How To Make A Money Making Websites? Step By Step Guide (2022)

Introduction

The internet has brought the entire world to our fingertips. We can search for almost anything, learn things, get entertained, buy products, avail services and even earn money off of it. The internet has become integral to our daily lives. Now, we cannot imagine our lives without it. Keeping this centrality of the internet in mind and seeing how people spend most of their time on it, it has become imperative for businesses to shift to an online mode. 

Even if you own a business that is not fully internet-based, the conditions have become such that you have to have at least some component of it online in order for people to know about it. You want people to be able to look your business up on the internet, where it’s located, what’s unique about it, prices of products and services or even reviews. Having an online presence has become equivalent to having a geographical presence. 

The Internet enables you to publicize your business for free or at cheaper rates as compared to the exorbitant rates charged by traditional advertisements. Moreover, traditional modes of publicizing or building the presence of your brand have a lot less efficacy due to the revolution brought about by the internet. It is necessary, therefore, to move with the times and build an online presence, regardless of how big or small your business is. 

The Internet can help unleash your business’s untapped potential. Going online, you might find a whole new demographic and a target audience that could contribute significantly to your revenues and thereby help in growing your business. It is well known that the market value of your business is to a large extent also dependent upon the kind of presence it has. So, if you want your business to have a higher valuation then take some time out to build this online presence.

 its details (such as headquarters, stores, offices et al) or products offered, it is also a key driver in terms of earning revenue. A website combines publicity along with money-making measures such as ad hosting and other monetizing features. 

If you have built a platform that a large number of people are visiting and using daily, then you can also monetize this platform in order to make it a money-making venture. The importance of having an official website for your business in today’s day and age cannot be stressed enough. So, if you find yourself asking the question ‘do I need a website?’ then the answer is yes, absolutely.

What To Expect From This Article?

In this article, we will get you acquainted with the importance of building an online presence and how to do that through your website. We will also guide you, step by step through the process of creation and monetization of your website so that it becomes a money-making venture. We will suggest various hacks, software, tips and tricks which would ultimately help in the growth and development of your business. 

If there are any questions in your mind regarding website building and its monetization, you don’t need to search any further. You can just sit back, relax and read this article in order to resolve all your pressing queries. This article enumerates a number of tried and tested, money-saving measures of website growth and you get this wealth of information for free, without having to spend your precious time and money going on paid seminars or watching long and boring business tutorials which in most cases don’t work. We will begin by discussing the need for a website and a consistent online presence.

Why Should I Build A Website?

The answer to this question lies in the following points:

There are a number of CMS software available for free online such as Wix, Shopify or WordPress which allow you to make a website without requiring any special skills or outside help.

If you are a small business that is just starting out, this software could work. As your business grows and as you begin to bring in more revenue and afford to hire workers, you can make changes to your website by either completely revamping it or by gradually adding new tools and features. If you are planning to set up an ecommerce business or a website that is required to perform complex functions then you would definitely require some help. That, however, does not cost a lot and the return on investment is immense.

How to Make a Website?

There are a number of things that are required to create a website, some of the most important ones are mentioned below.

Things required to create a website:

• A domain name
• A commonly used free website platform (WordPress, for instance)
• A website host (usually Kinsta, HostGator etc)

Without a domain name and a hosting service, your website cannot exist. These two things work in tandem. Once you secure a domain name and a hosting service, create a website using WordPress. It is one of the most popular, free website builder software used by around 40% of websites all over the internet. This number attests to the efficacy of this platform. Setting up a website using WordPress is quite easy, requiring a mere click or two through the hosting server. 

Website Launch Procedure

Step 1: Select a domain name.

Step 2: Get the domain name registered.

Step 3: Sign it up with the web hosting service.

Step 4: Create a website through WordPress, Shopify, GoDaddy and many more

Step 5: Choose your site design and structure and customize it according to your unique requirements.

Step 6: Add as much content as necessary, make sure not to clog the website with text. Add crucial information first. You can also add the necessary pages.

Step 7: Set up the navigation toolbar or dashboard.

Step 8: Add a menu of options.

Step 9: Create an online store, if required

Detailed Description of the Steps

Step 1: Select a domain name: Domain name is a unique name that your website is known by. It is the first and the foremost thing that is required to create a website. Domain name basically refers to both the website and its address. One should use a domain name that does not match the domain or name of any brand.

One should also not use domains that do not go along with the nature of the business as it does not create a good brand image. The domain name should be short, evocative, describe the business and ideally stand out from other domain names. 

The domain name also has certain extensions such as .com, .org and .net attached to them. These extensions should be used in your domain name if you are planning to target a specific geographical location. For example, if you are planning to target the Canadian market, it is better to use a .ca extension. 

Step 2: Get the domain name registered: The question is how? The domain name is registered on a website hosting service which brings us to the next step. 

Step 3: Sign it up with the web hosting service: Web hosting is a service that basically offers to store all the files related to your website on a secure server that is always active. Web hosting makes your website accessible to the general public. If you haven’t finished this step, then your website wouldn't be visible and accessible to the public at large. You can opt for various website hosting services, but it is better to choose VPS for better website performance.

Make sure to sign up with a hosting service that is both cost-effective as well as secure in terms of your data. On average, hosting services cost from 3 dollars to 10 dollars per month. This is a necessary investment that you should make in order for your business to succeed. Ensure that your hosting service has the following features:

• SSL for security
• Provision to install WordPress
• Unlimited bandwidth, regardless of the website traffic
• Custom email id
• 24x7 Customer care services

The following features are necessary components of any good hosting service and before investing in it, check to see if it has all these features. Some companies provide free domain name registering services for a period of a year. It is also advisable to get your hosting services from the same company that you bought your domain name from for seamless setting up and working of your profile. 

Step 4: Create a website through WordPress: The platform that is used to create and install your website is also known as CMS. Once you have chosen your domain name, bought hosting services and got your name registered, you will have to choose a website builder. WordPress, as mentioned earlier is one of the most popular, free and reliable platforms which is feature-packed. It has a number of free tools and add-ons that you can pick and choose and apply to your website according to your needs. 

These tools and add ons give your website a higher degree of functionality and efficiency, thereby making it professional. Setting up a WordPress platform is quite easy and in most cases, it happens through a mere click of a button. After the set-up is done, go to the host server and type your domain name and see if your website comes up. If it does, then the process has been successful. Also, make sure to check if your website has an SSL security certification. That will ensure the safety of the contents of your website and prevent the information from falling into unauthorized hands. 

Step 5: Choose your site design and structure and customize it according to your unique requirements: Designing your site helps to customize it and add a unique feel to your website. In this step, you can exercise your taste and your creativity in order to create a website that matches the vision that you have for your company. A website is essential for creating a good first impression on the customers. The various design elements that you choose set a tone and create certain kinds of expectations within the customer.

Ways to customize your website:

• Add a theme: WordPress comes with a number of free themes that you can select in order to determine what your website looks like. You can also choose to shift your color scheme and change your theme from time to time as per your requirement. Changing themes requires only a click and is quite easy. Just go to the themes option on the toolbar and select or type the name of the theme in the search box. Click install and then click activate. 
• Choose a design: Within the same theme, there are a number of designs that you can choose from. These designs are basically slots for various types of businesses such as food, travel, photography, fitness et al. You can import the design from the menu and click install in order to select the desired design. 
• Add a logo: If your business has a logo then you could add it to your website as well. If you do not have a logo, WordPress offers you a chance to create your own to be displayed at the top of the website. Choose from a range of tools to easily create your logo and import it into the website. The next step is to click on the apply logo button which enables your logo to be displayed for everyone to see. 
• Selecting fonts and color schemes: WordPress again offers a wide range of free as well as paid fonts and color schemes for you to choose from. These settings are easily adjustable. 
• Add a sidebar: If you want your website to have a sidebar with various options, you can choose to add it as well by clicking on the add sidebar option. 
• Add-ons and Widgets: Sidebars usually contain widgets. You can personalize the sidebar by adding widgets of your choice. You can add widgets by going to the appearance option on the panel, selecting widgets and then dragging and dropping them onto the sidebar. 

Step 6:  Add as much content as necessary: Now that the website is designed and a theme has been chosen, fill it with relevant content. Make sure not to clog the website with text. Add crucial information first such as about where you can tell the customers a compelling account of what your business is like, what it does and a brief story of how it came to be established. A website can consist of a number of web pages such as:

• The Home page: It is the first page of your website that people come across when they click on your website. 
• The About page: It is a page that describes what your organization is all about, what it does, its achievements, goals, history et al.
• The Contact/ location/ address page: This page provides the contact information of relevant personnel and directs the visitors to a concrete source if they want to communicate with you. It also has the physical location of your business in case of businesses that have physical components, you could supplement the location with a detailed address of the headquarters or your store and even add maps in order for the customers to find it easily. 
• The blog page: This page is meant for posting and writing blogs related to the events happening in the company or the services that the company provides. This page is imperative when it comes to SEO based content marketing. The keywords are usually direct to a website’s blog page.  This page can also be used for the purpose of making announcements or a separate page can be assigned for that. 
• A service page: This page lists the services that your business provides. So that people know the whole scope of it. 
• A shop page (if required): If you want to sell your products on the website then this page can be used to display the products. 

Step 7: Set up the navigation toolbar or dashboard: The navigation toolbar allows visitors to easily browse through different pages. It is basically a website menu that shows the whole range of pages and options present on the website. It is quite easy to create a navigation toolbar, you just have to go to the appearance option and select the menu from the drop-down box and click on create a new menu. The following are the steps that you have to follow to create a navigation toolbar or dashboard:

• Add the title to the menu. Strictly speaking, menus do not need to have a title but a website can have a number of menus. If your website has more than one menu then it is advisable to assign a title to each of them. 
• Select the items or pages that you want to add to your menu. 
• Click on the add button to add the selected pages to your menu.
• You can drag the items to arrange them in the proper order.
• Choose the location of the menu from the menu display option.
• Click the save button.

Step 8: Add the menu of options: following the above procedure, you can add other menus to various locations on your website.

How do WordPress-based eCommerce platforms work?

WordPress is a multi-functional platform that can be used to make various types of websites. E-commerce websites are no exception. You can create a high-functioning, versatile store with all the requirements using this platform. Place an unlimited number of products on display for sale, record orders and handle shaping and payment all through the same software. 

The only thing required is an external plugin or an add-on called WooCommerce. It pairs well with all WordPress-based websites. After linking your website with WooCommerce, you can add your products to form a catalog. WooCommerce then creates the following options on your shopping page:

• My Account: It is basically the customer’s personal account with a history of their purchases, their details, their address, their wish lists, shopping bag et al. this information can be edited by the customer or new information can be added. 
• Products: This is the catalogue page where various products on sale are displayed for the viewers to browse through. You can choose a theme for this page in order to make it look more professional and easier to browse. 
• Cart: This is the shopping cart where the final price of the selected products after various taxes and charges are displayed. It is closely connected to the customer’s details and address and the payment portal. 
• Checkout page: This is the page where the customers can finish the process of buying after finalizing the product, selecting the payment method and carefully considering the price. 

Various money-making websites that you can consider working on

Now, since you know what knowledge, you need to have to create a website of your own, there are various niches that you can consider working on. Some of them are:

• Lead Generation Sites

If your client is a small business owner, lead generation sites are what he needs. You could create landing pages or lead generation pages instead of creating a full website. So a landing page can be a simple one-page site or it could be a page that can be added to a website that already exists. 

So if your client needs it, you must consider doing it. Lead pages are very useful for targeting small businesses because, with your help, the clients will be able to promote their products or services to the world. A lead page will help them in building a strong space by which they can reach out to potential customers and vice-versa. 

• Turnkey Sites

Turnkey sites are another great option for small businesses and organizations but this means that you need to create full websites and not lead pages. In today’s world, there are several businesses out there who do not have a website but are in dire need of one as they know that a website is going to bring them the profit that they yearn for. On the other hand, there are some businesses who already have a website, but they need a total change of it so that it works for them. 

There are platforms like Squaremix and Wix which help web designers to build full websites easily. If clients come to you with their requests, you can easily use these two websites so that you can create amazing websites for your clients with great ease. Although turnkeys are full-fledged websites, they are very simple to make. A basic small business site needs to have a home page, an about page, a contact page, a service page, and a work or portfolio page. We are sure you can make a turnkey with ease. 

• WordPress Sites

You might be knowing that WordPress is the most famous CMS in the entire world. It can be used for making any kind of website. You can create various customized WordPress-powered websites as with the help of thousands of high-quality themes and plugins, it is easier to customize any website that you are creating.

WordPress provides you with the right themes and plugins that will provide you with lots of designs and layout control. This in return, will help you in creating a wonderful custom site for your clients without the need for you to code anything at all. Just like we said earlier, you do not need to know coding to be a website designer. 

Another thing that you must know is that WordPress will be ideal for you as you can purchase a premium theme on WordPress for $50 to $100. And then, you can use it to create a website that would have cost the client at least $20,000 if it was created from scratch. So, you can charge accordingly. 

• E-Commerce Sites

E-Commerce websites cost a lot. It costs more than other types of websites and this for sure. You can approach the local stores and business owners so that you can make an E-Commerce website for them. They are going to grab this offer made to them by you if they do not have an E-Commerce website as you might be able to do it for them at a lesser cost. 

Many clients on the other hand might be having an E-commerce website but they might need somebody to add new products or services on the website for them. You might be able to offer your services and help them with it and you will benefit from this. 

• Ad Hoc Design Work

This is the last option of the niches that you can consider working on. You can offer various services with design works which are not quite big. You can also fix tweaks and problems on an already existing website of a client. Based on your work and efforts, you may charge the client accordingly. You can charge on an hourly basis or form the whole work once it is done. It depends on you. 

These are a few niches that you can consider working on. With this, you may get a large number of clients and you can provide each one of them with small services that might be useful for them.

How to start money by making websites?

We are very sure that by now you have all the basic knowledge needed to build a website. What are the skills required and what are the niches that you need to consider working on have been mentioned to you in a very nice and elaborated manner. Now, you need to know how to put your knowledge into making websites that will bring you lots of money. Written below are some of the ways. 

• You can build a website for small or local businesses

This is the best way in which you can earn money. You can build websites for small and local businesses that you know of to support them. You can make anywhere from a few thousand dollars to $10,000 and this depends on the functionality of the website that you have created for them.

We have mentioned before how you can look for potential clients who are ready to take up your service. However, you might feel a bit hesitant to talk to business owners directly and that is normal, and there is no need to worry about it. You can choose other ways to talk to clients. Some of the ways include:

1. Speaking with the business owner directly.
2. Using digital marketing to attract clients.
3. Previous clients may refer you to other clients.
4. You can make a connection with current business owners. 

The ways are the best mixture of strategies that will help you in getting clients faster. 

• You should build a website for yourself

You can very easily make money by making a blog or a website of your own. If you build a website for yourself, it can either be one of the riskier ways of making money or it can be one of the best ways to make money. The only thing that you need to have is the right knowledge of how your website is going to make money. 

You can easily build an E-Commerce site like an online store, you can make a blog, or you can create an affiliated website to make money online. There are several ways of monetizing a site that will help you in making money. Some of the most popular ways are:

1. Display of advertisement
2. Affiliated marketing
3. Selling of digital products and
4. Sponsored posts

Keep in mind that before starting a website of your own, you need to plan out how you will gain the required traffic on your website. For beginners, using Pinterest and SEO for gaining visitors is the ideal solution. These channels are known to have the strongest returns on investments. However, there are other channels too such as social media, paid traffic, and referral traffic but they dominate wonders like Pinterest and SEO. 

However, building a website for yourself will take some time for you to earn money. You cannot start earning money overnight. It will take at least 6 to 12 months for you to see the results. 

• You can work as a freelance developer

You do not need extensive coding skills to create websites, but if you do, it is good for you. You can work as a freelancer which is the perfect way to earn money building websites. You will be able to earn money based on the time you work on building websites. The more time you give to the work, the larger amount you will earn. 

The pay for this type of job can range from anywhere between $25 per hour or even more. There is one thing that you need to keep in mind before working as a freelancer is that things like taxes and health insurance will not be deducted from your pay. You will have to pay the taxes on your earnings when the tax season comes around. So just a piece of advice, it is better that you keep at least 20 to 25% of your earnings aside. 

• You can make money by changing websites

This is another great way to earn money. You can just purchase existing websites and flip or change them. You need to improve the revenue and change its profit. This is all that you have to do. However, there is one thing that you need to know about and that is how to grow an audience and traffic. To increase the profit and revenue, you need to think about these two things nicely. 

This can take some time and money of yours. It is very common to invest in the website's contents to increase its profit and you can do it too depending on the type of website you are working with. So this means that some sites and blogs can work well to take out new posts to gain traffic. 

• You can create a lead gen web

You can create a lead gen web to earn money. Gaining new customers can be costly so some businesses choose to purchase leads from others. For example, if a small business needs to acquire customers, it might have to spend a lot on advertisements and flyers. However, if you build a website for them, it will be beneficial for them as they will have to spend much less on your services. 

You can focus on SEO and search engines as it is the best way to create a lead generation. This is a great opportunity for you as there are several small businesses that have knowledge about something like this, so it is you who can increase your benefits by explaining what it is to them. 

• You can make money by cheating lead pages

So this is very easy and we have mentioned this earlier as well. Some companies do not require full-fledged websites but just landing pages. This will bring you a good amount of money and you will have to work much less than making full websites. You can charge a few hundred dollars for each page, depending on the number of landing pages that you will be creating. 

So these are a few ways by which you can earn money. 

Benefits of making money making websites

There are various benefits of making money by making websites. It is a great side business for many reasons and written below are a few benefits of it. 

• Very low startup cost

The entry cost for getting into the business of website development is very less. If you are somebody who doesn't want to drain out all your savings in getting started with something, then this is a great option for you. The only two things that you need to have are a computer and a good and stable internet connection and we are sure these things are available to everybody. These two things alone will help you get started with earning money. 

• You can work from anywhere

This has been the favorite reason for many to choose this profession. This does not require you to go to an office and do the work from the same place every day. You can be in any part of the world and still be working on the development of a website. Flexibility is the key!

• You can work alone

This side business is what you need if you are an introvert and dislike interacting with people. You will only have to talk to the clients that you will be working for. Other than that, you do not need to interact with people. 

• You will be paid well

No matter how you choose to earn money, the pay is extremely good. Doesn’t matter if you are working as a freelancer or a full-time developer, your pay is going to be tremendous. If you choose to charge on an hourly basis being a freelancer, you will be richer than you think in just a month. 

• Expandable

You can easily expand your business in a week when you are feeling more passionate than other days. You can contact more clients which will help you in increasing your earnings. 

• You can choose your payment method

You can choose however you want to get paid as you have the freedom to do so. If you are a freelancer, you can choose to get paid via PayPal or Venmo and you can also decide the frequency of payment. And you can acquire half of the pay before and half of the payment after the work if you are working on a small business website. 

• You will be in high demand

You will be in high demand as website designers who are experienced and have the right skills and talent are being hired for a large number of projects. Your services will be useful to small business owners and you will be paid well each month because of the number of clients hiring you. 

Methods to Gain Traction on Your Website

The more traffic your website generates, the better traction it gets. If your website is highly visible and receives a good amount of traffic every day, then it comes up on the radar of other, larger companies that would invest in your website in order to display their ads. A number of companies pay immense amounts of money to divert leads to their websites through paid optimized links. 

Increasing visibility is linked to increased income and revenues which in turn is linked to your personal business growth. In order to gain more website traffic and to drive relevant leads toward your business, you should invest in software such as form building and marketing automation software. Let us explain what they are through brief definitions.   

Marketing automation software is used for the purposes of monitoring and recording traffic to the company website. This helps in the creation of new leads from website traffic. These leads are ultimately sought to be converted to sales. Form Building software automates and eases the process of form design, lead capturing and filtering, data transfer and analysis. 

These forms are used to record responses and contact details which in turn can be used to create a mailing list that supplies relevant SEO optimized, personalized content to the potential customers.  Most of this software is available as free versions. There is thus, no lack of resources and ways available. 

Should I Create a Website or a Blog?

This is a question that is often asked. The answer to that lie in the skills that you possess. A blog can be optimized in the same way as a website. If you have good blogging skills and if you are a skilled content creator who can generate decent views then by all means go for a blog.

Conclusion

So you see, you do not need to have coding skills and other high-end skills to become a website designer. You can do it with ease with all the various platforms available for you and your services will surely be paid well. If you have little experience also in something like this, you must consider turning it into a business. You can work on it as a side business or even a main one if you like as businesses and organizations are in need of designers and you can be the one to help them out which will also result in you getting paid well.