Get Paid to Advertise on Your Website: 6 Ways to Monetize Your Site

In this guide, I’ll show you the best ways to get paid for ads on your website, including:

• Easy, beginner-friendly ad networks
• How to get direct sponsorships (and make more money!)
• Proven ways to increase ad revenue

How Website Advertising Works

Before we get to the list of ways you can monetize your website using ads, let’s first understand how websites and online advertising as a whole work.

Why?

Well, because when you understand something, you can use it much more effectively.

By understanding how online advertising works and the goals of advertisers, you can make more money with the same ads. More on that later!

How Do Companies Decide Where to Place Ads?

So, why do companies choose to put ads on your website?

Any advertiser that spends money on ads wants to attract the right audience that can be their potential customers. A company that sells shovels won’t waste money putting ads on a website about fitness. They look for a site related to their product. In this case, sites about gardening or any other hobby or job that requires using shovels.

This means the more targeted and active your audience is, the more companies will pay to place ads on your site.

Active vs. Passive Advertising

Now, when it comes to website ads, there are two main types: active and passive advertising.

• Active advertising (like affiliate marketing): It requires more work. You’ll need to regularly update links, track campaigns, and promote products.
• Passive advertising (such as display ads from ad networks like Google AdSense): It runs on autopilot. Once set up, you can earn money while focusing on creating content. I love this form of ads!

You can make money with both options. But with passive ads, you place the ad code on your site once, and the system will automatically display ads related to the content of your pages. This is great if you don’t want to spend time changing links, updating ads, etc. It allows you to focus more of your time and effort on creating more great content and growing your site.

Best Ways to Get Paid to Advertise on Your Website

I have broken down different website monetization methods into different categories to make it easier for you to understand each one and decide which one is the right fit for you.

With that said, let’s get started.

1. Join an Ad Network

Almost every website you visit online (including MoneyPantry) uses this form of website monetization, either alone or in conjunction with other methods.

It is one of the easiest ways to start making money from your website.

How Ad Networks Work

Ad networks work as the middleman between advertisers and publishers (us, website owners).

We don’t have enough time and space to explain in detail how the whole thing works, but to simplify it: advertisers sign up and tell the network how much they are willing to pay for ads on certain websites.

Publishers sign up, place those ads on their site, and are paid whenever someone clicks on those ads.

Since this post is about making money as an advertiser, let’s focus on that part. After you apply and get approved for an ad network as a publisher, you’ll be given a piece of code that you have to insert into your site. If you don’t know how to do that, don’t worry—most networks have step-by-step guides that show you exactly what to do and where to put the code.

No matter which of the above networks you sign up with, the process of getting ads up and running is the same.

Once you insert the ad, the network will start displaying ads.

What makes it interesting and highly successful is that with their technology, these networks display ads that are relevant to the content of your page. So if you have a site about woodworking and in one post you’re talking about table saws, that piece of code will automatically detect it and display ads from companies that sell table saws and related tools.

Needless to say, these ads are highly targeted and are more likely to get clicked on since your visitors are looking for more info on gardening-related topics.

Best Ad Networks to Join

There are a few ad networks out there. I will share the top here.

Google AdSense

Google’s AdSense program is one of the most popular ways websites earn money through display ads. (By the way, using AdSense is one of the few legit ways to make money with Google.) In fact, this is how many website owners and bloggers earn their first dollar online, including me!

Once you sign up and get approved, you’ll be given a unique snippet of code that you can put on your site.

Then, whenever anyone visiting your site clicks on ads or simply views them (depending on the type of ad), you earn money.

The best part?

You don’t have to find advertisers yourself; Google does it for you. It is perfect for beginners since you don’t need to find advertisers and negotiate with them directly.

Mediavine

This is the next tier of ad networks for websites with substantial traffic (usually around 50,000 sessions per month).

It’s a premium ad network that connects you to higher-paying advertisers.

The reason Mediavine has higher earning potential is because of its technology, which focuses on better ad placements and targeted ads.

So, if you have a website that gets decent monthly traffic, you should definitely give it a try. Their tracking tools make it easy to track all kinds of metrics so you can adjust things to increase your earnings.

Ezoic

Ezoic is very similar to Mediavine in that it also focuses on high-traffic websites.

They are constantly updating their systems, and now they are using AI technology to optimize the placement of ads and maximize revenue.

So, if you have a website that doesn’t get as much traffic as Mediavine requires but still wants higher-paying ads, this could be a great option.

How Much Can You Make

It really depends on your niche, traffic, and the ads displayed on your site. But to give you an idea, on average, websites with decent traffic (1,000 to 10,000 visitors a month) can expect to earn anywhere from $100 to $1,500 per month with ad networks.

Obviously, bigger sites with more traffic earn way more. For example, a website getting 10,000 visitors a day can easily earn $500 a day with AdSense. There are sites that easily clear $100,000 a month!

2. Use Affiliate Marketing

The next bets way to get paid for advertising on your site is affiliate marketing.

Here’s how it works:

You partner with affiliate programs like Amazon Associates, ShareASale, or CJ Affiliate and get a unique link. When visitors click on your link and make a purchase, you earn a commission (usually a percentage of the sale).

As with ad networks, you make more money by placing affiliate links for products that are related to the content of your page.

Best Affiliate Marketing Programs for Beginners

Amazon Associates

The Amazon Associates program is easy to join and trusted by users.

Although commissions are lower than they are on many other programs, just the fact that you can find almost anything to promote makes it worth it. No matter how obscure your niche is, you can find a product on Amazon that is related.

ShareASale

This is one of the OGs of affiliate marketing. You can find thousands of companies to promote their products and services on your site.

Anything from fashion and lifestyle to tech, healthcare, and everything in between.

CJ Affiliate

If you are looking for products and services in travel, finance, and e-commerce, CJ has tons of brands you can work with as their affiliate.

How Much Can You Make

Again, it all depends on many different factors, including your traffic, niche, and the products you are promoting.

That said, as a beginner with a decent amount of traffic, you can expect to earn from $50 to $500 per month.

If you have an established website with good traffic (a few thousand visitors a day), you can easily earn $1,000+ per month.

And if you have a bigger site with thousands of unique visitors a day, you can earn anywhere from $5,000 to six figures monthly.

3. Sell Ad Space Directly

This option is usually great for bigger sites that get good traffic.

You can simply create an “Advertise” page and let people know your prices, the exact spot where their ad will be displayed, and some website statistics (page views, daily visitors, etc.).

This method worked well for me on my first blog, BlogStash.com. The highest I sold a spot for was $800/month for a 300 x 250 ad in the sidebar.

Again, the price will depend on your traffic numbers, niche, and how targeted that traffic is.

Best way to sell ad space on your site

There are two ways you can make money by selling ad space on your site.

Direct

You can sell ad space directly on your site by including an “Advertise” page and providing a way for interested advertisers to contact you. However, this means you’ll have to manage everything yourself, from emailing back and forth to handling payments, updating the ads, and more.

Use Networks

If you don’t want to manage everything manually, you can use platforms like BuySellAds, which match advertisers with websites selling ad space. They take a commission, but they make it easier to fill your ad spots consistently.

How Much Can You Make?

Earnings vary depending on your website’s size and niche, but typically, you can make anywhere from $100 to $1,000 per month. Larger sites with higher traffic can charge significantly more for ad placements.

4. Use Native Advertising

We all hate ads!

Even as a website owner, I hate having ads on my site. They’re big and intrusive. But I have no choice—I have to make money somehow. That’s where native ads come in.

I like native ads because they blend seamlessly into content, making them less intrusive for readers while still providing a way to monetize your site.

They look like regular content (articles, videos, or even social media posts), making them feel more natural to visitors. This, in turn, increases engagement and, naturally, your revenue.

Best Native Ad Networks

There are a few great native ad networks out there.

• Taboola
• Outbrain
• Revcontent

These platforms make it easy to place native ads that match your content and audience.

How Much Can You Make

You can make anywhere from $50 to $500 per month depending on traffic and engagement with the ads. Again, please keep in mind that this is just an estimate for potential earning for smaller sites. Bigger sites with more traffic can earn way more than that.

5. Sponsored Content & Partnerships

Another way to get paid to advertise on your site is by using sponsored content.

Basically brands will pay you to publish their content, such as blog posts or product reviews, on your website. Its simply an ad written as a regular post.

Where to Find Sponsorship Deals

You can either directly reach out to brands in your niche or use platforms that connect websites with brands looking for sponsored content opportunities.

Two of the best platforms include Izea and Influence.co.

How Much Can You Make

Again, depending on your niche and the size of your site, you can charge anywhere from $50 per sponsored content to upwards of thousands. But a site with modest traffic can expect to earn from $50 to a few hundred dollars per post.

6. Monetize Your Email List with Sponsored Emails

One of the most underrated ways to make money from advertising on your site is through email lists.

If you have a large and engaged email list, you can monetize it by including sponsored emails from brands.

Basically, instead of having a sponsored post on your site, you will have it in one of your emails you send to your newsletter subscribers regularly.

Usually, companies pay you per email or per click for featuring their products or services in your email newsletter.

Where to find email sponsorship deals

One option is to directly contact relevant brands in your niche and entice them by giving them your email list stats (number of subscribers you have, how active they are, your email open rate, etc.).

But if you prefer a more hands-off approach, you can use Paved. It is one of the best platforms that connects brands with email list owners.

How Much Can You Make

If you have an established email list with thousands of active subscribers, you can expect to earn $500 to $5,000 per sponsored email. Obviously, the exact number depends on the size of your list and engagement rates.

How Much Can You Earn from Website Advertising?

As I mentioned many times, the exact amount you can earn by advertising on your site varies. These are just estimates to give you an idea of what’s possible.

Here are those estimates one more time:

• Ad Networks: $50 to $2,000 per month, depending on traffic and ad placements.
• Affiliate Marketing: $50 to $1,000+ per month, based on commissions and the niche.
• Direct Ad Sales: $100 to $1,000 per month, depending on website traffic and niche.
• Native Ads: $50 to $500 per month, depending on user engagement.
• Sponsored Content: $200 to $2,000 per post, depending on traffic and niche.
• Email Sponsorships: $500 to $5,000 per email, depending on the size and engagement of your email list.

The most important factors that can affect just how much you earn are your niche, traffic and the type of ads you use.

FAQs About Making Money with Website Ads

• What’s the best ad network for beginners?
  Google AdSense is the best starting point for beginners because it’s very easy to use.
• How much traffic do I need to make money from ads?
  For ad networks, around 10,000 monthly visitors is a good starting point. For affiliate marketing, a smaller but engaged audience can also work well.
• Can I use multiple ad networks at the same time?
  Yes, you can use multiple ad networks to maximize revenue, but make sure they don’t conflict with each other.
• How do I get businesses to pay for ads on my site?
  Focus on building targeted traffic in a specific niche and then reach out to relevant businesses. Join ad networks and use platforms like BuySellAds to attract potential advertisers.

The Bottom Line

These methods are great and proven ways of making money through advertising.

Basically, whenever you have space, whether online or offline, that sees lots of eyeballs, you can monetize that space with ads and make money.

I mean, people are getting paid to put ads on their car even. So, it’s not that hard to get paid to advertise on your website!