One of the most often asked questions from novice
webmasters is: How do I monetize my site? How do I earn an
income from my site or blog?
The solution is quite simple, yet the effectiveness (read
how much you will make) can be very complex and
complicated. There are so many factors involved; it is more
than just throwing a few banners or text ads on your site.
Those factors will greatly determine how much income you
will derive from your blogs or sites.
Maybe it is better to start from the very beginning, before
you even start to build your site or blog. The first fact that
you have to realize is that the Internet is run by search
engines. There are exceptions, but for the most part the
search engines will determine how many visitors your site
will receive.
And to simplify things further, by search engines, read
Google. Mainly because Google will deliver the majority of
your traffic. MSN and Yahoo will deliver traffic, but not in
the numbers Google will.
Next, while the Internet is run by these search engines,
its powered by keywords. Understand this fact fully, and
your life as a struggling webmaster will be over.
Keywords and keyword phrases are what people place in the
search engines when they're searching for information or
searching for a product to buy. Obviously, keywords are the
source of your online income; they're the building blocks
of any income from your site. Therefore, you have to choose
your keywords carefully. You need ones that people are
using and searching for on the Web.
Use resources like Wordtracker.com or Overture.com to find
the best keywords. One excellent resource is
www.nichebot.com. It will not only give you the number of
searches made for any given keyword, but it will also give
you the ratio of numbers of sites to exact keyword phrases,
i.e., it will give you the amount of competition for your
keywords. You can proceed or act accordingly. The lower the
ratio, the better chance you have of placing your site on
the first page SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages).
Getting on those pages will be your first step in really
monetizing your site or blog. You can do yourself a big
favor by placing your main keyword phrase in the title of
your domain. For example, if you have a site on gaming
laptops, place those keywords somewhere in the title of
your site or blog.
In your content or web pages, always construct or create
pages around keywords that have a product attached. For
example, if you have a page entitled "Best Gaming Laptops,"
more than likely your visitors will be searching for the
best gaming laptops to buy. Monetizing your site will then
only be a matter of finding affiliate programs to match
this keyword phrase (high end gaming laptop
manufacturers). Or placing Google Adsense text or image ads
on this page. Another popular alternative to Adsense is the
new upstart, Chitika eMiniMalls, with
interactive/search/product review banner ads.
Another good strategy is to pick affiliate products that
are high paying, where just one click can result in $100 or
more. Where to find these affiliate products? Some top
general affiliate programs are Amazon, Commission Junction,
LinkShare, Clickbank—all these reputable programs list
thousands of products that sell well online. These programs
will also send your checks out on time!
Once you have this simple system worked out: high searched
for keyword + low ratio competition + matching affiliate
link or banner = $$$
You will be well on your way to monetizing your site or
blog. Look for popular unexplored niche areas for your
content or web pages, and you will increase your earnings.
Try out different keywords and see which ones develop into
an income stream on your site. Explore the successful ones
with variations of your main keyword. Example — "Gaming
Laptops U.K." Then get affiliate products to match these
variant keyword phrases.
It is a simple formula you can follow time and time again,
with all your keywords.
There are countless ways to monetize your site or blog, but
trying the system described above will give you a
head-start on your competition. Perfect this system, and you
will be on your way to becoming one of those much talked
about success stories on the Web. Better yet, you can
remain totally anonymous, and quietly earn an income from
your web pages day after day. Keep everyone guessing and
wondering just what's putting that smile on your face?
©2006, Titus Hoskins
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The author operates numerous sites on the web, a general
Internet Marketing site http://www.bizwaremagic.com, and a Marketing Tool Guide where you can find helpful and
effective marketing tools, including Free Internet
Marketing manuals:
http://tinyurl.com/k6fkw.
This article may be freely distributed if this resource box
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