Web Monetization for Content Creators 
Tags: webmonetization, monetization, blockchain
Published: 2021-02-28 23:07:33

![monetization (1).png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1614448116295/IXXg8bQHH.png)

Web Monetization, a new way for content creators to generate revenue from their Content.
I will begin with the quote below: 
> If You Don't Find A Way To Make Money While You Sleep, You Will Work Until You Die.   
-Warren Buffet
   
Are you tired of seeing Ads when you visit your favorite pages? Do you want a strong privacy protection on the web? Do you want to earn money from your content? 

Thanks to web monetization. 

## What is Web Monetization?

Web monetization is an open technology that allows websites to request micropayment from a user. The user must be on Coil subscription.  [Coil](https://coil.com/) is the only available subscription for now. Web monetization is very easy to implement.  You can monetize your blog pages, YouTube channels, and websites by simply adding a meta tag containing your payment pointer to the head section in your HTML document. 

## What is Coil Subscription?

Coil charges it users $5 monthly to give access to all monetized content, privacy protection, Ads-free and exclusive content. When Coil subscribers visit a monetized page, the browser streams micropayment to the creators page. This way, both the visitors and the content creators get benefits. 
In other for the payment to count, you must use **Coil Browser Extension** to access those pages. 
These are the coil browser extensions for Desktop:  [Mozilla Firefox](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/coil/),  [Microsoft Edge](https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/addons/detail/coil/ljionajlbinlfkdnpkloejeoogfgkojm?hl=en-US),  [Brave Browser](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/coil/locbifcbeldmnphbgkdigjmkbfkhbnca), 
 [Google Chrome](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/coil/locbifcbeldmnphbgkdigjmkbfkhbnca) 
and  [Puma Browser](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pumabrowser.pumabrowser) extension for Mobile.

![coil-pic4.PNG](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1614301220212/HipEfCRoM.png)

## What is a Payment Pointer? 

A payment pointer is a unique URL assigned to your payment account by a web monetization receiver.  The unique address is what you will be adding to the websites you want to monetize. 
How to get a payment pointer? 
You need to signup with a wallet that support an interledger payment protocol, the protocol used for payments across different payment networks.  [Uphold](https://wallet.uphold.com/) and  [Gatehub](https://gatehub.net/) are the available ones for now. 


![interledger-pic.PNG](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1614305339042/VPbY4F5gB.png)

### How to get your Interledger Payment Pointer

I will show you how to get your interledger payment pointer from uphold. 
First,  go to  [Uphold](https://wallet.uphold.com/) sign up and verify your account.  Log in and go to your *Dashboard* . Click on *Transact* on the far right.


![Inkeduphold-pic2_LI.jpg](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1614358641775/belOgjYqm.jpeg)


Select *From*.  Scroll down to *Other Networks* then click on *Interledger* 


![Inkeduphold-pic3_LI.jpg](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1614358988165/OA3pCbcNW.jpeg)

There you have your interledger payment pointer. Copy the URL which will be added to your web page in the next step. 


![Inkeduphold-pic4_LI.jpg](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1614359256733/Fne7XLRH-.jpeg)

## How to Monetize your Blog Page

Now, I will show you how to monetize your blog page. In this example, I will use  [Dev.to](https://dev.to/), a blog platform for content writers. You can use other blog platforms of your choice.

 Kindly note, not all websites support web monetization. To find out if your preferred site uses web monetization, simply hold down *shift* and press *ctrl* *j* on your keyboard, for windows PC. And *ctrl* *j* on a Mac, or right click anywhere on the webpage, and at the very bottom of the menu that pops up, select "Inspect" to view the HTML document. At the head section, if you can find monetization meta tag as shown here ```<meta name ="monetization" content="$wallet.uphold.com/cggter">```  that means the site is monetized.  



Back to the main business. After creating and verifying your account on  [Dev.to](https://dev.to/) Go to the *Settings* menu, click on  *Extensions* then scroll down to *Web monetization* section. Add your interledger payment pointer and save. 

![Inkeddevto-pic2_LI.jpg](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1614362490570/3Mh4CDHDg.jpeg)

That's all, your  [Dev.to](https://dev.to/) page has been monetized.   

Now, onto the next one

### How to get  Coil Subscription

Create an account on  [Coil](https://coil.com/).  At the top right corner of your dashboard you will see *"Go to Settings"*.  Click on it and choose *Membership*,  add a payment method and subscribe for $5 monthly. Use a promo code if you have one. 

![Inkedcoil-pic6_LI.jpg](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1614364029924/mNUILZ1Nb.jpeg)

### How to Monetize your YouTube Channel

On the Coil page, click *"Go to Settings"*, select  *Monetize content* from the menu. You will see a plus(+) button for adding all the channels you wish to monetize, including your YouTube channel.


![Inkedcoil-pic5_LI.jpg](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1614363518436/V7gFNYoUh.jpeg)

### How to Monetize your Personal Website
 
Add meta tag in the head section of the HTML document. The **name** attribute must have the value of  'monetization'  and the value of the **content** attribute should be your interledger payment pointer, through which the website will accept payment. 

```<!doctype html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Web Monetized Site</title>
    <meta
      name="monetization"
      content="$wallet.uphold.com/eg4n">
  </head>
</html>```


The pages must be served over https, or 
http://localhost for testing.
 

Feel free to drop your comments and suggestions.  Or reach out to me on  [Twitter](https://twitter.com/michellemichy_d)  



![gif-thanks-pic.gif](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1614535856612/D2PH0IfyE.gif)


**More Resources**:

 [Webmonetization](https://webmonetization.org/)

 [Interledger](https://interledger.org/)  

https://github.com/WICG/webmonetization

https://community.webmonetization.org/uchibeke/a-program-to-get-more-people-into-web-monetization-54j6