We get a lot of questions at TW from clients asking how to ‘Monetise a website’. What people are really asking is “how can I make money out of my website?”

The answer is “in many ways”, providing one simple thing. That you receive lots and lots of traffic. When we say lots we really mean lots. You really should be thinking of a minimum of 50k unique page views per month to make a modest return and income.

We’ve put together the three easiest ways to make money from your website. There are of course many more but these are simple to set up, easy to manage and are tried and tested options used by millions of websites and blogs throughout the world.

1. Google Adsense

Using a Google Adsense account you can allocate an area or multiple areas on your website for Google to place ads in. Usually in standard sizes such as ‘leader boards’ and 300×250 pixel spaces, you can opt for image and rich media ads or traditional text ads. Google then sells these spaces to its customers through its Google Adwords programme using a PPC (pay per click) model. Whenever anyone clicks on an ad on your website or blog, Google pays you a share of the revenue it receives from the client for each click.

Depending on how high your Click Through Rate (CTR) is you can expect to receive roughly £50 per month for a website or blog with 50k unique page views per month.

2. Banner Ads

Very similar to above in that you allocate a space on your website or blog for banner ads, but with this model you control the ads that are placed and you receive 100% of the revenue. Banner ads are often charged per 1,000 impressions rather than a PPC model like Google Adsense.

You can either advertise directly on your website that you sell banner space on or you can use an agency like www.buysellads.com Using an agency like Buy Sell Ads opens you up to a global advertising market space which you probably wouldn’t have access to in normal circumstances.

You need to have a minimum of 50k page impressions per month to even be considered, but once manually evaluated and approved, you could be added to their global inventory and offered as a potential platform for large global brands.

Sidebar squares (125×125 pixels) can be charged at $99 per month each and upwards for 400k impressions. Leader boards can be as much as $1.99 per 1k impressions. Meaning a website with 200k unique page views can make as much as $400 per month for one ad alone!

3. Sponsored Articles

Think that all the articles you read about cool brands and new products are all there because the editor and journalist genuinely love the product? Think again. Many (not all) articles about products and brands are what’s known in the business as ‘sponsored articles’. This means that the owner has paid to have the article written and included on the website or blog.

Often thrown in as a bundle deal when the brand or corporation pays for advertising space, these articles are a great way to generate revenue for your website, whilst at the same time giving you unique and engaging content. Providing you get the right products for the right audience (and not just peddle any old rubbish) sponsored articles offer great opportunities for your website or blog.

It’s not just about the money

So why don’t we all just make money from our website if its that easy?  Well, the mechanisms we can use to make money are pretty straightforward. The truth is that not many of us have the amount of traffic that makes it worth giving up valuable real estate on your website or blog to what can at times be ugly and distracting banner ads.

So in short, if the primary objective of your website or blog is to promote your business, sell your products or showcase your talents, then keep it clean, simple and up-to-date. If your primary objective is to generate an income or revenue from your website or blog, then try and keep the ad to content ratio at a nice level so you won’t be penalised by Google.