Avoid Selling Non-Relevant Advertising

A problem with online advertising is catering to one spectrum of your audience, while also pleasing your advertisers, the people who are helping you earn a living (or a little extra cash each month). Although advertising has certainly become more relevant over the past few years, it still is far from completely targeted to your visitors.

I look at advertising in several distinct ways, as I don’t want to inundate you with all the terms before you have a clear understanding of what advertisers look for when they advertise on your site.

• Page Views – There are advertisers who could care less about sales or traffic. They just want to get people to see their ads. They want to get their brand out, and generally, the more creative the advertising, the more return they’ll see. Look at these as large billboard ads – they get people to view them, and only some people will retain what they see, but may return in the future for a purchase.
• Clicks – There are other advertisers who want to receive as many clicks as possible. They may pay or seek out sites that offer CPC (cost-per-click) or PPC (pay-per-click) rates, as these may be the best for what they are looking for. Sure, the rates will be higher if they receive more clicks, but they are targeting the sites that offer a higher click-through rate. They are looking for the highest return with each click.
• Distracting Ads – “Flashy” ads and those that draw in people are great for advertisers. They receive both of the major points listed above – viewers and clicks.
• Affordable Advertising – In an effort to get the most views/clicks, these advertisers will seek out the most affordably priced sites. For example, these advertisers will “bulk” advertise on a large number of sites, garnering a “network” effect for their ads.

Keeping these four main points in mind, keep an eye on the advertisers on your site. If they are advertising for un-related products or services, you have the right to deny them the right to ad space on your blog.

Many of the frequently used advertising networks have an automatic or manual process (up to your choice). Sure, choosing the manual method will mean that you have to keep track of when someone wants to advertise, but it also ensures all your ads remain relevant.

Take this situation for instance. You are running four 125×125 pixel banner ads within your sidebar. One of them is for an un-related product, but the ad is also provocative in nature. Two advertisers think about advertising on your blog, but seeing this un-related ad leads them to drop the thought. This results in two lost sales. Instead of rejecting the one ad, you now lose two sales.

Looking at the long-term success of your blog and looking for the most revenue possible, you want to balance the ads you accept and reject. Rejecting one ad means one lost sale, but approving this ad may mean lost sales throughout the month (or period) it is run, and you’ll also offend some of your visitors.

Your Thoughts: What are your thoughts on rejecting ads that you don’t feel suit the overall theme of your site?