If you’ve been running a WordPress website for any length of time, you’ll know that it can be much more than a place to publish blog posts. I’ve had my own WordPress websites for years, and like a lot of bloggers, I started out simply writing because I enjoyed it. Over time, though, I started looking at ways my website could actually earn some money.

I’ve tried a few different approaches, and I’ve found that there isn’t one magic way to make money from a website. What works depends very much on what your website is about, who reads it, and most importantly, what you can offer those readers.

I’ve also run a membership site, so I’ve had first-hand experience of taking regular payments online. For my membership site I use Stripe, and I’ll come back to payment gateways later because choosing the right one is something worth thinking about before you start.

So, if you’ve got a WordPress website and are wondering whether it could make you some money, here are some options to consider.

1. Start a membership site

One of the things that worked really well for me was my membership site. A membership site basically means people pay you regularly to access something they can’t get on the free part of your website. 

That could be a monthly or annual subscription for:

• Exclusive blog posts
• Videos
• Tutorials
• Downloads
• A private community
• A newsletter
• Courses
• Advice and support
• Members-only discounts
• Live Q&As or events

The great thing about memberships is the potential for recurring income. Instead of making one sale and then having to find another customer, you have people who are paying you each month or year. Of course, that also means you have to give them a reason to stay.

This is probably the biggest lesson I’ve learned. Don’t create a membership site simply because you like the idea of having one. Think about what people would actually be prepared to pay for and, crucially, what would make them want to renew. When I created my site, I offered a free and a paid tier. This worked well as people signed up for the free version, and they could upgrade for additional access once they saw the value of being a member.

My experience with Stripe

I use Stripe for my own membership site and it’s been a good fit for me. Once you have connected Stripe to your membership software, payments can happen automatically. Someone signs up, their payment is processed, and their membership access is handled without me having to manually chase payments every month and give them access to the appropriate content.

2. Create an online course

If you’ve spent years learning how to do something, there’s a good chance other people would like you to teach them how to do it. That’s where online courses can work really well.

It doesn’t have to be something incredibly complicated. You could create a course about almost anything:

• Photography
• Gardening
• Baking
• Fitness
• Social media
• Running a small business
• WordPress
• Crafts
• Music
• Writing
• Graphic design

You could make your course entirely from videos, or combine videos with written lessons, downloadable worksheets, and quizzes. If you’re particularly good at something that other people struggle with, there’s potentially an audience waiting for you.

WordPress has plenty of learning-management and course plugins available, so you can build the whole thing into your existing website rather than sending customers somewhere else. 

3. Sell downloadable products

This is one of my favourite ideas because digital products can be created once and sold over and over again. There’s no stock to store and nothing to put in the post.

Depending on what your website is about, you could sell:

• E-books
• PDF guides
• Checklists
• Templates
• Printables
• Photography presets
• Stock photographs
• Graphics
• Fonts
• Spreadsheets
• Lesson resources
• Recipes
• Music
• Sound effects
• Digital artwork

Think about what you already know. The trick is not to create a downloadable product just for the sake of having something to sell. Look at the questions people regularly ask you or the search terms that bring them to your website. Those questions can often give you some excellent ideas.

4. Put adverts on your website

Advertising is probably the most obvious way of making money from a blog. The idea is simple: you display adverts on your website and receive income when visitors see or interact with them, depending on the advertising programme you’re using.

I’ve used advertising on my websites in the past, and there’s definitely something appealing about being able to put adverts on a website you’ve already built and let it generate a little bit of extra income. The downside is that you generally need a reasonable amount of traffic for advertising to generate significant money.

If you’ve got 200 visitors a month, you’re probably not going to be retiring on your advertising income any time soon. If you’ve got hundreds of thousands of visitors, it’s a different story.

There’s another thing to consider too: don’t ruin your website with adverts. We’ve all visited websites where you can’t read an article without closing three pop-ups and scrolling past a dozen adverts. If your readers have to fight their way through your website to find your content, you may find that advertising costs you more in lost readers than it makes.

5. Use affiliate links

Affiliate marketing can work particularly well if you’re already writing reviews, guides, or recommendations. The basic idea is that you recommend a product or service and use a special link. If someone clicks that link and makes a qualifying purchase, you receive a commission.

The important thing is to only recommend things you genuinely believe in. Your readers aren’t stupid. If every product you recommend happens to be “the best product ever” and happens to pay you a commission, they’ll soon stop believing what you say.

I’ve always found that affiliate marketing works best when it’s treated as a natural part of the content rather than the entire reason for writing the article. Under UK law, you need to make sure you’re clear with your readers when you use affiliate links. Being transparent doesn’t hurt your credibility; pretending you’re not making money from a recommendation can.

6. Sell your skills

This is one that I think gets overlooked. Your website doesn’t have to sell a product at all. It can sell you. If you’re good at something, use your website to show people what you can do.

For example, a photographer can use their WordPress website as a portfolio to show potential customers their best work, explain what they offer and give them an easy way to get in touch.

The same applies to voice actors, writers, artists, and musicians. Your website becomes your shop window and unlike a social media profile, you own it. That’s one of the reasons I think having your own WordPress website is still so valuable. You’re not relying entirely on whatever algorithm Instagram, TikTok or Facebook happens to be using this week.

7. Sell physical products

Of course, you can also turn your WordPress website into a traditional online shop. WooCommerce is probably the most obvious option for this. You can sell pretty much anything that can legally be sold online, from handmade products and clothing to books, artwork, and specialist equipment. The flexibility is one of the things I like about WordPress. You can start with a simple blog and add things as your website grows.

So, How Do You Actually Take Payments?

This is where things can start to get a little confusing. There are lots of payment gateways available, and which one you choose depends on what you’re selling.

I’ve used Stripe on my own membership site, and it has worked well for the type of payments I need to take but Stripe isn’t the only option.

Stripe

Stripe is particularly popular with online businesses and works with a large number of WordPress plugins and ecommerce platforms. It also supports card payments and a range of other payment methods, depending on your setup and where your customers are located.

PayPal

PayPal is another familiar name and one that many customers already trust. Some people simply prefer using PayPal to entering their card details into a website they’ve never used before. For that reason alone, offering PayPal alongside card payments can be worthwhile. It can also be useful if you’re selling internationally, although you’ll want to check the fees and currency conversion costs carefully.

WooPayments

If you’re already using WooCommerce, WooPayments is another option. It’s designed specifically for WooCommerce, so your payments and orders can be managed from within the same WordPress environment. That can make things simpler if you don’t want to have lots of different systems to log into.

Square

Square is worth looking at if you sell both online and in person. For example, perhaps you have a physical shop, attend craft fairs, or sell products at events as well as through your website. Square can connect your online and offline sales, which can make keeping track of stock much easier.

GoCardless

GoCardless is a little different because it focuses on bank payments and Direct Debit rather than being primarily a card-payment service. That can make it particularly interesting if you’re collecting recurring payments. 

Which Payment Gateway Should You Use?

There’s no universal answer. If you’re selling a £10 PDF, you probably don’t need a complicated payment setup.If you’re running a membership site with hundreds of subscribers, your requirements will be very different.

Before choosing a payment provider, I’d look at:

What are you selling?

A digital download, physical product, membership, and one-to-one service can all have different requirements.

Do you need recurring payments?

This is particularly important for memberships and subscriptions.

Where are your customers?

If you’re selling internationally, check which currencies and payment methods are supported.

What does it cost?

Don’t just look at the transaction fee. Check for currency conversion charges, refunds, chargebacks, and any monthly or plugin fees.

And don’t forget to check the current pricing. Payment providers change their fees and offerings from time to time.

Don’t Forget About Security

If you’re going to take payments through your WordPress website, security needs to be taken seriously. Make sure you are keeping WordPress, your plugins, and theme up to date. Ensuring you have an active SSL certificate and that you are only using reputable plugins and payment providers. You also want to ensure you have regular backups. 

This is one area where having a good hosting company can make a real difference. When something goes wrong, it’s useful to have someone you can actually contact rather than spending hours trying to work out what’s happened yourself.

You Don’t Need Thousands of Visitors

There’s a tendency to think you need a massive audience before you can make money from a website. I don’t think that’s true. A website with 2,000 people visiting every month who are genuinely interested in your subject can be much more valuable than one with 20,000 visitors who aren’t interested in buying anything.

Start With What You Already Have

If you’re already running a WordPress website, don’t feel as though you need to completely reinvent it. Look at the content you’ve already created.

For me, running a membership site has shown me that you don’t necessarily need to have a huge website or millions of visitors. You need something people value enough to pay for. 

The biggest piece of advice I’d give anyone thinking about monetising their WordPress website is don’t start by asking, “How can I make money from my website?” instead ask “What can I offer my visitors that is genuinely useful to them?”

Once you’ve answered that, the money-making part becomes much easier.

Your WordPress website might start life as a blog or portfolio, but there’s no reason it has to stay that way. With the right idea, it could become a membership site, an online shop, a source of leads, a place to sell your expertise, or even a full-time business.