Adding value for monetising websites

Today I got to thinking a lot more seriously about revenue generation options for monetising websites.

Although I’ve pretty much doubled my Adsense earnings over the past month, it’s still not a huge amount.

And today it really hit me how meagre the revenues are relative to other earning options.

The main reason I have websites is to provide link development opportunities for clients. But I’ve found myself developing sites which have a much wider remit - forums, news sites, and general information-rich content across different verticals.

The aim is to create content and sites that can stand alone from SEO work if required to.

I’ve used Adsense so far because it’s simple and easy to use. But then when I look at a couple of sites I’ve really concentrated on developing, I’ve removed Adsense because I can earn 10x more via other methods of monetisation.

And that’s made me realise that I’m monetising some sites the wrong way.

For example, I could add the following potential revenue generation models to some of my websites:

1. Direct advertising - usually text links
2. Paid directory listings on niche websites
3. Charge for forum advertising
4. Affiliate product links where appropriate
5. Direct selling relationships with related ecommerce merchants
6. Direct sales via own ecommerce set up

The problem in most instances is that Adsense is the easiest monetisation method precisely because there is so little perceived value in the sites that other monetisation options aren’t on the table.

So let’s underline that point:

• Adsense can be the most effective method of monetising low value websites
• Adsense can be the least effective method of monetising high value websites

So to really drive in revenues for your websites you need to add value - perceived value - to the site, in order to bring the other monetisation options onto the table.

And that’s where I’m basically going wrong with so many of my own sites.

I’ve been trying to add enough value to allow for basic monetisation, but not enough value to offer increased monetisation options.

I’ve previously mentioned that now is the time to have a business plan for your websites - so that’s precisely what I’m going to start doing.

This means:

1. Planning to realise monetisation options before development
2. Investing company cash into developing better (and targeted) content and advertising this
3. Consolidating websites into single site where it makes sesne