An informational website is one of the four most common types of websites that most people create online. If you are keen to find out how an informational website generates income for you, then find out more below!
What is an informational website?
For readers who are not sure what is an informational website, I believe it is important to clarify before we move on to other specifics.
An informational website is a site that shares any type of information freely (readers do not need to pay to access the information) online. The website also does not sell any products or services, it does not have any eCommerce features like shopping cart, add to cart etc.
You may be wondering what kind of information an informational website contains. The answer is information that people want to read and find out online. It can be information like how to invest in stocks, how to sleep better, how to become a better mobile game player, how to take better pictures using mobile phones and many other topics that people are searching on Google every minute of the day!
Examples of informational websites
The following is an example of a real informational website – Technical Masterminds. This website contains information about apps, mobile phones, and games. It has close to 100 articles with tips, tools, and reviews.
Technical Masterminds is an informational website that contains information about apps and games.
The above website is making an average of US$500 to $900 every month without selling anything. Almost all of its income is coming from the Google Adsense program which means the owner just needs to show the ads to the visitors.
The site can make up to US$900+ in one month just by showing ads.
Another informational website that earns about US$5,000 per month from advertisements is Parker-Maker. Parker-Maker is a website that contains information about Amazon tutorials, electronics gadget reviews, and car accessories. The site is content-rich and attracts more than half a million page views every month.
Parker-Maker generates more than 500,000 pageviews every month from search engines.
Parker Maker earns US$2,500 from Google Adsense every month.
Now let’s move on to how an informational website makes money.
Different ways how an informative website makes money
There are mainly three ways in which an informational website makes money online.
The first model is Earn-Per-Click (EPC). The most popular EPC network is Google Adsense. Adsense allows you to place some codes on your website and it will start to show ads to your website visitors. Whenever any of your website visitors click on the ads, you will make some money depending on how much the advertiser pays Google to advertise.
The second model is Earn-Per-View (EPV). This is a popular way of income-generation method for websites fir many years since the Internet started. Using this method, your website visitors do not need to click on the website ads and you will still earn money because it is based on traffic volume. So this method is excellent for a website that gets a lot of page views. In recent years, Google Adsense has also incorporated EPV model into its program.
The third model is Earn-Per-Sale (EPS). This means the visitor that comes to your site must make a purchase by clicking on the ad then you can earn an income. This is the most challenging method because most people will not buy just by seeing an ad on your site. But if your website contains good reviews about products/services you have used, then this is an excellent choice to include in your website. The second example website above is using the Amazon affiliate program (EPS) to make close to US$3,000 every month.
To conclude, Google Adsense and Amazon associates program are the two best programs to use when you want to monetize an informational website!
Common mistakes people make when creating informational websites!
But before you decide and start creating your own informational website, it is better for me to share with you what are the most common mistakes most people make when creating such sites so that you have a higher chance of success!
Mistake 1 – Focus on expensive and competitive niches!
To earn the most out of Google Adsense, it depends on the niche that your website falls in. In most cases, a finance tips website will generate more income than a website that is in the food niche. The reason is that companies in the finance sector are most likely to pay a higher price in advertising as compared to the F&B niche. That is why a lot of people started blogging about top-paying niches like finance, health, and insurance but most ended up not making any money because they got the niche but do not have much knowledge in these topics. This moves us to the next mistake below…
Mistake 2 – Start a niche without much knowledge of it!
The second most common mistake is starting a website but you lack the expertise and knowledge to share more in-depth about the niche. If your website just shares surface and general information, chances are Google is not going to rank your website at all. This is the reason why you need to choose a niche that you understand very well so you will have a lot of insights to share with your readers online.
Mistake 3 – Using AI to write your content!
One of the most recent technologies that some website owners use to generate content is GPT 3. There are a lot of tools out there right now that you can purchase to help you generate website content that you can copy and paste to your website. Such content has not been vetted and often contains false information. If you are using such a tool, you should rewrite most of the content to make it useful for your readers. Do not just copy and paste content from AI tool to your website! Doing so will hurt your website’s trustworthiness and eventually suffer in search engine rankings.
Mistake 4 – Ignore Google’s search essentials!
If you have a good understanding of Google’s search essentials, you will have a better chance than most webmasters to get your website ranked high and attract tons of traffic from Google. Always make it a habit to learn or network with people who keep themselves updated with Google’s updates. The Google’s search essential is a good place to start.
People who are more likely to succeed in creating informational website
According to my observations in both physical face-to-face classrooms and online courses, I find that the following groups of people are most likely to succeed in creating informational websites.
- Retirees – Most retirees have strong domain knowledge in their respective fields. And by sharing their wealth of knowledge online, it can benefit many others across the world. Most retirees also have the time to consistently post content on their websites. This is an important habit to make sure the site generates long-term income.
- Instructors – Most trainers or instructors who are already teaching others in a face-to-face or online setting are also highly suitable to create an informational website. In fact, the informational website that an instructor creates might even get him/her more clients.
- Consultants & Coaches – Consultants and coaches are highly skilled professionals and possess in-depth knowledge in their respective domains of expertise. They can leverage their knowledge by turning that information into content online to attract prospects and also generate a side income from advertisements.
I just want to clarify that it does not mean that success is only limited to the above groups of people. As long as you have extensive knowledge about a niche or topic, and are happy to share it with people around the world, you have a good chance of succeeding!
I wish you all the best in creating a profitable informational website!
Feel free to post your questions/feedback in the comments below!
Hello Tan,
I recently bought some herbal products and the result is very good. The producer of the producer of the product offered me an opportunity to help market their products with 20% commission to me. They provided me a code to use to give 10% to any buyer from me.
My Challenges:
I bought your Clickbank affiliate training on Udemy since 2020 but have not started anything since then.
How do you think I can leverage on the opportunity offered by this product producer and other products out there.
meanwhlie, i have a 9-5 job at the moment but surely need a side income generation business with less time.
Thank you
Hi Olakunle,
The best way to promote herbal products, especially those that you have tried and verified good results is through blogging.
I have been sharing supplements in my health blog and the posts and pages generate commissions passively from time to time. The traffic comes from Google and I did not do any advertisements at all.
Although it takes time to set up a blog but it is worth it for the passive income in the long run! You can set aside 2 to 4 hours every week to work on it.
Hope this information helps!
I need help in setting up a new website. I have a website that is currently inactive. Is there a way I could convert that old website to my new project without incurring too much expense?
Hi Jan,
It depends on what kind of new project you want to start and if your old site can be revamped easily. If you are using WordPress, you should be able to edit the site for new content. Just make sure your domain name suits the new project that you are creating. Hope this helps!