I share this out of my experience both as a BlogAds publisher (I use their ads on a number of my blogs) but also as a BlogAds advertiser (I use them to promote my own blogs and projects).
The tip is this (and it’s not rocket science). If you’re going to use BlogAds put your Ad strip above the fold.
As a BlogAds advertiser I consider a number of factors when choosing which blog to place my ads. They include:
- Is the blog on a relevant topic to the blog I want to drive traffic to?
- Is the ad reasonably priced?
- What level of traffic does this blog get?
These are all important questions to ask but even if they all are positive I’m unlikely to buy an ad unless I am confident that the readers of that blog will see the ads.
I know this sounds like a basic tip but the reality is that as I look at many blogs with BlogAds I see bloggers that have learnt how to optimally place their AdSense or Chitika ads who ignore the basic placement tips on BlogAds. The same principles apply. The more prominent your BlogAds strip is the more attractive it becomes to advertisers. Generally the higher on your sidebar you can position it the better.
If you can’t fit your BlogAds Ad strip high on your blog (sometimes there just isn’t enough room) there are two courses of action that I’d recommend:
- Don’t use them – This is the reason I don’t have BlogAds ads on ProBlogger. I’ve chosen to have a two column blog here and as a result the sidebar space is at a premium and I just can’t fit in a strip of ads. Down the track when I do a redesign I’ll reconsider this but until I can give them the attention they deserve it’s not really worth my time or potential advertisers time.
- Make them a Bargain – If you don’t have room but you just can’t bear to leave them off your blog the best strategy that you can have with BlogAds is to price them at bargain levels in the hope that advertisers will not be able to resist. As an advertiser I’m not sure I’d go for this strategy unless your blog had A LOT of traffic and was VERY cheap. But it is worth a go. I know quite a few blogs have multiple BlogAd strips on their blogs. At the top and in prime position they have ‘premium ads’ (much more expensive) and lower on the blog they have cheaper ones. It seems to work for them – but they do have a lot of traffic.
PS: the ‘BlogAd’ above is an attempt at humor – there is no ‘BlogAds Secrets’ e-resource (yet). I just thought it’d be a fun parody of some of the e-courses out there.
