With so many different ways to make money on WordPress, it can be tough to decide which method is right for you. In fact, the right option for you will often depend on your skills, interests, and goals.
While setting up WordPress is quick and easy, you still have to do the proper research to understand which monetization method to go for. Understanding what type of blogs make the most money and how to optimize them will help you determine which strategies are the right fit.
In this article, I will explore a few of the most popular ways to make money on WordPress along with some important considerations when it comes to choosing the money making option for you. Let's get right into it.
Can I Make Money With WordPress?
Yes, you can. However, determining the answer to this question is a little tricky because it largely depends on how you go about monetizing your blog. There are several different ways to make money with WordPress, and some are more lucrative than others.
Image Credit: http://wordpress.org
In addition, it's crucial to choose a niche for your blog that you are, or can become, passionate about. Having a strong interest in the topic you choose will make it much more likely that you'll continue working on your blog (and the various items that you can do) long-term and use what you learn to make money along the way.
10 Ways To Make Money on WordPress
The following are some of the best ways to get started making money on WordPress.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a more lucrative way to make money with WordPress. This involves partnering with other businesses and promoting them for a commission. When someone buys a product or service you've recommended, you earn money from the sale.
This type of marketing can be very profitable if you have a large audience because you can earn commissions on various products and services. However, it does require some effort to set up partnerships and promote products. You'll also need to be familiar with the products or services you're promoting to ensure that you provide accurate information to your readers.
The right affiliate program will usually send you a check for the commissions earned or make the payment via PayPal.
Freelance Writing (aka Content Creation)
If you have strong writing skills, you can make money on WordPress by writing for other websites and businesses. This includes blogging, article creation, graphic design, press releases, ghostwriting, and more.
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Many bloggers use freelance writing since they don’t have the time or the desire to write themselves. This can be a very profitable option if you're good at what you do and are constantly getting better at your skill. However, don't expect your first few projects to yield instant results – it takes time to build clientele and establish yourself as an expert in your niche.
It also helps if you have basic WordPress skills for uploading images and formatting posts. This will make it easier for your clients to work with you and provide you feedback about any changes they want to make.
Create & Monetize A Blog
You can set up a blog on WordPress and generate income by placing ads. While this might not start as a huge income generator, the increase in the number of posts on your blog will increase the page views over time. In turn, this will get the balls rolling when it comes to your earnings.
Google Adsense is one of the most popular advertising programs on the web. You can sign up for an account and then add a few lines of code to your blog to start displaying ads. After that, you might make anywhere from a few cents to a few dollars per click you get on your ads. This heavily depends on the industry Google Adsense determines your website to be in.WordPress Courses
Offering WordPress courses is another way to make money with your blog. This is an excellent option if you're an expert in any topic and have a lot to share with others. You can create video or text-based courses and sell them on your own website.
Your courses can be about items related to WordPress – from creating a basic blog to setting up an eCommerce store. They can also be targeted towards different skill levels that people have. You can decide to create specialty courses, going deep into a topic that you know a lot about, or give a general overview about a WordPress-related topic.
One of the benefits of this option is that it's relatively low-maintenance once you've created the course content. Since people are always looking for ways to learn more about WordPress, there's a good chance that your courses will appeal to a large audience.
WordPress And eCommerce
WordPress can also make it happen if you're interested in setting up an online store.
It's possible to create an ecommerce website using WordPress and a plugin like WooCommerce. This plugin lets you add products, manage orders, track inventory, and more. You can even use it to accept payments via PayPal or other banking methods.
One of the benefits of using WordPress for eCommerce is that you have a lot of control over the design and functionality of your store. You can also use different themes and plugins to enhance the shopping experience for your customers.
Image Credit: http://athemes.com
While setting up an online store isn't difficult, there are a few things you need to know before getting started. For example, you'll need to determine what type of products you want to sell, set up payment processing and shipping methods, and create product pages. However, with a little bit of effort, you can have a fully functioning online store up and running in no time.
Keep in mind that if you want your eCommerce store to be successful, you should choose a domain name and design that are relevant to your products. You should also make sure that your site is optimized for search engines so that potential customers can easily find it.
Having your own online store can be a great way to make money with WordPress. Just make sure you put in the time and effort to set it up correctly from the beginning.
Website Maintenance
If you are a technical person who has a ton of knowledge of how a WordPress site works, you can offer your services as a website maintenance person.
Most people don't have the needed time or knowledge to keep their WordPress site up-to-date and running as smoothly as can be. This is where you come in – you can offer your services to help them with tasks such as installing updates, fixing errors, adding new content, and more.
One of the benefits of this option is that you can set your rates since it is a very specialized skill. You can also choose the clients you want to work with, which gives you a lot of control over your business.
If you're interested in offering website maintenance services, then make sure you have a good understanding of how WordPress works. You should also be comfortable working with code and solving problems quickly.
Check out this ecommerce website guide to start learning about what maintaining a site involves.
SEO & Marketing Services
A WordPress website is only as good as the amount of traffic it receives. If you're an expert in SEO and marketing, you can offer your services to help businesses get more traffic to their site.
There are several ways you can help businesses with their SEO and marketing efforts. For example, you can help them create a content plan, perform keyword research, set up social media accounts, and more.
One of the benefits of this option is that it's relatively low-risk. You can start by offering your services to small businesses, and once you've built up a good reputation, you can move on to larger clients.
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Another benefit is that there's a lot of work available in this area; until WordPress exists, people will still have the need to maintain it. Local, national, and international businesses are always looking for someone to help them ensure their website is up to the required standards as well as market their website to build a robust online presence.
If you're interested in doing SEO for websites and helping them market their services, then make sure you understand the strategies that work best. Also, be sure to establish yourself as an expert by asking clients for their reviews, which you then publicly display. These reviews will help you attract future clients who will be able to see the value in what you’re offering clearly.WordPress Plugin Development
WordPress has become such a popular platform because of the thousands of plugins that you can use to extend its functionality. If you have the necessary skills, you can create your own plugins and offer them to other users.
While you can get your foot in the door with free plugins, there are several reasons why many people who develop these tools might choose to sell them at a premium. Some of these reasons include the satisfaction from seeing their work appreciated by others, building a long-term business, and having the ability to offer more functionality than is possible with a free version.
One great benefit of creating your own plugins is that you don't need an established reputation before getting started. You can often release a new plugin on Envato or CodeCanyon and get paid when someone buys your product through these big websites.
As with anything, there are also a few downsides to selling WordPress plugins. For example, it can be challenging to make a lot of money from this type of business when you’re just getting started. You also need to code well and have a good understanding of how WordPress works.
If you're interested in developing WordPress plugins, make sure to research what plugins are already available on the market. This will help you develop an idea for a unique plugin that has the potential to sell well.
WordPress Theme Development
Making money online with WordPress is not just limited to developing plugins. You can also make money by creating and selling WordPress themes.
Like plugins, there are several reasons people might want to buy a premium theme. For example, they may need a new theme for their website but don't have the time or skills to create one themselves.
Another reason is that many people want to stand out from the crowd. A unique WordPress theme can help them do this, which is why many businesses are willing to pay for one.
Image Credit: http://f5buddy.com
If you're interested in developing WordPress themes, make sure you have the necessary skills. Also, be sure to research the market and see what themes are already available on the market. This will help you develop an idea for a unique theme that fills in a gap in the market and has the potential to sell well as a result.
Theme Customization
In addition to theme development, you can also offer theme customization services. For example, if someone wants to get their website redesigned but isn't interested in creating a new theme, you can work with them to customize an existing one.
This is beneficial for several reasons. Theme customization is typically less costly than developing a new WordPress theme from scratch - meaning that it's more affordable for most people.
If you're interested in offering theme customizations, then be sure to learn how themes work on the backend. Hence, you know what options are available and how they impact SEO and usability. Understanding how it all comes together is essential to ensure excellent results for your clients.
WordPress Setup And Training
While most items in the above list might be considered suitable for more experienced to advanced users, do not underestimate the impact you can have on people who are just starting out as well. Many people struggle to install WordPress, set up sponsored posts, or even install an eCommerce plugin.
A blog setup service might be something you offer as an upsell to training you provide on your own WordPress blog. This will help those that need it to get up and running quickly, avoiding all the frustrations that come with starting something new.
A Note On Digital Products
You can certainly sell a course on Udemy or create online courses with Teachable and then promote them using your blog. The key here is to ensure you have an opt-in page on your WordPress site that collects leads and then follows up through email (or any other marketing channel). Using WordPress, you can easily set up a landing page to do just that.
As I mentioned above, all of these items are great ideas for increasing your income online. Just keep in mind that simply because you start off selling a digital product, it doesn't mean that you can't eventually get into offline sales. You can also use a self-hosted WordPress website to sell tickets to conferences, workshops, and other events that you host in person.
Also, let’s briefly touch on the concept of passive income. This is often how vendors make a living online. For example, if you were selling a course on how to earn money by running paid ads, you could automatically set your advertising to send people to the relevant page on your website. This ensures that people continue landing on your site without any extra work from you.
In other words, passive income is something that is very sought after. While there is the time needed to set everything up initially, it doesn't require ongoing work from you in the long run. Also, if you can set this up for yourself, people will be more than willing to pay for your expertise to help them set up something similar for their own needs.
All of this, combined with WordPress's ease of use, means that you have a lot of potential to make money with this platform. Just make sure that you're always learning new things and keeping up with the latest trends to stay ahead of the competition.
How To Make Money On WordPress - FAQ
WordPress sites are popular because they're easy to use and customized to fit any need. Additionally, they're search engine friendly which means that they rank well in Google searches.
There are several ways to make money with WordPress. Some of the most common include:
Yes, earning money online is possible for anyone that is serious about their success. Keep in mind that it takes time and effort on your part to make this a reality, especially at the early stages when you’re setting everything up.
A WordPress paid membership site is a good option because it's easier to maintain than other types of sites while still allowing you to offer as much value as possible. For example, if someone buys your course on making money with paid ad campaigns, they'll probably be interested in learning more about the topic and keeping up with the latest news and developments.
This means that you could create another membership site, course, or offer that provides additional value (which could mean more premium content, access to 1 on 1 lessons, etc.). With this additional offering, people can get more of what you offer, allowing them to get what they want quicker.
Moving to a more concrete example, imagine you were selling a course that showed how to take pictures and edit them using Photoshop. With WordPress, you can easily create a course showing people how to do just that.
You might also decide to give further information about using these professionally-looking images for lead generation purposes. This would also allow you to include two different offers on your WordPress site and build long-term relationships with two sets of customers. While some of these customers might be interested in both courses, some will not. This means that having two separate membership sites might make the most sense.
WordPress makes it easy to build up all of the above. In addition, consider that if you were selling just ten of these courses at $50 each, this would then mean that you're making an additional $500 per month with no further work from your side - once the courses are online.
Small businesses often struggle because finding the tools and resources required to host events, deliver the right information to customers, or even creating membership sites is challenging. However, WordPress makes all of this very simple, so it's easier than ever for entrepreneurs working in small businesses to launch their online business models.
Additionally, building a WordPress site is more affordable than hiring a web designer to build a site from scratch, which means that companies can get a professional-looking website without spending a lot of money.
One way to make your site more secure is to use one of the many available plugins that deal with security. These include WPScan, Jetpack, and VaultPress. These plugins will help to protect your site from potential attacks. You can also add an SSL certificate to your website to ensure that the data transmitted is safe and secure.
Additionally, you should always keep your WordPress installation up-to-date and ensure that you're using strong passwords for all of your accounts.
Conclusion
WordPress websites are becoming more popular every day. This means plenty of opportunities for people interested in getting their online presence up and running without having to go through a huge learning curve.
The items listed in this article are just a few ways to make money with WordPress. Be sure to research the market and see what other options are available based on your target audience skillset. Also, ensuring that you have a clear plan of action before getting started will increase your odds of success.
