One of the biggest misconceptions that first-time bloggers and beginning webmasters have about the Internet is that on-site advertising is the way to make money online. The first thing they do after setting up their site is to sign up with every advertising provider they can find, whether the advertiser offers ads relevant to the website’s content or not.
Before you know it, the right and left sidebars are filled with colorful blocks of blinking ads. The problem is, they’re advertising someone else’s product. And reading your site’s content, the whole reason you set up the site, becomes secondary for distracted visitors. As for turning those visitors into customers? Think about it. How many times would you go back to a site filled with so many pop ups that you spent half your time trying to find the content?
In essence, your website becomes just another billboard on the Internet highway. Sure, you’ve got loads of ads, but if readers no longer stop by, you don’t actually have customers.
I would argue for the opposite approach. Advertisements can do a lot more damage for a site, than good.
Much more than AdSense
Monetizing your site involves more than slapping AdSense code in the sidebars. Monetization requires your time and commitment. You have to build a following by offering unique, rich content. Sell a service or a product. In other words, create a reason for visitors to come back to your site. With consistent attention to the feedback you receive from visitors and attention to developing a consistent, useful message, you will build and retain a loyal following. And without all that advertisement clutter you’ll be able to retain visitors and generate greater revenue than a measly Adsense check from Google.
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