Website monetization

Pay per click (also called Cost per click) is a marketing strategy put in place by search engines and various Advertising networks, where an advert, usually targeted by keywords or general topic, is placed on a relevant website. The advertiser then pays for every click that is made on the advert.


Cost per impression (also called Cost per mille) is a marketing strategy put in place by various Advertising networks, where an advert is placed on a relevant website, usually targeted to the content sector of that site. The advertiser then pays for every time the advert is displayed to a user.




Banner advertising consists of placing a graphical banner advertisement on a webpage. The role of this banner is to catch the eye of incoming traffic to the page, enticing readers to click the advertisement. This form of monetization is implemented by both affiliate programs and advertising networks. Banners originally just referred to advertisements of 468 x 60 pixels, but the term is now widely used to refer to all sizes of display advertising on the internet




Banner ads come in various shapes and sizes and are sized according to pixel dimensions. Typical banner sizes include:
Leaderboard 728 x 90
Banner 468 x 60
Skyscraper 120 x 600
Wide Skyscraper 160 x 600

Affiliate programs are another popular way of monetizing existing website traffic. By joining a business' affiliate program, any searches for products within that business' catalog may earn affiliates a commission on each sale that was originally referred through their website.


Websites also generate valuable user data that can be monetized through various methods. Data generated by websites about their users can range from being demographics to in-market data (i.e. in-market for a car). This data can be sold through behavioral data exchanges and used by advertisers to target their online media campaigns. Websites can also generate revenue from their newsletter and on-site registrations programs by helping to bring in offline data associated with users during this process.