1. Advertise on your website

1. Advertise on your website

Just by having a site of your own, you can start earning passive income. There are just a handful of steps you’ll need to take to build a website that makes money online. First you’ll need to choose from one of many professionally designed website templates, select a domain name and get free website hosting. Then you can begin thinking about the different routes toward monetizing your website.

One proven method time and again is online advertising. You can use Google AdSense to place ads on your website. This option is relatively easy as Google matchs ads to your site based on your content and visitors, plus it’s free. Google then pays you based on the number of views or clicks you get on the ads.

Pros

• It's a great way to generate passive income, while you focus on creating content on your site. It's a hands off way to make money.

• It requires low level resources to get started, once you have your website and Google Adsense connected.

Cons

• You have have limited control over the content and quality of the ads shown on your site. Yes, Google has policies in place to prevent inappropriate content being shown but you may not have full content over what is shown and how your site visitors will respond to it. Sometimes the content of ads, or just having too many ads on your site can turn visitors off.

• Predicting how much money you can make from ads on your site can be tricky, as user numbers and clicks can fluctuate based on targeting. On top of this, Google takes a commission off everything you earn through them which can reduce your final revenue.