Monetizing Your Blog - How To Monetize ?
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Assuming you have read the previous post on when to monetize your blog, let us move on to how to monetize it. There are literally hundreds of publishing network for website and blog owners. Now, shoot me for saying something as obvious as this, but you want to choose the network that gives max pay per click and/0r max cpm, serves friendly non intrusive ads, has a flexible payment method, etc. Here is what I am thinking- Should I give you the list of all publishing network out there (most of them are just crappy and are complete waste of time and advertising space) or just the ones that have more or less made money for me. I have decided to do both.
1. Undisputed- Google Adsense: Adsense is (in the words of an old wrestler ‘Hitman’ ) the best there is, the best there was and probably the best there ever will be.
Pro: Good pay per click, better click through rate because of contextual ads (ads matches the keywords of the page), flexible monthly payment method (direct deposit, check, etc), Min payout- $100.
Con: Very strict against click fraud which is a good thing but sometimes innocent publishers are the victim and there is no second chance, does not have the best customer service, a ban lasts life long.
2. Yahoo Publishing network (YPN): The publishing network second to adsense for contextual ads. And by second, I mean a far second. Arguably the best alternative to publishers banned by adsense.
Pro: Contextual ads similar to adsense (they try), Better ppc than other other ad networks.
Con: Still in beta stage- Only accepts US publishers, people have complained that the pay per click decreases with time or so-called smart pricing (It might just be a ‘talk’. I do not have a authentic source).
3. Adbrite: Another ad network in the market that is a breather for adsense banned publishers.
Pro:It has many different formats of ads like text, banner, full page, picture ads, video ads, inline, etc. Good for sites with huge amount of traffic but that has slightly edgier or over the edge content.
Con: Cheap pay per click, currently only allows payment through check on a Net-60 basis which is extremely annoying.
4. Linkworth: Famous for text-link advertising and the biggest competitor of Text-link-ads. I am not a big fan of TLA because I believe they are elitist as they only accept sites with high page rank and traffic. Linkworth accepts most of them.
Pro: For a basic membership, you get 70% of a link sale. Monthly payment and they allow paypal which is sweeeeet. They are currently making me more money than any other ad network. Definitely recommend.
Con: A little hard to find a buyer for a site with low traffic.