These days, WordPress is a popular platform not just for blogging, but for building websites, eCommerce platforms, and just about everything in between. If you know your way around WordPress, have you ever thought about monetizing that skill? If not, then now may be the perfect time to consider building a business by applying your WordPress knowledge.
Believe it or not, there’s a lot of money to be made through WordPress. From affiliate marketing to selling content and everything in between, the earnings possibilities are nearly endless. According to a MillennialMoney.com article, many full-time bloggers are able to make in excess of $200,000 per year (and some make much more than that).
Whether your WordPress expertise is on the blogging side or the more technical side, there’s sure to be a revenue stream out there for you. The key is to determine which strategies are most applicable to your own skillset. From there, you can start building a business based on your WordPress knowledge that can serve as a side hustle or (eventually) even a full-time job.
So, where should you begin? While this is by no means an exhaustive list of all the income possibilities available through WordPress, it should serve as a useful starting point.
Become an Affiliate
If you already have a successful WordPress blog with a decent number of followers, you may want to try your hand at affiliate marketing. Specifically, affiliate marketing involves adding links to specific products or services within your blog content as a means of advertising. These are specialized affiliate links that allow you to receive commissions on sales made.
For example, if you run a fashion blog and include an affiliate link to a pair of shoes you love, you’ll receive a commission on each sale that is made through your affiliate link. This can be a great way to monetize a blog that already has a decent number of loyal followers.
How to Get Started
If you’re interested in affiliate marketing, there are a number of platforms that make it easy to get started. One of the most popular options among beginners in affiliate marketing is known as Amazon Associates. Here, you can sign up to become an affiliate and start promoting Amazon products right away. With this platform, you can earn up to 10% in associate commissions.
Other popular affiliate marketing platforms to consider include:
- ShareASale
- CJ Affiliate
- ClickBank
Tips for Affiliate Marketing
Regardless of which platform(s) you end up using for your affiliate marketing, there are a few tips to keep in mind as you get started. First, make sure you’re not oversaturating your content with affiliate links. This is a quick way to lose your loyal followers. Try to maintain the same overall experience for your blog readers and only include affiliate links for products you genuinely feel good about promoting.
Furthermore, because so many blog readers are using mobile devices these days, you’ll want to make sure your blog is optimized for mobile and that affiliate links are showing up correctly.
Sell Merchandise
Another option to consider if you already have a decent following on your WordPress blog or website is to start selling merchandise. Selling products through a dedicated eCommerce store can be a great way to bring in additional revenue while also giving your loyal followers a chance to purchase some merchandise with your brand/logo. As an added benefit, these branded products can further spread the word about your business and/or blog, possibly bringing in even more readers and followers.
Setting Up an eCommerce Store
If the idea of creating and selling merchandise sounds intimidating, the good news is that it doesn’t have to be. The first step will be to set up an eCommerce store where you can list products, add photos/descriptions, and make secure sales. Thankfully, WordPress makes adding an eCommerce function to your existing site or blog quick and easy. In fact, there are a number of free and paid “Shop Themes,” as well as eCommerce tools that can make setting up and managing your online store a breeze.
Choosing the Right Products to Sell
Now that your WordPress site has eCommerce enabled, the next step is creating merchandise. Sounds like a lot of work, right? Again, it doesn’t have to be. The key is to find a reputable company that offers on-demand printing services, such as Printful. With print on demand (POD), you can have merchandise made after an order is placed through your eCommerce site. This saves the hassle (and expense) of having to maintain inventory.
From hoodies and t-shirts to posters, canvas prints, and just about anything else you could imagine—POD makes it possible to sell branded merchandise on your WordPress site without having to worry about inventory, fulfillment, packing, or shipping yourself.
Ultimately, the products that are best to offer in your eCommerce shop will depend on your customer base. You know your audience better than anybody else, so take some time to consider which branded products they would be most likely to purchase. Of course, you don’t necessarily have to limit your product offerings to merchandise; you can maximize your earnings potential by selling other things like:
- eBooks
- online courses
- tickets to webinars/online events
Once you’ve chosen a product, you can also leverage TikTok influencers to drive initial traffic to your landing pages. This will provide you with enough data so that you can tweak your offerings.
Advertise Within Your Blog
We’ve already discussed affiliate marketing, which is a form of advertising in itself. However, aside from using the occasional affiliate link to bring in some extra income, you could also optimize your WordPress blog by incorporating ad space into your blog (and/or other parts of your website).
There are a few different advertising platforms out there, but Google Adsense is among the most trusted and popular among WordPress users.
How Google Adsense Works
Specifically, Google AdSense is a program that allows you to designate ad spaces on your website or blog. From there, Google uses specific algorithms to fill those spaces with advertisements that are most relevant to your visitors. Each time an ad is viewed or clicked, you receive money.
Many WordPress bloggers enjoy the fact that Google AdSense allows them to choose their ad sizes and placement, which can help to maintain the overall user experience and aesthetic of the site itself. Likewise, getting involved with Google AdSense doesn’t cost anything, so you really have nothing to lose.
Tips for Success
If you’re thinking about using Google AdSense to generate some extra income with your WordPress blog and/or website, there are some tips to keep in mind. For starters, understand that you are most likely to find success with Google AdSense if you already have a lot of traffic to your site each day. If you don’t receive a lot of daily visitors, you probably won’t make much money because Google AdSense earnings are based on impressions and clicks.
You’ll also want to make sure that you’re designating your ad space thoughtfully. The last thing you want is to actually turn your loyal visitors away with annoying ads that take up the whole page and disrupt the user experience. To help you get a better feel for what ad size and placement will perform best on your site, you may even want to consider A/B testing your options.
Offer Website-Building Services
If you consider yourself an expert on all things WordPress, you could even monetize that knowledge and expertise. Although you may find WordPress easy and intuitive to use, the reality is that there are many people who are struggling to use the platform to their full potential. By offering your services to those who may be less technologically inclined as you, you can bring in some extra money while helping others in need.
Deciding on Services
Since WordPress covers a wide range of services and platforms, the first step you’ll need to take is to decide on the exact services you’ll be offering. If you’re well versed in building WordPress websites, this could be a great starting point. Small business owners, beginning bloggers, and many others are constantly looking for help in designing and creating professional websites—so there’s likely to be a decent market for this.
From there, you might consider offering some additional services based on your experience and skillset. If you have experience setting up an eCommerce platform on WordPress, this service may have a high demand. The same goes for marketing services and search engine optimization (SEO). At the end of the day, it’s all about determining what your strengths are and what you’d like to offer.
Reaching Your First Clients
Next, it’s time to find your first clients. This can be easier said than done, especially when you’re starting out. It will pay off to be proactive and reach out to people who may be in need of your services. Consider, for example, contacting local businesses that don’t currently have websites and offering your help in designing WordPress sites for them. Once you have a few happy clients under your belt, you may receive referrals to new clients—and your business may also grow by word-of-mouth. Alternatively, you can pitch your services on established platforms like Fiverr.
Build a Paid Subscription Service
If you already have loyal readers to your blog, there’s a good chance that some of them would pay for exclusive content (if you offered it). Subscription services and membership sites are becoming an especially common option for generating revenue among WordPress bloggers. While there are many possible ways to set up a subscription service, most bloggers will provide readers with access to special content (such as long-form blog posts, eBooks, and/or even monthly newsletters) that are not available to non-subscribers.
Considerations for a Subscription Service
The most important thing to remember when building a subscription service for your website is that at least some (and possibly even most) of your content should be free and easily accessible, regardless of subscription status. If none of your content is free, you’re going to have a hard time bringing in new subscribers because they have nothing to reference.
One of the most difficult aspects of creating a subscription service, then, is figuring out which content to offer free and which content to “gatekeep.” You’ll also need to decide what kind of subscription best suits your audience. Some may prefer paying a small monthly fee, whereas others may prefer paying for several months or even a year up-front. You’ll also need to decide what kinds of content you’ll offer to your subscribers. Some common examples include:
- webinars
- eBooks
- long-form blogs
Write Sponsored Content
Last but not least, consider monetizing an existing blog by writing sponsored content. If you do a fair amount of blog reading yourself, there’s a good chance you’ve come across sponsored posts from time to time. They almost always start out with some sort of “disclaimer” that the content is sponsored and that the writer received free products or other perks for their post.
Essentially, sponsored blogs often take the form of product reviews or product demonstrations. A company provides a blogger with a free sample of a product or service. From there, the blogger writes an honest review of his or her experience. It’s usually a win-win for both parties; you get free stuff and the company sponsoring you gets some inexpensive exposure.
How to Find Sponsors
So, how do you go about becoming a sponsor? First, you’ll want to make sure that your blog already has a pretty strong following. Companies want to make sure that sponsored content is going to reach a large (and relevant) audience. From there, you can often find sponsors by simply reaching out to some of your own favorite brands and companies. Try to stick with brands that you already know and trust, as your readers will be relying on you to provide honest reviews and recommendations.
The Final Word on Building a Business Through WordPress
Whether you’re an expert website designer or love to blog, there’s sure to be a way (or multiple ways) to monetize your WordPress skills. The key is to assess your skills, pinpoint your strengths, and take advantage of them. And while you may not make enough money to quit your “day job” right away, many people who build a business through WordPress go on to find success with a little foresight, planning, and dedication.
Now, which of these strategies will you start with?
