Top 8 Ways to Monetize WordPress in 2023

by Octavia D | Jul 31, 2023 | Business

More than 810 million websites use WordPress as their content management platform, making it the most popular choice among web developers, business owners, and content marketers. What’s even better, WordPress harbors a continuously growing community — so if you want to monetize WordPress, you can rely on the fact that every question will find an answer.

How to do it? How to monetize WordPress websites in 2023 (without wasting your time?)

We have some tips for you — keep reading and find out more about generating revenue from your WordPress site.

Contents

Why Choose WordPress for Your Business?

WordPress is popular for a very good reason: even if it’s one of the oldest players on the Content Management System (CMS) market, it continues to be one of the strongest. Some of the main reasons businesses choose WordPress for their websites and blogs include:

Inexpensive

Building a website on WordPress is far less expensive than doing it on most other CMS options. Essentially, you will need:

A domain (which can be anything between a couple of dollars to several thousand)
A hosting service (preferably not shared hosting, as it’s slower and less secure)
A WordPress theme (free or premium)
An SSL certificate (depending on the host you choose, this can be included in your package plan).
A website building plugin (100% optional, but working with a tool like Divi or Elementor can make your job a lot easier.)

All of these can cost less than $100 per year — a small price, compared to both other CMS options and the potential reward you can reap off.

Easy to Use & Customize

Once you develop a website on WordPress, further changes are easy to make. You don’t have to be a master coder to make minor modifications — and you can even use plugins to automate some of the most complex tasks.

Versatile

WordPress has come a long way from its “blogging” platform days. Today, it is used to build everything from professional business websites and photography portfolios to eCommerce stores and social media platforms.

So, regardless of what you decide to do with your little “island” on the internet, you can rely on the fact that WordPress can provide it to you.

No Need for Coding

Although some of the more advanced features of WordPress require coding skills, there is no need for you to learn how to code if you want to build a basic website.

The majority of the features (like SEO optimization, adding content, editing pages) can be done through an intuitive admin panel and/or via drag and drop plugins like Divi or Elementor.

SEO Friendly

To date, WordPress holds the crown for being the most SEO friendly CMS platform. It has clean code and it is optimized for mobile devices (which plays a huge role in search engine optimization).

High Security

WordPress websites are highly secure — especially if you keep them updated and use good security plugins. You can also set up two-factor authentication, prevent brute force attacks with a limit login plugin, and so on.

How to Monetize WordPress Sites in 2023

Monetizing a WordPress site is absolutely feasible — you just need the right tools, techniques and know-how. Here are seven ways to turn your WordPress website into a money-making machine in 2023:

Sell Ads on Your Site

Once you’ve built a website with enough topical authority, you can start selling ads on it. For instance, you could do sell ads using Google AdSense, Media.net, Taboola, or a similar service. You can choose to display graphic ads and/or text-based ones — whatever you think that is best for your website and audience.

Become an Affiliate Marketer

Affiliate marketing is one of the simplest ways to monetize WordPress sites. All you need to do is find related

Some tips to keep in mind here include:

Make sure you choose a WordPress theme with ad-friendly sidebar widgets
Focus on quality over quantity: it’s better to have 10 high value ads than hundreds of low-value ones.
Create a page dedicated to your advertisement program and make sure you keep it up to date.
Make sure your privacy and cookie policy pages are up to date and compliant with the latest laws.
Focus on creating genuinely helpful content, rather than content that is explicitly meant to sell one product or another

Sell Ebooks/Digital Products

If you are an expert in a certain field, you could monetize WordPress by selling digital products, like ebooks. You don’t even need a publisher to do it — you can create the ebook yourself and set up an easy payment system powered by PayPal or Stripe.

Keep in mind that, unless you’re an established name in your industry, it might take a while to build up the trust of your audience. So invest in creating free quality content and make sure you are transparent about who you are as a person. Also, leverage the power of social media channels like Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram to build up your authority and credibility.

Build a Membership Site

Creating a membership site is another great way to monetize WordPress. You can use the membership website to share exclusive content, discounts or services, and charge a monthly fee for access.

The first step in building a successful membership site is choosing the right WordPress theme. After that, find an appropriate payment processor (Stripe works great for this) and set up a subscription system. Finally, make sure you create useful content that will keep people coming back to your site.

You can restrict the type of content people see by using an easy-to-use plugin like Ultimate Membership Pro. Additionally, this plugin will also help you create custom registration forms, members-only pages, and manage subscriptions.

Create a Subscription Business

If you create physical or digital products, you could set up a subscription business model. This way, your customers will pay a fixed fee each month and get access to your services/products.

The key here is to make sure people are getting value for their money. For instance, if you offer web design services, consider creating package plans that offer more than one service.

You can also build a subscription business based on physical products, like subscription boxes. In this case, you’ll need to make sure you have a reliable shipping partner and good customer service in place.

Ask for Donations from Readers

Although this might seem like a basic idea, you can also monetize WordPress by asking for donations from your readers. This works particularly if you build a brand around the idea of not serving ads or affiliate links to people, and instead, offer valuable content for free.

If you decide to go down this route, make sure you create a donation page on your WordPress site that is easy to find. You can also use plugins like GiveWP or Seamless Donations to streamline the process of accepting donations.

Create Sponsored Content

If your website gains a bit of reputation in a given niche, you can monetize WordPress by creating sponsored content — that is, writing reviews of products or services for a fee.

It will take some effort to get companies to pay you for your work, but it’s worth the time investment. Just make sure that you are honest in your reviews and do not accept sponsorships from companies or products with which you don’t feel comfortable.

Offer Consulting Services

If you are an expert in a certain field, you can also monetize WordPress by offering consulting services. You could set up a page on your website with the different services you offer and provide potential customers with information about how to get in touch with you.

You’ll need to keep your fees competitive and make sure you provide enough value. You should also use your website to show people why they should hire you, by providing case studies of successful engagements or customer testimonials.

Conclusion

If you want to monetize WordPress, we have great news: it’s really easier than ever to do. it. With the right tools, techniques and know-how, you can turn your WordPress website into a money-making machine.

Keep in mind, however, that WordPress isn’t a miracle-making machine. No matter how great your idea is, how well you pick your domain name, and how well-crafted your website is, you still need to put in the effort if you want to make serious money.

So take your time and experiment with the different options we mentioned in this article until you find what works best for you. Good luck!