How to Make Money From Websites
March 20, 2012 
4 Comments
I detailed in a previous post how I wanted to buy a website and see if it was a good investment.
As my spare cash is currently earning 0.5% on deposit, I’m sure that buying a money making website is a better way to get my money working for me.
Well that grand experiment hasn’t gone so well so far.
I hope it wasn’t money poured down the drain!
So I’ve started a new test...
I bought a website for $100 from someone advertising websites for sale on the Warrior Forum. For my 100 bucks I got:
- A domain name (www.XXX.com). I’m not revealing the exact domain name.
- 10 pages of content, plus a few essential pages (privacy policy, disclaimer, contact form).
- A few photos.
- A content management system for allowing me to add more content to the site.
- The seller of the site then allowed me to push the site and domain name to my own website hosting accounts. This is important if you buy a website – you want to take full ownership of it!
So what did I get for my $100?
The website itself had an OK design. So I redesigned it with a professional template I’d bought for one of my other websites.
I made a professional looking logo in PaintShop Pro, using a photo of the item the website was about next to some nice looking text I created using a free online logo generator.
The website’s content is pretty average. At some stage I’ll rewrite the articles. If you buy a website with content then it’s worth taking time to improve the content, and of course it’s always a good idea to use a spelling checker.
I added a couple more pages of content. I also have plans to expand the site further. If you’re buying a site it’s a good idea to buy one on a topic you’ll enjoy researching and writing about.
I then added a few adverts for the site so I could make money from visitors.
So that’s basically how you make money from websites.
My Success to Date
I’ve only owned the site for a few days, but already it’s looking like a great investment.
The site cost me $100. I reckon that after I added my professionally designed template the site is now worth $300.
What’s more, the site has made me $1 in advertising revenue so far. That’s not bad for a site that’s less than a week old.
People buying websites through the auction site Flippa will go crazy for websites that are making money. So I’d estimate that I could now sell my site for $500.
If I can get the site making $100 a month in advertising revenue, then I should be able to sell the site for upwards of $1500.
So as you can see, for a bit of risk I’ve now made a return of at least 300% on my $100. By contrast, if I’d have left that money on deposit for a year then I’d have made just 50 cents in interest!
Getting Ideas for a Money Making Website
Building websites takes time and effort. However, once you’ve built one site, the next one will be much easier!
Stuck for ideas? Here’s an article I wrote detailing 50 great topics to base a website around:
They’re mostly in the hire/rental area of business. This is a great type of website to start – these days if someone wants to rent or hire something then they won’t flick through the Yellow Pages, they’ll go online and search for it.
My own niche site is in an area of equipment hire, and this is a great type of website to have a go at building.
If you want to buy a ready made site, you’ll find them for sale on the WarriorForum and on Flippa. Be careful what you buy as both sites are great places to buy rubbish! One type of site to avoid are sites with trademarks in the domain name. Yes www.buy-apple-ipad-today.com might be worth a lot, but if Apple ask for the website to be shut down due to a trademark infringement then your site is worthless.
Is buying websites a good way to make your money work harder? Do you like the idea of owning your own website? Leave your questions and suggestions in the comments box below.
$1 is a very good start from a website that is only a week old!
Thanks for the Flippa recommendation too, i’ll get myself down there sometime.
For those with the knowledge of how to go about this it is a great idea.
Maybe you could write a little e-book (to sell or give away) filling in the details. There might even be some decent PLR available that you could use.
I’d be willing to pay a few bucks for the info. I’ll be your first customer – as long as the price is under $10.
Jack
I really think you should discuss the liabilities… the ongoing costs for hosting and domain name renewals etc. This article only emphasizes the positives. Also, you mention nothing about where the ads come from or how you generate income from them. This is a good article. You can make it great. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Jonathan,
Website costs are usually minimal. I have around 30 websites on 3 different hosts, so costs of hosting each site are negligible, maybe less than $1 a month each.
Domain names are similarly pretty affordable, at less than $1 a month.
As to monetising a site, well that’s the easiest part of it as there are a wealth of merchants who want YOUR website visitors to buy their PRODUCTS and SERVICES.
I tend to go with direct affiliate programmes instead of using middlemen like Commission Junction. If you are the expert at your niche that you claim to be, then you will know the best vendors in your niche.