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When most people think of monetizing a web site contextual advertising, such as Google Adsense, Yahoo Publisher Ads or the new MSN AdCenter most likely is the first thing that comes to mind. But there are many other ways to monetize your web site.

Affiliate marketing is a great monetization model, since you have no headaches with customers, returns, chargebacks, etc. All you have to do is find quality products of interest to your site visitors, and post a banner or text link to the product, preferably in the context of some sort of review that you have written, after having tried the product yourself.

Be honest, pointing out the pros and cons of various products, and recommending only those that you, yourself would use, and you can do quite well as an affiliate.

Similarly, CPA networks offer a wealth of opportunities to monetize your traffic. You can link directly to the various programs from your website, much the same as you would with any other affiliate product. You can also use CPA offers on the thank you pages for your newsletter subscription form to monetize your list-building efforts right up front.

Speaking of list-building, you are doing that, aren't you? Building an opt-in email list is probably THE single biggest web site monetization tactic that you have at your disposal. Your search engine rankings can drop, your articles can go stale, your blog can get wiped out in a database crash, but your list can always bring home the bacon.

Your list can bring you tons of "back end" sales of new products that you find and promote, and can give you a built-in group of potential buyers and affiliates when you develop your own product, or introduce a new one.

Selling your own product is, of course, the holy grail that many online marketers seek, and it ranks right up there as one of the top two or three ways to make money from your web site traffic. But don't just sell one product. Ultimately, you need to have a low-end entry level product, then an immediate or delayed upsell to a higher end product, and finally one or more high ticket items on the "back end".

Selling ebooks at low cost, or giving them away, can be a great way to make money from your website, especially if you have other products to promote via the opt-in list that naturally develops when people sign up to get your free offer. You can also make your ebooks and mini reports viral, by filling them with links back to your other products, or affiliate links to products related to the theme of your website.

Customer surveys are a tactic that many people seem to miss. Either right on your website, or via your email marketing list, you can find out what your potential customers want by asking them. DUH. Why go to the effort and expense of creating a product before you know there is a market for it? Just ask your customer base, and they will tell you what they want.

Yet another way to make money from your web site is to sell outgoing one-way links. Once you are established as having some "authority" in a niche, and you have some Page Rank, other people want links from your site to theirs. Traditionally, this was done through reciprocal (two-way) link exchanges. Savvy webmasters, however, have come to see the value of those links, and some charge a monthly fee for outgoing one-way links.

If you develop a good content site that has a loyal following, you can always turn it into a paid membership site. These sites often make a ton of money, and it is regular income that you can count on month in and month out, but it also takes a lot of work and dedication on your part.

I can't tell you how many memberships I've joined only to see them go downhill after a few months when the owner gets tired of supporting the site. IF you are willing to make the commitment, or can hire and supervise the right people, a membership site can be a source of ongoing revenue.

Finally, you always have to think about the ultimate web site monetization method … selling your site. If you have a good site in a profitable niche, and especially if it comes with a customer list and/or a mailing list, it can often be sold for the equivalent of one to two years revenues (and sometimes much more, if it has untapped potential).

OK … I guess that turned out to be ten ways to make money from your web site. The point is, you have to think in terms of multiple streams of income, so that if one fizzles, you have others to fall back on.

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