5 Ways to Monetize Your Company's Website

Nov 22nd, 2011 9:11 pm

Let's face it: you have a website because you want it to bring you new business. It's the ultimate goal of any marketing campaign. But your website can be so much more than just a place to generate leads. And for businesses, creating a revenue stream from a website requires more tact than just slapping on some advertisements and collecting the checks. This is your brand integrity we're talking about here.

So how do you turn your standard informational website into a moneymaker? Here are a few tips on how to make a return on your website investment:

Sell Products: While this may seem obvious, selling products or services online is one of the best ways to make money from your website. And it doesn't just have to be your products! There are many affiliate programs that will make you cash just by having a link to a product from your site. Be creative here! A chiropractor could offer some of their favorite heating pads for sale. Or, a investment company could sell some of their favorite investment books - without having to do any of the work. Simply add the product through an affiliate program like Amazon's Afilliate Program, and they'll take care of the rest. You're left to just cash the checks.
Webinars and eBooks: You have spent your marketing efforts establishing yourself as an expert in your industry. People come to your website to learn something. Why not make something off of it? The best part about eBooks and Webinars is that once they are created, there's no limit to how many you can sell. Since there is no physical product, these can be e-mailed out to countless customers with practically no overhead.
Subscriptions: If you are a service-based company, use your website to sell subscriptions to your service. Recurring fees for your services can be helpful to your bottom-line as well as add value to your customers. Even if you don't think there's anything you can collect a subscription for, be creative.
Referral Programs: Encourage your customers to refer others to your company, and make it worth their time! Offer cash bonuses, prizes, or even discounts to your service when they refer someone. Not only will it build a relationship between you and existing customers, but you will have a sales force who will be more than happy to refer to you. Never underestimate the power of your customers!
Reviews: Large companies are always trying to find new ways to advertise their products. They're learning that advertisements are going unnoticed on websites, and that word of mouth and social media advertising is more valuable than most pay-per-click campaigns. They are now turning to bloggers to review their products. What can this mean for your company? Use your blog to review new products or services in your industry, and offer it as a service to other companies who may pay you or sponsor your blog.

Not all of these tips will work for all companies - and none of them will work without some way to track your ROI. Be sure to get Google Analytics on your website so you can track your success with any of these models. And don't forget to create a solid plan for how you will implement these.

If all goes as planned, not only will your website be a great place for lead generation, but it will also become an additional revenue stream. And who doesn't want that?

For more information, contact us at Avallo. We've got the tools and programmers on staff to help you monetize your website with your best interests and return on investment in mind.