Hi I am starting a blog and would like some advice on monetization.
I would like to include some ads on my sidebar for a start, and have identified 3 possible options:
Selling ad space on Buysellads.com
I think as this is a new blog this might not be a very good source as not many advertisers will consider my blog.
Pay Per Click (e.g. Google Adwords)
Will probably work to a certain degree, but I am not sure how much control I have on what ads appear. I don’t want the site to look cheap due to certain ads.
Affiliate banners
Might give good returns if I send some targeted traffic and promote good products. I like these as I can have control on what banners I display. However I depend very much on the conversion rate of the products I am advertising.
Do I have any other options? What are your opinions on the above 3 advertisement types, do you think one would work better than the others for a blog as a start off point?
Monetization depends on various factors. Two of the biggest variables deciding your revenue are the topic / subject of the site and secondly the level of penetration you can achieve in your target audience.
Selling ad space is an easy way to get started and Google Adsense is an obvious choice. However, be ready to attract big traffic if you want to make any serious money with it.
If your domain name enjoys a good page rank, selling text links can be a steady source of income. I’ve had luck with Text Link Ads although there are other services out there.
Buy Sell Ads is new to me so I can’t review that. What I’ve seen of it so far looks good.
I have a little bit of experience, if you are just starting your blog I would probably stay away from the ads as much as possible.
Get some content and see what your visitors are looking at / doing.
Waiting to monetize will add rank to your site, waiting for user results will maximise your earnings potential and help you define a definite path for your blog.
So you suggest starting out with no ads and if all goes well add them 6 months down the line for example, right? I didn’t know that not having ads would help add page rank.
Well, that’s not entirely accurate. If you have text link ads without the rel=“nofollow” attribute, then Google will treat the ad as an external link which makes your site lose Page Rank. Google Adsense ads or any ads appearing inside a Javascript rendered IFrame don’t hurt Page Rank.
That being said I agree with the over all idea of building traffic and content first, and worrying about monetization later.
You may also work with google adsense if your site has some decent traffic.Working with buysellads is a good option also to monetize your site.You may work with some CPA network like cpalead to make some more cash from our site.
Hey! Why focusing on advertising and monitization strategy for a new blog? I’m sure you don’t start building a startup without thinking about how to make money out of it but in the early stages, my advice is to focus more on building traffic, backlinks and make a notoriety. There are many small blogs out there struggling with Google Adsense for instance but they are not scalable and that’s because they focus too much on monetizing something which isn’t really made for it. Imagine yourself giving a car to your 3 yr old to drive to the supermarket :)… not yet!
