Advertising is the the most popular way of getting revenue. There are many ways of choosing how to advertise, but which one? So far Google AdSense is the most popular way of getting in money but there are also several other companies that provide the same service such as:
- AdGenta
- Blogads
- CrispAds
- IntelliTXT
- DoubleClick
- Kanoodle
- Text Link Ads
If you decided that you do want to show up ads in your website then you’re ready to read the following list of forms of advertising which include banners, links, textual, and pop-ups. I’ve classified them into the following:
- Text-link ads - This is an incredibly efficient way to advertise. It doesn’t take space, its stealthy and highly accurate.
- Product-based advertising - These aim to promote specific products from retailers or auctions.
- Banner advertising - This is the most common way of advertising which are usually a traditional 125×125 banner ads that show up (most of the time) in your sidebar. These are recommended since they are highly visible and is more prone to get clicked.
- Textual advertising - These don’t have images, just a text and a link. These too are popular in the ad world especially when they are served up contextually. Google AdSense provides such service.
Types Of Ad Payments
Ads can pay for being present for a certain amount of time for ‘x’ per month. But there are other ads that have more strict guidelines. 3 to be specific that are more performanced-based.
- CPC - CPC stands for ‘cost-per-click’. Each time a user clicks on something, the publisher gets paid.
- CPM - CPM stands for ‘cost-per-thousand’ views and means the publisher gets paid per impression.
- CPA - CPA stands for ‘cost-per-acquisition’. This means that the publisher gets paid if the ad makes a sale, signup or generates a lead.
That’s all I have for you today folks, more to come later..
Wondering how to monetize your blog? Well, first you need to learn the strategies to do so. First up is monetizing your blog with ads. But this is tricky, you have to know how and when to put ads up. When is a question that is difficult to answer. As to how, this can be shown in several ways.
I’ll show you 2 ways if seeing it through this bulleted list (as you may have noticed this is my favorite way of blogging :)):
- Ads from the start - The objective here is to run ads since the day you start blogging.
- Readers hope - Sometimes when a reader first goes into your blog and you have no ads, that is an instant plus. People that see a blog with no ads believe they are either so successful they need not put ads up, humble (in a way), or maybe they just blog for the passion. So be careful with this, if you start putting up ads from the start you won’t cause any hopes of being a free ad blog which would cause your readers to get upset.
- Consistency - Running ads from the start make things go smoothly sometimes, but you also have to take in notice of your blog design. Change the design too much and your readers will be thrown off or have to go through the hassle to position correctly your ads again.
- Income - Putting ads from the start can help you in a great way, imagine if you put AdSense 5 months into your blogging, then start to see an immense income, something you could have been earning 3 months before.
- Get readers, then run ads - This is also valid, you can wait some time until you get your readership up and then put ads. This is a good way of showing that your blog is not a money grab or having your blog look too commercial. The idea here is to add advertising slowly but surely. Wait until you grow, your readership expands, gather some trust, etc.
At the end, the decision is yours and you’re the only one who knows what to do according to your needs. Neither one of the views I told you about wwill work for everyone.
Things To Think About
When you get your thoughts straight on deciding which approach to use, think about the following:
- How commercial is your blog? - Think carefully about this. Some blogs are very commerical making ads an asset to your blog. As for others that are not, you have to be lighter on putting ads up.
- Does it look like its worth it? - If you’re not gathering a considerable income from the start, remove the ads. Try other things while you get your readership up like putting up ads from friends to make potential ad buyers more interested, show affiliate links, etc.
- Will ads divert? - Think about the quality of the ads you put up, they may affect the quality of your blog too. Don’t break trust with off-putting ads.
So that’s it for monetizing your blog, tomorrow I’ll talk about monetizing directly with advertising. 
