By Jean-BaptisteSince I’ve started blogging here on the BSA blog, many people asked me what types of websites in our directory do well selling ads. In this article, I’m going to show you what websites and blogs works the best with BuySellAds.com and how you can improve your own site to succeed selling ads.
Put content first
Lots of websites are created with the same goal in mind: making money. While there’s nothing wrong in making money online, a site that has nothing to offer but advertisement presents no value for the end user. On the other hand, the biggest money making sites are always those who attract a quality traffic with a great and unique content.
If you’re a blogger, I guess you read very often that content is king. It is true, having quality content is a huge factor in having success with selling ads.
Blog or “classic” websites?
Many people have asked if BSA is a network for blogs only. The answer is no. As an example, the popular design social bookmarking sites DesignBump and DesignFloat are BSA members.
As blogs are a very important phenomenon of the so called “web 2.0″, it is quite normal that 70—80% of BSA members are blogs. However, that doesn’t mean that more classic websites can’t succeed.
Profitable niches
If you want to sell ads, you have to have a quality blog with nice content, as we mentioned. The next challenge is finding advertisers that have interest in the people viewing your content.
The good news is almost every niche can be monetized if you do it well. For example, let’s say you’re running a blog about wildlife and nature. Your visitors will probably love to walk in the country, so walking equipment as such as shoes or jackets can interest them. Lots of other ideas can be developed: A visitors that loves nature will probably be happy to use anything that relies on green energy, such as a Green web host.
Traffic
An old quote says that with traffic, you can get everything. In my opinion, this is quite true, especially in terms of website monetization. Advertisers are seeking visibility and if you have traffic on your site they’ll get the visibility they want for their ads. Sadly, there’s no secret technique to build traffic. You just have to be passionate, patient, and work a lot.
On the other hand, it can be surprising to see how many small traffic websites can make more money than bigger sites. You can get everything with traffic, but traffic is not compulsory to make money on the internet.
What makes a “Quality” site?
Defining what a “quality” site is not an easy task, because what quality means for me is not necessary the same for you. However, in my opinion, a quality site has the following:
- Great content: This is obvious, but sadly not all sites have it.
- Good design: Just like the packaging of a product matters, a great design makes a website looks professional.
- Frequent updates: A good site is not a site that you visit once, it is a site you’d like to come back after a few days.
- Professional way to handle ads: There’s nothing wrong with making money with your website, but seriously, ads likes popups or in-text advertising are nothing but annoying for your readers.
What about your personal experience? What do you think? Don’t hesitate to let us know in a comments!
