How to Make Money on WordPress in 2022 | Monetize Your Site

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Affiliate Marketing Go to the top

Suitable for: Bloggers

One of the main reasons people love WordPress is because it’s so perfect for blogging. If you’ve got a passion for writing, you’ll be pleased to hear that there are plenty of ways you can make money through your blog.

One of the most popular ways of monetizing your WordPress blog is with affiliate marketing. 

What is this? Well, it’s where companies pay you for providing them with new customers. Let’s say you blog about fashion and beauty, and you link to a product that you use a lot. With affiliate marketing, you’ll get paid each time one of your readers buys one of those products!

You can either get paid every time someone clicks on one of your links (this is called cost per click, or CPC), or every time someone uses your link to actually buy or sign up to the company you’re promoting (known as cost per acquisition, or CPA).

Usually, cost per acquisition makes more money, because the company is getting a better result! It’s also a bit more ethical, because you only make money if your reader is happy, which is nice.

But how does the company know how many people have signed up from my blog? That’s where unique affiliate links come in. You need affiliate links so that the company can track which customers came from your website.

Affiliate links look like a normal web link, but with a seemingly random selection of numbers and letters tacked on to the end. This special code lets the company see exactly how much business they’re getting through your unique links, so you can be paid accurately.

You can set up an account directly with the company you’ll be promoting, and they’ll provide you with these links. Either contact the company directly, or dig around on their website to see if they have an affiliate program. For example, on Amazon’s website, you’ll find theirs under the “Make Money With Us” menu.

Amazon has an affiliate program where you choose which products you want to promote, and earn money when your readers buy.

This option is best for those of you who already have a blog set up. Don’t try to launch your affiliate marketing campaign and build a blog from scratch at the same time. You need a niche and an audience for affiliate marketing to be successful.

If you already have a blog, now’s the time to think about what products or companies you could promote. Whatever you choose, it needs to be relevant and beneficial to your readers. If you write about animals, for example, don’t start promoting Calvin Klein just because you get a good payout.

Your readers won’t put up with that!

It’s also important to be honest with your readers. Let them know how you’re making money and be clear that it won’t cost them any extra, or affect the honesty of your reviews. For example, we use affiliate links right here at Website Builder Expert, and you can read all about it on our Disclosure page.

The key to affiliate marketing is being transparent, fair, and always putting your readers first. 

In a Nutshell:

• What is it? Using unique affiliate links in your blog, where readers can go and buy or sign up to a product. That company then pays you money each time someone uses your link to buy their product!
• Who can do it? Anyone! You don’t need any tech skills to pull off affiliate marketing. It’s a good idea to build your blog first, grow your audience, and develop your niche, before trying out affiliate marketing.
• How to get started: Think about the content you create, and what your readers would find relevant and useful. Make sure any products you choose are good quality, and then reach out to start a partnership with one or more companies!

Further Information

• Affiliate marketing works well for bloggers. Our handy guide on How to Start a WordPress Blog makes building your blog easy, in just 10 simple steps.