One of the big questions for bloggers is whether or not they should monetize their blogs. If you do decide to generate some income from your blog, one of the most popular ways to do this is to incorporate advertising.
There are pros and cons to consider with advertising on your blog, and you have to ask yourself whether you really want to advertise in the first place. One of the potential problems is that ads can sometimes distract readers from the content and can even make readers distrustful of what you are saying because they feel you are only blogging to make money.
However, if you do decide to use advertising on your blog, here are a few of the considerations to keep in mind.
Start Off Slowly
The first thing to remember is to avoid going over the top. If you go from no ads to ads all over the blog you are likely to damage the relationship with your readers. There are many types of advertising, and whatever you start to experiment with, always remember to take things slowly and avoid cramming your blog with advertisements overnight.
Analyze the Advertising on Other Blogs
Check out other blogs in your niche and find out which types of advertising works and which you definitely want to avoid. You can get a good idea about the balance that you want to achieve by simply looking at other blogs and working out where they have gone wrong or what they are doing right. If you find a type of ad that you feel your readers would not appreciate, make a note to avoid this with your own.
Experiment With Different Ads
There are many different types of ads that you could use on your blog, and you should start by experimenting with a few of these. These include:
- Direct ads, where you agree to feature the advertiser’s ad on your blog for a certain period of time.
- Sponsored posts, where an advertiser pays you to publish a post on your blog.
- Ad networks like Google’s Adsense, where ads are placed on your website according to the content of your blog.
- In-line ads, which appear as links in the text of your blogs and do not look like ads at all.
- Popup ads, which still remain popular even though they can be very obtrusive.
Once you have familiarized yourself with the above types of advertising, you should begin to experiment with different options to find out which work best for your blog.
Ask Your Readers for Feedback
Inform your regular readers of your decision to feature advertising, and ask them for their feedback as you start to experiment with different types of ads. If you receive negative feedback about a new popup that you have just added, you will instantly know that it is not working out. Alternatively, positive feedback can help you to develop your advertising in a way that is not detrimental to the reader experience.
Find the Right Balance
One of the big issues you will face is how to make enough money while avoiding harming the experience for your readers. You may find that if you place a lot of advertising on your blog in very noticeable places, this generates more clicks and more income but also gets in the way of the content. You have to work carefully to find the right balance to avoid upsetting your readers while still making enough advertising income.
The fact is that there is no definite answer as to how much advertising you should use on your blog, because it depends upon the type of ads you use as well as your niche and readership. Some bloggers will tell you they have had success with unobtrusive ads, and others will tell you that popups are much more effective, but when you try these for yourself you may find that they do not work as well. So start experimenting, take it slowly, and ask for feedback from your readers, and soon you will learn what amount of advertising works for you.
*Edward Olson is a professional writer. He loves to share writing and blogging tips on marketing blogs. For fast internet, click here to check out where you are serviceable!
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