There are several ways that you can make money on your blog. We’ve already covered affiliate programs, sponsored content, and Google AdSense, and today, we’re going to talk about display ads.
You’ve seen display ads all over the web. On popular, well-known blogs:
As well as on major websites:
But you don’t need to have a super-popular blog in order to place ads on your site. If you’re starting out, you may still be able to advertise on your blog. Here are some blog advertising options to consider.
Direct Advertising
Direct advertising is a simple concept: you work directly with advertisers to negotiate a rate (usually a flat weekly, monthly, or quarterly price) and in exchange place their ad on your blog. You can solicit for sponsors by finding businesses in your niche and reaching out to them, or by having an advertising page on your blog and letting them come to you. If you choose the latter option, it’s a good idea to include some blog statistics on your ad page so that sponsors can decide if they’d like to work with you (check out Extra Petite’s simple and brief but effective ad page for an example).
When the deal is done, you simply insert the ad graphic and a link to the advertiser’s site through your blogging platform, and keep it there until it’s time to remove it.
Pros:
- There’s no middleman – you choose who you’d like to work with, deal directly with your advertisers, and set your own prices and terms.
- It’s simple and direct, and you can build personal relationships with your sponsors.
- You make the same amount of money per time period no matter how many of your blog readers see or click on the ad.
Cons:
- Unless your blog is very well-known and authoritative, it can be very hard to find advertisers.
- It’s can be time-consuming to manage every detail of an advertising deal when you’re also writing content and managing other marketing efforts.
Ad Platforms/Ad Managers
If managing your own advertising gets to be too much work, you could always leverage an ad platform (a.k.a. ad manager). Ad platforms help you manage the details of your blog advertising while still giving you complete control of who can advertise on your blog. But the sponsors can pay and upload their design through the platform, which can then be placed on your site with just a bit of code.
Examples of ad platforms are Passionfruit, Adproval, and OIO Publisher (if you use WordPress, there are several plugins that manage ads as well).*
Pros:
- Same as direct ad sales, with the added bonus that there is less work involved.
Cons:
- It’s not free, so you don’t get to keep 100% of your earnings. Some ad platforms charge a monthly subscription fee and others charge a small percentage of your monthly ad revenue.
Ad Networks
Ad networks match up brands to blogs that are looking to host advertisements. Most of them require an application and will only accept bloggers who meet their minimum traffic requirements, and many of them are niche-specific, so they will only accept bloggers who fit in with their subject matter. Putting the ads on your blog is simple – just install the code that the ad network provides and the ads will automatically show up. Ads are placed, or “served” several different ways, depending on the ad network:
- Contextual Advertising serves ads by scanning the blog for content and returning ads based on that content. For example, if you run a fitness blog, the ad network may serve up ads from brands that sell athletic equipment, energy drinks, or running shoes.
- Behavioral Targeted Advertising uses cookies to track which websites your readers have already visited, and serves ads based on their behavior. For example, if someone has visited several websites to browse baby strollers online, they may get served an ad from a baby supply retailer when they visit your site.
But it gets more complicated when it comes to earnings and payment, since most ad networks pay bloggers based on CPC (cost-per-click) or CPM (cost-per-thousand-impressions). This means that you as a blogger earn money based on how many of your readers either actually click on the ads to visit the sponsor, or at least how many actually see the ad on your blog.
Examples of ad networks are Federated Media, Burst Media, DoubleClick, BlogHer (targets women), and Mode Media (targets women).*
Pros:
- Major brands often use ad networks for their advertising, and your blog may appear more authoritative with an ad from a brand like Target, J. Crew, or Dell than with ads from little-known, independent brands.
- If you get at least a moderate amount of traffic to your blog, ad networks can be very lucrative.
Cons:
- Ad networks often negotiate different rates with different brands, so you may earn more money from one ad than another, even with the same amount of clicks or impressions. This means that you don’t have much control over how much revenue you earn, and it can greatly differ from month to month.
- Bloggers often don’t have control over which brands’ ads actually show up.
- Most ad networks have a very rigorous application process, and it’s not guaranteed that you or your blog will be approved and accepted.
- Some ad networks place restrictions or rules on your blog about things like content, logo placement, and the physical placement of the ads.
Which Ad Option is Best?
Well, that’s a decision you’ll have to make based on how much time you’re willing to invest, how much money you’re looking to make, how much control you want over the ads that show on your site, and how much traffic you currently get. If you’re not sure which direction to take, why not try a few different options and see what fits your needs best?
Are you currently offering advertising on your blog? What method do you use? Tell us about it in the comments below.
*These are just partial lists of ad platforms and networks, and are in no way officially endorsed by AmpliFound.
