Too many websites these days are pretty much exactly the same as one another. These are sites filled with white pages that have a logo at the top and a navigation bar down one side. You can see a list of the latest articles on the front page, and browse through the older articles at will.
And that’s it.
Not terribly ambitious is it? Ultimately it comes down to a big online book or magazine that doesn’t take any advantage of the fact it’s online or running code that could make it more interactive and more feature-rich. So instead of just a bunch of static pages, how about adding something a little more interesting to the mix that might make your site really stand out and provide whole new income streams for your business? Things like this…
Shop
A shop is one of the very best ways to monetise a website and will allow you to keep a lot more profit than using advertising or marketing an affiliate product. This is also a great way to strengthen your brand and to turn your site into more of a business rather than just a ‘magazine’.
Web Comic
We all know how successful the right images can be in helping to promote a website – just look at the immense popularity of infographics across the web. Even better than an infographic though could be a web comic in your niche that shares jokes relevant to your interests and that will have a high potential to go viral. A webcomic can get an immediate emotional response where an article cannot and is a great way to build buzz and character for the rest of your site. Just look at Penny Arcade for an example of how a webcomic can be tied in with a blog.
Web Apps
Or why not add in some tools that visitors to your site can use. These could be calculators to help them workout figures (calories for a fitness website, interest rates for a money site) or something much more involved that can turn your site into a vital part of their workflow that you can then sell your content off of the back of.
Software
Or if you aren’t sure about linking that software to the site itself, how about creating some software that your visitors can then download and use? This can again further increase awareness for your brand and can draw a lot of people to your site. It’s also a great potential source of revenue if you charge for downloads.
Game
Finally, why not release a game to help promote your site and bring in some income? This could keep people glued to your site for hours, or if you’re really ambitious you could even consider releasing it via Steam. You’ll have to go through the community-drive ‘greenlight’ process of course, but if you succeed there you can potentially earn a lot of money there – more than the rest of the site potentially!
