Size Does Matter - When it Comes to Ad Space
My blog recently underwent a makeover, which was designed to enhance the amount of advertisement space on the pages, much like several of the “A” list bloggers have done lately. I was interested in finding out if maximizing ad space would actually increase revenue, if you don’t have monthly advertisers. If you do have paid advertisers it is pretty much a given.
The answer is yes, on Goolge Adsense alone I have more than tripled my earnings since this new theme has been installed. I have also increased click-through’s on the buttons and banners in the top portion of the pages.
By maximizing the amount of ad space I have increased exposure to the advertisements which I have found to be very beneficial. I was a little concerned that the increased advertisements would drive people away, but it has been quite the opposite. As you will see in the list below, traffic has increased, subscribers have increased and other sources of outside revenue have increased, making this a very successful move on my part.
Many bloggers are against advertisements when you are starting out, because they don’t make any money and basically take up space. I disagree with this 100 percent, I think if you are able to focus on the placement of those ads it is a great way to earn money while you get going. By having visible advertising space you also increase your chances of an advertiser coming to you, to express their interest in advertising on your blog. If there are no ad spots, you have the out of sight/out of mind effect, no one wants to advertise if you don’t offer anywhere to do so.
Other Benefits with This New Theme
- RSS subscribers doubled almost over night, thanks to the large dedicated area for subscriptions. This allowed people to easily see and register for my post and comment feeds.
- Traffic has increased by three times what it was before the theme. I am now bringing loads of new people in from Google searches, I suppose this is due to better SEO optimization. Before the theme I would get one or two Google hits here and there, now its a constant flow all day long, for tons of different search terms.
- Commenting has had a slight increase. I am not to sure what has caused this, although it may just be the increased traffic, but there is no doubt that comments are at an all time high.
- My dedicated advertising page has brought in a paid review, which of course is more money.
- I have had someone contact me about building a blog theme for them. Having something a little more unique has stirred interest, and yes someone contacted me about doing a custom design for them which will be completed soon. This is not even a service that I advertise, but I was more than happy to take the work.
I would whole heartedly recommend anyone just starting or not consider maximizing their ad space, whether it be with a pre-made or custom theme. If you hope to make money with this venture, there is no better time to start than the present, and never let other people’s personal interests, stop you from doing what you think is best for your business. Happy Blogging!
Rhys | October 14th, 2007 at 5:03 pm #
“Many bloggers are against advertisements when you are starting out, because they don’t make any money and basically take up space. I disagree with this 100 percent, I think if you are able to focus on the placement of those ads it is a great way to earn money while you get going.”
I couldn’t agree more. I feel that also if you’re putting your cards down on the table from the get go, saying “This is my blog, I choose to advertise on it”, then you’re less likely to suffer a backlash when you choose to switch to advertising (like I did)
Mike Pedersen Golf | October 14th, 2007 at 5:23 pm #
Patric…I can vouch for it. Your site looks great and I’m sure your advertising dollars will only go up! I kind of wish I had made my new blog quite a bit wider as well
! Oh well…keep on keepin on!
Sly from Slyvisions.com | October 14th, 2007 at 6:33 pm #
Nice tip about advertising space. I really do think that it does matter, especially when it comes to giving the advertisers what they paid for.
Sly from http://slyvisions.com
Kevin | October 15th, 2007 at 7:18 am #
I love your new design Patric. You should definately see a better return on ads now.
This is something I had to think about a lot a week or so ago as I wanted to give ads good exposure but not got in the way of content etc.
Pyramus | October 15th, 2007 at 10:20 am #
Thanks for this tip. And yes, you do walk your talk. Your site looks good.
Israel | October 15th, 2007 at 10:35 am #
glad to see your stats are up. i too am making some changes and hope to have as much success as you have.
Patric Herber (Post Author) | October 15th, 2007 at 12:04 pm #
Thank you everyone for the great feedback, and nice compliments.
Rhys - You are right, a lot of people have a hard time with change, especially when it comes to a site they visit every day. Placement of ads in the beginning has a lot of benefits, this being one of them.
Sly - Very important point you made, giving advertisers what they pay for or in some cases more than they expect, is a great way to build interest among advertisers, and get them to spend their money.
Kevin - It’s tough isn’t it. There really has to be some sort of balance, but at the same time we can’t have everything, unfortunately!:) One of my biggest concerns was load time due to the fact that this is a pretty heavy or graphical theme. But it seemed to work out. It better when my hosting costs me twenty dollars a month.
Israel - Thank you and I wish you the best on your upcoming changes.