Many people who write a blog wonder why they do not make much through Google Adsense or other forms of advertising. The content maybe well written, and indeed they have a fair number of readers, but Adsense cheques for $500 always seem to elude them. What on earth can be going on?
There are a few things to understand about your blog before you can make it commercially viable. The first thing to look at is the blog itself. If it is in actuality an online diary then this may not have that much commercial appeal. The readers could be there but it has no niche. If your blog is a photography blog, and you had photography ads, then you stand a fair chance of earning a click or two. A blog about your job, favourite foods, or favourite plant, well that just is not going to attract people specific to the content.
The trick to attracting visitor for a money making venture is to have commercially viable content. This brings us to our second point, and that is the content. To make real cash through advertising you have to have content, lots of content, and then some more content. We are talking around two hundred articles minimum with regular contributions. The content has to be about a specific subject, and if possible a niche market. The ads can then be related to the subject, so there is a greater chance of a click.
Also, the theme has to be able to accommodate the ads, and if you are serious about making money through advertising, you must be prepared to sacrifice some of the theme to make room for it. This can he the hardest part of the ad sacrifice a blogger can make, especially as you can be talking about in some cases, above the fold in the middle of the screen. This is where they become the most visible and are more likely to earn you a click. This is the online equivalent of right hand advertizing pages in a magazine.
Also, the theme needs to be simple and not have too much going on in it like custom graphics. These are distractions, and if a reader is looking at these rather than your ads, guess what happens? This to will probably involve some kind of sacrifice, especially if you have paid money for your theme, or it has been custom built by someone close to you.
There is a rule here to remember when talking about ads: Content is King. The golden rule of web design still applies. Without readers you have no chance of making a buck with ads, and the only way to attract readers is to make sure you have top drawer content. However, incorporate ads and turn your blog into a viable commercial venture, your content must in some respects fit around space for ads. Preferably, so that as people read the content they see the ads.
Using ads and to make real money at it, will involve a sacrifice on your part. The question is are you prepared to make that sacrifice, and how much is too much? You may well have to change the content drastically to make it more commercially viable, and this poses difficulties in keeping enthused about your blog as you could well start writing about subjects you do not really have an interest in, and also, you could lose readers in the first instance as the blog begins to change.
To make ads work on your site, you have to make the site ad friendly. If this strikes as you as being a lot of work, a lot of effort and a lot of sacrifice, guess what? It is.
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