How Much Would It Cost You to Advertise on Blogs?

Advertising costs money, even online where the cost of promoting a brand can set you back by a few hundred dollars to a few thousand. 

John Chow's blog, for example, one of the most popular 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 means better exposure. 

Targeted traffic means 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 fairly new, you might have to pay as little as $50 a month for a 125 x 125 sidebar ad.

To understand 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 computer for the cost of placing 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 amount of traffic will charge you a higher price than a blog with a lower number. That means placing your ad on blogs with sufficient traffic can range in cost from about $50 to a whopping $10,000 a month. The bigger number, of course, means 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 bigger 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 appear 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 means the blog will display it for a limited time but won't charge you for it.

After a specific period, you can then decide 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 manage the cost of advertising on blogs and help your bottomline in the process.

How Setting Your Own Blog Advertising Rates

Sooner or later, you will be faced with the decision of whether to use advertising on your blog or not.

Advertising isn't mandatory for keeping your blog interesting; in fact, it's merely an optional tool you can use in case you want to take advantage of your blog's popularity. But once you've decided on placing ads on your site, there's one more issue you need to consider: setting your blog's advertising rates. 

So how much can you expect to charge or be charged?

With blog advertising, there are no set rates. It is up to the blogger to design the correct ad payment scheme that attracts advertisers and allow him to generate a reasonable income at the same time.

To help you determine the right advertising rates for your blog, it's important to consider doing some research first, particularly about similar blogs and to consider your traffic and perform some simple experimentation using your site.

Playing with figures If you think that setting your ad rates at low prices will attract more advertisers, you couldn't be more mistaken. Your $300 a month rate may not stand against another blogger's $600 a month rate. if you only have 50,000 page views monthly and he enjoys 600,000 page views.

An advertiser will look at the ratio between the cost of advertising on your blog against the amount of traffic that your site generates, the same traffic that will potentially click on the ads.

A good 'constant' to consider when determining ad rates is the CPM or Cost-Per-Mille - mille being equivalent to 1,000. 

Let's say a blog receives 150,000 page views monthly. For a 125x125 sidebar ad (usually the most common), the blog charges $250 monthly.

Divide $250 by 150 (that's 150,000 divided by 1,000 to come up with the CPM) and you'll get $1.66 CPM.

The same arithmetic is used by some of the most popular blogs, including JohnChow and Copyblogger. For your blog, you might want to consider how much traffic you generate and the number of genuine page views you get. These figures will help you evaluate your blog and come up with the appropriate ad rate.

Since these blogs are well established, you could start at far lower rates if you're still building traffic. Consider a starting figure of about $0.5 CPM, which is friendly enough to your advertisers and good enough for you. Raise this rate gradually as your blog becomes more popular and as more advertisers and sponsors buy ad space from you.

Size and location Advertising rates also vary depending on the size of the ad and where it will appear. Larger ads and those that will be placed in prime locations or 'hotspots' will cost more. Ads will also be more expensive if they will appear along with content or on your blog's header. 

Cheaper locations will be those found on the page's footer and the area located after the fold. Factors that influence ad rates Not every blog can enjoy strong advertising support. That's mainly because not every blog has the right amount of site traffic, the right visitors, market demographics or niche. 

These are just some of the factors that affect your eligibility for ad placement and the rate you can charge on your blog. Blogs, by the way, do not pass through the same channels as traditional print media. The cost of providing information in blogs is low enough that bloggers can offer low advertising rates and still earn a profit.

Getting The Message Across by Email

If you are someone who uses chat programs such as AIM, ICQ, Yahoo messenger, MSN, or Googletalk and have a lot of online friends, it can be a great way to get people to read your blog and to leave comments on it.

As it is with your signature on your email, you don't want to just send an instant message to people everytime you update your blog. You also don't want to simply send a message to someone asking to read your blog.

For someone who has been on your friends list for a while, you can be less formal of course, but you want to be polite when you talk to people who you may have not talked to in a while or someone who is new.

Use your own judgement when you are chatting with people about your blog. If it's someone that you haven't talked to in a while, and someone asks you what you have been up to, you can point them to your blog so that they know what is going on with you.

Some blogs, like LiveJournal, have their own messaging program, so that's also another good way to advertise your blog.

Be certain that you don't send someone a message though only to advertise your blog. It's more polite to say something about their blog first, and then tell them about your blog.

If you have a common interest, it's a good ice breaker and it will give you something to talk about.

Email Groups - Hidden Treasure Troves For Advertising a Blog

Something that has become increasingly popular since the Internet has grown are the email groups that are available through Yahoo, MSN, and other venues.

They are a great way to meet other people who have a common interest, and are very similar to the communities that are available through blogging sites. There is plenty of diverse subjects and there are communities for just about any subject.

These groups can be a great place for people who have a blog about the subject and want to share it with other people. Most of the time when you join a group, you are encouraged to take a moment and to introduce yourself.

This is a great opportunity to tell people about your blog, but make certain that you don't overdo it. Just like with any of the other places you will advertise your blog, you want to make people want to go to your blog. If you are too overbearing, you will turn people off.

If your blog covers different subjects, you can advertise it on the other groups that cover those subjects as well. Make certain that your post to the groups is interesting and that you let people know what it is that your blog is about. There's nothing worse than getting taken to a blog under false pretences.

When people visit your blog, make certain that you thank them for visiting and respond to comments that they leave. If they know that you appreciate the time that they took, they are more likely to come back again.

Blogging Traffic - Give And Take

 

Blogging traffic is a give and take relationship. Sometimes one of the best ways to get traffic to yourblog is by visiting someone else 's blog. Go to their blog and read one of their entries, or read a few of them. Chances are that you are going to find something that you have in common.

When you find something that you find truly interesting on a blog, leave a comment so that they know that you were there. One of the best known blogs available is Live Journal.

A great feature of LiveJournal is that you can search for interests on their site and it will come up with results of those who have that interest.

Are you interested in horseback riding? You can see what other bloggers are interested in horseback riding as well.

When you are commenting on someone's post, you want to make sure that you don't leave generic comment. If you like the post, say something about what you read in the post.

After you have commented on the person's post, then you can say something like, 'I really like horseback riding too. I had a similar experience to yours.' and then use it to link back to your journal.

But be sure that you sound sincere when you are commenting, and don't make them feel like you're just fishing for traffic.

If someone thinks that you are using their blog to get more traffic to yours, they won't visit your site and your efforts will be wasted.

Blogging Directories - Great Advertising Venues

If you want to have more people visit your blog, there are plenty of blog directories on the Internet that you can submit your blog to so that people will come and visit it. 

Most blog directories are listed by the topics that the blogs that are submited cover. Blog Catalog is a free blog directory that offers categories such as career and jobs, writing, Iraq, and many others. It has features such as featured blogs and other things to offer those who submit their blogs there.

Another great place to add your blog is blog-drectory.org. Not only do they have an an extensive list of categories with sub categories, you can get your blog reviewed. For the most popular blogs, it shows the amount of hits that blogs have and if they have any reviews. As well as listing by category, the blogs are also listed by location.

There are other blog directories on the Internet - these are only a couple of them. But blog directories are a great place to advertise your blog and to make new friends. You never know what you will find when you browsing through the directory, and you may just find out information that you never knew. Some of the blog directories offer chat features as well, so that you can meet other people easily.

As you can see, blog directories are a great place to get your blog noticed and bring people to read yourblog and look at your pictures.

A Great Place To Advertise Your Blog is Blogger Forums

 

No matter what type of blog that you have, one of the best places that you can advertise your blog is to join a blogger forum. After all, everyone who posts there has a blog and thats the main subject. It's a great place to meet other bloggers and to advertise your blog.

There are quite a few blogger forums that you can sign up for on the Internet. One is known as Bloggeries, where you can show off your blog, get your blog reviewed or review other blogs, and find lots of tools that you can use for your own blog.

Another good place to go is to Blog Forum. Blog Forum, like Bloggeries, has spots for you to market and show off your blog, everyone in them are of the same mind and want to make certain that their blogs get noticed and read.

If you use your blog to advertise something that you are selling, or you want to get a lot of traffic to your blog in order to make money, you want to go someplace where it can get exposure. When you advertise on a blog forum, you know that you are placing your advertisement in a place where blogging is something that people enjoy.

Just remember when you are posting to a forum to read the rules and abide by them. That way you'll get your blog noticed and you will know that you are doing the right thing.

3 Techniques You Can Use For Your Blog On other websites without paying a single cent

Advertising Your Blog on Other Websites for Free and How You Can Take Advantage of a No-Cost Strategy

There are several ways you can advertise your blog on other websites without paying a single cent. 

The trick is to find these channels and determine which ones will work for you. 

Here are just a few techniques you can use:

1. Advertising on other blogs. 

You could build a reciprocal relationship with other bloggers, particularly those whose content are related (but not necessarily similar) to yours. If your blog is about gadget and industry news, for example, you could advertise it for free on another blog that offers gadget reviews. By becoming partners with a non-competitor, you take advantage of his market for the right type of exposure without alienating anyone. It's fair, it works and it's for free.

2. Advertising Use social media. 

Social media revolutionized many aspects of the Internet, particularly because it presents a new way of communicating and sharing information. It broke many barriers, allowing people from across the globe to build and join networks, both for personal and business purposes. Social media are sites that can be used to advertise your blogs for free. Nearly all types of businesses that exist on the Internet use social media for promotional activities. The demographics here are clearly defined, people can communicate in a more personal manner and since social media is an accepted platform for marketing, people who read your ads regarding your blog are more likely to be receptive to it. Best of all, advertising your blog on these websites is free.

3. Advertising Use a network. 

To build buzz and gain momentum in the blog universe, you need support from likeminded individuals. Bloggers don't really advertise themselves actively against other bloggers. Instead, they compete with one another by ensuring they have better content and easier to use sites. Although simply maintaining a good blog will help attract other blogs wishing to link up with you, you might also want to actively pursue associations with other popular blogs. Many of the best bloggers around are generous enough to give you a bit of support and will gladly mention your blog in one of their posts. Best of all, a network helps you increase your reach for the same amount of effort.

4. Use article databases. 

Article databases are repositories of write-ups that bloggers and site owners use. If you choose this route, know that this is a rather indirect way of promoting your blog. It is quite effective nonetheless, particularly if you want to build buzz regarding your ability to provide useful information. Try to search out a specific topic online and chances are, you will find an article written by blogger in an article database. Read this article. At the end, you will notice that the blogger had included his/her name, a short description of himself, what he does,the name of his company and a link back to his site. Sometimes, a blogger might even include a few links to some of his write-ups within the text of the article. This is to entice the reader to click on the link and find related information on the writer's blog. Using links in this manner allows you to advertise your blog for free on a separate website.

There's no cost involved here, particularly if you wrote the article and performed the submission yourself. 

If you prefer to spend a little bit, you could also use copywriting and submission services for a reasonable cost. 

While this isn't free advertising for your blog, you still get to expand your presence using another website.

22 Advertising Techniques for Your Blog And How To Do It For a Little Expense

 During your initial foray into web logging, you'll find that it will take some conscious effort on your part to promote your blog. Of course, you could just simply write feverishly and hope that your blog take son a life of its own. But that's putting your hopes on randomness which might not work in your favor. If the thought of advertising your blog has never crossed your mind, it's time that you gave it some consideration, especially if you've only begun blogging.

Here are ways you can start advertising your blog at little or no cost:

• Share information for free. Don't expect or demand to be paid for information just yet. 
• You're still trying to build your reputation and nobody knows you. 
• Focus on putting out excellent quality entries or posts in your blog. 
• Good content, coupled with enough promotional activity, will put you in the blog universe's map.
• The way to do it is to write articles about your specific topic, articles that are related to your chosen content. 
• Include a short introduction about yourself and your blog and place a link back to your site. 
• Writing articles helps establish your reputation as a reliable source of information and makes you recognizable.
• Take article writing a bit further and send it out to article databases or social bookmarking sites where it can generate more buzz and get free promotion. 
• Social bookmarking sites allow visitors to vote for your article, so the more it gains in popularity, the moreexposure your blog will receive.
• Target online forums Online forums are today's bulletin boards, the equivalent of the office water cooler. 
• These are sites or pages on the internet that people frequent to ask or answer questions, share their opinions, tell a story, rant, rave or just simply say something.
• Seek out online forums where topics related to your blog are found. 
• Forums offer free advertising opportunities for your blog and let you network at the same time.
• Link up with other blogs Never underestimate the power of a good connection. 
• Many bloggers form associations with other bloggers and reap the rewards of a symbiotic relationship in the process. 
• They do this by swapping links, allowing themselves to share their audience with other bloggers like you.
• Bloggers can also actively promote your blog by mentioning it in their posts while at the same time providing links back to your site.
• Frequently, blog owners will often allow you to guest write an article or post for a day or a week. This helps expose you and your blog to that blog's visitors.
• Give your two cents' worth Don't always treat other blogs with content similar to yours as bitter competitors. 
• Sometimes, they could work as silent partners to help you promote your blog. 
• It may sound sneaky or unacceptable to your idea of good ethics but if you look closely, it's not only practical, it's also legit.
• Each time you visit another guy's blog, consider the niche market it targets. 
• Simply take a look at the prevailing topics and sentiment and you'll have an idea whether it's a match to your needs or not. 
• Leave a short but meaty comment on a relevant article that you truly found interesting. Then leave your name and a link to the blog page where a related topic can be found.
• What this does is simply promoting your blog to a market that already exists. 
• You're not exactly stealing another blogger's audience - you're simply providing them an alternative. And that's not so bad for advertising your blog.

Using Blogs As Sources In Articles - advertising techniques

 

Depending on what type of blog that you have, it might be a good idea to advertise your blog using articles.

For example, say you know about jewelry and gemstones, and your blog is a place where you post information for people to read about jewelry.

Submitting an article to a website such as Associated Content can be very instrumental in bringing people to your blog.

An good example would be is if you wanted to talk about the common misconceptions about the colors of gemstones.

You could write about the fact that people assume that gemstones such as emeralds, sapphires and rubies are one different color, but the truth is that those stones come in a variety of colors and hues.

Then you can use your blog as a source for your information, as long as you have blogged about those gemstones.

The great thing is that some places, like Associated Content, will pay you for the articles that you write.

So if you sell jewelry on your blog, it's like being paid twice for your knowledge. Of course, this is just an example of the way you can use articles to advertise your blog.

When you are writing an article, be creative. 

• You don't have to be an expert at what you do. 
• If you enjoy writing stories, you can say that posting
• stories on blogs is a new and different way to share your stories with others.
• Then, post your blog link as your source and you have people checking out your blog and your stories.

Advertising Your Blog In Your Email Signature

If you have a blog that you are particularly proud of,and that you want to share with other people, there are a lot of free ways that you can get your blog noticed.

One of those ways is something that you do everyday,and that you may not even consider as a way to share your blog. Put the link to your blog in your email signature.

Chances are that you send out emails more timese that you can count during the day, Each time you send out an email, you can advertise your blog by putting the address of your blog in your email's signature.

It's always a good idea to write something catchy like, See what I am up to now, or Read my latest chapter of my fanfic here, depending on what type of blog you have.

The thing to remember about putting an adveritsement in your signature for your blog is to make it short,but eyecatching.

You want people to be interested enough to want to click on it, but you also don't want to scare them off. Just like it is with any adveritsement, you want to give them just enough to be interested and take a closer look at what it is that you are advertising.

Think about what it is that your blog is about. What is really going to interest people abuot it and want to visit? That is what you should include in your signature, and that is what is going to get people to go to your blog.

Blog Advertising: How Do You Know If You've Done Too Much and Gone Too Far?

 

Advertising is good. It offers information, gives you access to a product or service you otherwise won't know about, it earns people money and fuels several different industries. But you know how anything excessive breeds discontent and greed and neither one is pretty. The wrong use of advertising on your blog could send your traffic south - not exactly the direction you want it to take. 

So when is blog advertising bad and when is it just right?

Is your blog succeeding? The key indicator that you're probably doing something right with your blog advertising is when you're actually succeeding. You get the traffic you want, you earn for a few simple efforts you made and keep your advertisers happy.

But don't get carried away by your success. You might think that placing many ads on your blog can help you earn exponentially. What it will do is earn you a spot on your advertiser's black list. Advertisers have guidelines about how many ads you can place on one web page. Generally, this can range from 3 to 5, depending on the sponsor.

If you don't want to break the good will that exists between you and your affiliate or advertising program, learn what the policies are and respect them.

Is that a blog or a splog? One of the worst labels your blog can be slapped with is 'splog'. That's a blog that contains spam. If your blog is nothing more than just pages upon pages of advertising and little content, you'd probably be better off publishing a fashion magazine.

Too many ads on a blog can bury your content, distract your visitors and even frustrate them. Some, such as the very wary ones, will leave your blog in a hurry. If your blog resembles an infomercial, forget it. It will look annoying and take away from the good reputation you're trying to build.

Too many choices Another challenge you will be facing when it comes to blog advertising is persuading your visitors to pay attention to the ads long enough to actually do something with them. Otherwise, these ads will be useless.

The problem with a blog that has too many advertising units is that it can confuse the visitor. When they're confused, they're less likely to click on an ad, much less subscribe or buy anything. 

That leaves your advertisers - and you - empty-handed. Managing your advertising A blog page can easily handle an average of three ads, which is something most advertising and affiliate programs will allow. Placed strategically, these ads can easily catch the attention of your visitors. Since there are only a few ads to look at, your visitors can easily decide which one to click on.

Now imagine if there were 10 to 15 ads running on the same page at the same time. You've probably seen blogs like these before, with ads splattered all over, rivaling a NASCAR race car.

To use blog advertising correctly, first consider the type of programs you will be running. If you will be an affiliate to a brand or company, there are certain restrictions you have to work with. 

Some companies, for example, prefer not to have a competing brand's a placed in the same blog. Second, placement and aesthetics matter. Consider some of the highest-rated blogs and study their ad placements. 

Where are these ads placed on a page, what are their sizes relative to one another and to the content box and what do these ads contain? If you've seen enough of these successful blogs, you'll have picked up enough lessons to know how to use blog advertising to your advantage.