Monetize your website!
Monetizing your website is a lot easier than many people make it out to be. This isn’t to say that you should ignore proper research to figure out which method is best for your website and your audience. Finding a network that caters to the interests of your viewer base will show the best revenue without off-setting the user’s experience on your website. Picking a network that works well with your users may be a trial and error thing, but it’s well worth testing the waters.
Below are answers to some basic, but vital questions that are commonly asked when getting started with this…
How do you add these advertisements to your website once you’re accepted into the network?
Most ad networks will provide code snippets of some type to allow an easy integration. Sometimes it’s a simple piece of JavaScript that you just copy and paste onto your site, other times you need to create a Widget or select individual products to promote. Once the code is installed, your advertisements should be displaying.
How is the actually money earned from these networks?
There are many ways to earn money from advertisements on your website. Some people “lease space” or sell an advertisement banner or sell a text link directly to a business.
When you do this, usually you charge a monthly, yearly, or one time fee in exchange for the spot on your website. Prices will always vary depending on the quality of your website, though it isn’t unusual to sell an ad spot for anywhere from $50 to $200 a month, depending niche (and even more if your site is heavily visited). It is common practice to use the “No Follow” element when linking to these types of pages.
Another common ad-type, which many people are familiar with is “PPC” or Pay Per Click. You are given payment each time one of your users click on an advertisement on your website. Clicks can pay anywhere from $0.01 up to $20+ a click. The only issue with this ad type is that if your users ignore the advertisements you placed on your website, you won’t really be earning much. To get started quickly with a PPC network, you may want to check out Google Adsense.
If you can’t find relevant PPC ads to place on your website, you may want to use a network that offers CPM ads. “CPM” refers to the cost per thousand impressions. An impression is counted each time an advertisement is loaded. Generally speaking, it’s pretty easy to find banners that will pay you $1-$5 CPM, depending on your website’s daily unique visitors. ContextWeb is a great network to get started with if you’re looking for CPM based advertisements.
Not earning enough? Can’t find the best PPC or CPM network for your viewers? Well you may want to look into a “CPA” network. CPA stands for “Cost Per Action” – basically you find a way to have your users do some type of action (enter information into a box, purchase a product or service, sign up for a trial or subscription, etc), and you earn a commission. Payouts on these will vary drastically, every network is different, but from my experiences, I’ve found CPA offers to pay as little as $0.30 to as high as $500, you’ll need to hunt around for a network that offers you targeted, relevant CPA ads to place on your website.
You may want to start with one of the following networks:
Will adding advertisements to my website lower the quality of my content or make me look “spammy”?
The answer to this question could go either way. In short, the answer is “maybe” – you need to ask a few questions when picking an ad network:
- Would your users consider it a valued resource?
- Do the banners look professionally made?
- Are your ads interfering with user experience on your website (ie pop-up, pop-under, full page/redirect, etc)?
I believe that by considering the questions above, you can find a way to monetize your website, without scaring off your users. After all, without users, your website serves very little purpose.
Let’s Recap
Here’s a quick overview of what we covered:
- Do your research first, find the best network for your site
- Ads are OK, if they don’t hurt user experience
- Don’t scare away your users with poorly placed ads
Remember, I only covered a select few out of hundreds of possible networks. If you have a suggestion or any feedback on any networks, post away!
What ad networks have worked best for you in the past?
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Thanks for the info. I have been using Altitude Digital Partners for the best CPMs. They work with the ad networks and monetize 100% of my inventory.They have great customer service, are easily available, and pay on time. It leaves me time to focus on my content!
I’ve never worked with Altitude Digital Partners before, I’ll have to check them out. One of my larger sites was always having problems getting past a 25% fill rate for total impressions. If you don’t mind me asking, what type of CPM have you been able to average out on roughly?
By far the most concise and up to date information I found on the topic of pay per click and cost per action. I’ll be subscribing to your feed so that I can get the latest updates. Appreciate all the information here