How to Make Money Blogging with Advertisements

Are you considering your ability to make money blogging with advertisements?

Welcome to the first article of my Make Money Blogging series, where I’ll go into extensive detail and break down various aspects of making money with a blog. There are many articles out there with full lists of ways you can make money, but to save word-count space, most of them don’t go into heavy detail about each method. This series was created to do just that.

This article will focus on all aspects of using advertising to make money blogging. You can expect me to make points on both ad network advertising and direct advertising methods.

Enjoy my free guide on how to make money blogging with advertisements.

Why Make Money Blogging with Advertisements?

There are many ways to make money with a blog. You might be asking yourself why use advertising to earn money.

For starters, it’s typically one of the quickest ways to start earning money with your blog. You can usually start to make money blogging with advertisements within the first year (or even less) of your blog.

Advertisement features are typically easy to set up. For the most part, all you’ll need is a code to add to your header tags, or you might have to add a plugin or two. It’s definitely a lot easier now than it was in the earlier days of blogging.

Blog advertising is a great way to diversify your blogging income. You can make money blogging with advertisements and use a few other methods to also generate income. Advertising usually flows on its own behind the scenes, giving you more time to monetize with other means.

If your content goes viral or becomes very popular, you have a chance to earn even more with your ads, whether it’s through a network or you’re selling them directly.

 

What You’ll Need to Make Money Blogging with Advertisements

To make money blogging with advertisements, you have to meet certain requirements. Some requirements will be different if you use an ad network versus selling ads directly.

Your blog needs to have a good amount of consistent views and visitors each month. Without them, you’re not going to make any money with a network, and no one is going to buy an ad without a significant number of readers on your blog. You should at least aim for 10,000 to 50,000 views a month, which is fairly standard for making money with advertisements on a blog.

You’ll also need plenty of content in order to do better with blog advertising. You should be consistently posting content on your blog. The more content you publish, the better the advertising benefits will be. You don’t have to post every day if you’re unable to, but you should at least post weekly.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is going to be helpful. This will help you rank better on search engines and find the best keywords for your content. The better your content ranks on search, the easier it will be found by others. More finds equals more views and visitors.

It’s best if you have authority in your niche. You’re trusted by an audience more when they see you as the authority or an expert in your industry. This is really useful when trying to make money blogging with advertisements that you sell directly because if you’re trusted, they’re more likely to click the ads that your blog endorses.

If you think you can launch a blog and then immediately start earning from ads, you’re going to be disappointed. You do have to work a little and build your blog up first.

Different Kinds of Ways to Sell Advertisements

There are two different ways to make money: blogging with advertisements. You can use ad networks or sell advertisements directly.

Using an ad network is a quicker and easier way to make money blogging with advertisements. However, the ad network usually takes a larger percentage of the money made than you get. An example of a popular ad network is Google AdSense. But getting approved and starting to make money is fairly easy.

Selling ads directly is a lot more difficult than using an ad network. You can maximize your profit and earn more. However, you have to do the work in finding advertisers who are willing to pay you to display their ads. This might take several tries, and you will likely be rejected a lot. In most cases, you have to find them. They’re not going to find you.

You can use either method or even both. One or the other might be more appropriate for your blog.

 

Ad Networks

There are numerous ad networks to choose from. The ones below are just a few of the more popular ones. You should research others that you’re considering using.

 

Google Adsense

Google Adsense is one of the most popular ad networks. It matches advertisements based on the topic of your blog and the users who visit. The advertisers pay different prices for the ads served on your blog, meaning you will earn various amounts for various ads.

Getting approved for Google AdSense does require some work.

1. Your blog must comply with the AdSense terms and policies.
2. You need to have interesting and unique content on your blog.
3. You have to be at least 18 years of age.

If you click your ads or encourage your readers to click your ads, you’ll be suspended from being able to use the service.

PROS of using AdSense

• Earn money quickly after approval
• Easy setup (add a line of code before the header tag)
• No need to search for advertisers
• Very turnkey – works behind the scenes

CONS of using Adsense

• Strict restrictions on on-site content
• It’s hard to get back in after getting suspended
• You don’t get paid until you make $100
• Many people use ad blockers

Many bloggers use Google AdSense and have for years. But the service does seem to have declined in how popular it was over the years. It’s still a great way to start earning, but you should definitely keep other revenue streams in mind, too.

 

Mediavine

Mediavine has been around since 2004. It’s an ad network like AdSense. It’s easy to monetize with the network. The earnings are relatively higher than most other networks, too. Mediavine is great for blog content, especially in the food, travel, and lifestyle niches.

Getting approved for Mediavine can be a challenge. You must have 50,000 sessions within 30 days. The amount used to be 25,000 sessions, but it has been raised to 50,000. What’s to say it won’t be raised again? This might be difficult for smaller blogs.

PROS of using Mediavine

• The ads are of a high quality
• Customer service is good
• You have control of ad settings
• The payments are higher than most networks

CONS of using Mediavine

• Limited reporting options
• You cannot use other ads on your blog
• The required sessions are really high
• Your blog will need to maintain high sessions

Mediavine might not be for everyone. However, if you have a highly visited blog, this service might be the best fit for you to make money blogging with advertisements.

 

PropellerAds

PropellerAds is a newer ad network company that came around in 2011. It promotes itself as very result-driven and the most reliable ad network on the market. There are many positive reviews about the network but some negative reviews as well.

Getting approved is a fairly simple process. It seems the network is generous on basic approval, but in order to get more features and control, you’ll need to become a top earner. So, while you can be approved easily, you’ll need to put the work in on your blog to get more earnings, which makes total sense.

PROS of using PropellerAds

• Easy campaign creation and launch
• Auto-optimization features
• Wide range of payment deposit options
• Easy to get approved

CONS of using PropellerAds

• Older ad networks have more features
• Higher money makers get more features
• Not as well-known reputation
• The payment threshold is $100

If you don’t want to use other ad networks that everyone else is using, then PropellerAds might be the best ad network for you.

 

Infolinks

Infolinks is another ad network that has been around for years. It’s also very common knowledge that applying for and getting approved into Infolinks is a lot easier than most other ad networks. However, some have said the network can have intrusive ways of serving their ads.

Getting approved is fairly simple. You apply online and are usually approved or rejected within 48 hours. There are no special requirements that most other ad networks put into place. Your blog doesn’t even have to have a lot of sessions.

PROS of using Infolinks

• The payment threshold is $50 (less than most)
• Signup and approval are quick and easy
• It’s compatible with AdSense
• Ad display doesn’t require cookies (better privacy)

CONS of using Infolinks

• Income is reported to be low for smaller blogs
• Some ad formats can be intrusive
• Poorer ad relevance and quality
• Primarily US/Canada-based (rather than worldwide)

If you’re looking for an easy way to start earning and still can use other networks like AdSense, then Infolinks might be a great platform for your blog.

 

Media.net

Media.net is a Yahoo-Bing ad network that uses contextual ads (meaning no cookies used). The company has very large partnerships in terms of its ad clients. But the network does have content restrictions like that of its rival, Google Adsense.

Getting approved isn’t really a registration process. You need to be invited into the ad network. This will be based on your blog’s performance and adherence to the network’s policies. The process of implementing your ads is as simple as AdSense.

PROS of using Media.net

• Yahoo-Bing company collaboration, AdSense alternative
• Relevant contextual ads
• Ad Marketplace
• It can be used with AdSense

CONS of using Media.net

• USD only
• Traffic requirements from top-tier countries
• Invitation-only ad network
• Ads have to be clicked twice in order to earn

Media.net might be ideal for blogs that are already established since the network is an invitation-only type of service.

 

Direct Advertising

Direct Advertising is when you sell ads on your blog directly rather than rely on an ad network like Google AdSense or Media.net.

You can use a direct advertising service to make some of the process more automated. But you’ll have to pay a percentage to the service in some way or another so they make money, too. A few of these services to consider are Buy Sell Ads and Link Worth. Alternatively, you can sell ads yourself but also have to do all of the work required in order to sell the ads yourself.

There are a few things to consider when selling ads yourself.

You’ll need to determine how to accept payments. You can use services like Venmo or PayPal for lower-end payments. You may have to use a financial institution to receive higher-end payments.

You’ll want to determine where to place ads on your blog. Different spots may have different pricing based on where they are. Most blogs place ads in the header areas of pages and posts. Other areas may include sidebars and footer areas. It should be in spots where traffic will be able to see the ads.

You should also determine the types of ads you wish to show. Some ads are better than others. Banner ads typically do well since you can customize them more. Text-link ads can blend in with the blog and appear to be like a regular link. However, you need to represent the link as an ad in some way. Popup ads are another form but often annoy readers enough not to want to return to your blog.

How much to charge for an ad is often a big question in blogging. It tends to be a challenge to answer, too. You shouldn’t charge too much, but you shouldn’t undersell yourself, either. At first, keep a lower rate and raise it as your blog gets more and more popular. And don’t be afraid to raise the rates of current advertisers, too.

 

Reasons Not to Make Money Blogging with Advertisements

There are some reasons why you might not want to make money blogging with advertisements.

The pay can be low. Advertising isn’t often the highest-paying form of blogging profit. There are many other ways to earn more with your blog but most of them require more work than what advertising requires.

The payments from advertising can be unpredictable. Unless you put people on a contract, which isn’t usually feasible for most advertisers, you never know when they will end ads with you. The same goes for networks that sometimes pay well and sometimes pay badly.

Ads will ultimately take away attention from your content. It will take your reader’s attention from your blog and make them leave your blog to go to the advertised source. This can be bad for your own CTAs.

Many internet users use ad-blocking tools. Many of these tools block AdSense and other major ad networks. You can use tools to counter those tools and require them to be disabled, but that might scare away your readers and give you a bad reputation.

Ads are annoying to most people. I’ve been using YouTube Premium since they launched it for the sole purpose of getting rid of ads. I hate seeing ads, as do most people. Many people will get annoyed by your ads and likely complain about them.

Ads can make your blog look ugly. Most of them don’t blend in well or match the blog’s font settings. You can’t make an ad blend in too much because readers have to know its advertised content. They will definitely take away from the design of the blog.

While some ad networks claim you can control what ads are displayed, it isn’t a guarantee. Some ads might be offensive to your readers or go against what you talk about. If that happens, it can cause controversy and even hurt your blog’s online image. Direct ads are easier to manage unless the advertiser gets into some controversy that can backfire on those doing business with them.

Sometimes, the codes provided to serve ads can slow your blog down. If the code uses JavaScript for example, it might require more resources to serve it and slow your blog page load down. That can significantly impact your SEO and annoy your readers enough to click out of your blog.

It’s ideal to weigh the pros and cons of the idea of making money blogging with advertisements before you make any commitment to it.

 

Make Money Blogging with Advertisements FAQ

Here are a few commonly asked questions about how to make money blogging with advertisements.

 

Is advertising a great way to earn money on a blog?

Advertising can be a great way to make money with your blog. If done right, you can make a profit from ads and even earn a living with them. However, advertising is a source of revenue that seems to be fading away. You might consider an alternative source of blog profit to at least have as a plan B if your advertising profit starts to slip away.

 

Is an ad network better than selling ads directly?

It depends. An ad network is typically easier to start earning from ads. It doesn’t require much work on your part. However, you earn less since another company is doing all of the leg work. If you sell ads directly, you can earn all the money made, but it will also require you to do all of the work, including finding advertisers.

What do I need to do to make real money on ads?

You need to have unique and valuable content published at scale. The more frequently you publish content, the more likely you will start earning more profit from ads. Your blog needs to have at least 50,000 or more sessions a month. This will take a lot of work from you in order to get your blog to this point.

 

How can my ad clients track their ad exposure?

If you use an ad network like Google AdSense, you won’t have to worry about this part. The ad partners of networks are seeing their ad performance from the network that provides the ad services. However, if you sell ads directly, you might need to provide performance reports to ad clients. If you use an ad plugin, the plugin might provide these features; otherwise, you may need to analyze them and send them to the client, which could be a timely ordeal.

 

Can ads hurt my blog?

It depends. If the ads are offensive or being served by a company that has done a controversial activity that is causing a boycott, then the ad could harm your blog’s reputation if you continue to run it. If the ad is coded in a way that uses cookies to track your audience, it might also create trust issues for your blog. Some ad codes can slow your blog down and take longer to load. There are some instances when ads can be bad for your blog.

 

Final Thoughts on Blog Advertisements

You can make money blogging with advertisements if you put your mind to it. We’ve covered the advantages and disadvantages of advertising in the guide above. With any source of income, you’ll still need to produce and publish the best content possible. There are no ways around that requirement. However, advertising is a great source of income for bloggers.

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About the Author

Shawn Gossman has created content, blogged, ran online communities, and shared a passion for digital marketing for over twenty years. Shawn believes the best way to help content creators, businesses, brands, and marketers is to give away more than you sell. The same advice is recommended for the readers who follow this blog. Shawn also offers various services for extra help in content creation and blogging.