With the economy being shaky and good jobs being hard to find, more and more people are looking to supplement their income with a side hustle. One of the best potential side hustles right now is to build an online business that generates passive income.
Passive income is money that you earn regularly without having to actively work for it. One of the best ways to generate passive income online is by leveraging Google’s massive traffic and making money from that traffic.
In this comprehensive guide, I will teach you step-by-step how you can start earning up to $100 per day in passive income online with Google in 2023.
Why Choose Google to Make Money Online?
Google gets over 3.5 billion searches per day. That is a massive amount of people searching for solutions to problems that you can provide answers for. By creating content centered around popular search keywords and getting that content ranked on Google, you can tap into that huge search traffic.
The great thing about Google is that they reward quality. If you build a website that provides valuable information to searchers, Google will send more and more visitors to your site over time.
There are several ways to monetize the organic search traffic Google sends you, including:
- Google AdSense - Show ads on your site and earn money when visitors click on them
- Affiliate marketing - Earn commissions promoting other companies’ products
- Selling your own products/services
The traffic is free and renewable, and by providing quality content you can continue earning passive income for years to come.
Below I will teach the step-by-step process for building a successful passive income website with Google.
Step 1: Choose a Profitable Niche
The first step is to determine what niche you want to focus your website on.
Your niche is basically the topic that all your content will be centered around. For example:
- Health and fitness
- Making money online
- Cryptocurrency
- Home improvement
- Cooking
The niche you choose is one of the most important decisions because it will affect how much money you can potentially make.
Some niche examples and their income potential:
High Income Potential
- Make Money Online
- Cryptocurrency
- Investing
- Personal Finance
- Tech
- Spirituality
Medium Income Potential
- Health and fitness
- Home improvement
- Travel
- Education
- Parenting
Lower Income Potential
- Food/recipes
- Books/movies
- Celebrities
- Daily lifestyle
- Fashion
- Pets
As you can see, niches like make money online and finance tend to be much more lucrative compared to entertainment niches.
I recommend choosing a niche in the high income potential category when just starting out. Pick a niche you have some interest and expertise in. That way it will be much easier to consistently create quality content.
For this guide, we will use “personal finance” as an example niche.
Step 2: Create Your Website
Once you have a profitable niche selected, it’s time to create your website.
Your domain name should closely reflect your niche. Some examples:
- yourfinancesimplified.com
- moneymanagementtips.com
- frugallivingadvice.com
Make sure the domain name is short, simple, and easy to remember. You want it to clearly communicate what the site is about.
A quick tip is you can use a free AI tool like ChatGPT to generate niche website name ideas. Just give it your broad niche like “personal finance” and it will suggest many options.
When it comes to hosting your website, I recommend using a service like Hostinger or HostGator. Both offer affordable pricing plans and have easy site builders to create your blog.
Hostinger even provides a free domain name when you sign up for hosting using this link ↗. So you can get your blog online for cheap.
Once you have your hosting and domain name set up, it’s time to install WordPress and design your site. WordPress provides a very simple platform to create blog content.
If you need any help setting up your WordPress site, refer to my separate guide on how to create a WordPress website ↗.
Step 3: Submit Your Site to Google Search Console
Once your website is built, it’s crucial to submit it to Google Search Console.
Search Console allows you to monitor your site’s performance in Google search. More importantly, it confirms ownership of your site so Google will index and rank your content.
Go to search.google.com/search-console ↗ and click ‘Add your property’. Follow the steps to verify your site.
Inside Search Console you will be able to see useful data like:
- How many clicks/impressions your pages get
- Which pages get the most clicks
- Where your traffic comes from
- Top search queries driving traffic
Use this to inform your content strategy and improve your rankings. Submitting to Search Console is essential for getting your site indexed by Google.
Step 4: Consistently Publish Quality Content
Now it’s time to start publishing content consistently.
Many beginners make the mistake of starting strong but quickly losing momentum with publishing. To see long term success, you need to make content creation a consistent habit.
Aim to publish at least 2-3 in-depth, high-quality articles per week. Make sure the content is well-researched and provides value to readers. Answer questions and provide solutions to problems related to your niche.
Here are some content ideas for a personal finance site:
- How to pay off debt fast
- Ways to save money on groceries
- Investing money for beginners
- Budgeting tips to save more
- Best apps for managing money
Focus on producing long, in-depth articles between 1,500 - 3,000 words. Optimize your content for SEO by including relevant keywords in titles, meta descriptions, alt text etc.
By consistently publishing quality, useful information, your site will start ranking higher in Google and bringing in more organic search traffic.
Step 5: Join Google AdSense
Once your site has published around 20 high-quality articles, you can apply for Google’s AdSense program.
AdSense allows you to display targeted ads on your site and earn money from clicks/conversions. It’s one of the easiest ways to monetize traffic from Google.
Head to ads.google.com/adsense ↗ and click ‘Start Now’ to begin your application. You will need to provide details about your site and content.
Google will review your site to make sure it adheres to their policies. As long as you are publishing original, quality content, you should get approved within 1-2 weeks.
When approved, you can generate your AdSense code and place ads in relevant positions on your site. Popular placements include:
- Inside blog posts
- Sidebars
- Header
- Footer
As visitors view and click on your ads, you will begin earning passive income. Earnings will start small but compound over time as traffic increases.
Step 6: Incorporate Affiliate Marketing
Another excellent way to monetize your site is affiliate marketing.
Affiliate programs allow you to earn commissions by promoting a company’s products/services.
For example, you could promote credit cards, banking products, budgeting apps, investing platforms etc on a personal finance site.
When one of your readers signs up through your referral link, you earn a % commission. Top affiliate programs pay out anywhere from 20% - 80%.
Over time, these commissions will add up from referral traffic driven through your content and links.
I recommend using affiliate management plugins like Thrivecart or SendOwl which make it easy to create affiliate funnels on your site.
Focus on promoting products/services that are highly relevant to your niche and offer generous commission rates. Provide honest reviews and recommendations rather than pure sales pitches.
Step 7: Consider Offering Paid Products/Services
Once your site becomes established, you may consider creating your own digital products or services to sell.
For a personal finance site, digital product ideas could include:
- Budgeting course
- Debt payoff blueprint
- Investing for beginners eBook
You can easily sell these to your email subscribers or site visitors through your own online store. This provides an additional stream of income beyond ads and affiliates.
Later on, you could also consider paid services like 1-on-1 financial consulting for premium fees.
The great thing about digital products and services is that they can be sold again and again for 100% profit. This makes them powerful high-margin offerings to complement your passive income streams.
Just make sure whatever you create delivers real value and solves problems for your audience.
Additional Tips to Boost Your Income
Here are some additional tips to help maximize your earnings potential:
Build an email list - Email subscribers are much more valuable than random visitors. Use a lead magnet like a free report to encourage signups. Send newsletters with useful content to build relationships. Promote products/services to your list for higher conversions.
Reinvest profits - As your income grows, reinvest a portion back into your business. Hire freelance writers to rapidly scale up content production. Promote your content with ads to accelerate growth. The more content you can publish, the faster your site will grow.
Guest post - Reach out to other sites in your niche to contribute guest posts with a link back to your site. This helps build relevance in Google’s eyes and earns referral traffic.
YouTube channel - Launch a YouTube channel covering your niche. Embed videos into blog posts. Youtube is owned by Google and can help boost your authority.
Watch time metrics - Focus on creating long, in-depth content. Articles and videos over 10 minutes tend to perform best. Provide value and get readers hooked so they spend more time.
By consistently implementing these strategies over 6-12 months, you can realistically achieve $100 per day or more in passive income from your website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to start earning?
It takes most people 3-6 months of consistent work to start generating income. But profits will grow exponentially once your site gains traction. Within 12 months, $100 per day is very feasible.
Do I need any special skills?
You don’t need advanced tech skills. Just knowledge of your niche and strong writing/communication abilities. WordPress and other tools make it easy for anyone to build a site.
Can this replace my full-time job?
For most people, it takes 1-2 years of work to replace a full-time income. But by sticking to a consistent schedule, you can eventually earn a full-time living from your website.
Is this better than dropshipping, ecommerce, etc?
Content sites have lower startup costs and overhead compared to ecommerce. And you earn income directly from Google, a reliable source. So for beginners, this model is preferable.
What if I don’t like writing content?
You can always hire freelance writers from sites like TextBroker or Scripted to create content for you. This allows you to scale up content faster. Just focus on publishing and optimization.
Conclusion
Building a niche website based around Google search traffic represents one of the best opportunities right now to create a sustainable, long-term passive income source online.
By focusing on a profitable niche, crafting high-quality content, and leveraging various monetization strategies, you can realistically achieve earnings of $100/day or more within your first year.
While it does require consistent effort, especially early on, the long term payoff makes it well worth the effort. Just stick with the process, reinvest to scale up, and your hard work will compound into life-changing passive income.
I hope this guide gave you an actionable blueprint to get started! Let me know if you have any other questions.