Selling Ad space

andyholt · #1 (**permalink**) 07-18-2003, 08:22 PM

Hi
This may not be the right place for this post but I can't think of anywhere else to post it :)

I have reached the point where I need to consider earning some revenue from my site. I have taken pride in the fact that I have not resorted to advertising to date - but the heat is on to cover hosting and maintenance costs.

I hate banner ads and I have received a lot of praise from visitors on how nice it is to visit a useful site without the awful intrusion of blanket advertising.

As a last resort I have opened a paypal account to take donations - I would prefer a voluntary approach rather than annoying my visitors. However, as an amazon association program hasn't paid off too well (probably as its UK based) I don't hold out much hope for the paypal scheme.

So what I am doing now is gathering some info about selling ad space on the site. Here are the rules I want to follow

1. NO popups or popunders.
2. NO onload/unload events that trigger endless windows
3. Ads must add value to the site.
4. NO link exchange program
5. If it annoys me then it'll annoy my visitor - so must be industry related

OK now that I have some rules here's where I'm stuck -
How much is ad space worth on the web?.
How dependant on traffic is pricing?
Are site features important when pricing? for example - headline syndication/promotion , high search engine rankings etc

I have in excess of 400-500,000 hits per month (translates to around 20-30,000 page impressions ) to increasing month on month - how much would traffic like that be worth to an advertiser?

Hits are from news readers, search engines. regulars etc I don't have a mailing list at present - I tried that in the past for weeekly/monthly newsletters but it wasn't a great success - I know this would increase ad value but I don't think the time is right to try again.

So how much is ad space worth? weekly/monthly rates etc and what is the best approach to use when targetting advertisers.

Sorry for the long post but I'm hoping for some cool tips here :)

Andy

Janet · #2 (**permalink**) 07-19-2003, 01:08 AM

hi Andy,
The best thing to hit town recently is Google's Adsense program.
https://www.google.com/adsense/

To participate you post a piece of Javascript and context relevant ads appear on your page. These are the same Google Adwords that appear on Google.

If you have reasonable traffic and good content it should work well for you.

I just set these up on a site I manage 4 days ago, and the income being generated is far more than I expected. I'll never get rich with it, but it will cover the hosting and pay me for my time working on the site and then some.

I've been astonished with the high click through rates. Between 10-20% which is HUGE! Google serves up ads that are relevant to the content of the page and visitors seem happy to click on them. You'd be lucky to to get 2% CTR on a banner.
It makes you keen to put up more and more content to show more ads and get more clicks and make more money.....

Give it a try. Highly recommended for content sites.

andyholt · #3 (**permalink**) 07-19-2003, 10:42 AM

Hi Janet,
thanks for that - it looks useful. I have signed up so if it is non intrusive and meets my needs I will give it a go.

As I said in my previous post I really hate web ads and I am really reluctant to use them but needs must I suppose :)

Thanks again for the reply

Andy

andyholt · #4 (**permalink**) 07-23-2003, 08:55 PM

Hi Janet
Thanks for the Adsense tip it works a treat :) Let's just say I was pleasantly surprised.

Thanks again - much appreciated

Andy

Janet · #5 (**permalink**) 07-23-2003, 09:08 PM

Nice implementation on your site too Andy. It blends really well.
Doesn't annoy or irritate. Useful related links to click on. Well positioned.

I hope it does well for you. after 8 days I'm very pleased with my adsense implementation

Gary Golden · #6 (**permalink**) 08-02-2003, 07:54 AM

Online your Adspace might be worth $10. a month beating the pavement to the local community your adspace is probably worth 100. a month

Most online businesses don't have a clue as to what space is worth but rather pay based on the individual so go to people who know you.

At least that is what I have noticed over the last several years around here.

Local businesses by adspace off local people whether they have business or not! That is a fact! They think that if you are online that you have millions of visitors. They think this because they don't understand the net and probably never will.

I personally have never bothered to beat the pavement but I have checked into what other local site are selling space for and actually do sell that space to the unknowing business people.

Check your site ranking at:
http://www.Alexa.com
Links and Search engine saturation at:
http://www.marketleap.com

For that matter start checking everyone you knows site ranking to compare, it will open your eyes!

trsiyengar · #7 (**permalink**) 01-08-2004, 11:39 AM

andyholt posted the querries, that really I had in my thoughts. I did try with other platforms, but the best answered forum I found is HERE.. WPW..

And Janet and Gary Golden's reply really worthy. Oh, without posting a question here, I got all my needed answers!!

Thanks a trillion, pals,
Best wishes,
TRS Iyengar
http://www.trsiyengar.com