How to Make Money From a Hobby Website

1. Start by creating a website that focuses on your hobby. Maintaining a website can be time-consuming, so start small and add content on a regular basis.

2. Sign up for affiliate programs with merchants that sell products related to your hobby. Writing reviews or allowing your users to add comments is a great way to drive traffic and sell merchandise. This method produces much better results than covering your website with banner ads.

3. Write what you know and invite friends who share your hobby to include content of their own. Users come to an informational website to find answers, thus it's your job to provide solutions, be it tips, how-to information or products and services that you believe work best. Content that answers questions and makes users want to explore more of your site is key to success.

4. Beef up your ability to make money by placing contextual advertising on your website. Several search engines have highly targeted ads and share the revenue with you when your users click on the advertisement. See Resources for Google opportunities.

5. Drive traffic to your website by employing search engine-friendly content. Search engines are how people find your website and you want as many visitors as possible. You can also place advertising on search engines by targeting keywords that match topics of interest related to your hobby website.

6. Expand into broader areas of topic or sites dedicated to a separate hobby or field of knowledge. Once you get the knack of maintaining a website, you can begin to grow your network to make more money.