How To Make Money -Affiliate Programs :
Twenty years ago, digital advertising was just a bunch of banners placed prominently on websites. They were annoying, you clicked on one in every 100, and they became the victims of "banner blindness." Today, digital advertising is vast, with many different types of online ads being produced based on target audience, website content, and call to action. But before diving into the costs, and varying forms, let's take a look at the basic definition of digital advertising (aka online advertising)
Basic Definition
If you see an advertisement on the internet, then it is classified as digital advertising. In fact, there are ads on this very page, and most other websites you visit, as they are the primary revenue driver for internet companies.
From banner ads (including rich media banners) to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social networking, email marketing, online classified ads, site takeovers, and even SPAM, online advertising is one of the fastest growing ways to reach an audience.
With the web now readily available on smartphones, digital advertising has spread to the mobile platform. Companies are spending millions of dollars trying to find a way to advertise on phones without creating an unpleasant or disruptive experience. So far, the most popular way to do so has been through native advertising methods (read more on that here).
Common acronyms of online advertising:
- CPM - cost is calculated by impression. You are paid when an ad is shown.
- CPC - cost of ads are calculated based on number of clicks. You are paid when someone clicks on an ad.
- CPA - cost per action. You are paid when the visitor does something -- for example, filling out a form or buying a product.
- CPA (Cost Per Action) - In this model, all the risk falls on the publisher of the ad. The advertiser only pays the publisher if someone clicks AND completes a transaction.
- PPC (Pay Per Click) - The most common form of online advertising as it behooves both parties. The advertiser pays when someone clicks on the ad, but they do not have to complete a purchase for the publisher to get paid. Under this model, target keywords are highly important.
- CPM (Cost Per Mille) - More commonly known as CPT (Cost Per Thousand), the advertiser pays for exposure based on visitors to the website and eyes on an ad. If a website gets two million visitors per day, and the ad is seen on 50% of those pages, then a CPM of $2 would be equal to $2000.
Types of Digital Advertising
To list them all would take forever, but here are some of the main ways that advertisers are getting to consumers with an online buy:
- Banners ads (These include skyscrapers, full banners, squares, and buttons.)
- Adsense (These are the ads served to consumers via Google, by showing ads relevant to the information on any page.)
- Email advertising (and SPAM)
- Native Advertising (This continues to grow and dominate the online advertising space.)
- Facebook Ads
- YouTube Ads
- Sponsored Tweets
- Website Takeovers
- Rich Media Ads
- Pop Up Ads (and pop-unders)
- Pre-video ads
- Blogging
Google Adsense: The Basics
Using Internet search technology, Google will serve ads on web pages that are based on the specific content of that web page.
For instance, if someone is on a webpage that's covering the latest golf tournament, Google will serve ads for golf clubs or golfing attire. If you own that site, you get paid every time someone clicks on that ad. Not too shabby. This is usually called CPC (Cost Per Click) advertising.
The Major Benefits of Google Ads
You may not even notice banner ads anymore. As an Internet-savvy society, we have learned to filter them out. There is also banner filtering software available because banner ads can be very annoying, and that could harm your website readership. But Google Adsense is different:
- Google Ads are less intrusive, so they don't annoy people
- The content is RELATIVE, and therefore has more impact
- People trust Google Ads because people trust Google
- The payment model is generous and reliable
- It's possible to make a healthy living from Google Ads
That last point is paramount. How do you make a living from Google Ads?
Well, with the right combination of traffic, content, and users, you can make thousands of dollars every single month.
Making Google Adsense Income
Let's be clear. You cannot expect to throw Google Ads onto your site, sit back, relax, and watch the money roll in. It doesn't work that way. Like anything in business, it takes an investment of your time to get a return that you can bank on.
To understand the logistics of making money, you need to know the basic way Adsense works.
How it Works
Let's say you currently have a blog or website that gets 100,000 visitors every single month. That's over 1 million every year. Sounds like something that could make you money, right? Well, think of this:
- You have 100,000 ad impressions (views)
- You have a CTR (click through rate) of 1%, which is standard
- 1% of 100,000 = 1000
- If the CPC (cost per click) of the ad is $0.01, you make $10
- If the CPC (cost per click) of the ad is $1.00, you make $1000
There's a big difference between the two, and obviously, most ads do not pay out at the $1/click rate. The more obvious and widespread the keyword of the ad (which is what triggers the ad itself), the lower the CPC. And that is info you can use.
What You Can Do To Maximise Adsense Income
Whether you want to make money off the blog or website you already have, or you want to create a blog with the sole purpose of making Adsense money, there are several ways you can increase your revenue:
- Use SEO (Search Engine Optimization) writing to maximize the keywords in your content.
- Write more. The more you write about your subject, the more keywords you have for Google to search and feed ads to.
- Write often. More content is everything, and the fresher the better.
- Post useful, accurate content. When you post garbage filled with keywords it is difficult to read and doesn't bring people back. You want your site to be sticky, so that it generates traffic.
- Find a niche. Talking about football is all well and good, but thousands of people are doing it. But movie soundtrack collections, that's another story.
- Don't create too much bad traffic. It's easier than you'd think to create a lot of traffic, but if it's not qualified, which means there to read your content, then it will be a flash in the pan. It also affects your CTR.
- Make use of Google Analytics. Google gives you the tools, for free, to make a profit.
- Think differently. Don't just write the same old boring content that everyone else is. Have a new take on Mad Men? Got a better angle on knitting? PlentyofFish.com, earns over $300,000 every month! But it's not just given away. You have to earn it. Now go, be successful.
Tackling the Issue of Competitor Ads
One of the biggest issues you will face when you start running ads on your site is the competition. Depending on the kind of site you run, you could find that ads start being served that are in direct competition with what you are selling, or offering. For example, if you have a site dedicated to drop shipping a certain product, perhaps Disney toys or snowglobes, you could suddenly see ads for those products directing your visitors away from your site. This is not good for business.
Can anything be done about this? Well, yes. Google anticipated this very issue, and therefore allows you to block content from up to 200 different URLs. However, it's a little tricky to know who to block until you start seeing those ads show up. Even worse, you may never see those ads, due to the way Adsense serves up the content.
Also, as an Adsense user, you cannot click on these links directly to see where the ads are being directed to. It's a clear violation of the rules of using Adsense, but you can right click on the ad, if you're lucky enough to see it, and discover the link/URL to block. Again, this is all going to depend on a little luck.
Perhaps the best way to create a list is to search Google for the kinds of products or services you are selling, and note the top 50 different URLs that come up. That's a good way to block ad traffic from sites that are clearly in competition with you.
Your Facebook feed is about to get a whole lot more interesting. Or, way too busy, depending on your perspective. As of March 29th 2015, animated GIFs are now auto playing in your Facebook feed. This means that those regular old still images are going to be quickly overshadowed by people wanting to grab your attention with something that animates right before you eyes.
People, that is. But not brands.
Yes, the animated GIF, which has been auto playing on Tumblr (where it has found its greatest success), Reddit, and a host of other websites and blogs, will not be something that brands can adopt. Yet.
Right now, if a brand page does post an animated GIF, all you will see is a still image. Click on it, and you’ll be taken out of your Facebook page to a host site. This is obviously not ideal for the advertisers of the world, who want to seamlessly integrate their marketing messages into your social newsfeed.
However, do we want the animated GIF to be something that ad agencies can offer to their clients? After all, we now live in a world that promotes DVRs that skip ads, software plugins that remove web banners, and pre-roll ads that have to be so short an interesting that you’ll watch them rather than skip them.
It’s safe to say that consumers, already inundated with advertising, will not be too happy with Facebook if it allows brands to start blasting our feed with animated GIFs promoting us to buy cars, toothpastes, and the latest smart phones.
If past performance is any kind of indication of what we can expect in the future, however, then money will rule and Facebook will soon bow to the mighty dollar. Remember, in 2013 auto playing videos were introduced to just a select few users. Now, brands can use premium video ads to “reach a large audience with high-quality sight, sound and motion.” Those are the words that come straight from the Facebook For Business page.
In essence, if it makes Facebook a tone of money, they’re all for it. So, can we expect animated gifs from brands soon?
Is the Pope Catholic?
Although it wasn’t too long ago that Facebook was dead set against having any kind of auto playing animated gif in the feeds, there is no way brands are going to miss out on the animated gif craze. The only way they can do it right now is through a third-party host like Giphy, Tumblr, or Imgur. But that’s not what brands will want, as it takes people away from their Facebook experience.
Brands will want their animated GIFs on Facebook, right next to their auto play movies and other branded content. But what does this mean for the average Facebook user?
Sadly, it means yet another stream of advertising hitting them like a sledgehammer, making the whole Facebook experience less personal. Unless, that is, Facebook gives users the chance to customize their own feeds and turn off advertising, including auto playing animated GIFs, videos, and other promotional content.
Indeed, not all advertising is unwanted. Unlike the experience consumers get on typical TV, cable, and radio, (especially radio), Facebook’s advertising is geo-targeted and personalized.
If you’ve been looking around for a new car, suddenly you’ll see deals in your feed. This is consumer-focused advertising. So, while brands will not have to wait too long for the auto playing animated GIF, they should really consider how they will be serving them up.
This is another chance to engage a customer, or really annoy them. If you’re in an ad agency, think carefully if you’re offering this to your clients. If you’re a client, think carefully about demanding it from your agency.
