For me there is a constant struggle with wanting to provide advertising on my website and yet at the same tim thinking it is tacky for me to do so. I have tended to only link to products that I use, or have used, and there for see it as a method in which I am recommending something to my readers and clients instead of just trying to make money off of it. I think that the number one thing you want is for people to trust you, and with too many ads, especially too many random ads, it makes the site look cluttered and well, in my opinion, make the content look less truth worthy. This of course is my personal preference. Many sites that are 100% legitimate have tons and tons of ads.
Here is a quick list on the most common types of advertising on a website or blog. Most of the time you will find a mix of all of these.
Pay-per-click advertising (PPC)
You get paid when a reader clicks on the ad. The most common type is Google AdSense.
Direct Advertising
You Sell your own ads. Common sizes are 125 x 125 and 200 x 250.
- WP125 Plugin: A free plugin to use to manage ads on your site. You can choose to pick from affiliate ads or sell your own. If you sell your own, you will need to set up a page and decide on payment processing.
- OIO publishing: Great if you are ready to take the next step to selling ads on your site. Even has affiliate marking if you want to offer incentives for people to place ads about your company on their site.
- Passionfruit: You sell ads on your website. Easy to manage system that cost only cost $1 per ad you sell, plus the cost of the PayPal fee. It offers full payment processes, reminders, and tracking.
Affiliate Marketing
You get paid if the reader uses your link to purchase the item.
- Amazon.com Associates: Do you write about items that readers would want to purchase? If so, this is a great way to integrate affiliate marketing into your posts.
- Ejunkie: This is both a way to sign up for affiliate marking, sell items from your website, and have your own affiliate marketing campaign.
- Commission Junction: Many advertisers uses this as their affiliate marketing service.
Tip: If you use anything on the web always check if they have an affiliate marketing program. Many times this is listed at the bottom of the website.
Sponsored Reviews
You get paid to review an item on your blog. Also, good to use if you are a company that has a product or service that you would like to get some buzz generated. Overall I have found this to be the least useful method where they offer you a $1 for a post, and seems a bit gimmicky to me. However it is an option for revenue.
Leave a Reply