Start a website, pay someone to point thousands of links towards that website, place display advertising & affiliate links, and dollars start coming in; good old times. However, online money making has evolved and it isn’t the same as it used to be 6-7 years ago.
A lot has changed during the years. Millions of those who were earning passive income online through non-legit methods have gone out of business.
Here are some of the things that have changed when it comes to making
money online:
1. Search engine algorithms
Google released Panda and Penguin updates to find out low quality sites and penalize them. Low quality sites were those who were ranking based on unethical link-building practices, low-quality content in high volume and other similar techniques.
A lot of sites were penalized, and some were even removed completely from search engines. However, sites that were creating quality content and were authoritative based on mentions on the web and social media moved higher in the index.
What to do today: If you’re looking to make money online through a website. Make sure to create quality content and get links from reputable sources. For example, if you’re in the energy niche, you can create authoritative, informative and in-depth pieces on different topics.
You’ll find several different websites that offer quality information on topics like commerce energy. You can click here to access the information, and due to the availability of mobile browsers, you can also browse information for content ideas through your mobile.
2. Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is another popular way of making online. What people used to do is create short 50-100 pieces of content and place 3-5 affiliate links in those pieces. This doesn’t work anymore, as search engines now have strict guidelines when it comes to affiliate links.
Several affiliate marketers were penalized for placing affiliate links while offering no value in terms of content. On the other hand, those who adapted managed to survive and they still continue to make good figures without making a lot of effort.
What to do today: If you’re planning to make money online through affiliate marketing, you’ll need to be careful. You also need to focus on the content you create. Search engines would be fine if you place 1 or 2 links in a 500 word article.
You also need to stay relevant to your niche. Don’t try to place links redirecting to an iPhone page if your website is about fashion. Staying relevant with affiliate links and creative quality, in-depth content is the way to go.
3. Social media
There were times when those trying to earn through social media would add millions of fans and followers through automated softwares and charge a good amount of money for their services. It’s still happening at the moment, but this form of earning has seen a decline.
Businesses and individuals demanding social media following are now more ‘aware’. They need real people on their accounts rather than thousands of inactive profiles.
What to do today: If you’re going to start social media marketing, make sure to only go for real, active social media followers on your client pages.
You can do this through networking on social media, leaving comments and following others. You can also invest some percentage of the client’s fee in official advertisement like Facebook ads or sponsored