subject: Why build a website? #2 Money [print this page] Why build a website? #2 Money Why build a website? #2 Money
This year Facebook will log its 500 millionth active citizen and it's estimated that the revenue that facebook will generate from its website will be in the area of 1 billion US dollars, yes that's right a lot of money. How does it do this some people may ask, well Facebook like many websites today are built first then monetized later. Facebook generates all of its revenue from the ads you see on the right hand side of your screen. Google pioneered this method of advertising and the female behind this technology (Sheryl Sandberg) and its development recently left Google and joined the Facebook team. Since then facebook has tripled its revenue outlook.
Can I generate revenue from my own website?
Yes you can, you do it every day without knowing it except that the money isn't paid into your own account. Your facebook account is generating revenue for facebook daily. If you want to generate your own income from your website then you have the option to do so. It's called Google adsense.
I will use my own site for this example:
www.3steps.co.za
My website content (very import but we will get back to it later) is based on bank repossessed property-where to find it and how to buy it, which is a good topic which draws visitors on its own merit. People are drawn to picking up a bargain property and more so with the current market conditions. My site is free and anyone can view it but what most people don't know about my site is that I have my own Google adsense account and this allows me to receive money from visitors clicking on my ads (which you will find on all the pages).
I have placed ads across my entire site on every page but although every visitor who views my site doesn't click on an ad, the ones that do click on my ads, generate revenue for me. This is how it works.
First you have to create your own Google adsense account, this will require personal information (name, surname, address, etc). After completing the first step, you will then create the code for the ads. Yes I know it's starting to sound technical but believe me it's not. After creating your ad code, you then place this code into your website design. After loading your website onto your www.yourdomain.co.za or .com you will see that ads will be displayed according to your content. Google adsense are content driven ads so if your website is about insurance, insurance ads will be displayed. This is all done automatically from Google adsense.
If you are wondering how much you can earn per click, well it works on a bidding system on the advertisers side. Local business that have created Google adsense accounts, they then bid on how much they are willing to pay for a click on their ad. This varies from keyword to keyword but I will give you an example. On my homepage you should see ads for loans or insurance or life cover, these ads are high paying ads. They are averaging around R12.00 to R15.00 per click. If you look on the page "where can I find bank repossessed property" you will get ads about property and auctions. These ads vary but they average around R2.50 to R7.00 per click.
I can hear you already, why don't you just click your own ads? Well, I'm not allowed to do this. Google knows this from previous abuse so they developed an ip address watcher on all ad account holders. If I click my own ads which is not allowed, my adsense account will be closed and I will not be allowed to participate in the adsense program indefinitely. All I can do is advertising my site as much as I can and the rest will follow. The more visitors you have driven to your site, the more you will generate from your adsense.
Along with the many adsense program policy rules, I am also not allowed to encourage clicks on my ads. I can't tell visitors to click ads. The list goes on and on, but the point that I wanna make is that although the program rules are tough, the payouts are beneficial.
Let me put it to you like this.
On the 21 May, I created the 4 pages of www.3steps.co.za and placed Google ads on all my pages. It took me 5 hours to create such simple pages and if you look at them they don't have any login areas, they don't have any changing images or really anything fancy, rather very simple and to the point. Supplying information on what the viewer is looking for and that's it. Since the creation of the site and the ads, along with trying my best to get visitors to my site, my website generates between R30.00 to R50.00 per day with visitors clicking on my ads.
That might not seem like allot but just do the math quickly:
30 day per month
R35.00 average revenue per day
R39.00 cost for hosting monthly
R35.00 x 30 days = R1050.00
minus the hosting -R39.00
total revenue= R1011
What I end up with is a website that I only pay R39.00 to host but it generates R1011 on average per month without working for it. If I attract more visitors my average monthly income will increase.
Summary:
In order for you to do this you need to have the following
