If you were to type into Google "make money online" you would be presented with literally millions of search results. For any one starting out trying to make an income this way then it is potentially a minefield, so here are just a few ideas that I have picked up over the years about website ideas that make money and how to make money from websites. The aim is not any get rich quick schemes but to build a solid and profitable (in some cases very profitable) business for the long term.

Website Ideas to Make Money 1) Selling items online through auction sites 2) Affiliate marketing 3) Writing Articles 4) making money with blogs 5) Multi Level Marketing 6) Designing websites 7) Promoting other people's business

There are othe ideas such as Forex but as I am not familiar with those I will concentrate on the 7 above.

Website Ideas That Make Money: The details

1) Auction sites like E-bay have given many people a real business online. From just selling a few items they have developed into a full blown shop with a stock to rival many a high street store. It is possible to import things quite cheaply, undercut other retailers and still make a profit because overheads are relatively low. All this while still staying onside with the tax-man too.

2) Affiliate marketing. This is where you promote someone else's product. You send someone to another site and if they complete a certain action then you earn commission. The action could be that they buy a product, either a real physical product or a downloadable product such as a diet plan. Examples of sites which run affiliate programmes are Amazon and Weight Watchers (which of course gives an ongoing income as long as the buyer remains a member).

3) Writing articles or reviews. If you have a particular skill at writing then there are plenty of people looking for content to promote fill out there websites. They would also welcome well written articles to promote those same websites. Google recently did a big update and the aim of this was to promote good quality content so that people actually found what they were looking for in a search and not just rubbish. There are sites where you can sign up as an author and get paid per article.

4) Making money online with blogs. In the purest sense you would have adverts on the site such as Google adsense. Google are not the only ad providers either. Every time someone clicks on an ad then the site earns commission. The blog would be aimed at a targeted audience and the ads would be targeted similarly. A well run blog can build up a loyal following and many visitors to earn money.

As a side note to this there is absolutely no reason why the blog should not be run to promote other products directly and thus earn affiliate marketing income. This indeed is how many affiliate marketers work. The search engines pick up their good content and the comments and send traffic their way.

A technique called autoblogging has been very popular, where software trawls the net for relevant (and sometimes not so relevant content) and regularly fills the site with this. These so called "content farms" have been badly hit by the Google update because all they contain is duplicate material and although a certain amount of material drawn from other sites is OK Google now wants to see the balance much more on original material. These sites may very well fade away out of existence in time.

5) Multilevel Marketing. If you are seriously looking for website ideas that make money then this could suit you if you really have the gift of the gab and are prepared to do some high pressure selling. To my mind though this is a whisker away from pyramid selling, which of course is illegal in many countries, and something I have studiously avoided. Look it up if you want to but personally I would stay clear.

6) Designing websites. If you have the skill to do this then there is a very good income to be made. Many people want very flashy, all singing all dancing sites but there is more to it than that. Making simple small sites to promote any small business is very easy, particularly using Wordpress, which is so flexible, and once the initial learning curve is overcome is really quick to set up.

This ties in well with

7) Promoting other people's businesses. Local marketing is an up and coming branch of internet marketing. If you learn the skills to develop websites then you have the ability to promote them and make them successful then it is possible to market yourself to businesses in your area. Designing a website is one thing but the promotion is entirely different. Learn that skill and you will never look back.

Things to avoid? People who try to sell you the latest all singing, all dancing software or solution to make money pour into your bank account. If you are new to internet marketing though you do need to find some good solid advice and there is actually plenty of it out there. But do beware the work from home scams.

My personal preferences and recommendations? I personally prefer affiliate marketing.

For several reasons I think you need your own website.

Learn as much as you can before spending much money (you will need to spend some to learn though) but above all take action and keep taking action.

I hope these website ideas that make money have helped you out and I wish you luck in whatever you do.