Popularity means income It’s a sad fact and rather prejudiced against blogs that are just starting out but to make advertising work on a blog, that blog has to have enough traffic. Without sufficient traffic, the ads found on that blog will just not find an audience and therefore will not earn.

Now to build traffic, your blog has to have a strong niche and targeted content. Finding a niche for your blog can be tricky, especially if the topic you’re offering is obscure and not that easily relatable in terms of advertising. Tricky, of course but not entirely impossible. You’d be surprised at the number of targeted ads some little known topics generate.

However, your best bet and the surest way to make advertising work on your blog is to promote a topic that is highly targeted or one that speaks to a niche audience. By building a following, your blog will gain enough popularity to be trusted by advertisers.

Advertising on your blog The way advertising works on a blog is simple: advertisers want to promote their products and services, your blog provides the platform with which their ads can gain exposure, mainly by being the site where their target market frequents. If your blog is about shoes, the people who visit your blog are those who want to know more about shoes. From the shoe advertisers’ point of view, these people are a gold mine, more likely to buy their shoes based on the interest they have shown.

There are two ways you can make advertising work on your blog: by providing ad space on your own or by relying on an advertising server to do the work for you. Selling ad space on a blog is fairly common, particularly on blogs that target a niche market. You simply set the rates, actively contact advertisers and agree on the terms. Or, the advertisers can contact you, after seeing the potential of your blog.

How you get paid is simple enough: once the ad has been placed on your blog, your visitors will click on it. Depending on your agreement with the advertiser, you could earn either through the number of clicks the ad receives or the type of action solicited by the ad, such as a purchase or a subscription.

If you’re fairly new to the blog universe and would rather build your reputation slowly by providing quality content, you might find yourself too busy to actively negotiate and communicate with advertisers. If this is the case you can choose to work with an advertising server. One such is Google’sAdsense, although there are others that work just as well.

An ad server looks at your blog and determines the best ads that relate to your content. You simply take the code, put it on your blog and let it go to work. You simply have to collect your earnings using your account. This is a rather passive approach to letting advertising work on your blog but it can earn you a little. Of course, if you want higher earnings, you need to actively put in more effort and seek out higher paying ads with the right combination of keywords that work best for your blog.

But don’t get carried away by your success. You might think that placing many ads on your blog can help you earn exponentially. What it will do is earn you a spot on your advertiser’s black list. Advertisers have guidelines about how many ads you can place on one web page. Generally, this can range from 3 to 5, depending on the sponsor.

If you don’t want to break the good will that exists between you and your affiliate or advertising program, learn what the policies are and respect them.

Is that a blog or a splog? One of the worst labels your blog can be slapped with is ’splog’. That’s a blog that contains spam. If your blog is nothing more than just pages upon pages of advertising and little content, you’d probably be better off publishing a fashion magazine.

Too many ads on a blog can bury your content, distract your visitors and even frustrate them. Some, such as the very wary ones, will leave your blog in a hurry. If your blog resembles an infomercial, forget it. It will look annoying and take away from the good reputation you’re trying to build.

Too many choices Another challenge you will be facing when it comes to blog advertising is persuading your visitors to pay attention to the ads long enough to actually do something with them. Otherwise, these ads will be useless.

The problem with a blog that has too many advertising units is that it can confuse the visitor. When they’re confused, they’re less likely to click on an ad, much less subscribe or buy anything. That leaves your advertisers - and you - empty-handed.

Managing your advertising A blog page can easily handle an average of three ads, which is something most advertising and affiliate programs will allow. Placed strategically, these ads can easily catch the attention of your visitors. Since there are only a few ads to look at, your visitors can easily decide which one to click on.

Now imagine if there were 10 to 15 ads running on the same page at the same time. You’ve probably seen blogs like these before, with ads splattered all over, rivaling a NASCAR race car.

To use blog advertising correctly, first consider the type of programs you will be running. If you will be an affiliate to a brand or company, there are certain restrictions you have to work with. Some companies, for example, prefer not to have a competing brand’s ad placed in the same blog.

Second, placement and aesthetics matter. Consider some of the highest-rated blogs and study their ad placements. Where are these ads placed on a page, what are their sizes relative to one another and to the content box and what do these ads contain? If you’ve seen enough of these successful blogs, you’ll have picked up enough lessons to know how to use blog advertising to your advantage.

The problem with the Internet is that there is just so
much information floating around that it can be a
full-time job just to sift through the good ones and
ignore the so-so ones. It’s like TiVo on the Web - you
only get to access the stuff you really like and avoid
the ones that make you cringe, all without the
interruption of unwanted material. But what’s this?
RSS advertising for blogs and websites? Is this the
end of an era or just simply part of the Internet’s
evolution?

Why RSS matters Advertising on RSS is ruffling a few
feathers mainly because it’s a concept that seems to
go against the very nature of RSS. For the
uninitiated, RSS consists of different Web-feed
formats that are utilized for publishing or posting
content online. RSS works mainly for content that
frequently undergo updates, such as news, podcasts and
of course, blogs.

The purpose of the RSS is to allow regular visitors of
a site to access relevant updates by simply
subscribing to its RSS feed. It’s convenient,
particularly because it eliminates the necessity to
access a site and sort through the contents.

Will RSS advertising work on your blog? The fact that
people continue to subscribe to RSS feed is proof that
it does work nicely. In fact, you’ll probably notice
that more people subscribe to a site or blog that
offers RSS feeds than those who don’t. As proof, try
to compare CNN.com with the New York Times’ website.

But when it comes to the subject of advertising, all
isnt exactly well. Some people believe that having
adverts on RSS sort of defeats its original purpose -
that of allowing subscribers access to pure content.
There is talk about using an RSS advertising block,
one that effectively allows users to get rid of ads
that are contained in an RSS feed. So what’s next? A
full-fledged war between advertisers and ad blockers?

To use RSS advertising with your blog effectively, the
trick is to write compelling summaries of content
found in your site and use that for the feed. A feed
containing full text, for example, might fail to
generate interest in the ads since the usual purpose
of the subscriber is mainly to read the content.

Using a feed as a full ad can backfire, since people
generally dislike being bombarded by ads. Some
bloggers who use RSS advertising, for example, use a
full feed as an ad every 10th to 12th post. Their
readers still get the meaty feeds that they like but
also get exposed to ads the blogger is promoting.

If this is the way you think RSS advertising can work
for your blog, try experimenting with different
strategies, such as combining good content with
related ads. That way your readers dont have to think
that the post is nothing but a way to make them
perform an action or spend for something.

Blocking the hand that feeds Before anyone does
anything drastic, let us consider how important
advertising is to blogs, websites and yes, even RSS
feeds. Thanks to revenue generated from advertising,
sites (and everything else that supports them from
software makers to hosting services) continue to
exist. Advertising provides support for sites that
offer us content, including those found in RSS feeds.
Without advertising, many sites and providers might
find it difficult to defray cost related to producing
content.

So where will RSS advertising’s place be in your blog?
Continue to use it. You owe it not only to your
advertisers and sponsors who have been helping you
meet the cost of maintaining your site but also to
your readers who, without your ads, might not be able
to access your content.

During your initial foray into web logging, you’ll
find that it will take some conscious effort on your
part to promote your blog. Of course, you could just
simply write feverishly and hope that your blog takes
on a life of its own.

But that’s putting your hopes on randomness which
might not work in your favor. If the thought of
advertising your blog has never crossed your mind,
it’s time that you gave it some consideration,
especially if you’ve only begun blogging.

Here are ways you can start advertising your blog at
little or no cost:

Share information for free. Dont expect or demand to
be paid for information just yet. You’re still trying
to build your reputation and nobody knows you. Focus
on putting out excellent quality entries or posts in
your blog. Good content, coupled with enough
promotional activity, will put you in the blog
universe’s map.

The way to do it is to write articles about your
specific topic, articles that are related to your
chosen content. Include a short introduction about
yourself and your blog and place a link back to your
site. Writing articles helps establish your reputation
as a reliable source of information and makes you
recognizable.

Take article writing a bit further and send it out to
article databases or social bookmarking sites where it
can generate more buzz and get free promotion. Social
bookmarking sites allow visitors to vote for your
article, so the more it gains in popularity, the more
exposure your blog will receive.

Target online forums Online forums are today’s
bulletin boards, the equivalent of the office water
cooler. These are sites or pages on the internet that
people frequent to ask or answer questions, share
their opinions, tell a story, rant, rave or just
simply say something.

Seek out online forums where topics related to your
blog are found. Forums offer free advertising
opportunities for your blog and let you network at the
same time.

Link up with other blogs Never underestimate the power
of a good connection. Many bloggers form associations
with other bloggers and reap the rewards of a
symbiotic relationship in the process. They do this by
swapping links, allowing themselves to share their
audience with other bloggers like you.

Bloggers can also actively promote your blog by
mentioning it in their posts while at the same time
providing links back to your site.

Frequently, blog owners will often allow you to guest
write an article or post for a day or a week. This
helps expose you and your blog to that blog’s
visitors.

Give your two cents’ worth Don’t always treat other
blogs with content similar to yours as bitter
competitors. Sometimes, they could work as silent
partners to help you promote your blog. It may sound
sneaky or unacceptable to your idea of good ethics but
if you look closely, it’s not only practical, it’s
also legit.

Each time you visit another guy’s blog, consider the
niche market it targets. Simply take a look at the
prevailing topics and sentiment and you’ll have an
idea whether it’s a match to your needs or not. Leave
a short but meaty comment on a relevant article that
you truly found interesting. Then leave your name and
a link to the blog page where a related topic can be
found.

What this does is simply promoting your blog to a
market that already exists. You’re not exactly
stealing another blogger’s audience - you’re simply
providing them an alternative. And that’s not so bad
for advertising your blog.

When it’s done right, blog advertising can be very
profitable. It will not only pay for the maintenance
of your blog but it will also a source of some nice
extra income. In fact, a good percentage of bloggers
take this route to monetize their blog. However, with
every good thing come a few disadvantages. If you’re
thinking of using advertising for your blog, here are
some pros and cons you need to know:

Pros of blog advertising There are several advantages
to using advertising for blogs, which make it an
attractive option for your website. These are:

Your blog earns. The revenue generated by advertising
allows you to perform improvements on your blog. You
can spend for maintenance, pay for better website
design, buy a bigger storage space, pay for faster
bandwidth, etc. This allows you to grow your blog and
attract better traffic.

Advertising gives your blog credibility. Visitors see
your blog as something reliable since you have
advertisers sponsoring you. Most professional bloggers
have advertisers, which means you will also be seen as
an authority in the field of your choice. The
partnership with a known company will indicate that
you offer quality content.

Advertising offers visitors access to relevant
products and services. Since ads will appear on the
same web pages as related content, your blog’s
visitors will be able to view any product, service or
information from your advertisers that they may
actually be interested in.

You’ll be inspired to maintain a quality blog. Only
strong blogs attract advertisers. As a result, you
will have all the reasons in the world to make sure
that your blog offers quality, useful content. You
will be more careful with your choice of topics and
subjects. As a result, your writing is much more
improved and your blog will become a reliable source
of information. The result: increased traffic, a more
targeted audience and more advertisers.

Cons of blog advertising Blog advertising can affect
certain aspects of your blog in a negative way. Some
of its disadvantages are:

It dictates the type of content you will publish. Once
you have advertising on your web pages, you’ll have to
work extra to make sure those ads are noticed and are
considered relevant by visitors. This forces you to
modify your content just to adapt it to what will
attract your readers and entice them to click on your
ads. Sometimes, you’ll find that you will have to
sacrifice meaty content just to write posts that will
promote your ads.

It takes up space on your web pages. You’ll notice
this after a while, when you have multiple sponsors
and running several ads in one web page. As sponsors
buy more ad space, that will take away from the
available space usually reserved for meaningful
content. As a result, you’ll have to control your
content more just to give more room to your ads.

Maintaining advertising on blogs is time consuming.
Having enough ads on your blog should allow your site
to pay for itself. However, it won’t run all on its
own. Now that you have advertisers and sponsors
depending on you, you will have to make sure that your
blog is worth it.

This means you will have to spend enough time in
optimizing your blog so the ads get the audience they
need. You will also have to constantly be on the
lookout for other advertisers and be ready to
negotiate. Other than that, you will have to manage
payments and monitor the necessary statistics to make
sure that your blog remains competitive. Blog
advertising may pay for your blog but it doesnt take
the work away from you.

There are several ways you can advertise your blog on
other websites without paying a single cent. The trick
is to find these channels and determine which ones
will work for you. Here are just a few techniques you
can use:

Advertise on other blogs. You could build a reciprocal
relationship with other bloggers, particularly those
whose content are related (but not necessarily
similar) to yours. If your blog is about gadget and
industry news, for example, you could advertise it for
free on another blog that offers gadget reviews.

By becoming partners with a non-competitor, you take
advantage of his market for the right type of exposure
without alienating anyone. It’s fair, it works and
it’s for free.

Use social media. Social media revolutionized many
aspects of the Internet, particularly because it
presents a new way of communicating and sharing
information. It broke many barriers, allowing people
from across the globe to build and join networks, both
for personal and business purposes.

Social media are sites that can be used to advertise
your blogs for free. Nearly all types of businesses
that exist on the Internet use social media for
promotional activities. The demographics here are
clearly defined, people can communicate in a more
personal manner and since social media is an accepted
platform for marketing, people who read your ads
regarding your blog are more likely to be receptive to
it. Best of all, advertising your blog on these
websites is free.

Use a network. To build buzz and gain momentum in the
blog universe, you need support from likeminded
individuals. Bloggers don’t really advertise
themselves actively against other bloggers. Instead,
they compete with one another by ensuring they have
better content and easier to use sites.

Although simply maintaining a good blog will help
attract other blogs wishing to link up with you, you
might also want to actively pursue associations with
other popular blogs. Many of the best bloggers around
are generous enough to give you a bit of support and
will gladly mention your blog in one of their posts.
Best of all, a network helps you increase your reach
for the same amount of effort.

Use article databases. Article databases are
repositories of write-ups that bloggers and site
owners use. If you choose this route, know that this
is a rather indirect way of promoting your blog. It is
quite effective nonetheless, particularly if you want
to build buzz regarding your ability to provide useful
information.

Try to search out a specific topic online and chances
are, you will find an article written by blogger in an
article database. Read this article. At the end, you
will notice that the blogger had included his/her
name, a short description of himself, what he does,
the name of his company and a link back to his site.

Sometimes, a blogger might even include a few links to
some of his write-ups within the text of the article.
This is to entice the reader to click on the link and
find related information on the writer’s blog. Using
links in this manner allows you to advertise your blog
for free on a separate website.

There’s no cost involved here, particularly if you
wrote the article and performed the submission
yourself. If you prefer to spend a little bit, you
could also use copywriting and submission services for
a reasonable cost. While this isnt free advertising
for your blog, you still get to expand your presence
using another website.

There are several ways to monetize a blog. One of the
most commonly used is by selling advertising space,
either through text-based advertising or banner ads.
But to do either of these, you will have to look for
advertisers who will pay to have their ads placed on
your web pages. If you’re unsure on what to do and how
to do it, here are tips to help you find blog
advertisers to help you generate revenue with your
website:

Promote. Instead of just leaving possible banner ad
locations blank, let advertisers know that they are up
for grabs. Use ‘Advertise Here’ or ‘Your Ad Here’
texts to indicate their availability.

When advertisers click on these areas, they will
arrive on a page where information about buying ad
space will be provided. Make sure that there is a
webpage that will be used for this purpose
specifically. This page may either contain information
about your terms or it could be a link that will allow
your advertiser to send you an e-mail.

Seek out advertisers actively. Other than openly
promoting your blog for ads, you could also find blog
advertisers by targeting them. That way, you get to
choose who will place their ads on your blog. A
standard letter of approach to advertisers should
contain:

- a brief introduction about yourself

- a short explanation of the purpose of your e-mail

- a short explanation why you’re soliciting their
sponsorship or ads

- a concise explanation of the benefits of placing ads
on your blog

- details regarding your advertising terms (type of ad
placements, industry to which your advertisers belong,
maximum number of ads in one webpage, cost, method of
payment, etc.)

- important details about your site, such as your
subject matter, audience, number of traffic, etc.

Offer sponsorship. Blog sponsorships are fast becoming
a trend online, as the number of businesses utilizing
blogs as an extension of their marketing efforts
increases. Through sponsorship, you will be working
closely with a company (your advertiser) and promote
their products and services through your blogs. Your
web pages will also carry that company’s name, brands
and logo.

You could also come up with a sponsorship deal wherein
specific parts of your blog’s content will be
sponsored by the advertiser. This type of blog
advertising works well if your site is quite popular
already and has a considerable number of visitors.

Do a keyword search. There are many companies and
individuals using Google Adwords who might be
interested in an arrangement with you. Do a simple
keyword or key phrase search regarding major topics on
your blog. Then seek out sponsored links and find out
about the companies that pay for them. Get in touch
with these people and offer your blog for their ads.

Take advantage of links. Blogs and other sites that
link with your blog are potential advertisers. If they
find your blog interesting enough to link with, they
might be open for negotiations regarding advertising.
You might want to send them an e-mail to let them know
your blog is available for advertising.

Tap people who use your forums or leave messages.
Another way to find blog advertisers is to offer your
ad spots to people who leave comments or messages on
your blogs. Seek out people affiliated with a company,
group or association. They might be interested to buy
ads on your blog.

Between a blog that has only 50,000 page views and another that has 100,000, who would you choose? The latter obviously offers a wider market and more potential buyers.

The mille matters. Traffic or the number of page views a blog page receives also determines the cost of advertising on a particular blog. If a blog generates about 100,000 page views monthly, for example and it’s fairly new, you might have to pay as little as $50 a month for a 125 x 125 sidebar ad.

To understand how the price of ad spots is computed, consider the mille. Bloggers will generally use the unit cost-per-mille or CPM. One mille is equivalent to 1,000, a unit you will be able to use later to compute for the cost of placing an ad based on the number of page views it generates.

Bloggers will consider the number of page views their blogs receive and use that as a basis for coming up with the cost of advertising. As a result, a blog with a higher amount of traffic will charge you a higher price than a blog with a lower number. That means placing your ad on blogs with sufficient traffic can range in cost from about $50 to a whopping $10,000 a month. The bigger number, of course, means your ad will receive millions of page views.

In conclusion, remember that to determine whether a particular ad space is worth paying for, consider the cost of the space versus the traffic it will receive.

Size of the ad The bigger the ad spot you require, the higher the cost of advertising on a blog. A 125 x 125 ad spot, for example, will be cheaper than a larger 300 x 250 ad. Placement will also affect the ad price. Header ads, for example, will cost more than sidebar ads or footer ads. Below the fold ads will cost considerably less than those that will appear above the fold or integrated with the blog’s content.  Test periods You might want to consider saving a few bucks by asking the blog owner if he/she is offering a test period of ad runs. If your ad will be placed on test period, that means the blog will display it for a limited time but won’t charge you for it.

After a specific period, you can then decide whether to continue with the placement (at which point you’ll have to start paying) or to pull your ad, depending on how well it performed in the blog. This usually works on blogs that are relatively new and are still building momentum.

Look for blogs that offer renewable ad placements you can pay for on a month-to-month basis. This will help you manage the cost of advertising on blogs and help your bottomline in the process.

To help you determine the right advertising rates for your blog, it’s important to consider doing some research first, particularly about similar blogs and to consider your traffic and perform some simple experimentation using your site.

Playing with figures If you think that setting your ad rates at low prices will attract more advertisers, you couldnt be more mistaken. Your $300 a month rate may not stand against another blogger’s $600 a month rate if you only have 50,000 page views monthly and he enjoys 600,000 page views.

An advertiser will look at the ratio between the cost of advertising on your blog against the amount of traffic that your site generates, the same traffic that will potentially click on the ads.

A good ‘constant’ to consider when determining ad rates is the CPM or Cost-Per-Mille - mille being equivalent to 1,000. Let’s say a blog receives 150,000 page views monthly. For a 125×125 sidebar ad (usually the most common), the blog charges $250 monthly. Divide $250 by 150 (that’s 150,000 divided by 1,000 to come up with the CPM) and you’ll get $1.66 CPM.  The same arithmetic is used by some of the most popular blogs, including JohnChow and Copyblogger. For your blog, you might want to consider how much traffic you generate and the number of genuine page views you get. These figures will help you evaluate your blog and come up with the appropriate ad rate.

Since these blogs are well established, you could start at far lower rates if you’re still building traffic. Consider a starting figure of about $0.5 CPM, which is friendly enough to your advertisers and good enough for you. Raise this rate gradually as your blog becomes more popular and as more advertisers and sponsors buy ad space from you.

Size and location Advertising rates also vary depending on the size of the ad and where it will appear. Larger ads and those that will be placed in prime locations or ‘hotspots’ will cost more. Ads will also be more expensive if they will appear along with content or on your blog’s header. Cheaper locations will be those found on the page’s footer and the area located after the fold.

Factors that influence ad rates Not every blog can enjoy strong advertising support. That’s mainly because not every blog has the right amount of site traffic, the right visitors, market demographics or niche. These are just some of the factors that affect your eligibility for ad placement and the rate you can charge on your blog.

Blogs, by the way, do not pass through the same channels as traditional print media. The cost of providing information in blogs is low enough that bloggers can offer low advertising rates and still earn a profit.

Earning an income from your blog is not just about the extra cash - it’s also a practical means to reward yourself. Plus, you could use your earnings to provide better support for your site, whether technical or administrative.  But not every advertising opportunity available might work for your blog. Certain factors do affect how well an advertising type works depending on the nature and content your blog has.  Learn to choose the best web blog advertising that will promote your site and maximize your earning potential.  Types of web blog advertising you can use:

Pay-per-click or PPC PPC advertising is easily the most basic form of advertising a blog can use. It works simply: place a PPC ad on your blog and the advertiser will pay you for every click generated by the ad. Every time a visitor points his cursor on this ad and clicks, you earn money. The cost per click will vary, depending on the type of ad that will run, the value of the keyword/s or who your advertiser will be.

Pay-per-action or PPA The PPA is sometimes preferred by advertisers because it translates to having your blog visitors perform a desired action. This action can be different things - a visitor could subscribe to the advertiser’s newsletter, sign up for membership or buy merchandise.

Pay-per-impression or PPI An advertiser using PPI with your blog will pay you for every opportunity his ads appear on your blog page. This will require some sort of clever strategy on your part but if you know how to use this type of blog advertising, it can work in your favor.

Choosing web blog advertising The three types of web blog advertising mentioned earlier can work with different types of ads. These ads include:

Contextual ads The type of contextual ads you will be carrying will depend on the content found on the page where these ads will appear. The key here is to ensure relevance. After all, if you’re talking about plasma TVs on your blog, what sense would an ad about home loans have on the same page?

Contextual ads work best for you if your blog’s content deals with a specific topic on a regular basis. This often means that you have traffic that is highly targeted and will likely find your ads interesting.

Text link ads Text link ads appear on a blog page based on the texts that appear in that page’s posts. It attempts to capture the visitors that read that page for the specific content found there.

If content in your blog varies from page to page, text link ads provide a good earning opportunity for you.

Affiliate ads If you want a slightly bigger take, a good choice would be to place affiliate ads on your blog. This means partnering with a company’s affiliate program and providing links on your pages to products or services offered by that company. This is how eBay and Amazon affiliates earn.

Affiliate ads work best if your blog deals with topics that are relevant to a product or service being offered by partner companies. If your blog deals with tips on coping with stress, for example, you could place a link to an affiliate ad promoting a popular book on stress management that your visitors can buy from a partner company’s website.

Direct ads Direct ads are a form of web blog advertising that lets you work independently and directly with the advertiser. You simply sell ad placements on your site and negotiate directly with the company or individual who buys them. These buyers will be called sponsors from then on. This is a good choice for your blog if you have a good number of traffic and a strong niche market. Pricing and the method of payment will depend on your agreement with your sponsor.