reason alone, Amazon should
be on your list if you want earn money from the web. I have been
using them for years and find building your links are very easy,
so too is building whole “A Stores” on a particular topic or line
of products.


3. What is ClickBank and Should I use it?

ClickBank is one of the largest affiliate networks for downloadable
products such as ebooks and software. They pay some of the largest
commissions, 40% to 50% or more is very common. Very reliable, I have
been using them for years and you should include some ClickBank products
on your pages. Please note that ClickBank does deduct a small percentage
of your commissions to cover any returns, but it also means you don’t
have any dropped commissions – once you make a sale, you will get paid
for it.


4. What are affiliate networks?

Affiliate networks, like Commission Junction and LinkShare, are major
players in the online affiliate world. These affiliate networks represent
thousands of companies which offer products and services that webmasters
can promote. They handle all sales transactions and send out your
commission checks each month. Most of my affiliate programs are through
these affiliate networks with CJ being the top one mainly because
they have excellent feedback and tracking.

5. How do I find a profitable affiliate products or service?

Regardless of what you’re promoting, you must be very careful to pick
quality products that’s closely related to your content. These two factors
will mainly determine your conversion rates, although product ads and display
images do play a small part. If you use a network like Commission Junction
they will tell which company is making the most sales, they will also tell
you which ads are getting the highest return with the actual dollar amount
(EPC – earnings per 100 clicks). I always use this data when picking which
companies and products I promote on my sites.

6. Why do I need to create different income streams?

The real beauty of running an online business, you can have many different
income sources which pay you each month. You should plan on having at least
10 to 20 income streams, if one should dry up, you will have the others to
depend upon. Once you have quality traffic coming to your website, it is
just a matter of placing different affiliate links on your pages, I like
including at least three or four different companies on a page, this way
you can easily create different income streams for the same page. Throughout
your site, don’t just rely upon one company or product, have many different
affiliate links and companies.

7. What should be your main strategic objective?

Don’t make this mistake, instead of making one sale and getting paid for
it once, pick products and services which give you a re-occurring or
residual income. You do the same promotion and work but get paid for
years to come. I am still earning income on sales I made five years ago.
This will significantly improve your bottom line or your return on investment.
Products and services which have a monthly billing element are good candidates
for residual income… such as web hosting, autoresponder services,
tele-communications and so on. Don’t rule out forming partnerships
with businesses in the subject of your website, you might be surprised
at the response you get.

Effectively monetizing your web content will largely determine if you succeed or not, so try some of the tips above. Of course, there are many other ways to monetize your traffic such selling direct ads and links on your pages. The list above is not my full list but they are some of my top-performing programs and they should also work for you and your web content.

If you need more help why not try our online Affiliate Guide:
Affiliate Marketing Guide

Helping You Succeed Online Since 2002!

Kind Regards,
Titus

http://www.bizwaremagic.com

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