Websites as businesses

Turning a website into an income source is a common practice for web-developers and website owners. There are several methods for creating a website business which fall into two broad categories, as defined below.

1. Content based sites

Some websites derive revenue by selling advertising space on the site. Typically such a site will not sell products or services to its users, but instead will provide information or other content, usually for free. This is a similar model to a free magazine or newspaper, which derives revenue from the advertisers who pay to appear alongside the useful content. However, with a website, the advertising revenue earned may be based on the number of times viewers click on the ad, or the number of times the page containing the ad is seen by a viewer. There is a wide range of monetizing used on such sites and the sites themselves are actively traded and bought and sold as going concerns.

2. Product or service based sites

Some websites derive revenue by offering products or services. In the case of e-commerce websites, the products or services may be purchased at the website itself, by entering credit card or other payment information into a payment form on the site. While most business websites serve as a shop window for existing brick and mortar businesses, it is increasingly the case that some websites are businesses in their own right; that is, the products they offer are only available for purchase on the web.

Guides have been published which explain how to create a variety of types of websites including those in both the above categories. See the links at the bottom of this page.

Websites occasionally derive income from a combination of these two practices. For example, a website such as an online auctions website may charge the users of its auction service to list an auction, but also display third-party advertisements on the site, from which it derives further income.