How to Create a Website That Makes Money in 10 Steps

Written by Katherine Toniuk
Written by Katherine Toniuk

Guest Author

When creating websites, different businesses have different aspirations and marketing goals

Some of them promote services, others sell products, and some websites mainly focus on educating their audience. However, there is one thing that all people want to achieve through their websites⁠—making money. 

So, keep reading if you want to learn: 

  1. How to create a website.
  2. How to make money from a website.

Let’s get into it! 

Step 1: Choose a Business Niche 

Wanting to create a website is not a good enough reason to actually do it. 

When it comes to building a website from scratch, you first have to find a niche, an industry that you are passionate about. Then, you must think about what makes you unique and different.

photography website

Image source

Maybe you are passionate about blogging and writing about lifestyle topics or you are obsessed with cryptocurrencies and explaining what is DeFi and why should people invest in cryptocurrencies and NFTs. Or maybe you enjoy photography and graphic design, and you would like to share your creative portfolio with the world.

Once you have your niche defined, you can make your own website and bring your ideas to life.

And don’t worry, no matter what industry you choose, you will still be able to monetize it. When managed correctly, even a personal blog will start bringing you money

The key is to know how to promote it.

SocialBee can help you create and schedule promotional social media posts for your website. Start your free 14-day trial and use this opportunity to generate more traffic and create more hype around your business. 

Step 2: Select a Web Hosting Platform for Your Own Site 

You don’t need to have experience building websites to own one, so there’s no reason to worry about that when there are so many website builders.

Nowadays, you can build money-making websites code-free by using different platforms. For instance, WordPress is a popular and beginner-friendly web host and content management system you can use. Brands also get shared WordPress hosting for more security and better visitor experience.

For example, you could host it on BlueHost. This leading web hosting platform provides you with an automated installation of the latest and most secure version of WordPress and a free domain name for one year. 

You also get a free CDN and a free SSL Certificate, both of which are indispensable for building a strong web presence. So, if you want to create a website for your eCommerce store, choose eCommerce hosting that comes with the above-mentioned security features.

Step 3: Buy a Theme

The quickest and most effective way of building a website from scratch is by using an already designed theme. 

WordPress has a huge community of web developers and web designers that create lots of stunning themes you can choose from depending on your industry.

You can choose from free and premium WordPress themes. WordPress features an impressive collection of free themes suited for multiple purposes and business fields.

Freebies are especially useful for:

If you want to make your website look one-of-a-kind and provide you with a bigger selection of design and functional elements, opting for premium WordPress themes should be your first choice. 

Step 4: Install a Theme

The WordPress theme installation process depends on whether you decide to work with a free or a premium theme. 

Here is a helpful Youtube tutorial that will give you the right instructions on how to install a WordPress theme. You can also find the written instructions below.

If you choose to work with a free website themes, you need to:

  1. Go to WordPress dashboard
  2. Navigate to Appearance > Themes
  3. Click “Add New” 

On the screen, you will see a collection of free WordPress themes organized into categories such as: Featured WordPress Themes, Popular WordPress Themes, and the Latest WordPress Themes

All themes include a live demo, which lets you preview the design of your choice in action before installing it on your site. 

When you find a suitable theme for your website, click the Install button. Once installed, press Activate. And that’s it! The free WordPress theme is installed and functional on your site.

If you decide to build a website with a premium WordPress theme or a freebie that you found on a different digital marketplace, then the first step you should take is to download the theme archive to your PC. 

To install the theme on your website, you have to:

  1. Click on Appearance > Themes.
  2. Find the “Upload Theme” button at the top of the page.
  3. Upload the archive of the theme you’ve bought.
  4. Once the theme is uploaded, click Install > Activate. 

Step 5: Adjust Your Website’s Design 

The customization of your new WordPress theme shouldn’t cause you any trouble either. 

With a growing demand for using a drag-and-drop website builder, most themes already come equipped with this functionality. There are many drag-and-drop page builders that you can opt for such as WPBakery, Beaver, King Composer, Elementor, and more. 

Most of them are free to use and include pro versions that you can get when you need more advanced features. 

Working with page builders is one of the main ways you can create websites that have the potential to make more money than you imagined. Not to mention that it’s both fast and easy to use. 

However, while free website builders may seem like an easy solution, they often come with limitations that can hold your website back. That’s why getting the benefits of custom WordPress development services will bring a lot of positive changes such as better security, enhanced functionality, improved search engine optimization, and continuous website maintenance.

Moreover, while working in the drag-and-drop mode, you can instantly check the results of your work. You can even incorporate reliable weather APIs into your website design to provide up-to-date weather information.

Lastly, you can complement your website design with a functional feature, such as adding a free live chat to your website

Step 6: Add Content

Creating quality content is a must for everyone looking to generate profit. Content is your primary source of traffic. And don’t forget that without traffic, you have no way of monetizing your website.

There are different types of content you can create, such as how-to guides, interviews, reviews, listicles, podcasts, and more. 

Whatever content you choose to add to your site, ensure that it brings a certain value to your audience. Also, make sure that it’s well-optimized for high ranking on search engines. For example, doing keyword research is a crucial step that helps you bring a lot of people to your site.

To make sure you have quality content on your website that is written based on SEO principles, get in touch with our experts. Our team of copywriters is ready to help you generate more traffic and attract the right audience through your content.

Check out our copywriting services, we have everything from web copywriting to article and guide creation services that can step up your content game.

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A great way to start is by creating a content marketing plan and sticking to it in order to maintain a consistent posting schedule so you can attract more and more readers.

Step 7: Promote Your Website

If you want to learn how to make money from a website, you first need to study effective ways to promote it to a large part of your target audience and generate more traffic for your website.

Building a powerful website promotional strategy is a must if you want to create a website and earn money. To increase your website’s popularity, you need to focus all your efforts on developing your online marketing skills. 

So, with this being said, let’s look at the five crucial elements of online organic promotional practices you need to consider implementing after you launch your website.

Social Media

Nowadays, social media channels are also used as a source of information. Users learn about new products and technology while going through their news feeds. 

That’s why maintaining a social media presence is necessary if you want people to find out about your website.

Also, consider adding social media sharing options and widgets to your website to encourage your website visitors to promote your content on their accounts.

For effortless social media posting, use SocialBee. This social media management tool also allows users to share their blog content by automatically creating social media posts whenever a new article is posted—perfect for increasing your website traffic. Start your free 14-day trial today to test all SocialBee content creation and scheduling features!

RSS feed

With SocialBee you can share your articles on social media by importing your RSS feed into the platform.

Start your free 14-day trial to promote your content on all your online platforms faster and easier than ever!

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UGC Content

Word of mouth is an effective and honest marketing practice. Testimonials, reviews, and other types of content created by customers have a much more meaningful influence over your audience than your promotional content. 

Here is a great example of using testimonials on your website.

website testimonial

Image source

Another great way to make the most out of your USG content is to share it on social media to gain more credibility and build authority within your niche.

Affiliate Marketing

Now that your website is up and running, you can earn money through affiliate marketing. 

Start by looking for affiliate programs that suit your niche and offer a good commission.

After you apply, you will receive an affiliate link that monitors the traffic and conversions you bring to a specific brand. Keep in mind that to attract visitors and customers, creating quality content is a must.

So, do your best to place your links in a context that urges your audience to act and only choose programs that provide value for your readers.

If you are a part of the social media marketing community, you can get started with SocialBee’s affiliate program. Earn a recurring commission with ease by sharing our social media management tool with your audience.

SocialBee affiliate program

SocialBee offers 20% for every platform sale and 10% on every concierge service sale.

Join the affiliate program now for great rewards!

Email Marketing 

Email marketing is a great marketing practice you can use to keep your audience loyal and engaged.

Keep your audience up-to-date with your latest offers, events, and company news.

Also by sending newsletters to your customer base periodically, you get to inform your audience about your latest blog content and generate more traffic to your website. Before sending an email marketing campaign, use DMARC to ensure your messages are protected and prevent them from going into spam.

Step 8: Perform Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

All the money-making websites are on top of the search results page.

Optimizing your web pages and blog content will lead to a better ranking on SERP, meaning that more and more people from your target audience will discover your website easier than ever.

To optimize your website you must:

  • Perform keyword research.
  • Add relevant keywords to your content (website pages, articles, titles, headings).
  • Create a meta description for your website and blog posts (up to 160 characters).
  • Include valuable internal/external links in your articles.
  • Start running link-building campaigns to be featured on other websites.

Step 9: Track Your Website’s Performance 

Tools like Google Analytics help you keep a close eye on your website’s performance stats. 

In your Google Analytics account, you can check where your audience comes from, what pages they visit more often than others, what they commonly do on your site, and check other factors that let you understand your customers’ behavior.

It’s also vital to find out what pages of your site receive the most website traffic. Based on this knowledge, you will know:

  1. What content deserves most of your attention.
  2. To which website pages you can add more references.
  3. The content your audience likes most.

Moreover, you need to check your site’s loading speeds using Google PageSpeed Insights

By simply inserting your website’s URL, you can check how fast its pages load on different devices (laptops, phones, Ipads). In addition, the tool will also provide suggestions for further improving your website—based on its analysis.

Step 10: Try Website Monetization Techniques

There is more than one way to make money once you have a website and a consistent stream of content.

We previously discussed using affiliate marketing to generate a recurring income, but why not expand your monetization opportunities and make your website your full-time job?

Here are three tips to generate revenue from your website:

  • Applying for Google AdSense: Apply for Google AdSense and showcase Google ads that won’t only match your content, but will also bring you a cut of the revenue.
  • Selling ad space: Brands are always looking for ideal online locations where they can advertise their products. So, let businesses from your niche know about any ad spaces you have available on your website. However, be careful not to turn your website into a big ad—choose your ads carefully. 
  • Sharing sponsored content: Collaborate with other brands and establish a fee for publishing their content on your blog.
  • Connecting to a secure digital payment service and knowing the tax for small businesses.

Bonus Tip: Adjust Your Strategy

With all the insights about your website’s performance at hand, you can start creating a new and improved plan for your site’s further improvement. So, think about the content you will publish and the details you will add to your site’s design. 

In fact, revising the visual organization of your website at least once a year should be on your to-do list. 

Trends come and go. New approaches and innovative features are introduced. You may consider implementing them into your website because:

  • It will make your site more appealing.
  • Your audience will see that you keep up with the latest trends.
  • It will help you keep up with your competitors. 
  • You will offer your customers a better online experience.

Make Money Building Websites 

Getting started with a successful online business is easier than you think—you don’t have to own an online store to make money.

With an optimized website and quality content, you can start making money online easier than ever (even without website creation experience). All you have to do is follow these 10 important steps, be consistent with your content strategy and always keep your target audience in mind.

Don’t forget to promote your website on all your social media platforms. Bring more visitors to your blog and get them hooked on your content by creating promotional social media posts that will incite curiosity among your audience.

Start your 14-day trial now and try SocialBee’s awesome features for free!

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Article written by

Article by

Alexandra
Alexandra

Content writer at SocialBee

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