Make money from your blog or website

In a previous post, Zac pointed out that run-of-the-mill display advertising (eg Advertising.com) is not necessarily the most effective way to monetize your site.

As we grow our list of advertising networks, we are seeing more and more diverse and creative alternatives.

A new addition to our database, RevResponse, is an excellent example. Rather than trying to sell products, RevResponse adds value to your site by offering extra content. The reader can download free business ebooks and white papers from over 30 topics. This is a win-win-win situation, and demonstrates the power of non-display advertising:

• You, the publisher, make money by adding valuable content to your site.
• Your audience gets free, useful content related to their area of interest.
• The advertiser acquires leads that are genuinely interested in their business.

And this is only one example.

Although display ads are still sometimes the most appropriate option, 65% of the ad networks listed on Revenue Solved are non-display focused.

When considering our recommendations, you have the opportunity to enhance your site with content that is engaging for your audience.

You can add anything from job listings in your industry (eg Job-A-Matic) to fun, flash based games (eg MochiAds). Definitely worth checking out - even if we say so ourselves!

There’s no question that all websites want to grow their traffic. It’s a constant focus for most bloggers and publishers. Because with growth comes greater reach, influence and potential to make money from your site. And, heck, it’s nicebragging rights as well!

But here’s one reason why small is good for publishers.  A recent survey by PubMatic shows that effective CPMs from July through September were $0.27 — down 27 percent compared with this year’s first quarter.

Hang on - $0.27?!  That’s really, really low.  (It means that for each 1,000 displays of an ad, you’ll make $0.27 cents. Not many Starbucks coffees in a day’s traffic for many sites.)

Clickz, however, note that the CPMs are significantly higher for smaller publishers: Sites with under one million page views per month drew eCPMs of $0.61, nearly three times that of sites with 100 million-plus views, where the average price was $0.18.

There are two takeouts for me in this data.  The first is that making money online is very, very hard.  You need to try lots of ways to make money online - which is why we set-up Revenue Solved in the first place.

The second is that display advertising - which was the focus of the survey - is not necessarily the best way to monetize your traffic. Consider affiliate organisations, widgets, games and other non-advertising ways to monetize your blog or website.

So here’s the pitch: why not get some suggestions using our monetization service and get tailored suggestions for your website.

When you enter your website or blog address at Revenue Solved and answer a few questions, we ask that you create an account with us. Here’s why.

By telling us about your website once, we update your recommendations every time we discover new solutions that fit your needs. Easy. You don’t have to answer any more questions.

Plus, you can save multiple websites to the one account, making it easy to keep track of all of your options in one place.

Once you register, we can provide you with some free revenue recommendations to get you started.

If you wish to view the full list of recommendations we have for you, all you need to do is make a small payment. Then you can simply log in as often as you like to see all of your updated recommendations.

We’ve designed Revenue Solved as the single source of information you need to receive the best revenue advice for your website.

So, if you want to get started with some free recommendations, then get started. Tell us about your site and create an account.

If you’ve created your account and received your free recommendations, but didn’t choose to pay, why not invest? It’s a small price to pay to make the most out of your website.

Learn more about the benefits of joining.

Each week we read on techcrunch, IAB and the like that display advertising is probably going to hold up during the global financial crises.  That growth will be a little down on the previous years.

Or alternatively, we read that the trend towards ‘performance’ (where advertisers only pay once a certain action is performed downstream of the click) will erode CPM rates for mainstream publishers.

But despite the focus on display advertising, for most publishers it’s not about display ads. Not at all.

Here’s my view. The broader trend for many publishers is away from display advertising.

Making money from your blog or website will increasingly be about embracing non-display forms of monetisation. This means considering job widgets, shop widgets, and for smaller sites: even donations.

Because effective advertising means performance and relevancy. A big flashing ad just isn’t right in certain contexts.

If you have people who like your site and are looking for ways to stick around, why not put some widgets on the site.

A great example is mochiads.  These are cool little games, with subtle pre-game ads. They are fun to play and help monetise your traffic. Have a play below, and sign-up if you’re interested in giving them a go.

At the recent AlwaysOn OnMedia conference in New York City, Silicon Alley technologists and Madison Avenue advertising executives discussed the future of online advertising, and the outlook is exciting. After the dust settled and the managing directors, strategists, marketing officers and other various big wigs had their say, reputable industry commentator VentureBeat observed;

The opportunity to develop new forms of advertising that reach the growing online audiences is pulling some big-media executives into the startup world,

and concluded;

Startups are looking for an inside track to advocacy on Madison Avenue, higher profiles and ultimately, brand dollars coming to their new ideas.

For those unfamiliar with the marketing speak, this means the big advertising guys are chasing the big brand guys harder than before. They’re pulling offline advertising dollars into online, and more brands with more dollars will boost the profitability of online advertising for publishers. 

As opportunities enter the market we update our database, and if they’re right for you these solutions will be added to your recommendation. We’re always on the lookout, and we’re excited about what these market developements can do for the profitability of our publishers.

We created RevenueSolved because it was hard to make money online - we found out the hard way. We’re not the only ones who think so either. On About.com’s page titled Make Money Online the author concedes;

It’s hard to tell hype from the real deal. I did a search on “make money online” and “making money online”, and much of the information out there is just promoting various infoproducts, mostly about Internet marketing. I see why people sometimes ask, “Is anyone making money online besides Internet marketing experts?”

Yep, that’s right. Even one of the web’s most trusted information sources is a little unsure on how the whole making money online thing works. This is exactly why we’re here, and why you should be using us if you’re not already one of our lucky clients.

After trying to make money from publishing websites for years, we’ve learnt that it’s not easy. It’s a minefield out there - with hundreds of advertising networks, affiliate deals, seeding platforms and pay per post options promising publishers they’ll make a gazillion dollars it’s hard to know who to trust. Lucky for you, we’ve researched and tried them all - and have measured their fit for all sites, not just our own.

We’ve created a database of specific, relevant recommendations for websites, blogs and facebook applications by researching the suitability of revenue solutions for different traffic volumes, website types, content categories, website features and audience gender. Sounds like tough work right? It is, so fortunately we’ve done it all for you and you’re on easy street.

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