Let me start out by saying this post is a bit off topic from my normal topics of web development and family adventures. It’s not completely off-topic because I have written about entrepreneurship related stuff in the past. With that said, I think this information is applicable to websites though not at all limited to web developers.

As you can glean from the title, this post is about ways to monetize your site. I think everyone would agree that earning money from running a website is a lucrative venture. I’ve recently earned a decent bit of money from some web advertising. I say decent because I haven’t earned as much as many other bloggers who have more popular blogs and who focus more on advertising, but I have earned enough to more than pay for last year’s hosting and my domain name…not that hosting is that expensive through Dreamhost.

What is my secret? It has to deal with diversification. I bet that sounds familiar to anyone who deals with the stock market. I have a variety of items that can earn little bits of money here and there. For instance, I post very few Google AdSense ads throughout my site, I offer a discount code to anyone who wants to sign up with Dreamhost, and I advertise for Text Link Ads. I try not to make any of the ads obtrusive…few things annoy me more than a website that is filled to the brim with unsightly ads.

Text Link Ads is by far my best earner. Google AdSense is a distant second, and Dreamhost is right behind. Logic is behind the order of earners:

• TextLinkAds has the best and easiest affiliate program. Plus, I helped a Adnan at blogtrepreneur.com launch his website a while back and he agreed to let me post a Text Link Ads logo on his site (which now gets more traffic than my own site).
• I use limited Google AdSense ads on my page because I don’t want them to be a distraction from my content. Plus, the pay per click is fairly low usually.
• I rarely post about Dreamhost and I don’t use big buttons to promote it. Mostly, I use Word of Mouth and let people know that I’ve got a good discount to save them some money on hosting if they want it. I give a good discount so my earnings aren’t much. Let me know if you’re interested in Dreamhost and I’ll give you a special discount

Those aren’t the only options. Other ones that I know of include:

• AdBrite
• ReviewMe (I maybe trying this one later)
• Yahoo! Publisher Network

Just so you know, I don’t run this blog for the money. However, since I am writing some post and free tips, I don’t see anything wrong with trying to make a little extra cash on the side. I hope this post helps you know where to look to effectively monetize your website through advertisements. I also want to state that I don’t recommend monetizing a ministry and business sites (ads look unprofessional).

With that I leave this banner (don’t worry, I don’t plan on using these often):