WordPress is a great marketplace for both WordPress developers and users. Here, they both can benefit from each other. Developers can sell their plugins, themes, widgets, and other WordPress products, while consumers can get ready-to-use and inventive tools.
However, being on WordPress doesn’t simply mean making revenue for developers. Money only comes when monetization is done correctly, and your high-utility product is launched after proper testing – probably using a WordPress Sandbox.
Read the post to get a scoop on this useful piece of information.
In this guide, we’ll explore the top ways to monetize your WordPress products. We’ll begin by explaining the key WordPress monetization strategies using which developers can grab the audience’s attention and embark on their revenue-generation journey.
Understanding WordPress Products
Let’s start with the basics. In terms of WordPress, a product refers to the tools and services that WordPress users can download and install while building WordPress-based online stores, websites, and other platforms.
We know that as a WordPress developer or agency, you already know about these, but this time, think of these WordPress elements/solutions as something you can ship to your buyers.
The most common types of WordPress products are:
1. WordPress Plugins
Plugins are the most common and utilitarian WordPress products. They’re code packages designed to extend the capabilities of WordPress.
Structurally, they’re made from PHP codes and often comprise other assets like JavaScript, CSS, and images. The best part of plugins is that they don’t require any coding from the customer’s end to be installed. Yet, they’re excellent at adding specific capabilities.
Plugins can range from simple tools that enhance the design or performance of websites to complex applications that add e-commerce capabilities, forums, membership systems, and much more.
If you plan to develop plugins as WP products, you have ample options. You can develop:
- eCommerce plugins generally include payment gateway plugins, order management plugins, invoicing plugins, cart checkout plugins, product display plugins, etc.
- Utility plugins are used for SEO optimization, backup, security enhancement, keyword research, keyword analytics, and more.
- Website-building plugins are usually form builders, page builders, etc.
Product monetization with plugins is diverse and lets you create multiple income streams.
2. WordPress Themes
For any WordPress store or website to materialize, themes are essential, and this is why they’re some of the highest-selling WordPress products. WordPress themes are collections of code files, templates, and stylesheets, delivered in a ready-to-use template. Themes determine how a website or store will look at the front end.
There are ample free themes available in various WordPress marketplaces and from individual sellers or organizations. As a WordPress seller, you can make money with both free and premium themes.
3. WordPress Widgets
WordPress widgets can also be used for product monetization. They’re modular components allowing users to integrate any specific feature without actually opening it.
They’re great for quick access, and many developers integrate various kinds of widgets into the WordPress website. You can develop customer widgets that users can easily add to their sidebars, footers, or other widget-ready areas.
4. Performance and Optimization Tools
Optimizing website speed, performance, and search engine rankings is a part of the WordPress development process. They are in high demand and can help you generate multiple income streams.
5. Security Products
Like any other resource that is available on the internet, WordPress sites and stores also need enhanced security. WordPress sellers can expand their WP product monetization possibilities by developing security products like malware scanners, firewalls, access control, and so on.
Once you have your product ready, remember to set up online live product demos so that your prospects can try your WordPress product before actually buying it.
Building a WordPress product? Use InstaWP for live demos.
Challenges that WordPress Products Owners Face
Before we let you in on the secrets behind the lucrative monetization of WordPress products, let’s explain why monetization of WordPress products is a challenging task when you do not sell them through proper channels.
Not enough visibility
Let’s face it: WordPress has a crowded product market. There are over 60,000 plugins in the WordPress.org plugin directory alone. The number will easily cross 70k if third-party plugins are also counted. Templates, themes, and other resources are also offered in abundance.
So, gaining visibility for your monetized WordPress products amidst the vast sea of offerings will require putting in serious effort, even if your product is great.
Setting the right price
Effective monetization only happens when the price is justified and appealing to the customer. Regardless of the product you choose to make, there will be competition, and your product price should be planned strategically.
If the product is priced higher than average, no one will buy it. If the product is priced lower than the industry standard, you won’t be making enough money, and potential customers might even link the low price with low quality.
Balancing price points that are attractive to customers while reflecting the quality and functionality of your WordPress product is crucial and a highly challenging task.
High affiliate marketing commission
Take the help of affiliate marketers for plugin monetization. But, the problem with this is that affiliate marketers charge a commission so high that the seller is hardly left with any considerable revenue.
And, if they hire a run-of-the-mill affiliate marketer, the results are not up to the mark. This is a never-ending challenge that most sellers have to deal with.
Marketplace regulations
At times, sellers have to take the help of third-party marketplaces to expand their sales reach, and that’s absolutely fine. But, if you’re selling on third-party marketplaces, a new set of challenges comes to the surface.
It can be hard to adhere to platform-specific rules and guidelines. Different marketplaces have different rules, and as a seller, you have to abide by them. This is a hectic task.
Challenges are in everything. Does that mean we should stop taking the initiative? No, it simply means learning about viable ways to deal with these challenges. You need to explore more and find the best solutions to overcome the constraints in your path.
Top 10 Ways to Monetize Your WordPress Products
Have a WordPress product and ready to print money? Here are some proven monetization tactics to bag the best possible outcomes.
1. Diversify your Income Streams
Effective monetization strategy says that you have to have multiple income streams to build a worth from your WordPress products. You cannot just build a plugin, publish it in the marketplace, and move to the next project. This way, fortune-building might take a century unless you build something as revolutionary as Elementor page builder.
Diversifying income streams also helps stabilize your earnings and increases your overall financial resilience since you are generating revenue from multiple sources.
Relying solely on one monetization method can be risky. If that method experiences a decline in demand or becomes outdated, your income could suffer. Diversification reduces this risk by spreading your income sources across different channels.
Another great advantage of diverse income is the fact that it supports steady cash flow. Diverse income streams may have different cycles of income generation. Hence, you will experience more consistent cash flow throughout the year.
2. Offer it as Freemium.
One of the most effective monetization strategies that almost all WordPress sellers adopt is offering their creations as Freemium services/tools.
The freemium strategy simply means offering a basic version of your product or service for free while providing an option for users to upgrade to a paid premium version with advanced features and functionalities.
The combination of free and paid works because customers have a chance to try out a product without investing huge amounts of money off the bat. This gives users the confidence to test your WordPress products.
In addition, it’s highly effective for attracting a wide user base, building brand recognition, and converting free users into paying customers.
The freemium model also provides a clear path for upselling. Users who benefit from the free version may see the value in upgrading to unlock additional benefits. So, upselling becomes easy.
Should you choose to incorporate this monetization strategy, make sure that you take care to optimize the free version. Offering too little or too much will not work.
3. Your Product’s Premium Version Should Be Worth Buying
When you want to monetize your WordPress products as much as possible, you need to make sure that you have solutions to offer to different types of users. Some will stick to premium versions of the product no matter what.
For such users, you must have the premium version of your creation fully ready. By this, we mean that your paid product should be without glitches. This premium version should offer advanced functionalities, a better user experience, and additional benefits compared to the free or basic version.
Make sure customization of functionalities and features is part of this Premium version of your creation. This enhances user experience and makes the premium version more appealing.
4. Explore Different Subscription Models
Offering your WordPress Products on a subscription model is a great monetization strategy, as it presents options for users. Some of the best subscription models are:
- Tiered subscriptions
- Monthly/annual subscriptions
- Freemium subscriptions
- Unlimited access
As this strategy promotes recurring and predictable income every month, it’s worth a try. You can use Freemius to avoid high commissions charged by famous marketplaces.
FYI, Freemius is a great solution for those looking forward to selling their premium and freemium plugins, themes, WordPress-related products, or SaaS solutions. It lets you manage everything from subscriptions to software licensing and checkouts.
5. Leveraging Add-ons and Extensions
In the case of plugin or theme monetization, we recommend you offer add-ons or extensions for specific functionalities as a bundle. This way, you increase the reach and monetization opportunities of your product.
6. Building Customer Loyalty
Offer some customer loyalty programs and benefits at a subsidized price. For instance, you can have exclusive content available for loyal customers or can offer advanced features at a nominal fee.
7. Take the Help of Affiliate Links
Affiliate marketing is on the rise, and likely won’t go away any time soon. Hence, using affiliate marketing to monetize your WordPress creations is a great way to earn.
In affiliate marketing, you allocate unique links/codes to your marketers and track sales coming through these links. Affiliate marketers are given a commission based on the number of sales they make, plans they sell, and so on.
It’s all about promoting products or services from other companies through your creation while earning a commission for each sale.
Before you get started with this strategy, you need to understand that the WordPress products or services that you plan to promote should be relevant to your audience and your creations.
This could be tricky but reap great benefits because once you’ve set up affiliate links within your content, they can continue generating income for you without requiring constant attention or maintenance.
Also, affiliate links help you diversify your income sources.
8. Sell Tech Support for WordPress Products
We know you’ve built a great tool/product, and we’re proud of you. But this doesn’t mean your end-users will face no difficulties while using your product.
Offering paid tech support for your WordPress products is an easy win
Make sure you’re available via multiple channels like email, live chat, or phone so that users can choose the method that suits them best.
Also, try to create different levels of support plans with varying response times, priority assistance, and access to more experienced support staff. This lets users choose the level of support that aligns with their requirements and budget.
9. Offer Integration
You can expand your earning potential and opportunities by offering integrations with other leading tools at an added cost. For instance, you can offer staging site integration with a WordPress security plugin. With integration, you increase the usability of your WordPress products and double your income.
However, it’s very important to keep in mind that the integrations should be relevant to each other. In the above example, staging sites are required for plugin and theme testing.
If a developer is using a WordPress security plugin, offering a WordPress staging plugin will be useful. You can expect a high monetization rate by offering e-sign plugin integration with a staging site tool or vice-versa, as neither are related.
10. Offer Customization
Customization is winning customers’ hearts, and as a WordPress seller, you shouldn’t let this opportunity go to waste. You can offer WordPress product customization at an extra fee and expand your WordPress monetization efforts.
Most of the above-mentioned suggestions can be implemented using Freemius, a great standalone solution for selling your WordPress products.
Monetize your WordPress Product using Freemius >>
Building Effective Strategies on How to Monetize WordPress Products
Now that you know ways to monetize any WordPress product, we are sure that you’re excited to start selling. But know that monetizing WordPress products is no mean feat.
To start selling, you need to have a strong WordPress product monetization strategy that includes:
Deciding on the right WP product monetization model
You need to make up your mind about which model — from options like freemium, subscription, and one-time purchase — is best for you. As each model has a different process, you have to juggle a little bit in finding which one suits your product’s features and customer preferences.
Define the Licensing and Usage Rights for Your WordPress Product
Because you’re going to commercialize your product, you need to make sure that the terms of use, licensing, and ownership rights of your product are well-defined.
When this is unclear, and customers have doubts about their usage rights, things can get complicated. So, if you want to prevent any legal issues as you monetize WordPress products, make sure your licensing and usage rights are ready to go.
Set Up Robust Customer Support
People don’t worry much about service delivery when they are using a free product, as they are not investing a single penny. But, when money gets involved, they want to get the best ROI.
Hence, you must establish powerful and responsive customer support before you start monetizing WP products. Make sure the support is strong enough to handle inquiries, troubleshoot issues, and ensure customer satisfaction.
Prepare for Updates and Maintenance
With WP product monetization comes great responsibility, and offering constant updates and maintenance is one of them. Pai WordPress products must be free from bugs and glitches. Also, new capabilities should be added frequently, which is why it’s important to consistently offer updates and maintenance to your users. This also demonstrates your commitment to product excellence.
Importance of WordPress Sellers Adapting Strategies Based on the Product and Target Audience
When it comes to sales, the customer is king, and the sooner a WordPress seller realizes this, the better the results will be. Adapting WP product monetization strategies that revolve around the product and target audience is crucial for the success of WordPress sellers.
Each product and audience has unique characteristics and preferences, and tailoring your strategies accordingly can lead to better engagement, conversions, and overall business growth. With such an approach, WP sellers can:
- Cater to different needs and interests.
- Provide a seamless and satisfying user experience that matches the expectations and preferences of your target audience.
- Ensure that your product reaches the right people.
- Creates better conversion rates and revenue generation.
Build and Test your WordPress Product in a WordPress Sandbox via InstaWP
Final advice on monetizing Your WordPress Product
Having great WordPress products is not enough; you need to market and monetize your products correctly to earn from them. And WordPress monetization is a challenging task. However, you can brave the storm by having diverse income streams, offering customization, freemium, and Premium services, integrations, and other means that we explained to you.
So, which strategy did you like the most for your WordPress product monetization? Drop a comment and let us know.
