19 Unique Ways To Monetize a blog in 2023 [New Methods]

Many people want to start a blog or already own one but they do not know the ways to monetize it. Is that you?

The truth is there are numerous ways to monetize a blog. Some methods are common and others are not so common.

In this post, I’ll show you even newer or more thoughtful ways to monetize a blog that you have hardly heard about.

You may be familiar with some of the methods that will be highlighted here but I guarantee you 100% that you’ll learn new things even from the familiar methods you know.

Now let’s get to it.

1. Display ads

Ok. This is an obvious one, and probably the commonest way to monetize a blog, irrespective of your niche.

Assuming you understand what display ads are all about, here are a few things to keep in mind if you want to make the most money from display ads on your blog.

a. Generally, all Ad networks do not pay the same rate

Some pay less while others pay way higher. For example, you’ll most likely make more money on Ezoic than on Google AdSense. So, choose your Ad network carefully.

Read up on my Google AdSense approval trick and Ezoic requirements to get approved.

In addition, I recommend these premium ad networks as they pay better than AdSense:

• Monumetric
• AdThrive
• Mediavine
• Underdog Media

b. Audience Geography Matters A Lot

To be frank, you are going to make way more money from display ads if the majority of your website visitors are from tier 1 countries – US, Canada, UK, and Australia.

If you must choose just one country from these to target, go for the US.

Simply do careful keyword research of topics in your niche that appeal to people from the US and write SEO-friendly articles with powerful conclusions.

c. Pinterest Traffic is Safe For Display Ad Monetization

The major source of traffic for most blogs is Google SEO. And it is very safe for monetization.

However, it may interest you to know that you can get as much traffic from Google as Pinterest.

Even better, Pinterest traffic is 100% safe for Monetization on Ad networks like Google AdSense.

d. Place Ads Above The fold

Always ensure that you place ads above the fold. What does that mean?

Simply insert AdSense Ads at the top of all pages on your blog. It could be before or directly underneath your H1.

Above-the-fold ads convert very well. So, you are likely going to earn more money by implementing this than not.

I recommend that you use the Ad Inserter WordPress plugin to insert ads on your website.

e. Place Ad Under Paragraph 1

In my experience, ads placed right under your first paragraph get the most clicks.

Please do not sleep on this.

If you have not, insert ads right under your first paragraph and watch your earnings increase.

f. Make Good Use of Desktop Sidebar

Whether you believe it or not, the truth is that you make more money from desktop visitors (by the proportion of visitors vs earnings) than mobile visitors. But you’re naturally going to get more mobile visitors than Desktop.

In essence, if you have the exact same number of mobile and Desktop visitors, you’ll make more money from Desktop visitors.

It’s just simple logic. The Desktop screen is wider so it can accommodate more and bigger ad sizes, hence more money.

So, if you want to make the most of your Desktop visitors, insert vertical ads in your sidebar.

These ad sizes are perfect for a Desktop sidebar:

• 160 X 600
• 300 X 600
• 160 X 1050
• 300 X 1050

g. Increase Your Font Size and Line Spacing

You’ll be amazed how this little change can increase your earnings if you monetize a blog with a display ad.

As mentioned earlier, most of your traffic is going to come from mobile. It’s incredibly difficult to read from mobile texts that are small.

Therefore, you need to increase your font size and line spacing so ads can stand out on mobile.

Increase your font size to 20 or 22 and slightly increase your line spacing. Relax and watch your earnings increase over time.

h. Write One Sentence Per Paragraph

It’s shocking that people have still not gotten this trick.

Writing one sentence per paragraph will increase your earnings from display ads. How? It gives more room for ads to show up, especially on mobile.

On the other hand, writing a wall of content will not only turn off mobile visitors, but you are also most likely going to earn lesser.

All these above-mentioned strategies work generally irrespective of the display ad network you join. However, if you monetize with Ezoic, check out my ultimate guide on how to triple your Ezoic earnings.

2. Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is one of the oldest ways to monetize a blog.

Although there are so many types of Affiliate Marketing, it can be broadly categorized into two.

A. Sales Affiliate Marketing

This involves selling a physical or digital product or service of the product owner as an affiliate. Whatever the case, the buyer exchanges money for the value offered by the affiliate.

One typical example of Sales Affiliate marketing is Amazon Associates.

B. Non-Sales Affiliate Marketing

Non-sales Affiliate Marketing does not involve selling anything.

In this instance, your task as an affiliate is to ensure people carry out a defined action – fill in credit card details, install an App, or any other action that does not involve buying.

In my opinion, non-sales Affiliate marketing converts much more than sales affiliate marketing. The reason is simple: people do not have to pay any money. Just a simple action would do most of the time.

Whichever Affiliate Marketing approach you take, there is an opportunity for success.

To succeed as an Affiliate Marketer here are a few things to keep in mind:

Learn from successful Affiliate Marketers

If you are ever told that Affiliate Marketing is an easy way to monetize a blog, never believe it.

The point is that you need to learn a lot from successful Affiliate Marketers before going into it, if not, you’ll hardly find success.

I strongly suggest that you follow Niche Site Lady on Twitter. Or sign up for her Newsletter here. She is a successful Affiliate Marketer who makes over $10,000 monthly from the business.

In addition, I compiled a composite list of 27 Powerful YouTube Channels where you can learn Affiliate Marketing and SEO. Check it out and start learning fast in order to succeed.

Join the Right Affiliate Program

There are thousands of Affiliate programs out there so you need to choose carefully which to join.

Why? Many programs do not pay on time or do not pay at all.

Others pay low rates, are very hard to join, or even scam.

I strongly recommend that you check out reviews of any program before signing up.

In addition, I suggest that you check Affiliate programs on Offervault and Odigger. All top affiliate programs are on these two platforms.

You’ll Need To Be Approved

Most of the top Affiliate programs will review your application and either accept or reject it.

Accepting or rejecting your application largely depends on your traffic and experience in Affiliate Marketing.

Choose the Right Offer

Not all Affiliate offers are right for you or your niche.

It’s not just about the payout. There are many high-paying affiliates offers that hardly convert.

The catch here is to choose the most converting offers that align with your audience. You’ll make more money from these types of offers.

How do you know if an offer converts well? Easy. Most Affiliate platforms have a review section for every offer. You can easily check the review and how well it converts.

Sometimes, there are no clues and you have relied on your IQ to foreknow if the offer would convert or not.

Promote Strategically

There are so many ways to promote an Affiliate Offer. One way is by running successful online Ads.

Another strategic way is by using the Lasso WordPress plugin for managing the entirety of your Affiliate business.

To be candid, the Plugin is very powerful and it converts so well that almost all top affiliate marketers use it.

See an example of how the Plugin displays affiliate offers that convert more than regular links.

Manage your Affiliate Links and Report

One of the most challenging aspects of Affiliate Marketing is having to manage so many links on several pages on your websites.

Still, there is a solution.

The WP Lasso Plugin can get that done for you.

3. Sponsored posts

Another one of the commonest way to monetize a blog is through sponsored posts.

What is Sponsored post? A brand reaches out to you to promote a product, service, event, or an agreed fee.

The thing about sponsored posts is that you do not have direct influence over them or are not something you can initiate. You’ll have to wait for the email (opportunity) from a brand.

However, there are some things to keep in mind to stand a better chance of getting sponsored post offers.

Your Niche Matters

You must understand that your niche matters a lot.

Only brands in your niche will reach out to you for a Sponsored Ad.

Better SEO Increases Your Chances

If your website is easily findable on the Search Engine, it’ll be easier for Brands who want sponsored posts to contact you.

The higher your organic traffic, the better your chances of getting Sponsored post requests.

In essence, one good approach is to optimize a page around the keyword “Sponsored post”. More about it in the next point…

Include “Sponsored Posts” As A Service On Your Blog

To stand a better chance of getting sponsored post requests, it is advisable to include it as a service, especially on your contact page.

Also, create a page to address your terms for sponsored posts and ensure the page is linked to your contact page.

Keep Your Contact Page and Email Active

This is a no-brainer.

Your contact page and email must be active and up-to-date so potential prospects can get in touch with you.

4. Paid guest posts

Paid Guest post is one of the ways to monetize a blog.

But how does it work?

Brands or individual bloggers reach out to you to feature them and your site while you grant them a do-follow backlink to their site while you get compensated an editorial fee.

5. Sell online courses

Selling online courses went from Zero to hero since 2020. Since the Covid-19 lockdown, the need to consume knowledge online and buy online courses skyrocketed.

The point here is that selling online courses is here to stay.

So, if you are looking for new ways to monetize your blog, think of creating an online course. This article provides everything you need to create a successful online course.

Keep in mind that you do not have to be a professor to create an online course. No matter your level of expertise, you can always sell your courses to ANYONE who does not have as much knowledge or expertise as you do.

People don’t care about names. They just want a solution to their problem. If your course can be the solution, perfect.

While you can create online courses on platforms like Thinkific, you can also create courses directly on your WordPress site.

Another very good platform to sell your online course is Gumroad.

In fact, there is no better place to sell any digital product on the internet than Gumroad now – it converts really well and so many people trust the platform even more than your own site.

7. Sponsored email placements

What does sponsored email placement mean? It simply means promoting another person or brand’s product or service to your own audience via email.

In this case, there will be an agreed fee paid by the other brand or person for promoting their product to your audience.

However, you must understand that you need to have a very good number of email subscribers to broker this deal. The more subscribers you have, the higher your price should be.

If you want to monetize your blog with sponsored email placement, read this guide.

8. Sell e-Books

The good news is that selling eBooks are much simpler and possibly easier than creating and selling online (video) courses.

Again, you do not need to be a guru to create and sell e-books.

If you want to start creating and selling e-books and you do not know how to go about it, watch this video:

Do not forget to sell your e-book on Gumroad.

9. Sell Your Blog

Ok. This is kind of weird but it still is one of the common ways to monetize a blog today.

There are many people today who make a living by creating, growing, and selling websites.

Learn from Zach Zorn and learn how to create and sell niche websites.

Also, these are 10 platforms where you can sell a website.

10. Paid community

One of the better ways to monetize a blog is by offering paid membership service.

What does this mean? It simply means offering your audience an opportunity to join a premium group while you offer them premium service options in return for a small fee.

For example, a premium member of your blog could have access to some of your premium content, e-books, courses, or other services like going Ad-free.

Again, you can set up a membership plan on Gumroad.

If you’re keen to monetize your blog with a paid membership plan, you should learn about it here.

The cool thing about the membership plan is you do not need to do anything extra after setting it up. If you have a decent amount of organic traffic and offer good premium service, you should find the approach profitable.

12. Service offering

Imagine a blog that publishes content about SEO. One good way to monetize such a blog is to offer an SEO service to its audience.

Similarly, this could work in any other niche where this can be applied.

The point here is t think of a service that can be rendered around your area of expertise.

13. Paid Consultation Service

One good way to monetize your blog is to offer consultation services to your audience.

What this means is that your audience would be able to book a one-on-one session with you while you try to solve their problem.

In other words, you’re trading your time for money.

With Calendly, you can easily embed a few lines of code that make it easy to schedule an appointment with you at your set convenient times.

If you think a consultancy business would be a perfect way to monetize your blog, I suggest you watch this video:

Otherwise, you could a full guide on how to start your consulting business.

14. SaaS

SaaS means Software as a service.

Now, you really do not need to think of creating Software that could change the world or requires so much technical skill.

Just think of building a simple online tool that solves people’s problems while you have a blog around the same niche.

For example, Footyrenders is a simple software that hosts all kinds of players’ images that have a transparent background.

Duplichecker is another example of an online tool that solves a problem and yet monetized. The tool detects plagiarism and other related stuff to writing.

It may interest you to know that they have a blog about the same service they render.

In your case, you may think about how this idea could work well for you in your niche.

If by any chance you are serious about starting a SaaS company, read this detailed guide.

15. Buy me a coffee widget

This is one of the weirdest ways of monetizing a blog but it works still.

Just set up a “buy me a coffee widget” for free and forget it.

You’ll be surprised how your audience could be generous enough to send you $5 or more.

One thing you should note about this method is that (1) you are not going to make a lot of money from it and (2) you need to be offering real value either in your content or tool to get money from your audience.

Setting up a “buy me a coffee” widget has never been easier. Simply follow this simple guide and you can start getting generous donations.

16. Direct Ad Space

Another good way to monetize a blog is by selling direct ad space.

How does it work?

In this case, you do not need an intermediary like AdSense to earn money. A brand or company is buying ad space from you directly.

This is far more profitable than earnings from Display ad networks because there are no intermediaries and you get 100% of the revenue.

How then do you sell ad space directly to advertisers?

How To Sell Ad Space Directly To Advertisers?

• 1. The best way to go about this is to have an “advertise with us” page where your terms of direct ad sales are clearly stated.

It may also be a good idea to provide evidence of the value or traffic of your site on that page.

• 2. Another way to get direct ad space sold is by sending cold emails to brands in your niche that you think could need the service.

How To Properly Run Direct Ads

Assuming you have already secured an advertiser, the next challenge is how to properly run the ad such that your account for impressions, clicks, and other metrics as a report for the advertiser.

Although there are many ways to get this done, I’ll highlight just two methods.

A. Google Ad Manager

The Google Ad manager is one powerful tool to run ads directly and get the needed report.

Watch the video below to see how it set it all up:

B. Ezoic

If you monetize your blog with Ezoic ads, you can also run direct ads on the platform.

Learn how to do it here:

17. Webstories ad monetization

To start with, what is Webstory? Webstory is a web platform owned by Google that allows creators to host their creative stories.

The Google Webstory works in a similar way to how Pinterest works. It’s also similar to the popular WhatsApp Stories, Facebook Stories, and other stories.

The major difference between Web stories and other stories is that (1) The stories are published and hosted on the web, not an app. And (2) Webstory is primarily designed for stories and stories only unlike other platforms like Facebook, and Instagram, where stories are an additional feature of the platform.

As a creator, you can integrate your personal Blog with Google Webstories and monetize with Ads.

If you are looking for unique ways to monetize a blog, you should jump on the Webstories bandwagon now because it is not very popular.

18. Job Boards

Setting up Job boards is an excellent way to monetize a blog.

The cool thing about it is that you can set up a Job board for almost any kind of niche.

For example, an SEO blog could have a Job board for just SEO-related jobs. A Sports blog could have a Job board for jobs in Sports only, etc.

How do you monetize a Job board? Companies looking to recruit talent in your niche could pay as much as $100 for just one job posting.

You could also monetize your job board with ads if you so wish or learn other means.

I strongly suggest that you read this tutorial and learn how to properly setup your job board and learn how to monetize it.

19. Pixel Data Rent Out

This is another unique and uncommon way to make money online.

What is Pixel data rent out?

I’m sure you are familiar with Facebook Pixel. It simply helps you track your website or Blog visitors whom you can retarget with Facebook Ad.

If you have a high volume of traffic, you must have accumulated a lot of data of potential Facebook users to retarget with Facebook Ads.

Many companies or advertisers are looking for more customers or a concise type of audience to target on Facebook.

In other words, the information on your Facebook pixel is worth money and can be shared with the right brand or advertiser for money.

How To Make Money By Renting Your Pixel Data Out

• Make a research about brands in your niche that invest in Facebook Ads
• Pitch your idea to them (via email) and make them an irresistible offer
• Rent out your Pixel data and get paid.

Conclusion

Blogging is one of the best ways to make money online. Really, you should be taking advantage of these unique ways to monetize a blog that I have shared.

In truth, all methods may not work for you or your niche. Carefully consider each one and choose what works best for your blog.

If you enjoyed reading this article, you should also find out how to add sitemap to Robots.txt file, A-Z of internal linking, and how long should your blog post be.