Want to make websites for money? Making websites for people is a great side hustle that can turn into a way to earn a living. However, the second you learn how to build a site from scratch, that’s when your earning potential goes through the roof!
Being able to build sites from the ground up will mean you’ll have a steady income for the rest of your life. There will never be a time when people and businesses don’t need websites built for them. As long as you can build those sites, people will come to you, which means a constant cash flow.
Ready to get started? Here are the…
Table of Contents
7 steps for how to make websites for money
Step 1. Learn how to make websites
If you want to make websites for money, it goes without saying that you need to know how to make websites. Take a class on building websites with WordPress on Udemy to start your journey.
While you only need to learn how to use WordPress to make websites, it does help if you knew a little HTML and javascript. If you want to learn these things, it will help you make better-looking sites that are more functional.
The main thing you need to get yourself familiar with is WordPress. Of course, there are other great platforms, such as Joomla and Drupal. However, WordPress is by far the most popular one on the market right now.
Almost all of your customers will want you to use WordPress to build their site. You can even go as far as specializing in WordPress, and that will make your job as a site builder all that much easier.
You can also earn a commission referring clients to a web hosting service like HostGator via their affiliate program.
Step 2. Get familiar with popular WordPress themes
There’s no need for you to code a WordPress theme from scratch. Sites like ThemeForest and MyThemeShop are what you’re going to use the most. Instead, you can buy a theme for your client at these sites and slightly modify it if you need to.
Another reason you should use these sites is for the support. If you’re unsure about anything, or if your client runs into a problem, you have a support site that can help you out.
Unless your client is paying you upwards of $5,000 for the project, don’t even think about creating a theme from scratch. If you’re only making a few hundred dollars from the job, get a free theme at wordpress.org and do a few slight modifications if necessary.
The blog theme I use and recommend is Astra Pro.
Step 3. Build a portfolio of your work
If you have the time, you can show off your talents by building a couple of sites for yourself that show potential clients what you’re capable of. The great thing about going this route is that you can maybe make a little money off the sites.
The sites you create for your portfolio don’t need to be dummy sites meant solely for demonstration purposes. You can build sites that you intend to make money from through affiliate marketing or other means.
Step 4. Take on a few clients for free
Yes, it sucks working for free, but it can be next to impossible to get your foot in the door. If you want to build an impressive portfolio, you need to have some work under your belt. You can’t expect people to hire you if they don’t even know who you are.
Take on a couple of clients for free and make sure that they know you’re going to show their sites in your portfolio. You may also want to tell them that you might have future employers contact them to talk about your work performance.
It’s okay to expect a little something from the business that creates a site for them for free. However, allow you to showcase their site in your portfolio is the least that they can do. Also, there’s nothing wrong with them sending messages to potential employers.
Step 5. Start looking for paid clients
Where do you find clients? The answer to that question is almost limitless. You can take your pick from social media, Craigslist, forums, and so much more. There are plenty of great resources out there for you to succeed.
Your clients aren’t going to fall out of the sky. You’ll have to go out there and find them. That means you must be active in the places where business owners hang out. If you aren’t, you’ll never get any work.
You can get work at freelancing sites, but it’s more than likely not going to work out. Why? It’s because people at freelancing sites tend to try to work as cheaply as possible. If you don’t mind doing several thousand dollar jobs for $500, go for it. Though, before you know it, you’ll have people asking you to do the same job for only a couple hundred dollars.
Step 6. Make websites and flip them for money
You need to be aware that flipping sites that don’t have any revenue can be challenging. It’s not impossible, but you’re going to have difficulty selling a site if it isn’t bringing in any money.
If you want to sell sites with no revenue, you need to make sure that they have a unique function. For example, you might build a website that displays the current prices of all the cryptocurrencies with a certain market cap. Someone might buy that site if it’s not making money because they can send traffic to it and monetize it.
It’s best to create a site and let it sit for about a year before selling it. That’s enough time to allow Google to work its magic and begin to send you traffic. If you have a content-based site such as a blog, letting it sit for one to two years is a must so that you can earn revenue from it and sell it for the maximum amount possible.
Step 7. Make websites to create a passive stream of money
There may come a time after you have made decent money building sites that you want to build your own and turn them into a passive income source. You can build your own sites that are monetized through affiliate marketing or selling ad space.
You can try building Amazon affiliate sites. With these, you should create sales-centered content where you recommend a particular product.
You can also build niche sites and sell ad space to companies that target the niche. It’s all up to you.
Step 8. Find your niche
You’ll make a lot more money if you choose a niche rather than building just any type of site. There are people, for example, who build sites only for dentists. It might sound odd that some specialize in dentistry sites, but it makes sense.
The reason why it’s best to focus on a niche is, you can target those who are willing to pay big bucks. A dentist is willing to spend a lot more for a site than an average Joe who wants to sell fidget spinners.
Step 9. Outsource it
There’s no reason why you can’t hire people to do the work that you do.
After you get the knack for building sites, you can find others to do the work for you. You can then spend all of your time getting customers. That’s the best way to make the most money possible building sites.
If you have a handful of people working for you, it’s possible that you can turn your business into something that makes six figures or more profit a year without you doing much of the work. All you’ll have to do is bring in customers and make sure that the people you hire do what you tell them to do.
Pro tip: When selling, don’t be pushy
Don’t spam or be pushy when you’re trying to find work. You’ll get a bad reputation right away if you spam people with your website creation services. Make sure your presence is known on social media and on forums, but don’t go out of your way to jam your services down the throats of people.
You’ll get better work down the road when you have established yourself as an experienced, quality site builder.
Pro tip 2: Don’t try to be cheaper than others
Don’t fall down the slippery slope of trying to be cheaper than everyone else. At the end of the day, you’re in business to make money. So there will always be someone out there willing to work cheaper than you.
It’s easier to get work if you lower your prices, but you’ll end up hurting yourself in the long run. The race to the bottom is real, and it’s something that every freelancer faces at some point in their career. Instead of charging less to get clients, spend more time getting quality clients who are willing to pay you top dollar for your efforts.
Make websites for money: The bottom line
Building sites are a great way to make extra money or even turn it into a business if you’re good at it.
It’s definitely possible to make websites for money, even if you have no experience. There are so many WordPress themes and page builders like Elementor that you shouldn’t have any problems building sites even if you have no idea what you’re doing.
The biggest obstacle you face is finding customers. After you get a process down where you can find as many customers as you want, everything else will fall into place. You’ll be able to get as much work as you want, and you’ll achieve the financial stability that you’re after.
