People create websites for one of two reasons. The vast majority make a website to make money, while others make websites solely to put information into a public space. We’re going to focus on the former.
Making money using your website is not an easy task. Ads alone will cover only a small portion of your costs and, unless you’ve got a truly popular website, will never be enough to gain a profit with.
Make a Marketplace
This first idea doesn’t work with every website, but selling products is always a surefire way to make money. Let’s face it, people need things. Whether it’s something vital or just a cosmetic thing (or even a donation), people will buy stuff on your website as long as you’ve got a steady stream of visitors. Look into making a marketplace. This is especially true if you like creating things (authors, illustrators, painters).
Consider using Affiliate Links
Affiliate links are links to products which you are endorsing or supporting. You can find them from other websites and put them in your blogs as long as you follow WordPress Guidelines on affiliate links. In short, just don’t post anything non-reputable or pornographic.
Affiliate links are a great way to generate extra money from your website because they tend to pay pretty well and aren’t costing you anything to create.
Keep in mind, you still want your website to make sense, so don’t just start posting affiliate links for make-up brushes if your website is centered around farming.
Consider ads
Ads are everywhere and they can be anything from a barely-noticeable disturbance to a site-closing pain in the rear. I’m going to go ahead and STRONGLY warn you against pop-ups and pop-unders. Have ads that work with your website and not against it.
For instance, if your website is primarily a video-watching site, don’t have advertisements that make noise or cause a scene.
WordAds is the official WordPress advertisement program and is a great tool to get you started if you’re considering advertisements. There are also tons of third-party options for that that want more functionality. Just be sure to do your research before installing any plug-ins that aren’t official.