Last updated - April 19, 2022
WordPress is one of the best things that ever happened for people looking to make money online. It makes it incredibly easy to set up all types of websites. It has opened so many opportunities for people who do not know anything about web design or development.
No wonder WordPress now powers almost 40% of the Internet. More than 64% of CMS websites are using WordPress.
We are going to share some of the best ways to make money with WordPress.
Blogging:
WordPress is primarily considered a blogging platform (though it is a lot more than that). You can set up a blog on WordPress in less than an hour and start your journey towards making money online. It will take some time and a lot of quality content before you begin to get a good number of visitors. Once you are getting a good number, there are so many ways to monetize a blog.
You can sell your own products and services. You can do sponsored posts or reviews. You can sell banner space to advertisers or use a platform like AdSense.
Affiliate Marketing:
Affiliate marketing needs a separate mention because an affiliate blog is different from a typical blog. An affiliate website needs to have a specific type of content like reviews or product comparisons. You will need to choose the right niche and pick the right affiliate program. You will need to target certain keywords and use a specific layout with the maximum possible conversion opportunities. You will also need to set up an email marketing campaign.
All of this is possible with WordPress. There are many themes and plugins made specifically for affiliate marketers. Getaawp is a plugin made specifically for Amazon affiliates. You can use it to create product boxes in different variations, automated lists for Bestseller and new releases, or single product information (e.g. price).
Let’s Review is another plugin that allows you to create reviews with various ratings, pros and cons sections, and affiliate buttons.
It is why WordPress is endorsed and used by some of the best affiliate marketers.
Setting up an Online Store:
Blogging or affiliate marketing will take a lot of time before you start to get organic visitors. If you are looking for something with almost instant results, selling your own products is one of the best ways to do that. Thanks to WooCommerce, you can use WordPress as an eCommerce platform and sell just about anything. If you are looking to sell digital or subscription-based products, MemberPress is a great option.
There are a lot of themes made for eCommerce purposes. You can easily set up a payment gateway and start selling products online in a few minutes.
Dropshipping:
Dropshipping is a bit like online selling, except that you do not have to manufacture or purchase anything before starting to buy. In dropshipping, you become a middleman. You will need to find a wholesaler who sells the products at wholesale prices and work with them. They will take care of manufacturing and inventory.
When an order comes from your website, you place that order with your wholesaler, and they send it directly to the customer. It was tedious to find the right drop shipper, get product details and set up an online store using the product images and prices. All this has been made a lot easier by plugins that will do all this and more. There are plugins like WooDropship, DropshipMe, or Woocommerce Dropshipping that you can use to set up a dropshipping system in no time.
Local Business Directory:
One of the biggest problems with affiliate marketing or eCommerce is the competition. It is tough to succeed unless you are exceptionally good at online marketing stuff like SEO or PPC management. An excellent way to steer clear of that competition is thinking local. You can use WordPress to set up a local business directory. This website can help visitors find the best restaurants, hospitals, salons, or any other type of business. ListingPro is a popular theme built for this purpose.
You can offer featured listing or classified ads options to make money from this website.
Website Flipping:
Website flipping can be a highly profitable business.
The idea is to buy domains and websites at a low price, improve the content to drive traffic, get organic search visitors, monetize that traffic through ads or affiliate programs, and sell that website for a higher price. It requires a lot of patience, research, and good marketing skills to succeed in the business.
WordPress allows you to set up a website and update content like a breeze. A significant majority of website flipping businesses use WordPress. It also makes it easier to find a buyer because people are more comfortable buying a WordPress-powered website instead of something lesser-known.
Job Listing website:
Did you know you can use WordPress to launch a job portal?
A local job portal can be a great source of income. There are many ways to monetize a job portal website. You can charge companies for posting a job or offer services like resume writing to candidates.
You can easily find themes or plugins that can handle everything from advanced job search to location filtering. You can also twist it and launch a local freelance job platform. Remote or work from home jobs is going to be the norm. You can capture the market early and reap your rewards later. WP Job Manager allows you to add a job board to any WordPress website.
Real estate portal:
Buying real estate is a very time-consuming and expensive process.
If you want to make money with real estate, you can use WordPress to set up a real estate portal. Sellers can list their properties for sale or rent. Buyers can quickly search and find all the residential or commercial properties in an area of their choice. Real estate portals save so much time for buyers and sellers. You can charge sellers or real estate agents for featured listings.
These types of websites could cost thousands of dollars in web design or development. WordPress allows you to set it up with a few hundred dollars in premium themes and plugins. Check themes like Beyot that allow you to set up a real estate marketplace with just a few clicks.
Buying and selling (Classified Ads):
Real estate properties are not the only thing; you can practically use WordPress to build any kind of listing website. Some examples are a car buying and selling website or a smartphone buying and selling platform. Classified sites are becoming quite popular. People use them to buy and sell all types of used items. You can earn from featured listings or monetize the website with ads (because these websites can get many visitors).
Create and sell online courses:
One way to make money on the Internet is by selling your knowledge. You can use WordPress to create and promote a course. Professionals like life coaches, consultants, entrepreneurs can find many people who will be interested in learning. You can make good money selling these courses or services online. WordPress can help you set up a complete learning management system with plugins like LearnDash. These sites have a member-only area, and logged-in students can go through the videos or tutorials.
Print on demand store:
A print-on-demand business is a type of online business that involves manufacturing and distributing products, such as calendars, clothing, napkins, mugs, etc. on demand, when an order comes.
Print-on-demand businesses offer several advantages to entrepreneurs who start this type of business: they require no initial investment for items to stock, there are no high upfront storage costs because products are printed as they are ordered. The company’s working capital requirements are not very high.
You can sign up with a platform like Printful and connect it with your WordPress website. And there you have it—your own print-on-demand business.
Local business consultant:
Covid pandemic has forced local businesses to start thinking digital. Lots of companies are looking for boutique agencies that can help with building and growing their online presence.
You can use WordPress to offer professional and mobile-friendly websites at affordable rates. There are plugins that you can use for speed or search engine optimization. WordPress can help you provide a complete package at meager rates.
Food delivery business:
If there was one business that thrives in these challenging times, it was food delivery. Even when everything else was closed, food delivery businesses were allowed to operate. WordPress has plugins like WooRestaurant or WooFood that will enable you to set up a food order and delivery system.
Create and Sell Themes:
By now, you must have realized that you can set up any website using specific themes or plugins. WordPress has millions of users, with thousands of new users signing up daily. If you can create a good theme that becomes a best-seller, you can earn thousands of dollars with just one item.
You don’t even have to be a developer. You can hire some good WordPress developers to create a theme that targets a specific niche.
Lead flipping business:
If you are trying to find an online business that has the potential to grow into a six-figure venture, this is it. WordPress allows you to set up local landers. Next, you can use Google Ads or FB ads to send target customers on these pages. Once you have got some leads, you can sell them to local businesses at a profit. Start from one niche and get into more verticals or industries as you learn and improve your funnels.
What will you need to make money?
No matter which method you choose, you will need the following skills or attributes to succeed.
Quality content:
The most crucial part of online marketing is content. Content is king in this industry as it can change things overnight if done correctly. It helps the marketers make their product or service known to the target audience and helps them gain more and more exposure. You need good quality content. If the content is not up to the mark, you will find it hard to survive. Thus marketers need to put their best efforts into creating high-quality content.
Good knowledge of Search Engine Optimization:
Most WordPress themes or plugins are SEO-friendly. But all it can do is to let search engine crawlers crawl and index the website. It will take a lot more to rank your website in organic search results. SEO is the acronym for Search Engine Optimization. It refers to methods, standards, and techniques adopted by the webmaster to improve the visibility of a website in search engines such as Bing, Google, AOL, and Yahoo.
Now-a-day’s SEO has become very competitive, and you need to invest time, money, and effort if you want your business website to rank well.
Conversions Optimization:
A conversion occurs when a customer takes an action you want them to take on your website, such as filling out a form, buying a product, or subscribing.
Getting visitors to your website is not easy or cheap. You need to make sure your website is good enough to convert as many as possible. Again, WordPress makes it easy to optimize conversions with the help of CTA buttons or opt-in forms.
Conclusion:
WordPress is a powerful tool that allows you to start many different types of online businesses. The best part about using the platform is how easy it makes scaling your business up or down at any time without having to make significant changes in code. There are plenty of free plugins out there for every type of website imaginable. So if you want to take your WordPress venture from one idea through completion, there are themes or plugins to make sure that happens smoothly!
