Tracking Your Success
Posted by Blogger Templateson
July 24, 2009
An important component of your AdSense success is tracking your results.
Don’t limit your analysis to earnings. Be certain to compare earnings by ad
unit, ad format, and ad placement to find which ones are bringing in the most
revenue. Also, analyze the performance of your AdSense ads against your
blog’s traffic statistics, as described in Chapter 9, to ensure that your ads
aren’t negatively affecting your traffic levels. You can track the performance
of your AdSense ads by selecting the Reports tab within the Google AdSense
dashboard, which leads you to the Overview page, shown in Figure 11-29. By
selecting the Advanced Reports tab from the navigation bar, you can create a
wide variety of customized reports, as shown in Figure 11-30.
Much of your success with Google AdSense or any advertising program
comes from the amount of traffic your blog receives. Chapters 12 and 13 provide
a variety of ideas and information about growing your blog and attracting
visitors to it by way of networking and relationship building, promotion,
and search engine optimization.
Getting Paid
Posted by Blogger Templateson
July 24, 2009
The payment process for Google AdSense publishers is simple: You’re paid
whenever someone clicks one of the AdSense ads that appear on your blog.
Your earnings depend on several factors, including how much traffic your
blog receives, how relevant the ads are to your blog visitors, and how much
the advertiser had to bid to serve the ad based on specific keywords triggered
by your blog content. Much of your earning potential through Google
AdSense comes from trial and error and determining which combination of
ads performs best on your blog without hurting your traffic levels.
AdSense publishers must reach a threshold of $100 in order to get paid.
Earnings roll over from one month to the next until you earn a minimum
total of $100. After you reach that threshold, you’re paid by check or electronic
transfer to your bank account, depending on your settings in the My
Account section of the AdSense dashboard. Payment is typically made within
approximately 30 days of the end of the month in which you reach the $100
payout threshold. In other words, if you reach the $100 threshold in June,
you should receive payment by the end of July. You can access your payment
history from the Google AdSense dashboard.
You cannot change your payment method or enter required tax details into
your account until you reach $10 in earnings. At that point, a personal identification
number (PIN) is mailed by snail mail to the payment address listed in
your account. (Make sure that it’s accurate.) You must enter the PIN into your
account before any payments are sent to you. The PIN can take two to three
weeks to arrive. You may also be required to verify your telephone number.
If so, you’re called at a predetermined time and asked to enter a verification
number that’s provided within your AdSense account. Google notifies you if
this step is required.
Configuring AdSense for Feeds
Posted by Blogger Templateson
July 23, 2009
Adding Google AdSense ads to your blog’s feed takes several steps, but luckily,
they are not difficult. As discussed in Chapter 9, feeds are a popular way
for people to read content from multiple blogs in a single location called a
feed reader. Rather than visit each blog to see whether any new content has
been published, people can subscribe to a blog’s feed. All the feeds a person
is subscribed to are collected together and delivered by using a single feed
reader, such as Google Reader.
With the growing popularity of viewing blogs by way of a feed reader rather
than visiting numerous blogs, bloggers were faced with decreasing page
views and a loss in revenue from advertising. For example, if your blog has
no visitors, it also has no one to click your AdSense ads. Because Google
owns Blogger, AdSense, and FeedBurner (the most popular tool to create, or
“burn”, your blog’s feed, as described in Chapter 9), it isn’t surprising that
it has become quite easy to add Google AdSense ads to your Blogger blog’s
feed through FeedBurner.
Follow these steps to configure AdSense ads to appear in your blog’s RSS
feed by using FeedBurner.
1. Visit the FeedBurner home page at www.feedburner.com, shown in
2. In the long text box in the middle of the page, enter your blog’s
domain name and click the Next button.
This step opens the Identify Feed Source window, shown in Figure 11-20.
3. Click the radio button next to the RSS feed and click the Next button.
This step opens the feed verification window, shown in Figure 11-21.
4. Click the Sign In link if you already have a FeedBurner account, or
enter the necessary information in the appropriate fields to start a
new FeedBurner account. Then click the Next button.
The Congratulations window opens and displays your FeedBurner feed
URL, as shown in Figure 11-22.
5. Copy the new FeedBurner feed URL for your blog. In a different
browser window, open your Blogger account and click the Settings
link from your Blogger dashboard.
The Basic Settings page opens.
6. Click the Site Feed link from the navigation bar to open the Site Feed
page, and paste the FeedBurner feed URL that you just copied for your
blog into the Post Feed Redirect URL text box, shown in Figure 11-23.
This step redirects your RSS feed to your FeedBurner account.
7. Click the Save button. Next, return to the browser window where
you have FeedBurner open and you just copied your feed URL. Click
the link at the bottom of the page that says Skip Directly to Feed
Management.
This step opens a page where you can begin configuring settings for
your feed, as shown in Figure 11-24.
8. Select the Monetize tab from the navigation bar.
The Configure Ads page opens, as shown in Figure 11-25.
9. Click the Sign In to AdSense link to sign in to your AdSense account.
Enter the username and password for your AdSense account.
10. Return to the Configure Ads page and click the Activate button.
When you return to the Configure Ads page after signing in to your
AdSense account, the page expands to include options for you to customize
the appearance of AdSense ads in your blog as shown in Figure 11-26.
11. Click the Display Ads from AdSense for Content radio button and then
click the Activate button.
Near the bottom of the page, a new section of the Configure Ads page
opens, titled Get the HTML Code to Put Ads on Your Site, as shown in
Figure 11-27.
12. Choose Blogger from the drop-down menu.
A new window opens with instructions for adding FeedFlare to Your
Blogger blog. FeedFlare works behind the scenes to display AdSense ads
on your blog’s FeedBurner feed.
13. Follow the instructions and copy the supplied code into your blog’s
template as directed.
After the code is properly added to your blog’s template, AdSense ads
appear in your blog’s feed by way of FeedBurner. An example is shown
in Figure 11-28.
Setting Up AdSense on Your Blog
Posted by Blogger Templateson
July 23, 2009
As a Blogger user, you benefit from the fact that Google owns both AdSense
and Blogger. Rather than set up your ads by using the Google AdSense dashboard,
you can set them up directly in Blogger, making it that much easier to
monetize your blog with AdSense after you have an approved and activated
Google AdSense account.
Before you start placing AdSense ads on your blog, take some time to understand
which ad formats are available to you and how you can best integrate
those ads into your blog to maximize revenue without sacrificing traffic. Also,
keep in mind that you can customize the color palette of the ad units you
choose to display on your blog to either blend the ads into your blog’s design
or contrast them against that design. These options are discussed later in
this chapter.
Too many ads on a page make your blog cluttered and drive away traffic.
Visitors are looking for compelling content, not ads. The ads you include on
your blog should complement the page and help visitors, not distract and confuse
them.
Choosing an ad format
Google AdSense ads come in five primary formats: text ads, image ads, video
ads, link units, and themed units. Each one is explained in more detail in the
following sections.
Text
Text ads typically include a link, a short marketing message, and a URL. You
can choose the size and number of ads displayed on your blog based on the
text ad format you choose. Figure 11-5 shows how several text link ad-format
options look. You can choose from 12 different text ad formats to find the
best options for your blog.
If you add Google AdSense ads to your blog directly by using Blogger, fewer
ad format choices are available to you. To place ads in additional formats, you
need to place them by using your Google AdSense dashboard, where you can
select ads, copy the necessary code, and place the code in a new gadget on
your blog.
Images
Image ads include a graphical image and a URL. They’re available in eight
sizes, and you can select the size that works best on your blog. You can see
four size option examples in Figure 11-6.
Video
Video ads come in seven sizes and include an animated Play button that plays
a short video advertisement when clicked. A URL is also displayed in a video
ad. When a visitor plays the video, the URL displays as an active link button
at the end of the ad. You can see four size option examples in Figure 11-7.
Link units
Link units are basically lists of topic links. Each link leads a visitor to a list of
links related to that topic from advertisers. If one of those links is clicked, the
advertiser’s Web page opens and you earn money. With that in mind, remember
that it’s a two-step process to earn money from link units. However, link
units are the least intrusive ad format simply because they include the least
amount of extraneous text and no graphical images. That means they can
blend easily into any blog. Figure 11-8 shows examples of link unit ad formats.
Themed units
Themed units change depending on the time of year. Themed units have the
potential to perform well on blogs directly related to a seasonal holiday or an
event matching the ads served. Figure 11-9 shows examples of themed units.
Choosing the appropriate ad size
Ad sizes are always communicated in pixels as width by height. AdSense ad
sizes can vary from small, 120 x 90 link units to large, 728 x 90 leader boards.
The following list describes different ad sizes and where they might work well
on your blog:
? Leader board: Typically wide and short. Google AdSense leader board
ads are 728 x 90 and fit well in a blog’s header or footer.
? Skyscraper: Typically narrow and long. Google AdSense skyscraper ads
are 120 x 600, and wide skyscraper ads are 160 x 600. Skyscraper ads fit
well in sidebars.
? Banner and half banner: Come in a variety of sizes and are typically
wide and short, but can also be produced as vertical banners, where the
ads are long and narrow. Banner ads work well in a variety of places,
including the header, footer, sidebar, and between posts, depending on
the selected size.
? Button: Increasingly the most popular blog sidebar advertising format is
the button ad. You commonly see button ads, which measure 125 x 125,
placed side by side and in groups of two, four, six, or eight in a blog’s
sidebar.
? Square and rectangle: Come in a variety of sizes and typically work well
in sidebars and in between blog posts.
Choosing the appropriate ad size for your blog is basically a process of balancing
the intrusiveness of the ad with your monetization goals. Naturally,
larger ads are more noticeable, but if those ads are bothersome to your visitors,
your traffic can decrease as a result. Don’t be afraid to experiment and
find the right ad format and size choices for your blog.
Placing AdSense ads on your blog
Your blog’s sidebar is a perfect place to ad Google AdSense ads. By simply
adding a Google AdSense gadget to your blog layout, ads automatically
appear on your blog, assuming that you already set up your Google AdSense
account. Follow these steps to ad a Google AdSense unit to your blog:
1. Select the Layout tab from your Blogger dashboard.
The Page Elements page opens, shown in Figure 11-10.
2. From the Page Elements page, click the Add a Gadget link on the right
side of the page to add a new gadget to your blog’s sidebar.
The Add a Gadget window opens.
3. Scroll down within the Add a Gadget window until you see the AdSense
element and then click the AdSense link, as shown in Figure 11-11.
This step opens the Configure AdSense window.
4. Using the Format drop-down menu in the Configure AdSense window,
shown in Figure 11-12, choose the ad size you want to display on your
blog.
Click the radio button next to Text and Image if you want to show both
ad formats or the radio button next to Text Only to display only text ads.
5. Using the Colors drop-down menu, choose a color scheme or select
individual colors to format your AdSense ads.
You can view your changes in the Preview area before you accept them.
6. Under the Advanced heading, ensure that the correct AdSense publisher
ID is shown.
This ID is for the account that’s paid when visitors click the ads on your
blog.
This step is particularly important if you have more than one AdSense
publisher ID.
7. Click the Save button.
This step reopens the Page Elements window.
8. Click the View Blog link after the Page Element Added message
beneath the top navigation bars, shown in Figure 11-13, to see your
changes.
AdSense ads begin displaying on your blog automatically, as shown in
Figure 11-14.
You can add multiple Google AdSense gadgets to your blog’s sidebars, footer,
and other elements. Be sure to check the current Google AdSense policies to
ensure that you don’t add more units than allowed.
The View Blog link
Adding AdSense ads between blog posts
Ads placed between blog posts typically perform well; however, they can be
intrusive. Use your own judgment related to your moneymaking goals and
your visitors’ preferences to help you decide whether to include AdSense ads
between your blog posts. If you decide to include them, follow these steps to
get started:
1. From the Blogger dashboard, click the Layout link.
This step opens the Page Elements page, shown in Figure 11-15.
2. Click the Edit link in the lower right corner of the Blog Posts
element box.
The Edit link
The Configure Blog Posts window opens, as shown in Figure 11-16.
3. Select the Show Ads Between Posts check box.
When this check box is selected, the window expands to display the
Configure Inline Ads section, shown in Figure 11-17.
4. In the Configure Inline Ads Section, choose the color scheme you want
to use for your ads by either using the Colors drop-down box or selecting
individual colors from the palette.
Preview your changes in the Preview section.
5. Click the Save button when you’re done.
This step reopens the Page Elements page, where you can click the View
Blog link to see your changes live on your blog, as shown in Figure 11-18.
Registering with AdSense
Posted by Blogger Templateson
July 23, 2009
Before you can include AdSense ads on your blog, you have to sign up to
become an AdSense publisher and Google has to approve your blog for
the program. Google AdSense is free to publishers, and ads are available in
numerous languages to match appropriate ads with publishers from around
the world.
To sign up for Google AdSense, follow these steps:
1. Visit the AdSense home page at www.google.com/adsense and click
the Sign Up Now button.
The button is on the right side of the page, as shown in Figure 11-1. This
step opens the online application.
2. Enter the requested information in the appropriate fields of the online
application.
Be sure to complete all fields shown in Figures 11-2 and 11-3 to ensure
that your application is approved in a timely manner.
Your payments are sent to the address included in your application
unless you change your payment method after your account is set up as
described later in this chapter. Be certain to enter the correct address.
3. Click the Submit Information button when your application is
complete.
Google reviews your application and notifies you by e-mail when your
application is accepted or rejected.
Be certain to read the AdSense program policies in the Policies section
of the online application to ensure that you understand what you can
and cannot do as a Google AdSense publisher.
4. After your application is approved, log in to your AdSense account
and familiarize yourself with the AdSense dashboard.
Using the navigation bar at the top of the page after you log in, notice
the area to view and create reports, set up your ads, review and change
your account settings, and find additional resources and help.
5. Select the AdSense Setup tab from the top navigation bar to configure
your ad settings.
You can use the tabs in the top navigation bar of the AdSense Setup
page (shown in Figure 11-4) to set up your ads, color palette, filters, and
allowed sites, or you can make these configurations from the Blogger
dashboard, as discussed in detail later in this chapter.
Making Sense of AdSense
Posted by Blogger Templateson
July 23, 2009
Google AdSense is a contextual link advertising program. Advertisers bid on
keywords related to their products, brands, Web sites, and other elements
by using the Google AdWords program. You can get more information about
the Google AdWords program by reading Google AdWords For Dummies, by
Howie Jacobson (Wiley).
Bloggers and Web site owners sign up as publishers on the Google AdSense
program and allow Google to serve ads related to the content of their blog
or Web site pages. Relevant ads are chosen using a set of secret rules created
by Google which is based on keywords found on blog or Web site pages
where ads are to be served. When a person clicks on an AdSense ad, the publisher
(the blogger or Web site publisher), receives a portion of the revenue
earned from those ads. The rates that publishers are paid vary significantly
depending on the popularity of the keywords that advertisers bid on for the
ads served on their blogs or Web sites.
To maintain the integrity of your blog, you should review the ads served on
your blog and filter out any specific advertisers whose ads you don’t want to
display. Although all ads undergo the Google editorial review process, you
shouldn’t rely on it to block ads that don’t match your readers’ expectations
for your blog. Instead, review the ads your visitors are seeing and ensure that
they’re appropriate for your blog and your audience. You can set ad filters
and restrictions to block inappropriate ads from the Google AdSense dashboard,
discussed in more detail later in this chapter.
Exploring the available ads
Google AdSense ads come in two popular formats for bloggers:
? AdSense for content: Ads are displayed based on the content of your
page. Ads can be in text or graphical format and link to a separate page
determined by the advertiser. You’re paid when a visitor clicks on
the ad.
? AdSense for search: A search box is displayed on your blog where visitors
can enter search terms to find more information. You’re paid when
the visitor clicks a link that’s returned in the search results, making it a
two-step process before you generate earnings.
You can customize the appearance of the AdSense ads displayed on your
blog, including the colors of the border, title, background, text, and URL. You
can also choose from a wide variety of ad formats, including text ads, image
ads, video ads, link units, and themed units. These features are discussed
later in this chapter, in the section “Setting Up AdSense on Your Blog.”
Finding your way around Google AdSense
Google AdSense does all the work for you to help you earn money from your
blog. You simply need to create an account and configure your blog settings
in order to start making money. The success of your Google AdSense ads
comes from your efforts to maximize return. The following list describes several
ways you can help boost your AdSense earning potential:
? Write focused content. Google AdSense ads are served based on the
content found on the page of your blog where those ads appear. Make
sure that your content is focused on a single topic to ensure that related
ads are displayed.
? Do your keyword research. To maximize your AdSense income, take
some time to research keyword popularity. Open your own Google
AdWords account and analyze the going rates for keywords related
to your blog’s niche. Use tools such as the ones available at www.
wordtracker.com to further research keyword popularity. The more
popular a keyword is, the higher advertisers have to bid to serve ads
related to it. Try to write content that is relevant to your blog’s topic
and that maximizes popular keywords.
? Increase traffic to your blog. With more visitors comes the potential for
more clicks on your AdSense ads, and that means increased earnings for
you. Chapters 12 and 13 discuss how you can grow your blog’s audience
in detail.
? Test, test, and test again. Much of your AdSense success comes from
experimentation and finding out what works best. Test ad types, ad
placement, and keywords to determine how to maximize your AdSense
earning potential.
? Avoid covering your blog in Google AdSense ads. Too many ads
make your blog cluttered. Rather than click your ads and help you earn
money, visitors click away from your blog entirely if they can’t find
useful content amid the many ads. The quality (the relevancy) of the ads
you display on your blog is more useful than the quantity.
Understanding Google AdSense policies
Before you start your AdSense account, read the Google AdSense program
policies. Publishers have to adhere to a variety of restrictions and requirements
in order to participate in the AdSense program. If you’re caught violating
the AdSense policies, your account is disabled, and you’re removed from
the program. The AdSense policies in the following list give you an idea of
what you are not allowed to do as an AdSense publisher:
? Click ads that appear on your own blog. Avoid click fraud of any kind.
Don’t click your own ads or allow any kind of automated robot to click
your ads.
? Display too many AdSense ads. Google has specific restrictions related
to how many AdSense ads can appear on a page in your blog at any time.
Check the most recent version of the program policies to ensure that
you’re adhering to the rules.
? Ask people to click your AdSense ads. Again, avoid click fraud of any
kind. Even a small suggestion to someone about clicking the AdSense
ads that appear on your blog can be deemed click fraud.
? Publish pages that include AdSense ads but no other useful or original
content. Google considers pages that include AdSense ads but no other
original, useful content to be spam. Sites that simply copy content from
other sites or publish nothing but ads on their pages are removed from
the AdSense program if they’re caught.
? Publish ads that look like AdSense ads but aren’t AdSense ads. Check
the AdSense program policies to confirm the most current restrictions
related to the other types of ads you’re allowed to display on your blog
along with AdSense ads. Don’t publish any other ads that can be confused
with AdSense ads.
? Publish unacceptable content. The AdSense program policies list a
myriad of site content restrictions, including pornography, gambling,
and excessive profanity. Be sure to read the restrictions before you sign
up for an AdSense account.
? Reveal your earnings per click. Although you can give a general idea
on your blog of how much money you make from AdSense (for example,
$1,000 per month), it’s a violation of AdSense policies to reveal how
much you’re paid per click for specific ads.
Three pages of restrictions are listed in the Google AdSense program policies.
Be sure to read them and adhere to them, or else you stand a strong chance of
having your AdSense account deactivated. Getting back into the AdSense program
after your account has been deactivated is no small feat.
Getting help
Many blogs and Web sites are dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of
AdSense success. If you’re serious about maximizing your earning potential
with Google AdSense, read Google AdSense For Dummies, by Jerri Ledford
(Wiley) for extensive instructions and tips. Help is also available on these
Web sites:
? Google AdSense blog: www.Adsense.blogspot.com
? Google AdSense Help Center: www.Google.com/AdSense/Support
? Google AdSense Help Group: www.groups.google.com/group/
adsense-help
Maximizing Revenue with Google AdSense
Posted by Blogger Templateson
July 23, 2009
Google AdSense is the most popular moneymaking method available to
bloggers. With its ease of integration into your Blogger blog, AdSense
is usually one of the first moneymaking methods that bloggers try. Although
you aren’t likely to get rich by using AdSense (at least not right away), it’s a
widely accepted and fairly unobtrusive option.
In fact, your success with AdSense depends on a number of factors discussed
in this chapter. However, you have no way of knowing how AdSense ads will
perform on your blog until you register for an account and start displaying
ads. This chapter teaches you how to create an AdSense account, insert
Google AdSense ads into your blog, and track your success with AdSense.
Choosing Blogger Monetization Options
Posted by Blogger Templateson
July 23, 2009
After you decide to include advertising on your blog, you need to begin
reviewing advertising and moneymaking options to find the ones you want to
try. Most bloggers begin with monetization programs that are
? Easy to add to their blogs
? Open to all bloggers regardless of traffic
As a Blogger user, you can sign up for a wide variety of blog monetization
programs. This chapter highlights some of the most popular programs that
bloggers typically try first.
Your blog monetization efforts don’t have to stop with the programs discussed
in this chapter. You can find out more about blog monetization from
a variety of Web sites and blogs, including the About.com Guide to Web
Logs (http://weblogs.about.com). Additionally, you can read Blogging
For Dummies, by Susannah Gardner and Shane Birley (Wiley), which includes
information about several blog monetization programs.
Not all blog monetization options are equal. Take the time to research a new
opportunity before you apply or implement it on your blog. The rules and
requirements for different blog monetization options change frequently,
and a program that might not work on your blog today may work perfectly
tomorrow. For example, some moneymaking programs aren’t compatible
with Blogger blogs now, but they might be compatible later. Always check
the restrictions and ensure that your blog qualifies to participate in a blog
monetization program before you spend time applying.
Contextual link ads
Contextual link ads can consist of text or images and are displayed to visitors
based on the content on the page where they appear. Because these ads are
by definition contextually relevant to the content of the page, visitors are
quite likely to be interested in them and click on them. Contextual ads are
typically pay-per-click ads, so the blogger is paid when a person clicks the
ad. Advertisers generally bid on keywords in pay-per-click contextual link
ad programs, so bloggers who write about topics with popular keywords
(that is, keywords that many advertisers bid on, driving the price for those
keywords up, similar to an auction) are likely to earn more than bloggers
who write about topics with less popular keywords. Of course, showing ads
based on higher-value keywords is helpful to increase your earning potential,
but that money doesn’t come in unless visitors click those ads. The remedy:
Experimentation. To find the best contextual link ad strategy, you need
to test ad placement, keywords, and ad types to determine which ads are
driving the most interest and revenue.
Google AdSense
Google AdSense is the most popular contextual link, pay-per-click ad program
available to bloggers. Because Google owns both AdSense and Blogger, adding
Google AdSense ads to your Blogger blog is extremely easy. Chapter 11
describes Google AdSense and explains in detail how to add it to your blog.
Kontera
www.Kontera.com
Kontera is another popular contextual link advertising program. When you sign
up to serve Kontera ads on your blog, its ContentLink function automatically
links contextually relevant keywords in your blog posts to ads. Those keywords
appear with a double underline within your existing blog post. Figure 10-1
shows how Kontera ads look on a blog. When a visitor hovers the mouse cursor
over the Kontera linked text, a small bubble box appears and displays an advertisement
served by one of Kontera’s advertisers. When a visitor to your blog
clicks that advertisement, the advertiser’s Web site opens in the browser.
Kontera works harmoniously with Google AdSense and is open to bloggers
whose blogs meet the current requirements outlined on the Kontera Web site.
One of the best features about Kontera is its virtual lack of a footprint on your
blog. Rather than use space in your sidebar or header or between your blog
posts, Kontera in-text ads appear within your blog posts and link relevant ads
to the words that are already used in your posts. It’s a simple way to add a
moneymaking option with some upfront effort but little ongoing work to
keep it going. You can customize the look of your ContentLink ads, create
filtering instructions to define the number of ads and advertisers allowed and
customize other factors, too. Of course, for optimum results, you should
monitor keyword performance and write your blog posts with high-performing
keywords in mind.
The key to a successful blog is quality content. Don’t write with keywords as
your priority. If you write for ads, your visitors will know it. Ads should enhance
people’s visits on your blog, not overpower them or detract from them.
To add Kontera contextual link ads to your blog, follow these steps:
1. Visit www.Kontera.com and sign up for an account.
Complete the online application to request a Kontera publisher account.
2. After your application is accepted, simply sign in to your account and
click the ContentLink Setup tab that allows you to add Kontera in-text
ads to your Blogger blog, as shown in Figure 10-2.
After you add Kontera in-text ads to your blog, analyze the ads that are served
based on your content to ensure that they’re relevant and helpful to your
visitors. Also, review your Kontera-provided reports to ensure that the ads
are driving revenue. Some people find Kontera ads to be obtrusive. You must
analyze your results and your blog traffic statistics to ensure that the amount
of money you make from Kontera ads is positive in relation to the effect of
those ads on your blog’s traffic.
Text link ads
Text link ads appear as simple text links on your blog based on the content of
your pages. In short, when you join a text link advertising network, you
submit specific pages of your blog into the network’s inventory. Advertisers
look for inventory pages that are likely to attract visitors who will be interested
in their products and then purchase text link ad space on those pages.
When space is purchased on your blog, a text link ad from that advertiser
automatically appears in that space.
Text link ad rates, which are typically set by the advertising network, are usually
based on a blog’s Google page rank and Alexa rank. Although these two
metrics aren’t perfect, they comprise the standard that most text link brokers
use to determine the amount of traffic to your blog and attach an advertising
rate to it. Be sure, therefore, to submit your most popular blog pages to be
included in a broker’s inventory.
Text-Link-Ads
www.Text-Link-Ads.com
The popular text link broker Text-Link-Ads helps bloggers get paid for publishing
text link ads, as shown in Figure 10-3. Ad publishers receive 50 percent of
the sale price for each text link sold on your blog, and Text-Link-Ads integrate
seamlessly with other advertising programs, such as Google AdSense. As a
Text-Link-Ad publisher, you can approve or deny all ads that are purchased to
display on your blog. The payout threshold is low, at just $25, and payment is
sent by way of check or PayPal on the first day of every month.
Even though the payout threshold is low, which makes Text-Link-Ads attractive
to bloggers with lower traffic levels, smaller bloggers find it difficult to
get accepted as a Text-Link-Ads publisher. Blogs with a Google page rank
of 4 or higher are automatically accepted; blogs with a rank lower than 4 are
manually reviewed and typically aren’t accepted. The price of ads shown
on your blog is set by Text-Link-Ads using a proprietary algorithm that first
considers your blog’s traffic and page rank statistics.
To become a Text-Link-Ads publisher, follow these simple steps:
1. Visit www.Text-Link-Ads.com and complete the online publisher
application.
When your application is approved, you receive an e-mail providing you
with your account information.
2. Sign in to your Text-Link-Ads account and follow the instructions to
install the ad code on your blog in the Get Ad Code section of your
account.
You can find here the ad code to copy and paste into your blog, and
instructions for doing so. After the code is pasted into your blog, ads
begin appearing on your blog as they’re purchased.
Figure 10-3:
This site
offers a
simple way
to monetize
your blog.
TextLinkBrokers
www.TextLinkBrokers.com
The popular text link ad broker TextLinkBrokers accepts applications from
blogs with a Google page rank of 1 or higher. This site sets the ad rate for text
link ads that appear on your blog based on your Google page rank and an
evaluation of your blog. The ad publisher can approve or deny ads, and the
payout threshold is $100. Overall, the process works similarly to Text-Link-Ads
(see the earlier section “Text-Link-Ads”).
To become a TextLinkBrokers publisher, visit www.TextLinkBrokers.com
and complete the Publisher sign-up form, as shown in Figure 10-4. When you
submit your sign-up form, TextLinkBrokers reviews your application and
e-mails you with an acceptance or rejection. It also notifies you of the amount
you’ll be paid for links if your application is accepted and sends you a list of
questions to answer in order to add your site to the TextLinkBrokers inventory.
When your site is added to the TextLinkBrokers inventory, an e-mail is sent
to you with the information you need to create an account in the Partner’s
Console section of the TextLinkBrokers Web site.
After your partner’s console account is created, you receive a link to activate
the account.
When an advertiser selects your blog to place a text link ad, you receive an
e-mail directing you to log in to your account to view details of the request.
The publisher’s terms of service with TextLinkBrokers says that you agree to
place ad requests (or deny them) on your blog within two business days.
Impression-based ads
Impression-based ads pay you as the publisher based on the number of times
an ad is shown on your blog. With each page view where the ad is placed,
that ad is delivered to a visitor, which counts as an impression. Cost-perimpression
ads typically pay bloggers a small fee, such as ten cents per 1,000
impressions, so you’re not likely to make a lot of money from these ads
unless your site generates a lot of traffic each day. However, the ads are easy
to set up and work particularly well below the fold (the area of the page that
isn’t visible unless you scroll down the page).
ValueClick
www.ValueClickMedia.com
ValueClick is an easy-to-use, impression-based advertising program that
offers banner ads, pop-unders, videos, and rich-media ads, as shown in
Figure 10-5. As the publisher, you can set the minimum cost per impression
(CPM) that you’re willing to accept on your blog. The minimum traffic
level to become a ValueClick publisher is 3,000 impressions per month, and
you can pick and choose which types of ads you want to run on your site.
Text link ad warnings
Text link ads are an easy and unobtrusive blog
monetization option, but they have some drawbacks.
First and foremost, text link ads are often
linked with a drop in Google search rankings. In
short, many search engine optimization experts
believe that Google downgrades sites that publish
text link ads. The reason for the downgrade
comes from Google’s attempt to weed out Web
sites that try to “buy” top search rankings.
Having more incoming links from popular blogs
and Web sites equates to receiving a higher
Google ranking. However, when those links are
paid for, the popularity of that Web site is unnaturally
inflated. Google penalizes Web sites that
pay for links and those that publish them,
according to many online experts, by lowering
their Google search rankings.
It has been suggested that bloggers can mitigate
Google penalties and still monetize their
blogs with text ads by incorporating the
NoFollow HTML tag with text ad links. However,
doing so isn’t beneficial to the advertisers
paying for those links, which may lead to fewer
text link ad buyers on your blog or your blog’s
removal from text link ad programs that rely on
search engine recognition of those links. You
can read more about the NoFollow tag in Search
Engine Optimization For Dummies, by Peter Kent
(Wiley Publishing).
Take the time to read the complete ValueClick terms of service before you
apply. The site has a wide variety of restrictions related to the types of blogs
(for example, you must host your blog on your own domain, as discussed in
Chapter 16) and blog content (no non-English pages or excessive advertising)
that are accepted into the ValueClick ad program.
To sign up to become part of the ValueClick ad network, follow these steps:
` 1. Visit www.ValueClickMedia.com and click the Join button in the
Publishers section of the Web site.
This step opens the online application.
2. Complete and submit the online application.
You receive, within 24 to 48 hours, an e-mail notifying you whether your
application was accepted with additional instructions to set up your
new account.
TribalFusion
www.TribalFusion.com
The popular impression-based advertising network TribalFusion operates
globally. The site offers a variety of ad formats to publishers that receive a
minimum of 2,000 unique users per day. Additionally, the blog must be active
and updated frequently and must have a professional design. Tribal Fusion
pays publishers 50 percent of all revenue made from their blogs. The payout
threshold is $50 with payment made by check.
You can control the types of ads delivered on your blog by Tribal Fusion by
blocking ad categories or specific advertisers. The site includes Flash ads
and pop-up ads, which might be viewed as intrusive to your visitors. Be sure
to monitor your Tribal Fusion revenue as well as any traffic changes to
ensure that your efforts help you meet your overall goals for your blog.
To apply to become a Tribal Fusion ad publisher, simply complete the online
application on the Tribal Fusion Web site, as shown in Figure 10-6. A representative
from Tribal Fusion reviews your blog and responds to your application
within one business week. If your application is accepted, instructions to
establish your account are provided so that you can begin publishing ads on
your blog.
Affiliate ads
Affiliate ads help you generate an income based on your blog visitors’
actions, similar to a sales commission business model. Most often, a visitor
clicks an ad placed on your blog through your affiliate ad network membership,
and you’re paid when that visitor makes a purchase. Affiliate advertising
comes in a wide variety of formats, allowing you to generate revenue
from a myriad of products and services related to your blog.
In fact, affiliate ads perform best when the products offered by the ads
appearing on your blog are directly related to your blog’s topic. The reason
is simple: People who visit your blog are likely to be interested in products
and services related to your blog’s topic. By visiting your blog, they’ve
already demonstrated their interest in your blog topic, so offering products
that might appeal to them based on that interest is a natural fit.
With so many programs to choose from, you must be sure to research each
one, and test several, to find the ones that are the best match for your blog
and your audience. The success of your affiliate advertising efforts comes
directly from your efforts in finding the most suitable program to help you
meet your blogging goals.
Amazon Associates
www.affiliate-program.amazon.com
Amazon.com is one of the most popular Web sites now online, so it makes
sense that Amazon Associates is one of the most popular affiliate advertising
programs available to bloggers. Amazon.com not only offers an incredibly
wide variety of products to choose from to advertise with your affiliate link
on your blog, but it also makes it extremely easy to set up your Amazon
Associates account. Additionally, you face almost no barriers to entry.
To become an Amazon associate, simply visit the Amazon Associates Web
site and click the Join Now link to fill out the online registration form. Doing
so gives you immediate access to Associates Central, where you can build ad
links and start earning money.
The Amazon Associates program also offers a great deal of flexibility and
customization. You can choose from a wide variety of ad formats, as shown
in Figure 10-7, and you can choose the specific products and links used in
your Amazon Affiliate ads. You can even set up an Amazon store and link
it directly to your blog to increase exponentially your Amazon Associates
revenue-generating potential.
Because Amazon is a well-known brand, your blog visitors are likely to be
comfortable clicking Amazon links and purchasing products from Amazon.
However, the commission earned from Amazon Associates ads is typically
small and varies greatly among bloggers. The bottom line: It takes time,
experimentation, and patience to figure out how best to use Amazon
Associates ads to monetize your blog, but the potential does exist to bring in
revenue.
eBay Partner Network
www.ebaypartnernetwork.com
The eBay Partner Network is an excellent way to use the popularity of online
auctions to generate revenue from your blog. The concept of the eBay
Partner Network is similar to the Amazon Associates affiliate program in that
you can create banners and links to products on eBay or an eBay storefront.
When visitors to your blog click those links and make a purchase or win an
auction, you earn a percentage of the revenue received by eBay. Additionally,
as in the Amazon Associates program, you need to experiment with the eBay
Partner Network to find the best products and ads that convert clicks from
your blog visitors into sales and thus generate earnings for you.
Each eBay Partner Network program has different payment structures and
ads, so be sure to read about the programs you’re interested in before
applying to make sure that they match your needs and goals.
To join the eBay Partner Network, simply complete the online application by
clicking the Join Now link on the eBay Partner Network home page, as shown
in Figure 10-8.
AllPosters
www.affiliates.allposters.com/affiliatesnet
AllPosters is a profitable affiliate program for blogs related to celebrities,
sports, music, art, or other topics where visitors are likely to be interested in
related posters or art. AllPosters sells posters, art, photography, magnets,
apparel, and more with images from celebrities, travel, animals, movies,
musicians, and education. Using the wide variety of ad formats offered by the
AllPosters affiliate program, shown in Figure 10-9, you can include ads for
specific products on your blog or create a storefront.
The AllPosters affiliate program pays a commission of 25 to 30 percent, with
a payout threshold of just $20 paid monthly. You can imagine the potential
income a niche site can generate if it ties nicely to the products offered on
AllPosters. Think Britney Spears or Paris Hilton!
To join the AllPosters affiliate network, simply click the Join Now button on
the Allposters affiliate program Web site and fill out the online application.
LinkShare
www.LinkShare.com
LinkShare, a large affiliate advertising network, works with hundreds of
advertisers to provide ad inventory to publishers such as bloggers. Some of
those advertisers are shown in Figure 10-10. When you become a LinkShare
affiliate, you have access to revenue-generating opportunities from some of
the most well-known brands in the world, such as Wal-Mart, American
Express, LEGO, and others. You select the ads you want to display on your
blog that you expect will meet your revenue criteria. Of course, selecting ads
from advertisers whose products match the wants and needs of your blog
visitors is the key to success.
Not all advertisers in the LinkShare network pay the same amounts, and not
all pay based only on conversions. Take the time to research the various
advertising options and choose the ones that work best for you, your blog,
and your audience. Of course, take the time to experiment with different ads,
advertisers, and other elements to find the best mix for your blog in order to
generate the highest returns.
LinkShare is popular for many reasons:
? The program is open to just about anyone with few barriers to entry.
? People feel comfortable following links to Web sites (and buying products
from) well-known brands and companies.
? The payout threshold is only $1 with payments made monthly.
To sign up with LinkShare, simply follow the Join link in the upper-right
corner of the LinkShare home page and complete the online registration
form. An e-mail is sent to you with instructions to complete your registration
and begin selecting affiliate advertisements to display on your blog.
Commission Junction
www.CommissionJunction.com
Commission Junction is a well-known affiliate advertising program with a
wide variety of advertisers in its CJ Marketingplace network. The site is
owned by ValueClick Media (discussed earlier in this chapter, in the section
“Impression-based ads”). Commission Junction works primarily with large
companies and well-known brands, which typically appeal to consumers and
blog visitors, particularly when the ads align closely with your blog topic.
The minimum payout threshold is just $25 with payments made monthly.
On the negative side, in order to earn money through Commission Junction,
you need to go through a multistep approval process. First, you sign up to
become a Commission Junction publisher by using the online form, shown
in Figure 10-11. After your application is accepted, you apply to each
advertiser’s program that you want to participate in, which can make the
process to monetize your blog through Commission Junction a long one.
Another drawback to Commission Junction is the user account center, which
is more challenging to navigate than the interfaces offered by other affiliate
programs.
Merchandising and mini-malls
Selling merchandise from your blog is a helpful way to bring in money. No
matter what topic you blog about, you can likely find a way to link merchandise
to it, whether you create a logo and sell T-shirts or imprint a quote on a
magnet or button. If creating your own designs for merchandise doesn’t work
for you, some programs let you simply sell popular products, from iPods to
baby gear and everything in between, from a wide variety of merchants.
CafePress
www.CafePress.com
CafePress is one of the most popular online merchandising Web sites, where
people can upload custom designs to appear on products such as clothing,
posters, calendars, and mugs. You can then sell those products from your
own CafePress storefront, which can link directly to your blog by using a
unique URL.
Each product is produced on-demand when an order is placed and shipped
directly to the customer. CafePress also manages all exchanges and returns
and offers customer service. You receive a check each month with your
earnings from each sale, which come from the markup you choose to place
on the base price of each item. You can open an unlimited number of basic
shops for free and sell as many as 80 items per shop, or you can open a
premium shop for as little as $4.99 per month and offer an unlimited amount
of merchandise, which also gives you the most customization options. A
premium shop tour is shown in Figure 10-12 to give you an idea of what a
custom storefront provides.
To create a CafePress store of your own, simply click the Sell Stuff link from
the top navigation bar on the CafePress home page and then click the Start
Selling Now button in the sidebar on the right to create your account. Follow
the instructions to create your storefront, upload images, and perform
other tasks. Simply link your blog to your store and you’re done. Of course,
promoting your store by blogging about it helps, too!
Make sure you own the copyright for (or get permission to use) any images or
artwork you use on merchandise you sell.
Chitika eMiniMalls
www.chitika.com
Chitika eMiniMalls offer an interactive product merchandising service where
ads for merchandise are shown based on the content of the page in which
the ad code is placed. In other words, Chitika displays ads based on the
keywords found on your blog page. The ads are unique in that they include a
picture of the product and several tabs offering a product description and
comparative shopping information, as shown in Figure 10-13.
Chitika eMiniMall ads are based on pay-per-click, and you earn 60 percent of
Chitika’s revenue each time someone clicks an ad on your blog. The payment
threshold is just $10 for accounts paid by way of PayPal and $50 for accounts
paid by check. You can easily sign up for the Chitika eMiniMall program by
visiting the Chitika home page, clicking the Publishers link in the top navigation
bar, and then clicking the Apply Now button to fill out the online application.
A response is e-mailed to you as soon as your application is manually
reviewed.
Chitika eMiniMalls work best on sites that are related to tangible products,
receive a significant amount of traffic each month, and use highly targeted
keywords. Chitika offers tools to help users choose keywords and maximize
their earning potential, but it can take time and patience to figure out how to
make Chitika eMiniMalls perform well on your blog. The potential exists to
make a significant revenue stream after Chitika eMiniMalls are optimized on
your blog.
Feed ads
Many bloggers use feed ads to monetize their blogs’ RSS feeds. With more
and more blog visitors using RSS feed readers to view their favorite blogs,
bloggers have found that they lose money from lost page views. One way
to combat that lost revenue is to add advertisements to your blog’s feed. If
you have an RSS feed set up for your blog, as described in Chapter 10, you
might want to consider monetizing it with one of the following feed advertising
programs.
Feedburner ads
As discussed in Chapter 9, FeedBurner is one of the most popular tools
that bloggers use to create their blog feeds (called burning a feed). Because
Google owns both Blogger and FeedBurner, you can easily add Google
AdSense ads to your FeedBurner feed. Google AdSense is described in detail
in Chapter 11.
Pheedo
www.pheedo.com
Pheedo offers RSS feed advertising from a wide variety of well-known brands
and companies, including Microsoft, Ford, and ESPN. Ads are placed
between, beside, or within your RSS articles or as stand-alone items. The
position and format choices are up to you. Figure 10-14 shows how several
Pheedo ad formats look online.
Your earnings from Pheedo are contingent on your feed traffic, the frequency
with which you update your blog, your blog topic, and your blog’s popularity.
Advertisers determine how much they’re willing to pay to reach your readers.
Popular, highly trafficked, and frequently updated blogs typically generate
significantly higher revenues from Pheedo RSS ads than smaller blogs do.
If you try Pheedo RSS feed advertising, make sure that you take the time to
analyze your results in terms of the revenue generated from those ads as well
as the impact on your overall traffic patterns. Some people find RSS feed ads
to be intrusive. The last thing you want to do is turn away visitors because
they don’t like your RSS feed ads.
To join the Pheedo syndicated content advertising network, simply visit the
Pheedo home page and click the Get Started button in the Publishers section
on the right side of the screen. Complete and submit the online application,
and a Pheedo publisher services professional contacts you for follow up.
Direct ads
Rather than rely on ad networks and third parties to provide advertising
content for your blog, you can sell ad space directly. You can sell a variety of
types of ads on your blog by setting up a page on your blog and announcing
that you’re accepting ads and inviting interested advertisers to send an
e-mail for details. Selling ad space can be difficult until your blog grows to a
minimum of at least 1,000 visitors per day, but it’s certainly not impossible,
particularly for niche topic blogs. Your Google page rank and Technorati
authority ranking can also help you (or hurt you) in your direct advertising
sales efforts.
Basically, an advertiser doesn’t pay to place an ad on your blog unless the
amount of exposure and number of click-throughs and conversions (such as
leads or sales) bring in a higher return than does the initial advertising
investment. Your goal in selling ads directly is to make your blog attractive
to advertisers by offering appropriate rates based on the return they’re
likely to get.
Distinguishing between types of ads
Bloggers can sell just about any kind of ad they want directly on their blogs.
The only limitation is what you can handle technically when you configure
ads to appear on your blog. In other words, don’t offer more than you’re
capable of delivering. If you’re only comfortable copying code or images from
the advertiser into a page element in your blog’s sidebar, offer only that type
of ad on your blog.
The following list describes some of the most common types of ads that
bloggers sell directly:
? Sidebar button, skyscraper, or other image-based ad: Your sidebar is
an excellent place for ads. You can place 125×125 pixel button ads,
larger skyscraper ads, or an image ad of any size that fits in your sidebar
to use that area in the best way to meet your goals.
? Sidebar text link ads: Your sidebar can contain a multitude of text links.
Of course, too many text links become cluttered and make your blog
unreadable, but adding a small number of text link ads is a great way to
monetize your blog.
? Graphical ads between posts: Just as you can insert image-based ads in
your sidebar, you can also insert them between blog posts.
? Text link ads between posts: Just as you can insert text link ads in your
sidebar, you can add them between your blog posts.
` ? Text link ads within posts: Advertisers might want to purchase a
specific keyword and ask you to use it in an upcoming post.
? Banner ads in the header: If your header has room to fit a banner ad,
you can monetize that space and sell advertising there.
Selling and negotiating
After you decide to sell ads on your blog directly, you need to create an
Advertise Here page or section on your blog. Include your contact information
for details, and then you can negotiate each ad with buyers individually.
After your blog grows big enough and interest in advertising on your blog
increases, you can publish your acceptable ad rates and formats on your
Advertise Here page. By that time, you’ll have a good idea of what types of
ads work on your blog and which rates are appropriate to charge.
Have your site statistics ready (refer to Chapter 9), because advertisers will
ask for them. Be prepared to share your rankings, subscriber numbers,
page views, and number of visitors and unique visitors, and have access to
other stats in case they’re requested. Additionally, advertisers may ask for
demographic information about your readers. You might know some of
that information from communicating with your readers. For more specific
information, you can use a service such as www.Quantcast.com to find
out more about your audience or survey your audience using a free survey
service, such as SurveyGizmo (www.surveygizmo.com) or SurveyMonkey
(www.surveymonkey.com).
The most important thing about selling ads on your blog directly is to ensure
that you don’t exaggerate your blog’s traffic or reach. Be honest in what you
believe you can deliver for advertisers and charge your rates accordingly.
Sponsored reviews
Sponsored reviews help you get paid for writing and publishing posts.
Advertisers search for bloggers to write posts and reviews, for example,
about their brands, products, and Web sites to create an online buzz,
increase Web site traffic, and boost sales. A number of companies run
sponsored review networks, and the three most popular are discussed in
this chapter.
Each sponsored review network operates similarly in that you submit your
blog for inclusion in the network’s marketplace. If your blog is approved,
you can either search for sponsored review opportunities that your blog
qualifies for, or advertisers can search for your blog based on the criteria
they establish for each opportunity. When you accept a sponsored review
opportunity, you’re given the requirements of the opportunity and a timeframe
within which the sponsored post must be published. The payment
amount is agreed on upfront and is typically based on the specific opportunity
as well as on the Google, Technorati, and Alexa rankings of your blog.
Be sure to read the specific rules for each sponsored review network you
consider joining. Each network has individual nuances that make it unique.
Sponsored reviews are a useful way for smaller bloggers to make some extra
money, but they can also hurt your blog in the long run. Unfortunately,
Google and other search engines don’t like paid links, and the links in a
sponsored review are exactly that. If the sponsored review network you join
doesn’t use the NoFollow HTML tag, discussed earlier in this chapter, and
doesn’t allow you to fully disclose sponsored reviews on your blog, Google is
likely to downgrade your page rank or remove your blog from its searches
entirely, which can lead to a significant decline in search-related traffic to
your blog. With that in mind, you should consider avoiding sponsored review
programs that don’t use the NoFollow HTML tag, don’t allow you to disclose
your posts as paid for by sponsors and don’t allow you to write honest
reviews.
204 Part III: Making Money with Blogger
PayPerPost
www.payperpost.com
PayPerPost is the pioneer of sponsored reviews. Bloggers who join the
PayPerPost marketplace submit an application by clicking the Sign Up Now
button on the PayPerPost home page, shown in Figure 10-15. After your
application is accepted, you can set up your blog’s profile, select your blog’s
category, and begin looking for opportunities.
PayPerPost bloggers have six hours to complete an assignment after accepting
an opportunity and are paid 30 days after the sponsored review post
is published. Opportunities begin at $5 and can increase to thousands of
dollars, but those high-paying opportunities are typically available only to
blogs with very high amounts of traffic.
ReviewMe
www.reviewme.com
At ReviewMe, another popular sponsored-review network, bloggers can click
the Signup Now button on the home page, as shown in Figure 10-16. When
your application is approved, you can set up your blog information for
advertisers to find you. Rather than search for opportunities as you do on
PayPerPost, advertisers search for bloggers with ReviewMe.
205 Chapter 10: The Business of Blogging
Figure 10-16:
Joining
ReviewMe.
When an advertiser sends an opportunity to you, you can approve or reject
it. Completed reviews typically pay between $20 and $200, but higher-paying
reviews are usually reserved for highly trafficked blogs.
SponsoredReviews
www.SponsoredReviews.com
SponsoredReviews works a bit like both PayPerPost and ReviewMe, in
that bloggers can search for opportunities and bid on jobs, which allows
for rate negotiation directly with the advertisers, and they can create a
blog profile and let advertisers bring offers to them, which they can accept
or reject.
If you accept an opportunity through SponsoredReviews, you’re given three
days to complete the assignment. Your post is reviewed to ensure that it
meets specified guidelines, and you’re paid by way of PayPal every two
weeks. SponsoredReviews opportunities are available from $10 to $1,000,
but the higher-paying reviews are usually available only to extremely
popular blogs.
You can sign up for SponsoredReviews by clicking the Free Sign Up button on
its home page, shown in Figure 10-17.
Other monetization options
Advertising and merchandise sales are common, but you’re not limited to
those moneymaking options on your blog. Don’t be afraid to be creative and
think “out of the box.” What would your blog readers enjoy? Find ways to
provide the content, links, and information your readers want, and then
create ways to monetize them.
You can even extend your monetization opportunities outside your blog. For
example, as your blog grows in popularity and your online presence becomes
stronger, you can seek out opportunities to write paid articles for online
publications and magazines, for example, or pursue paid speaking engagements
as an expert in your blog’s topic. The opportunities are available with
creative thinking, effort, and commitment. Check out the monetization
options in the following sections for some ideas to get you started.
Donations
As your blog and your audience grow, you can ask visitors to donate money
to help keep the blog going. You can use that money toward hosting costs,
contest prizes, design costs, and other costs. To make the process of asking
for donations simple, you can add a PayPal (www.PayPal.com) donation
button to your blog, which automates the process by electronically transferring
the money from the donor’s account to yours. An example of a PayPal
donation button is shown in Figure 10-18.
Setting up a PayPal account takes only a few minutes and can be quite helpful
as your blog grows to accept advertising payments, pay hosting fees, and
much more. After your PayPal account is up and running, you can simply
use the tools provided on the PayPal Web site to create your Donation
button and upload it to your blog by adding a new gadget to your sidebar, as
described in Chapter 8.
Guest blogging
Guest blogging is a simple process of writing a post to be published on
another blogger’s blog. Guest blogging works well as a promotional tool,
particularly when you write a guest post that appears on a blog that’s more
popular than your own. To get started as a guest blogger, contact other
bloggers whom you admire or whose audience is similar to your own and
pitch a guest post idea. If the other blogger accepts your guest post, you can
simply write it (always include a link to your own blog in your guest posts)
and provide it to the other blogger for publishing. The goal of guest blogging
for free is to get your name out there across the blogosphere and build an
online reputation as well as generate traffic to your blog.
After your blog is established and you’re well known online, you can begin
offering your guest blogging services for a fee. Some of the most popular
bloggers charge several hundred dollars to write a guest post. You have to
start with lower fees, of course, but the potential exists to make some extra
money from paid guest blogging. Advertise your service on your blog, social
networks, and other outlets to spread the word and generate interest. To
make the process easy, you can use your PayPal account to accept payment.
Making Money from Your Blog
Posted by Blogger Templateson
July 23, 2009
Making money from your blog, or blog monetization, doesn’t happen overnight.
You won’t place an ad on your blog today and find money rolling in
tomorrow. Instead, blog monetization takes time, practice, experimentation,
and patience to flourish. Much of your moneymaking success comes from
your blog visitors’ reactions to your efforts, so it takes time to figure out
what your readers respond to best. Just as people respond differently to television
or magazine ads, they also respond differently to ads that appear on
blogs. If your goal is to make money from blog advertising, you need to be
prepared to test ads and track the results to find the right mix to maximize
your earnings.
It’s equally important to understand that different advertising opportunities
might perform better on your blog than others strictly because of the nature
of your blog’s topic. For example, some blog topics are perfectly suited for
affiliate advertising with a directly related affiliate program. Consider a blog
about pregnancy that uses affiliate advertising from a top baby store.
Naturally, this ad program would work better on that blog than an affiliate
program that sells unrelated products, such as humidors and tobacco products.
Some blog topics are perfect for blog advertising and offer a wealth of
opportunities for the blogger to choose from, and other blog topics are a bit
more challenging to monetize. The challenge for the blogger is always the
same: Find the best ad opportunities that deliver the best results.
Understanding monetization options
You can add advertisements to your blog in a variety of ways to derive a passive
income. Each one requires a different amount of real estate (or space) on
your blog, and each one brings in a different amount of money, depending on
your blog’s topic and readers. Most blog advertising opportunities offer one
of three primary payment methods for bloggers:
? Pay-per-click: The advertiser pays the blogger every time someone
clicks the ad placed on the blog.
? Pay-per-impression: The advertiser pays the blogger every time the ad
appears on the blog — or every time a visitor views the page where the
ad is placed. Typically, pay-per-impression ads are paid using a “per
1,000 impressions” model or a similar pay structure rather than pay on
individual impressions.
? Pay-per-action: The advertiser pays the blogger every time a person
clicks the ad and performs an action, such as making a purchase or
registering for an account.
Examining the pros and cons
of monetization options
With each advertising opportunity comes different guidelines and restrictions.
Make sure that you read all the terms and conditions of each online advertising
network or affiliate program you join. Also ensure that those programs are
in line with the Google and Blogger terms and conditions you agreed to when
you created your blogging accounts, as described in Chapter 4.
Additionally, listen to the online buzz to hear current information about the
pros and cons of different advertising opportunities. For example, bloggers
and search engine optimization experts warn against writing sponsored
reviews (described later in this chapter) of products or Web sites without
fully disclosing that you’re being paid to write those reviews. If you write
them, you run the risk of having Google drop your blog from its search
results, making your blog’s traffic drop significantly. It’s these types of conversations
that can help you make decisions about the types of advertising
you want to include on your blog. Spend time on the Blogger Buzz blog
(http://buzz.blogger.com) and the Blogger Google Group (http://
groups.google.com/group/blogger-help) to hear the discussions
around blog advertising, and then pick and choose the moneymaking opportunities
that meet your current and future needs and goals.
It’s your content, not your ads, that makes visitors return to your blog. Don’t
cover your blog in so many ads that visitors have difficulty finding your content.
Knowing what to look for
in a monetization option
Each blog monetization option that you consider offers different payments
and different rules. Make sure that you understand both before you dive
in to joining a new advertising program. When you choose a new moneymaking
option to experiment with on your blog, make sure that it offers
these features:
? Acceptable payment rates: Some advertising opportunities pay much
more than others, but if your visitors aren’t interested in those ads,
those high rates might not help you earn more money. Balance the payment
rate with the usefulness of the ad for your audience to find the
best opportunities for your blog.
? Clear payment terms: Avoid advertisers that don’t offer clear and
acceptable payment terms. Make sure that you know when you’ll be
paid and how. For example, some advertisers don’t pay bloggers until
they earn $100. It can take some bloggers quite a long time to reach the
$100 threshold for payout. Additionally, some advertisers pay only by
way of PayPal (www.PayPal.com). If you don’t want to have a PayPal
account and don’t want to open one, look for alternate advertising
opportunities.
? Free and effective reporting tools: Be certain that the advertising programs
you join offer free reporting tools and that the tools provide you
with a real-time picture of your earnings and performance.
? Detailed tracking tools: Reporting tools must allow you to track your
detailed performance, including earnings per ad unit and earnings by
day. Don’t settle for high-level information. The only way you can truly
create a long-term, targeted advertising plan for your blog is to analyze
the results of each program in detail.
? Easy-to-understand terms and conditions: Read the terms and conditions
to ensure that you understand them and that they answer all your
questions. Don’t be afraid to do a Google search on a new advertising
opportunity to see what other bloggers have to say about it before you
make your decision to join.
? Support: If you have a problem with an ad unit or a tool, you have to be
able to find help when you need it. Make sure that the advertising programs
you sign up with offer support by e-mail or telephone.
The Business of Blogging
Posted by Blogger Templateson
July 22, 2009
Advertising is the most common form of blog monetization, and you can
quite easily integrate advertising into your Blogger blog. Including
online ads in your blog is a simple way to earn a passive income from your
blogging efforts. In many cases, you simply need to register for an account
with an ad network or affiliate marketing program, copy some code provided
to you into a new gadget in your blog, and you’re done. Ads are automatically
displayed to your visitors based on the criteria you selected during the registration
process in each specific advertising program.
Blog advertising is growing in popularity not just among bloggers looking for
ways to earn extra money but also among companies and advertisers that
recognize the power of the blogosphere and the broad reach many blogs provide.
As your blog traffic grows, more and more opportunities will open to
you to attract bigger advertisers with bigger budgets. You’ll also have more
opportunities to join ad networks and affiliate programs that have minimum
participation restrictions based on page views or subscribers, for example. In
other words, the bigger your blog becomes, the more money you can make
from it through advertising.
The key to making money from your blog is understanding the moneymaking
options available to you and experimenting with those opportunities until
you find the right mix for your blog. Much of your moneymaking success lies
in finding the right balance of ads that your visitors appreciate and act on.
This chapter breaks down some of the most popular blog monetization
options so you can begin experimenting on your own blog.
