Making Money With Your Niche Website Using Affiliate Marketing and Google Adsense

There are several ways of making money with your website. The main two that I use, and will talk about are Google Adsense and Affiliate marketing.

Google Adsense

This is my preferred way of making money from my sites as it doesn’t involve any type of selling whatsoever.

All you do is to place a bit of code supplied by Google on your web pages and Google places the relevant ads on your page.

The ads are like ads you see in traditional newspapers and are clearly marked as ads.

Google Adsense is ideally suited for content based sites.

In order to start displaying Google Adsense on your website you need first to apply to Google.

 This is simple matter of filling out a form online with your details, and your website details etc.

However before you are accepted Google will evaluate your website. In true Google fashion Google want to ensure that your website is fit for its ads.

This evaluation is done normally automatically, but in borderline cases, it may involve a person.

You should ensure that you have at least 10 pages of good quality content before you apply,read their policy guidelines and ensure your site observes them. Here is the  application page… https://www.google.com/adsense/application-1

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliiate programs are free to join and again involve you placing a bit of code or a banner on your page(s).

However they usually involve you making a recommendation either directly or indirectly.

Hence you should be familiar with the product.
I always try to own and use the product before I make a recommendation but in some cases I will indirectly promote a product that I don’t own or use.

For example I have used  Get Response as my autoresponder, and I promote it as an affiliate.

However I will point out alternatives, and if they have an affiliate program I will usually join it and use my affiliate link when linking to those products.

Affiliate programs are especially suited for sites that review products or are product oriented.

Because affiliate programs are free to join many new affiliate make some very common mistake of  Joining Too many Programs and Promoting too many products.

This is a big mistake. You should be very selective in the programs you join and the products you promote.

I only promote products that I personally use, and this in itself is a good way of limiting the products as it is impossible to physically use 100s of products.
Being successful as an affiliate involves getting trust from your visitor you don’t want to sacrifice that by Promoting products just because they pay a good commission.

Using Both

Don’t think that it a one or the other choice. I use both and almost every site does. The only question is the mix and that will vary from page to page.

For content pages I use Google Adsense and for product review type pages I use affiliate programs.