Business blogs and advertisements. It is an interesting topic to ponder.
Ads are a reality in the publishing business. And a blog is simply a web publishing platform. And there are plenty of publications that run advertisement free.
So, should you consider advertisements on your business blog as a potential additional revenue source?
Before you answer lets look at a couple things.
Different Types of Ads
There are three broad general categories of advertisements that you can put up on your blog.
- Contextual Ads
- Contextual ads are the easiest form of ads for a publisher to put in place. Typically all that has to happen is to sign up with a contextual ad program. After your blog is approved you simply drop a script into your template and the ads show up automatically.
They are called contextual ads because the ad supplier takes a look at your content scanning for keywords and funnels ads to your site based on the keywords they find. That way the advertisements are (theoretically) always relevant to what you’ve written and in theory produce higher click-through rates and more money for both the ad network and for you as the publisher. With contextual ads you generally get paid whenever someone clicks on the ad.
Google AdSense is the biggest player in this category, but there are probably dozens of others as well including offerings by Yahoo! and MSN.
- Affiliate Ads
- Affiliate ads are also fairly easy to put on your blog too. Basically with an affiliate program you are advertising a particular product or service and get paid a percentage when someone actually makes a purchase as a result of clicking through from the link on your site.
There are probably even more affiliate programs than contextual ad programs out there. One of the biggies is Amazon.com. I do from time to time recommend a book and I’ll put up an Amazon.com affiliate link to make it easy for folks to buy the book if they want. When I do I try to make it obvious with one of their balloon pop-outs that clicking on the link will redirect folks to Amazon.com. But that is just one of probably hundreds of affiliate programs out there.
- Direct Ads
- The third category is what I’ll call direct advertising. Basically with direct ads you as the publisher get to do all the leg work. You have to find the advertiser, negotiate a rate, and place the ad on your site, ensure they actually pay you for your ad space, etc.
I say you are responsible for this, but of course there are services set up that can help you sort through all of it and do the negotiations for you for a share of the ad revenue. Text Link Ads is one example of a program like this.
The advantage of direct ads is that you have the control over what ads appear on your blog. From a business blogging perspective that is a huge thing.
There is a bunch of overlap in the different types of advertising. For example Amazon.com now offers some contextual advertising. And AdSense offers affiliate links to earn money referring folks to their contextual ad program.
The reasons in favor of advertising on your blog are obvious. Ads generate revenue. You are already putting in the effort to publish the blog. So why not earn some easy extra money for your efforts?
Not So Fast
Before you rush out and sign up with some advertising programs take a moment to think about the down side.
Do you really want to be referring your potential customers to someone else’s site? If advertising is about finding customers, do you want to get paid pennies to help find business for other businesses?
And what about contextual ads that end up advertising for your direct competition? Do you want that on your company site?
Would that be good for your business?
Of course that is just the argument that some businesses use against having any outbound links on their blog. There is a mindset that persists especially among traditional web development folks, that the best thing is to have your site be a dead end that traps folks in.
I strongly disagree with that view from an outbound link perspective. The more value your blog adds to the reader, the more likely they are to come back. And outbound links are one way to add value.
Does the same reasoning apply to advertisements?
Which is the Right Way to Go?
I’ve talked before about how I’ve chosen to skip the advertisements so far (for the most point) and instead earn primarily indirect income. I’ve had my reasons for not significantly “monetizing” SuccessCREEations. I have occasionally had a sponsor blog with some direct ads that were worth my time. And I just mentioned the Amazon.com thing.
But I’m at the point where I am actually considering placing ads here at SuccessCREEations in a bit of a more prominent way.
I’m curious to hear what your views are about blog advertising. Do you think it is a good idea or a bad one for a business blog?
Leave a comment and we’ll talk it through.
Good points. It’s a fine line to consider, to become a publisher or not. I think that in 95% of cases of businesses I work with, it does not make sense to become a publisher. The biggest reasons of course being that you don’t want leaks off your website and that you should be concentrating on closing your own leads.
As a publisher – yes – I want ads on my platforms.
As a professional or a business owner then – no – I only want to promote my business and use other’s platforms to advertise on and to promote my interests.
I agree unless your connected with a business that’s close to your own and your not in competition. But as a general rule that site is about your business and adding other adds takes away from you sell what your their to sell. but with every rule their’s the exception.
Jim, Do you think the amount of traffic a blog gets should weigh into the equation?
For example would a business blog that gets tons of traffic really miss the few percentage points that they leak off when those folks click away on ads?
Dennis, Where do you consider the line to be drawn between the two? If a business has a blog, then is it then in the publishing business?
I think that it depends what you want to achieve with your Business Blog and what your goals are for it. The areas on your blog which generate most visibilty (top of columns, just below header and generally the area “above the fold”) should then support those goals.
In the case of most businesses that I have worked with, I believe that they would prefer to use these areas to promote their own businesses, generate signups or subscriptions, encourage dialogue etc. rather than use them to display adverts. That way they still generate revenue through their blog, but do so by attracting additional business rather than looking for advertising revenue.
James, So you see businesses as purchasers of advertising space, not as sellers – unless it is a complimentary business?
“Jim, Do you think the amount of traffic a blog gets should weigh into the equation? ”
Chris, it all comes down to focus. You are either spending 100% of your time trying to drive your own calls to actions/leads/promotions, or you’re not. How can you look yourself in the mirror and say that you’ve made the very best attempt possible to improve your own business if you’re spending time trying to sell for someone else?
Mark, that makes sense. And I agree that the best answer is “it depends”.
Most folks will be best off if they use the highest value screen real estate to promote their own business. But what about some of the lesser value real estate?
For example at the footer, or in the side bar below the fold.
I don’t put ads in the body of the post like a lot of other bloggers do (except for the Amazon.com links when I mention a specific book). Would an ad block there detract from the business?
Jim, No argument from me there. That’s the primary reason I haven’t done more with ads here.
But are the folks who clicked away on an ad for someone else the same folks who would be my potential clients? Is it possible that by hosting ads of interest to my readers I’m adding value for them and making it a better reading experience?
Or is that line of thinking a load of crapola?
Chris,
Thanks for the thoughtful post. With my blog’s redesign, I seriously thought about dropping AdSense completely. I’m not there yet, but the day might be coming.
I’m trying to promote my blog consulting & coaching. But at the same time, I like providing tips and insight into technology, productivity, etc. I see AdSense as a way to directly monetize these posts.
Life’s a difficult balance,
Andrew
Chris,
It does depend. A cost-benefit analysis might help. Rather than experiment, benchmark. Find blog owners in the same niche with approximately the same age and traffic, and see what type of revenue they generate from ads. Then weigh that against what you think you might lose.
Andrew, it is a good way to monetize posts. Depending on the specific niche and traffic volumes, AdSense can bring in a decent income. At least from what I hear.
So the question comes down to whether or not it is a good fit for one’s particular blog and business.
Tariq, That’s a good point. Facts can often clear things up far better than speculation and conjecture.
Two perspectives:
First the perspective of the reader/customer. As a reader, I absolutely detest ads in the body of a post (except Amazon affiliate links and other links that are essentially part of the text). Ads in the body of the post are like those annoying teasers that appear at the bottom of the TV screen and distract from the drama of whatever I am watching. Ads in the side columns I think are fine, as long as I can still find the navigation buttons fairly quickly.
Second, the perspective of a business blogger. One of the reasons I publish a blog is to build my brand, and eventually to build my executive coaching business. I expect my blog to generate indirect income, from people who like what they read and are interested in working with me. For that reason, I am reluctant to add context-sensitive ads, which might simply lead folks to my competitors. I’d rather make those links my decisions.
Kent
Kent, those are some good words of wisdom there. I’m with you on ads in the content. I don’t mind so much if the text wraps around the ads. But I don’t like it when the text stops and you have to scroll down past an add to continue reading, especially if it isn’t clear that it’s an ad in the way.
I feel like I’ve been cheated until I figure out that I just need to scroll down further.
econd, the perspective of a business blogger. One of the reasons I publish a blog is to build my brand, and eventually to build my executive coaching business. I expect my blog to generate indirect income, from people who like what they read and are interested in working with me. For that reason, I am reluctant to add context-sensitive ads, which might simply lead folks to my competitors. I’d rather make those links my decisions.
Affiliate Business Opportunities
Makes sense, James.
On a side note, your blog URL got messed up somehow and is broken. And you got trapped in Akismet too. Just so you know.
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