There are so many blogs out there that look like they have been put up purely to make money and are plastered with ads. Some of them claim to make a decent amount of money and others say they are hardly making any. A lot of them have content that is not particularly focused which confuses and in the end readers don’t bother reading them.
I recently got into a discussion about blog monetization on a forum. There are people who are for it and others who are completely against the idea. Some of the people who are against it have very strong opinions against well known bloggers who make thousands of dollars a month.
The general consensus in the discussion was that there is nothing wrong with monetizing a blog and that if it has good content it makes sense to monetize it. Another point made was to not start up a blog just for the purpose of making money. These blogs may not have content that is worth reading and readers will move on to something else and probably not return. In the end all the ads up on the blog amount to nothing. For those who are against blog monetization their main point was that it reduces the quality of a blog.
I don’t have a problem with the monetization of a quality blog if whatever is being put up is relevant to the blogs content. Content is so important. My blog is in no way perfect or the anywhere near the best out there. I have been told that I have too much advertising on it and to concentrate more on content. It’s all work in progress.
just don’t crowd the blog with annoying ads….
I absolutely agree with you Gerri.If one has a real quality content to share with world and people feel someway benefited from the content then I do not mind making money from it.
agree with both of you, gerri and dharm..
if we can provide a benefitual win-win situation for both publisher and reader, why not heh..
i am a ineternet marketeer, so, definately i will agree to this.. its my livelihood !! 😉
yours truly
http://whygossip.blogspot.com
I am with you…. It doesnt matter the reason why you start a blog… what matters is the fact that the posts are quality posts… not just commercials or banners…
CONTENT!! 100% agree!!
hi gerri thanks for visiting me!! i totally agree the content is what decides if a blog is good or not!! as u might hv noticed i use adsense on my blog too… i love blogging and making money could only make me happier but … adsense is easy u just hv to put it on the right spots, low maintainance…… as for ur blog having too much advertising i dont think so… it looks like its placed right and it isnt right on ur face all over the place!!
i agree completely…quality content is the key…if it’s there, it’s there…people will come back and they will click. 😛
I also believe that quality content is vital. Lisa pointed it out quite well I have nothing else to say except helping people is a noble act whether big or small.
I also agree with dharm that as long as people benefit from your blog its ok…
I AGREE COMPLETELY AND hi!!!!!!!!!!! nice blog!!!!!!
Yeah! Content matters most.Monetization has to come as a by-product.
Hey, guys. I am looking into starting something of a “Click Exchange Program” so that those of us with Google ads can get clicks on a regular basis wherein we would agree to click on each other’s ads a certain number of times per day increasing our page ranks and traffic, which would qualify us for other making-money programs like reviewme.com What do you think about something like this?
Joey
yes i agree with u!
Gerri. Excellent post. Personally, I made little money from blog, but in the past, have monetized as much as $5k per year on a web site. Based on my experience, you are right. Content is king, and there is nothing wrong with making money from your work/hobby. The caveat is don’t make the site all about making money and sacrifice your readers’ experience.
Hi gerri,
As long as your primary focus is to write because you like it and u don’t have annoying number of ads on your site which irritates really interested readers, i think u r fine…Good quality content is the main motive though..for anyone who’s interested in another money-making option other than Adsense, visit http://funnfud.blogspot.com/2007/07/advertising-in-parallel-world.html
-Mansi
I like your thoughts on the subject as well. It seems as with some blogs about making optimization or money-making, that they have no real content and that they just want gads of visitors for the sake of pushing revenue. Usually, it’s pretty transparent what people’s motives are.
I shared in my blog post that if a blogger stays true to his/her blog theme, and blog with honesty and integrity, there is no reason not for him/her to continue offering good value and inspiration even if it’s a paid post. Some of my sponsored posts were dugged and stumbled and received lots of positive reviews from readers.
Hi Gerri,
Agree with on the content first. This is a must for a blog to survive longer online. Then once your blog is popular only then you think to do marketing with your blog. When we post with a relevant topic, then the readers will surely be the targeted readers and so monetize or selling product with yr blog will then be a thing to do next.
Just my thought and way that I have gone through this far.
Cheers and Gerri honestly you have an awesome blog. Keep it up.