How to Monetize Blog without Ads - 8 Effective Methods

Table of contents

• 1. Affiliate Marketing
• Here’s how it works:
• Comparing Ads and Affiliate
• 2. Sponsored product review
• Here’s how it works:
• Example of an effective sponsored review article
• Ads vs Sponsored product reviews
• 3. Digital products
• Here’s how it works:
• Ads vs Digital Products
• 4. eCommerce and merchandising vs Ads
• How it works
• eCommerce vs Ads
• 5. Services
• Ads vs Services
• 6. Consulting
• Consulting vs Ads
• 7. Membership setup
• Here's how it works:
• Membership Setup vs Ads
• 8. Newsletter subscription
• Here’s how it works:
• Newsletter Marketing vs Ads (Comparison)

There are as many arguments in favor of running Ads on a blog as they are against it. Afterall, it’s probably the most popular method of monetizing blogs.

While many successful publishers generate cool income from Ads, some are not comfortable with their intrusiveness — Ads can make your blog look ugly and unprofessional, even when displayed sparingly. Furthermore, running too many Ads can impact your SEO by degrading user-experience.

Irrespective of what side publishers pick, there is no denying that when it comes to Ads, there is a tradeoff between user experience and potential revenue.

Also, your choice of Ad platform and niche deeply impacts revenue. Google Adsense, for example, often generates pennies per mille for most blog niches, barely compensating for the compromise in user experience and blog interface.

However, it is the only Ad platform that approves blogs with fewer than 5,000 monthly sessions, so it’s not truly an option unless you go for Ezoic which is quite unpopular for making websites buggy and slow.

The game changes once you hit 50,000+ monthly sessions because you become eligible for premium Ad platforms like Mediavine that pay much better. But till then, it’s totally understandable if you want to skip running Ads on your website.

This doesn’t mean that you do not monetize your website at all — you deserve to be paid for all the effort you put into it. In fact, there are many ways to do that. This guide covers them in detail.

Let’s discuss these steps in detail.

1. Affiliate Marketing

Do not like Ads because of the space they occupy?

What if you could limit a monetization opportunity to a phrase of text? Hiding in plain sight.

Monetization through affiliate marketing enables you to do that.

Here’s how it works:

1. You signup with as an affiliate with a product through an affiliate network

2. If you are accepted, you get to add tracking to the URL of the product you plan to promote through your blog

3. You add those URLs as internal or CTA links, and if users click through and purchase the product, you get paid a share of the revenue for the referral

While there are more intricacies like how quickly you get paid, what’s your cut, and how much you could make from a single product or a bundle, the essence of affiliate marketing stays the same.

Furthermore, adding a simple internal link or CTA might not really cut it. You might have to create elaborate sections, tables, and what not to effectively promote the product which essentially turns into an Ad.

But you create the Ad and decide what it looks like. You also know that your creative is relevant to the content of the page and not totally unrelated like some Ad platform spaces could be. This also ensures that the click-through-rate is higher due to relevancy, and the conversion rate and revenue per mille is much higher than common website Ads.

While premium affiliate platforms and businesses might not accept new bloggers, there are plenty of options in the market. Amazon, for example, could be a good starting point. While its commission rates are low and the cookie duration - the allowed purchase time between clicking an affiliate link and making a purchase - is short, you get a commission for all products bought after clicking on your link, referred by you or not, so it really adds up.

Comparing Ads and Affiliate

2. Sponsored product review

This method of monetization, similar to affiliate marketing, involves recommending and selling products. Often, your review blog posts are tucked away from other informational posts so there is no salesy stuff going on in informational posts.

You could add internal links in your informational posts pointing to your review pages where people can read about your experience with using a product and then decide if they want to purchase it using your link which could be an affiliate URL or a UTM based on your agreement with the product owner.

The conversion rates for review posts could be high provided that article is authentic and covers both pros and cons, and the product aligns with your niche. You can’t sell an insurance product in a blog on car detailing, for example.

Furthermore, if you have some authority in your niche, you could even ask sellers to send over products to you for free trial and review, and also ask for a lucrative commission that affiliate networks can’t offer.

Another great advantage of this monetization method is that you get to review two or more products in a comparison type article, and get commissions for both!

These advantages make sponsored product reviews a great alternative to Ads but it’s quintessential to have solid authority in your niche and preferably a following in social media, YouTube, etc. Rest assured, you could make a lot more money per mille compared to Ads without having to compromise user experience. You don’t need to worry about ever diminishing affiliate commissions either.

Here’s how it works:

1. You choose a product that you have preferably used personally and reach out to the owner to strike a deal
2. If the owner likes your blog and quality of audience, they get into an agreement where they pay commissions per sale or a flat rate, or a mix of two
3. You review the product and write an article about it in your blog
4. Readers who trust you will checkout your post and potentially decide to purchase it making it a win-win situation for all parties involved

Example of an effective sponsored review article

Frugalmatic’s Ego Lawnmower’s review article uses a ton of legit images that the reviewer used personally, stock or Amazon images, adding a level of authenticity.

Furthermore, the reviewer included both pros and cons, giving an unbiased opinion, without worrying about turning off the reader by mentioning the shortcomings. They also strategically added the affiliate links to the product in regular text and also created sections clearly advertising them with a different design, elevating it from the rest of the page.

Ads vs Sponsored product reviews

3. Digital products

So far, we covered Ad monetization alternatives based on selling products that someone else owns. This section briefly covers the process and benefits of selling your own digital products.

While creating your own products it may sound scary but with the advent of AI, it is a much easier proposition. Granted you still need to know what you are doing and even get some development help if you are not well-versed with it, it’s still a venture worth pursuing because of the revenue it could generate — potentially much higher than Ads.

And at times, you may not even need to code to build a product. By creating assets such as eBooks and courses, your product continues to be rooted in media.

But if your niche is technical, you could consider selling calculators, tools, and other micro-products through your blog.

Here’s how it works:

1. You pick a digital product category based on your blog’s niche

2. Create the product either through content production or code

3. Selling the product through your blog similar to how we discussed in the sponsored product review section

You could create informational articles that attract a ton of SEO traffic and guide them to your product page through internal links and CTA.

Since you own the product, you are no longer dependent on commissions, you keep what you sell. This makes it a better alternative to not just Ads but also affiliate and sponsored product reviews, especially if your products are high-ticket items.

Another category of digital products which could generate recurring revenue month-on-month is SaaS. This category enables you to build a product that needs renewal — CRM for example. Companies could onboard their employees, for example, onto your SaaS product and run operations. You could charge them monthly for the number of seats they use.

However, building SaaS could be challenging given the nature of the business. Rarely ever do successful one-person SaaS businesses appear in the wild, but it's a good alternative to Ads nonetheless.

Ads vs Digital Products

4. eCommerce and merchandising vs Ads

Another really popular but equally challenging way to monetize blogs without relying on Ads is by selling products directly to your audience. This method involves creating a branded storefront, promoting physical or digital goods, or offering unique items that resonate with your audience's interests. By combining the power of content with commerce, you can build a more direct, loyal connection with readers while generating revenue.

Unlike Ads, which depend on third-party platforms, selling products directly gives you full control over your revenue stream. It allows you to own your business strategy, increase profitability, and foster a strong, long-lasting bond with your audience.

How it works

Here’s how you can build a store and align your blog content with product sales:

1. Decide if you’ll focus on physical products like t-shirts, mugs, or gadgets, or digital goods like eBooks, templates, courses, or exclusive downloads.

2. Create an online storefront using platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, Etsy, or BigCommerce that integrates with your blog.

3. Write compelling, engaging, or product-related blog posts that educate your readers about the value of your products while building trust and demonstrating relevance.

4. Use SEO, email marketing, social media strategies, and strategic internal links to bring your audience to your store.

5. Decide whether you’ll manage inventory directly, rely on third-party fulfillment, or use print-on-demand services to streamline product distribution.

eCommerce vs Ads

5. Services

Blogging stands at the intersection of many skills that you invariably pick up along the way. The blog becomes a showcase, a portfolio of sorts for all those skills. For example, you could:

1. Get really good at writing about a niche and eventually sell it as a service to a large brand in the same or a similar niche

2. Build technical SEO expertise which could come in handy when another brand is migrating their website or facing issues with page load speeds

3. Write crisp landing page copy and run Google Ads because you build that skill with your blog

4. Generate backlinks for clients because your off-page tactics and network got really strong over months

You get the drift.

If this method of monetization suits your goals and personality, it could very well replace Ads as a monetization method. You could continue crafting blog articles and diverting visitors to landing pages through CTA or internal links, where they turn into paying clients.

Ads, in fact, are detrimental for this method of monetization because they dilute your brand.

Ads vs Services

6. Consulting

While expertise in a niche or skill can help you get service-based gigs, you could find a freelance business difficult to scale. That’s because it is operations-heavy and require you to pan out details for every client which could get tiring.

An alternative monetization to leverage the same skills is offering consulting services. This involves telling clients what they need to do instead of doing it for them.  For example, if you got really good with content strategy, you could sign contracts with multiple clients and create their strategy and maybe help with hiring writers.

This monetization method puts you in a strategy sphere instead of operational echelon allowing you to serve more clients by spending the same time.

However, you need to build deep expertise to gain trust of brands for them to hire your consulting services and it takes time unlike Ads which can be set up almost instantaneously.

Consulting vs Ads

7. Membership setup

Exclusive membership programs are a powerful alternative to ad-based monetization methods. By offering premium content, unique services, or community engagement opportunities in exchange for a recurring fee, membership programs create a steady income stream while deepening relationships with your most loyal readers. Unlike ads, which can compromise user experience, membership monetization focuses on delivering consistent value directly to your audience.

Medium is an excellent example of a successful membership blog. It attracts readers with free content, builds trust, and introduces a paywall for premium offerings, creating a win-win scenario for both readers and creators.

Here's how it works:

1. You start by understanding your audience's pain points and desires to tailor exclusive benefits they’ll value.
2. Create premium content and experiences such as in-depth tutorials, private Q&A sessions, personalized coaching, early access, or exclusive members-only events.
3. Create multiple membership levels (basic, standard, premium) to accommodate varying levels of financial commitment and engagement.
4. Develop your premium offerings and market them to your audience through strategic promotion.
5. Consistently deliver value to build a loyal membership base over time while promoting your membership options.

Membership Setup vs Ads

8. Newsletter subscription

Newsletters is a marketing channel just like SEO and social media but it’s instrumental in driving conversions and is so effective that it qualifies as a method of monetization as well. Most buyers need at least 6 interactions with your blog to make a purchase decision, newsletters help you meet that number. They build trust overtime and convey authenticity like no other platform.

This method involves creating great blog content that motivates people to subscribe to your newsletter to access more of it regularly.

Here’s how it works:

1. You sign up with an email marketing tool like MailChimp and embed a subscription box in your blog posts
2. Visitors from different channels who like you blog content subscribe for more
3. They keep hearing from you every week, fortnight, or month, and gradually start seeing you as an authority in your niche, thus building trust
4. When you recommend a product through newsletter, or mention one in one of the blog posts your users visit, the proclivity of them trying it out is high

Newsletter subscription boxes are often hidden in a corner of your blog articles unlike Ads, that are seemingly plastered everywhere. So if you want to keep your pages neat, newsletters could be the perfect alternative.

And once you start gaining fame and momentum with newsletters, you can feature other publishers through sponsored content, further increasing your income.

Newsletter Marketing vs Ads (Comparison)

We discussed 8 ways to monetize your blog without setting up Ads. While a few of these methods might need stronger brand and authority to succeed with, they could generate much greater returns on investment for the same audience size than Ads.

It’s also worth noting that a few of these monetization methods align perfectly with each other. Affiliate marketing and Sponsored reviews, for example, go hand in glove. Some other methods might not really gel well — SaaS business and affiliate, for example.

Pick and choose what works best for your business and represent your brand with authenticity.

Get Super’s bi-weekly Notion Newsletter