Day 19: Monetizing Your Blog – Determining Ad Rates and Positions
Author: Jim | Filed under: 30-Day Blogging
Today, we are going to talk about monetizing your blog with advertisements that work for you. Despite what many might tell you, a blog can actually bring in quite a good amount of revenue straight to your pocket if you do it right. Let’s start working out what we want to accomplish, and tomorrow we will put it into practice.
Determining Your Ad Positions
The first step to take when monetizing your blog is to figure out where you want your ads to go. Usually, if it fits in the template when you sketch it out… you can make it work in real life. Therefore, I want everyone to load up their blog and print out what they see. With the print-out in hand, take a pencil and fill in ad blocks where you think they would be best suited.
Here are some of the top-sellers that I recommend:
- Leaderboard (728×90)
- Banner (468×60)
- Button/Block (125×125)
- Skyscraper (120×600)
- Small Square (200×200)
- Square (250×250)
Naturally, the actual location is just as important as the size. Remember that your ads get more valuable the higher up on the page they appear, with the top ads appearing “above the fold” (meaning they are visible when the site loads).
Finding Out Your Ad Rates
Now that we know where things should appear, let’s price it! 
A lot of people ask me where I get my rates, and how they should start off. Really, it is totally subjective… and unfortunately for you (sorry!), you are going to have to work at it! However, there are a few things that you should keep in mind when first pricing your ad rates.
Start Low
I believe in cutting your clients a deal from the get go. If you are putting ads up for the first time, you definitely want to low-ball your estimates. Why? I would say that there are two reasons. The first, and perhaps most obvious, is that you will sell more. If you want to have advertising,it is important that you push through volume because your spots are appropriately priced. The second reason is that advertisers will be more willing to come back. If you want to have consistent revenue, it is important to make a good deal so that your advertisers feel like you are the right means to get the word out about their product.
Compare It!
The first time I set ad rates, I looked around the internet at some other blogs (namely those in my same niche), and found their advertising pages. With this, you can see exactly what is working… and what isn’t working. Then, try to charge less than them… and see if you can’t find a few advertisers to fill your ad positions.
Go Find Buyers
Sometimes, the advertisers won’t necessarily come to you. With this, it is important to note that the most successful blogs have actually gone out and searched for advertisers themselves. You can try posting on webmaster forums, or simply commenting and asking on other blogs in your niche. Look at who is buying ads, and contact them! It’s not too hard, and if you shoot someone an email with a decent offer, they might just accept. 
Tomorrow, we will put up the ads themselves, so get ready to earn!
-Jimvesting
Related Posts
- Day 20: Creating an Ad System and Putting Up Advertisements!
- Google Keyword SEO: Keyword Research and Setting It All Up
- Build-A-Blog Workshop Day 9: Configuring Your Blog's Site Statistic Trackers
- How to Attract Advertisers to Your Blog – Get Your Site Noticed, and Get Paid!
- Looking to Make Money on Your Blog? One Essential Plugin To Maximize Your Profits!
Loading ...
Cool article. I agree it is very important that you have to find the buyers. Advertisers will never find you, because there will always be someone else trying to find them.
Better still always fill your ad space with some ad or the other, maybe PPC.
Gr8 work, your post worth reading. You have explained about ad optimization in very impressive way.
Very good tips on monetizing
great tips as usual. Its hard to figure out what you feel is a good price for ads, but we all need to be realistic. Some of the bigger sites are asking for big money for space and have the traffic stats to prove it. You are right, we all need to start low and work our way up the ladder!
I always had problem determining value of ADs. Maybe this post give me some ideas.
Thanks
Agent 001´s last blog ..What will You do if You get upto 1000$ ?
I was also having some trouble with this one. I just started surfing and I think I got it now. I am going cheap but some places I am going to reserve for my own links.
Johnny Roof´s last blog ..Going Green In The Kitchen
I think you should use different kinds of ads if you can’t find advertisers at first.
You could go with ppc or cpm ads to fill your ad space.
Interesting opinion. It never occurred to me that I must find my advertisers.
Vlad´s last blog ..Wordpress 2.8 “Baker” is out
[...] That’s right… it’s the day we finally start to turn a profit from our efforts! Last time, we discussed the positioning and pricing of our advertisements. Now, we need to put our efforts into real-time results by adding a few things to our blogs to help [...]
Should you price high and sell less or vice versa?
[...] That’s right… it’s the day we finally start to turn a profit from our efforts! Last time, we discussed the positioning and pricing of our advertisements. Now, we need to put our efforts into real-time results by adding a few things to our blogs to help [...]
That’s exactly what I did. Comparing is really important, especially to achieve whatever you are doing in your niche. You make a great point!
I am too far yet for advertisement at my site. But its a interesting opinion.
hi good thank you master
sohbet´s last blog ..SUSUYORUM