Advertising vs. Readership. It’s One or the Other.
August 12th 2007
Advertising and readership are the two things that most bloggers are trying to promote. The thing that isn't always realised is that you can't promote both advertising and readership. It is either advertising or readership.
Your blog's layout contains a number of hotspots. Content in these hotspots, such as that above the fold, is looked at (And then acted upon) more often than content in other locations. It is important to realise that each hotspot can only contain one type of content; either adverts or readership promotion.
Promoting Readership
By choosing to build readership, you are actively choosing to put your adverts into locations where they will perform worse, for the benefit of your readers. In this way, you can more easily encourage readers to subscribe, or simply browse in non-commercial peace. In this way you are hoping to build up a good audience, discussion and contacts.
This approach is best recommended for blogs still in their infancy. You will only continue writing the blog if you feel people are actually reading, and benefiting from it. With small audience, your profits are going to be meagre no matter how well you place them, so why damage your blog's growth potential?
An example of this is Pro Blog Design itself. The only advert here is a plain, old Google Adsense skyscraper, placed in the most out-of-the-way area on the blog. I have no interest in money at the minute. Instead of placing adverts in the posts, above the headlines on the homepage, or any of the other usual hotspots, I'm giving my content prominence and enjoying the rewards of all the great comments I've had so far.
Promoting Advertising
In a blog which already has an established readership, and a good deal of articles written, it is natural that the adverts will then be given priority. At this point, your reputation and regular readers mean that the damage ads will do to your comment and subscription counts is a lot less than previously.
A good example of this is John Chow's blog, where you'll find adverts above the content, in the content, below the content, and in every other place that might make a few bucks! John's content is enough to promote readership, leaving his layout to make the money.
In the end, you always have to choose either your community, or your income. So, which is it for you?
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August 13th at 12:57 am GMT
Comment #1
Michael,
I think that readership is key, in all stages of the game. (I guess that's probably obvious though)
Personally, I've always chosen the community; chosen to build readership. I think that in the end a readers-first attitude just plain works better.
When you have a large group of loyal readers you don't need to trick them into clicking by putting ads everywhere. They will click or buy your product because you recommend it, or because they want to help you.
Just my two cents,
- Mason
August 13th at 1:04 am GMT
Comment #2
Thanks for adding your opinion Mason.
I agree with you that readership is always crucial (Eg. No advert will ever be put above my subscriber options in the sidebar), but do you not feel that some blogs place adverts are placed in locations which are slightly annoying to readers, just so they get more clicks? (In particular, in-content ads)
I would also agree with you on loyal readers. They are who I was alluding to when I mentioned the larger blogs, but what about more casual readers? Or first-time readers?
August 13th at 10:22 am GMT
Comment #3
I think I'm slowly beginning to be a loyal reader of yours
August 13th at 11:38 am GMT
Comment #4
lol - Nothing would make me happier pablopabla!
August 14th at 9:30 am GMT
Comment #5
Small blogs need readers, and big ones ad revenues, and looking by the trends, that's the way it is.
August 14th at 9:11 pm GMT
Comment #6
Michael,
You're absolutely right that some blogs put adverts in terrible locations and all throughout content. And, they certainly do annoy readers.
I suppose, at the end of the day, most blogs are ad support. As such, it is necessary to place a reasonable amount of advertisements in high performing positions. Certainly, a leaderboard like you have is not getting in anyones way.
I still think a good recommendation to an affiliate will bring in more money than "AdSense" type ads, and could also be more useful to readers.
Excellent discussion you've started!
- Mason
August 14th at 10:55 pm GMT
Comment #7
Mason, you've hit the nail right on the head about this blog! Over the next few days, the Adsense ads will be dropped completely, and be replaced by a few affiliate links and an Amazon book recommendation. All of the links and books were chosen by me, so hopefully they will be a little more useful.
August 18th at 6:50 pm GMT
Comment #8
Michael, I am a relatively new bloggers, as of my first article being published on June 1, 2007. I don't think I will ever grow big enough to put advertising over the wants of my readership. My goal for doing a blog is to help others through the sharing of my experiences. I have printed out several of your articles to read at my leisure when I have time to read them and look at my blog in relationship to your information.
August 18th at 7:30 pm GMT
Comment #9
Patricia - You never know. It sounds like you are blogging because you enjoy it, and that is the best reason possible. It means that you can forget about advertising and the like, and focus purely on your readers.
Because you are doing something you enjoy, you will be doing it at the best of your ability. You might well find that in a while, you've built up a very good audience indeed.
August 19th at 4:44 am GMT
Comment #10
I have to agree about the building community comes first school of thought. Without the community there is no one to click on the ads or to buy what you recommend. Yet I see so many new websites and blogs that don't get it and have three banners of Google Ads sandwiched between three lines of text. I believe the content should always have the floor so it drives me nuts when I see this and I avoid those blogs like the plague.
What do you think about stuffing ads in RSS feeds?
August 19th at 12:20 pm GMT
Comment #11
Good question Daria.
Personally, I don't really mind them. At least, I don't mind the text links you usually find at the end of the post. They're completely unobtrusive, and you can easily read the content without ever looking near the advert.
What's your opinion on them?
August 20th at 1:51 pm GMT
Comment #12
I think that they are okay because they are unobtrusive for now. But I think that's only because either RSS technology limits what can be done or people don't know, yet, exactly how to monetize their RSS content.
August 20th at 6:45 pm GMT
Comment #13
That could well be true. If there is a way of making more money out of the feeds, then I agree, someone is going to do it...
On the plus side, a good RSS reader can control what parts of the feed gets displayed. They are not forced to show the whole feed. I imagine that the feed readers could easily be taught to strip out javascript, links from major advertising firms etc.
February 17th at 8:32 pm GMT
Comment #14
Maybe its just me, But I believe that you can do both.Placing an Adsense unit at the end of the post isn't obtrusive or demanding clicks, its just a way to support the site.Or another example would be private 125x125 ad sales on your sidebar. Although it does take away from what you are reading, it doesn't distract the reader so much that they don't come back.
February 17th at 8:36 pm GMT
Comment #15
Brad,
You can certainly do both, but you do have to choose which one you're giving most preference to.
e.g. An ad at the end of the post is okay, but it's not going to make you rich. You're choosing the readers over the ads.
But putting 125x125 ads in your sidebar, above the RSS/categories etc. means you're putting your ads first.
March 9th at 1:36 am GMT
Comment #16
Advertising damages growth potential? The Internet is just one big advertisement; most people don't object. Implementing ads late in the game is often worse than having them from the beginning, as it gives people something to complain about. Would there be any controversy over advertising on Wikipedia or LiveJournal if it was there from day one?
March 12th at 3:17 pm GMT
Comment #17
Richard,
I think the Wiki controversy would come from the fact that thousands of people of people have donated millions of dollars to that site, with the sole aim of keeping it ad-free.
If I decided to reintroduce my ads tomorrow; a few people would probably object, but the most loyal readers here wouldn't, and anyone who found the site afterwards would never know that they hadn't always been here.
I don't think there's any real problem with taking/removing/changing your ads as you please.