How Much Are The Ads On Your Blog Worth?

Advertising is my highest source of income at Site Sketch 101.  In fact, I made nearly $150 last month from advertising and I’m hoping to move onward and upward.

I’m only going to continue attracting advertisers and sponsors for the site if I can continue to provide value.  In other words, I have to make sure that I’m giving each advertiser their money’s worth.

You have to do the same thing.  So to do this we have to ask ourselves this vital question, “How valuable are the ads on your blog?”

We have to answer that question honestly.  We can’t answer it with that optimistic naivety that fuels wishful thinking.  We will sell no ads…in fact, we will destroy our credibility as an online presence if we charge more than they are worth.

So how do we determine the real value of our ad placements on our sites?  Check out these four factors to determine your ad values.

Traffic: How many people will see the ad?

The first, and perhaps the most important, factor to consider when figuring out the value of your ads is to look at your traffic.  A site with one million visitors per day certainly has a lot more to offer than a site with one visitor per day.

Google makes millions per year through advertisements because they are the number one most visited website in the world.  They are able to put ads in front of the eyes of millions of people…and that is worth something.

Placement: How hard will it be to find the ad?

A common term that you’ll hear a lot when you start diving into the world of online advertising is “above the fold.”  Above the fold refers to the portion of the web page that is immediately viewable without having to scroll at all.  It’s the part of your website that your visitors see as soon as they arrive.  Anything that you have to scroll down to see is below the fold.

Ads that are placed above the fold are outrageously more valuable than those below it.  The reason should be obvious.  Because those are the ads that are going to be displayed to so many more people.

Size: How prominent will the ad be displayed?

Just the other day, Darren Rowse posted an article that described how he went from $35 per day to over $100 per day on a single ad unit simply by increasing it’s size.  Check out his article here: Learn from My Mistake: Don’t Leave Money on the Table.

Darren tripled his clicks on a single ad unit by increasing it’s size.  People who purchase ads on our sites know this principle.  They know that if the ad is tiny, that they’re not going to get many visitors from it.  The bigger the ad…the more it’s worth.

Competition: How many other ads are they up against?

If there is only one ad, it will get all of the clicks.  If there are 20…well, then they have to divide those clicks among twenty ads.  So the point here is that the less ads you stick on your pages, the higher the value of each one.

Don’t overwhelm your site with ads.  This will reduce the value of each one and it will reduce the quality of the experience at your site which will cause you to lose repeat visitors and reduce the value of your ads even further.

Group Discussion

What other factors can you think of?  Are you selling any ads on your site right now?  If so, how much are you getting for them?  What advice would you give to others who are trying to improve their ad sales?