When you are creating a website, if it's for business it's important to know how you are going to make money off the web site. People may think that there are hundreds of different ways to make money on a website, but really it only boils down to four ways. Three of these ways are common and can be utilized by most businesses on the web, and the fourth method can typically only be monetized by very large websites.

1. Promoting an offline business via the web

There are tons of businesses out there that do not actually do business on the web - meaning that the actual business is transacted in an offline environment. Great examples of this would be tradesmen such as contractors, doctors, lawyers, and a lot of other service based businesses. So what is the benefit of a web site for these kinds of businesses? Two things:

1. The website is used as a lead generation tool. Every business needs leads. Traffic turns into leads, leads turn into conversions, and conversions turn into money in your pocket. These days, people expect to "check out" a businesses before they make contact with it. Back in the day, this could mean asking to be snail mailed some information, however nobody does that anymore. A website in this purpose is strictly a lead generation tool, and one that if used properly can make a very positive impact in your business.
2. The other use of your web site is as a credibility builder. Face it - if you're in business these days people expect you to have a website - if you don't, then there is a perception amongst the general public that you are not a serious, established business. Here at Walton Street Web Design we once built a website for an attorney who did a lot of banking related work. He said that every time he contacted a new bank they would ask him what his web site was and since he didn't have one he was losing work. If you don't have a website, your customers will challenge your credibility.

2. eCommerce

eCommerce is the act of selling goods or services directly via a website. It involves you taking credit cards on your website, or an alternate form of payment such as PayPal, Google Checkout, etc. Some excellent examples of eCommerce sites are Amazon.com and eBay.com. You make money directly when someone purchases something on your website.

3. Advertising

Advertising comes in many different forms on the internet. The basic premise of advertising is you get paid for driving either traffic or conversions on another web site. Some common forms of advertising are pay per click, pay per impression, or affiliate programs. In the case of advertising, you basically turn your website into a big digital billboard. Advertising is one of the most powerful ways to make money on the internet. For example, Google.com and YouTube.com are both 100% free for you to use - how do they make their money? Via advertising! If you have a high traffic site, you could be earning hundreds to thousands of dollars a day with the right, targeted advertising. However, the key to running a successful site supported by advertising is to have high traffic numbers. Realistically speaking, if you want to actually make a living solely based on advertising your website should have at least a few thousand, if not tens of thousands of unique visitors per day.

4. Data Mining

Data mining can be a very powerful monetization tool, however it is beyond the reach of most websites. The best example of data mining is Facebook.com - Facebook has tons and tons of user data and if it chose to (and some people believe that it does) it can choose to sell that data for a tidy profit. There are also other websites that mine their user data and sell it to data aggregators. However, in order to be effective as a data miner, your website must have at least a few million users, so relatively speaking the number of websites that could actually monetize using this method are fairly small.

As with anything, it is important to remember that your web site is a business, and if you expect to make money from it you must treat your web site like a business. Just as all businesses should have a business plan, your web site should have a clear web site plan, and your strategy for how you are going to make money with your site must be well defined.

No matter what kind of site you need built, here at Walton Street Web Design we will listen to your needs and advise you on how to get the best bang for your buck. To get started, please Contact Us or call (773) 572-4569!