Direct Banner Advertising
Selling your own advertising space is one
of the most lucrative monetization methods. First and foremost because
it enables you to cut out the middleman commissions and to determine
your own rates. The most popular banner formats on the web are the
728×90 leaderboard, the 120×600 skyscraper, the 300×250 rectangle and
the 125×125 button.
The downside of direct banner advertising is
that you need to have a big audience to get qualified advertisers, and
you will need to spend time managing the sales process, the banners and
the payments.
Related links:
Text Link Ads
After Google declared that sites selling text links without the
nofollow tag would be penalized, this monetization method became less
popular.
Many website owners are still using text links to monetize their sites, though, some using the nofollow tag and some not.
The
advantage of this method is that it is not intrusive. One can sell text
links directly through his website or use specialized networks like
Text-Link-Ads and Text-Link-Brokers to automate the process.
Text link marketplaces and networks:
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a very popular practice
on the Internet. Under this system you have a merchant that is willing
to let other people (the affiliates) sell directly or indirectly its
products and services, in exchange for a commission. Sometimes this
type of advertising is also called CPA (cost per action) or CPL (cost
per lead) based.
Affiliates can send potential customers to the merchant using several tools, from banners to text links and product reviews.
In order to find suitable affiliate programs you can turn to individual companies and publishers like Dreamhost and SEOBook, or join affiliate marketplaces and networks.
List of popular affiliate marketplaces and networks:
Monetization Widgets
The latest trend on the web are widgets that let you monetize your
website. Examples include Widgetbucks and SmartLinks. Some of these
services operate under a PPC scheme, others behave like text link ads,
others yet leverage affiliate links.
Their main differentiator,
however, is the fact that they work as web widgets, making it easier
for the user to plug and play the service on its website.
List of companies that provide monetization widgets:
Sponsored Reviews
PayPerPost pioneered this model, with much controversy on the beginning
(related to the fact that they did not require disclosure on paid
posts). Soon other companies followed, most notably Sponsored Reviews
and ReviewMe, refining the process and expanding the paid blogging
model.
Joining one of these sponsored reviews marketplaces will give
you the opportunity to write sponsored posts on a wide range of topics.
Not all bloggers are willing to get paid to write about a specific
product or website (because it might compromise the editorial
credibility), but the ones who do are making good money out of it.
If your blog has a big audience you could also offer sponsored reviews directly, cutting off the commissions of the middleman.
List of sponsored reviews and paid blogging networks:
RSS Feed Ads
With the quick adoption of the RSS technology by millions of Internet
users, website owners are starting to find ways to monetize this new
content distribution channel. Feedburber already has its own
publisher network, and you can sign-up to start displaying CPM based
advertising on your feed footer. Bidvertiser recently introduced a RSS
feed ad option as well, with a PPC scheme.
Finally, some blogs are also opting to sell banners or sponsored messages on their feed directly. John Chow and Marketing Pilgrim are two examples. Related links:
Sponsors for Single Columns or Events
If your website has specific columns or events (e.g., a weekly podcast,
an interview series, a monthly survey, a special project) you could
find companies to sponsor them individually.
This method increases
the monetization options for website owner, while giving advertisers
the possibility to target a more specific audience and with a reduced
commitment.
Mashable
illustrates the case well. They have several advertising options on the
site, including the possibility to sponsor specific columns and
articles, including the “Daily Poll” and the “Web 2.0 Invites.”
Problogger also runs group writing projects occasionally, and before proceeding he publicly announce the project asking for sponsors.
