Saturday, September 1, 2007

Step 3: Monetizing your Blog

This is the point everyone has been aching to get to. There are many, many options when it comes to monetizing a blog. You could use text adverts working on a CPC, CPM or CPA basis, video ads, image ads; the possibilities are endless.

The point of this post is to give you some of the most popular options available to you. I would personally recommend text ads, as they are the best for blending in with your content, although banners do draw your attention to them. There are yet more options available within text ads. These are: CPC (cost per click); CPA (cost per action [such as buying a product]) and CPM (cost per impression [usually 1000]). CPC is the new dominant advertising option, whilst CPM was the old option and CPA is the emerging dominant option. I would personally choose CPC, as it can generate the most profits for an average traffic site. Here is a list of the current ad networks available (some networks aren't in business, got info from John Chow.com):

CPC:


CPM:

CPA:

As I said there is a lot of ad networks out there, but bear in mind that some are out of business at time of writing or post writing. I personally love going with AdSense because it is contextual and scans the page itself, which many other ad networks DON'T do.

Making the right choice can be difficult, but here are some tips if you are stuck:

Choose CPC if: You are writing content rich websites which have average traffic and a loyal readership (doesn't apply to new bloggers).

Choose CPM if: You plan on having a website which generates a high amount of views, but not much interesting content (it can still have good content). You do have a loyal readership which returns regularly.

Choose CPA or Affiliate If: You are specializing in a product, and then entice people to buy it from another source.

There is another type of network, this is affiliate advertising. You advertise a product on your website and then people can go to the website and buy it, giving you a percentage of revenues. This is very similar to CPA, but there is a fine difference.

Hope this post has given you information on the different options available to you. It really is up to you what option you choose, but bear in mind that readers prefer CPC.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to comment (no registration).
Cheers!

Posted by john at 7:01 AM

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