If you are involved in the online business field, then the one challenge that you are going to face has to do with the monetization of your traffic stream. This is the challenge you will face in a big way simply because it will determine how well your online business does. This is ironically where most online businesses fail actually; they are able to get a decent traffic stream going and then through lack of monetization efforts, they end up going under. This is the stuff you see when it comes to the AdSense websites that are around; one monetization strategy, so if it happens to under-perform then it is game over for the website.



Now, a lot of people will complain that since AdSense doesn't allow competing CPC ads, there is no way for you to monetize beyond Google AdSense. While it is true that there is no way for you to get other CPC ad networks (Yahoo, Bidvertiser etc.) onto the same page where you have AdSense, there are a number of other options available to you should you wish to go ahead and monetize your traffic stream.

First and foremost, there are still CPM (cost per thousand impressions) networks around that you can use. These networks primarily exist to function through the use of advertising banners and therefore look nothing like the AdSense text ads employed by the Google advertising network. Therefore, they are not in breach of the terms of service from Google and can be used on the same page as Google.

In addition to that, there are text link advertising opportunities for you to pursue. You can actually sell text links on your website for a monthly fee and make money that way. Text link advertisements are great because they are unobtrusive (i.e. do not look like advertisements) and they represent a guaranteed income rather than an estimated one that you would have to assume from the CPC networks.

Also, in addition to CPC, CPM and text link advertisements, there are also affiliate programs. Look around for affiliate programs that represent your particular niche, find the affiliate links necessary and insert them into the content of your website wherever you see fit. There are a number of products being sold online, so finding pertinent and relevant affiliate links should not be difficult to do.

Monetization and multiple monetization sources is the key to making sure that your online traffic does well for you. If you can make 2 cents per page view from one source on average, why not have five monetization methods that allow you to collectively make 10 cents per page view from different sources? It just makes sense to combine things and as long as you can keep the visitors happy about the advertising, there is no limit to how many sources you can use.