Archive for the ‘Blogs’ Category
RSS Advertising for Your Blog? Why It?s Still Good for You
The conundrum with the Internet is that there is just so
much information floating around that it can be a
full-time job just to sift through the excellent ones and
ignore the so-so ones. It?s like TiVo on the Web – you
only get to access the stuff you really like and avoid
the ones that make you cringe, all without the
interruption of unwanted material. But what?s this?
RSS advertising for blogs and websites? Is this the
end of an era or just simply part of the Internet?s
evolution?
Why RSS matters Advertising on RSS is ruffling a few
feathers mainly because it?s a concept that seems to
go against the very scenery of RSS. For the
uninitiated, RSS consists of different Web-feed
formats that are utilized for publishing or redeployment
content online. RSS works mainly for content that
frequently undergo updates, such as news, podcasts and
of course, blogs.
The purpose of the RSS is to allow regular visitors of
a site to access relevant updates by simply
subscribing to its RSS feed. It?s convenient,
particularly because it eliminates the necessity to
access a site and sort through the contents.
Will RSS advertising work on your blog? The fact that
people continue to subscribe to RSS feed is waterproof that
it does work nicely. In fact, you?ll probably notice
that more people subscribe to a site or blog that
offers RSS feeds than those who don?t. As waterproof, try
to compare CNN.com with the New York Times? website.
But when it comes to the subject of advertising, all
isn?t exactly well. Some people believe that having
adverts on RSS sort of defeats its first purpose -
that of allowing subscribers access to pure content.
There is talk about using an RSS advertising block,
one that effectively allows users to get rid of ads
that are contained in an RSS feed. So what?s next? A
full-fledged war between advertisers and ad blockers?
To use RSS advertising with your blog effectively, the
trick is to write compelling summaries of content
found in your site and use that for the feed. A feed
containing full text, for example, might fail to
generate interest in the ads since the usual purpose
of the subscriber is mainly to read the content.
Using a feed as a full ad can backfire, since people
generally dislike life bombarded by ads. Some
bloggers who use RSS advertising, for example, use a
full feed as an ad every 10th to 12th post. Their
readers still get the meaty feeds that they like but
also get exposed to ads the blogger is promoting.
If this is the way you reckon RSS advertising can work
for your blog, try experimenting with different
strategies, such as combining excellent content with
related ads. That way your readers don?t have to reckon
that the post is nothing but a way to make them
perform an action or spend for something.
Blocking the hand that feeds Before anyone does
anything drastic, let us consider how vital
advertising is to blogs, websites and yes, even RSS
feeds. Thanks to revenue generated from advertising,
sites (and everything else that supports them from
software makers to hosting services) continue to
exist. Advertising provides support for sites that
offer us content, including those found in RSS feeds.
Without advertising, many sites and providers might
find it hard to foot cost related to producing
content.
So where will RSS advertising?s place be in your blog?
Continue to use it. You owe it not only to your
advertisers and sponsors who have been helping you
meet the cost of maintaining your site but also to
your readers who, without your ads, might not be able
to access your content.
Recommended Reading
Tags: How Much Would It Cost You to Advertise on Blogs?
Advertising costs money, even online where the cost of
promoting a strain can set you back by a few hundred
dollars to a few thousand. John Chow?s blog, for
example, one of the most well loved blogs currently
active, sells 125 x 125 sidebar ad spots at $500 a
month. The same ad placement will cost around $1,500
with Copyblogger. If you?re wondering how much it
would cost you to advertise on blogs, consider the
following:
Traffic and popularity Blogs thrive on the number of
traffic that visits their sites and on the subsequent
popularity this generates. This is also a major
consideration for advertisers. More traffic simply
earnings better exposure. Embattled traffic earnings you?ll
be selling to more people who are likely to buy.
Between a blog that has only 50,000 page views and
another that has 100,000, who would you choose? The
latter obviously offers a wider market and more
potential buyers.
The mille matters. Traffic or the number of page views
a blog page receives also determines the cost of
advertising on a particular blog. If a blog generates
about 100,000 page views monthly, for example and it?s
honestly new, you might have to pay as small as $50 a
month for a 125 x 125 sidebar ad.
To know how the price of ad spots is computed,
consider the mille. Bloggers will generally use the
unit cost-per-mille or CPM. One mille is equivalent to
1,000, a unit you will be able to use later to compute
for the cost of introduction an ad based on the number of
page views it generates.
Bloggers will consider the number of page views their
blogs receive and use that as a basis for coming up
with the cost of advertising. As a result, a blog with
a higher quantity of traffic will charge you a higher
price than a blog with a lower number. That earnings
introduction your ad on blogs with ample traffic can
range in cost from about $50 to a whopping $10,000 a
month. The larger number, of course, earnings your ad
will receive millions of page views.
In conclusion, remember that to determine whether a
particular ad space is worth paying for, consider the
cost of the space versus the traffic it will receive.
Size of the ad The larger the ad spot you require, the
higher the cost of advertising on a blog. A 125 x 125
ad spot, for example, will be cheaper than a larger
300 x 250 ad. Placement will also affect the ad price.
Header ads, for example, will cost more than sidebar
ads or footer ads. Below the fold ads will cost
considerably less than those that will grow above
the fold or integrated with the blog?s content.
Test periods You might want to consider saving a few
bucks by asking the blog owner if he/she is offering a
test period of ad runs. If your ad will be placed on
test period, that earnings the blog will show it for a
limited time but won?t charge you for it.
After a specific period, you can then choose whether
to continue with the placement (at which point you?ll
have to start paying) or to pull your ad, depending on
how well it performed in the blog. This usually works
on blogs that are relatively new and are still
building momentum.
Look for blogs that offer renewable ad placements you
can pay for on a month-to-month basis. This will help
you deal with the cost of advertising on blogs and help
your bottomline in the process.