This article is for webmasters looking to make easy money from their websites. Here we talk about using ad networks as a source of income. Ads can also be a nice alternative or addition to E-commerce.

Two Types

There are two main types of online advertising. The first of which is contextual advertising and cost-per-click advertising. The second is affiliate based programs, where revenue is from referrals.

Contextual and Cost-per-Click Advertising

This type of advertising has to be the most popular type of advertising out there today. This type usually comes in the form of ad banners and links. When a user clicks on one or the ad is shown a certain number of times (impressions), you get paid. Well, actually it’s not that simple. First you have to find advertisers and you have to have the tech knowledge and software to track clicks and impressions. Plus you maintain relations with your advertisers. All of this can be very hard for a new webmaster, so we’ve tried to make the process easy to understand and use. The first step involves completely eliminating the “finding and maintaining advertising relationships” part. We recommend using an advertising program that finds ads based on the content of your site. Programs like Google TM Adsense and many others offer this type of service. They’re usually free to join and risk free. They manage the ads on your site for you and they offer ad designs to blend with your site. Just add the code to your site and you’re done!

Google Adsense

Adsense offers another service that is useful for sites that use a search tool. It is called “site search”. By associating your Adsense account with your site search, you can make money from relevant ads displayed on your search results.

Adsense for Search

Don’t Go Crazy With Banners…

Be careful when implementing your ads. Make sure that you don’t clog up your site with ads. You don’t want to draw attention away from content and drive away visitors. Also; make sure that you read your program’s guidelines and terms of use. You can lose a lot of money and time if your account gets disabled. Some examples include ad placement, too many ads, and trying to generate false clicks.

Affiliate Programs

Affiliate programs works a little differently than cost-per-click ads. These services are also free to join and are usually easy to implement. When a user clicks on a link they are brought to a third party page, where they are usually prompted to buy something. If and only if there is a transaction, then you will get paid. In Programs like Amazon ^TM Associates, you will not get paid until the product is shipped. Amazon offers a variety of banners and widgets they also allow you to pick any item and link to it.

Amazon Associates

Which Is Right for Me?

Deciding which service is right for you should be based on what type of content you have. If you choose to be an affiliate you must be prepared to maintain your website, because you’re really running a business by selling products (just through a third party). If you choose to use cost-per-click ads, then you should be ready to comply with rules and you should be complementing your content, not “clogging it up.”