Blogging for dollars might sound like the latest game show or some new drinking game, but it's the latest craze to hit the Internet. Bloggers began blogging for a number of reasons, but as the blog movement has increased in popularity, they have found ways to monetize their blogs and are seeing their commitment pay off.
Whether a blogger's focus is to communicate with customers or just to have fun, they have begun looking at ways to earn revenue from their blogs. The most popular ways for bloggers to earn some added cash for their pet projects are:
1. ) Google Adsense in Blogs
Google AdSense allows webmasters to dynamically serve content-relevant advertisements in blogs. If the visitor clicks one of the AdSense ads served to the blog, the website owner is credited for the referral. Webmasters need only to insert a Google-generated java script into the blog or blog template.
Google's spider parses the AdServing blog and serves ads that relate to the blog's content. Google uses a combination of keyword matching and context analysis to determine what ads should be served.
2. ) Affiliate Programs (Product Endorsements)
Affiliate Programs work when an affiliate web site receives income for generating sales, leads, or traffic to a merchant website. Generally, bloggers will mention or endorse specific products and if site visitors purchase the product, bloggers will receive a portion of the sale.
3. ) Product Promotion
Businesses use blogs to detail how specific features or product add-ons can increase functionality and save time. Content-rich product promotion will help with search engine placement.
4.) Banner Ads
While less popular than in the past, websites with high traffic levels can still earn decent revenue by selling banner space.
As the Internet evolves bloggers will continue to seek out ways to monetize their opinions and
thoughts. Daily journals and online blogs have become more than just a communication means to
many.
A Bloggers Adsense Vocabulary
So, you are considering taking the step of adding Adsense to your blog in order to make some extra money. It can be a wise decision. By using your blog to display contextual advertising, you have created a great opportunity, not only for the blog in question but for future pursuits, as well. Many bloggers enter Adsense without a great deal of experience in online advertising and its terminology.
However, in order to better understand exactly what will be happening, it is important to get a firm grasp on some of the unique terminology used when discussing Adsense and blogs.
Here are some important terms, their common abbreviations, and meanings:
Terms of Service (TOS). All participants in the Adsense program are required to abide by Google’s Terms of Service. This is basically the “rule book” for Adsense. Those who fail to conduct themselves according to TOS may be banned from participation and/or have their account suspended. Every participant should carefully read the TOS.
Publisher. That’s you. Anyone operating a site displaying Adsense ads is considered a publisher.
Pay per click (PPC). Google Adsense operates predominantly on a pay per click basis. That means the advertiser pays for each time someone clicks upon their ad. It also means that you will get paid for every click.
Click through rate (CTR). This represents the percentage of page impressions that result in a click on an ad at your site. For instance, if your blog gets 100 impressions and 17 of them result in a click, theCTR for your site will be 17%.
Ad unit. An ad unit is a displayed block of Google Adsense ads. There are a variety of ad units from which to choose. They are usually expressed in terms of their size in pixels. For instance, a 120 x 600 tower ad unit will be 120 units wide and 600 units long--tall and skinny.
Ad placement. This refers to where your ads are placed. Publishers may place their Adsense units anywhere on a page consistent with the TOS. There are a variety of online guides, charts and recommendations demonstrating the various location options and how successful they tend to be in producing a high CTR.
Channel. You can set up channels to track the performance of individual Adsense ad units or to track earnings on particular sites. Channels are established in the Set Up area of your Adsense account.
Competitive Ad Filter. Google gives you the option not to display certain advertisements via the competitive ad filter. This allows you to avoid inadvertently advertising someone with whom you are in competition, for instance.
However, in order to better understand exactly what will be happening, it is important to get a firm grasp on some of the unique terminology used when discussing Adsense and blogs.
Here are some important terms, their common abbreviations, and meanings:
Terms of Service (TOS). All participants in the Adsense program are required to abide by Google’s Terms of Service. This is basically the “rule book” for Adsense. Those who fail to conduct themselves according to TOS may be banned from participation and/or have their account suspended. Every participant should carefully read the TOS.
Publisher. That’s you. Anyone operating a site displaying Adsense ads is considered a publisher.
Pay per click (PPC). Google Adsense operates predominantly on a pay per click basis. That means the advertiser pays for each time someone clicks upon their ad. It also means that you will get paid for every click.
Click through rate (CTR). This represents the percentage of page impressions that result in a click on an ad at your site. For instance, if your blog gets 100 impressions and 17 of them result in a click, theCTR for your site will be 17%.
Ad unit. An ad unit is a displayed block of Google Adsense ads. There are a variety of ad units from which to choose. They are usually expressed in terms of their size in pixels. For instance, a 120 x 600 tower ad unit will be 120 units wide and 600 units long--tall and skinny.
Ad placement. This refers to where your ads are placed. Publishers may place their Adsense units anywhere on a page consistent with the TOS. There are a variety of online guides, charts and recommendations demonstrating the various location options and how successful they tend to be in producing a high CTR.
Channel. You can set up channels to track the performance of individual Adsense ad units or to track earnings on particular sites. Channels are established in the Set Up area of your Adsense account.
Competitive Ad Filter. Google gives you the option not to display certain advertisements via the competitive ad filter. This allows you to avoid inadvertently advertising someone with whom you are in competition, for instance.
CAN I MAKE MONEY FROM MY BLOG?
But of course!
How?
Well, You
put Google adsense ads on your page.
see the right hand side panel, you will find an image saying, "earn money by showing relavent ads with google adsense"
How?
Well, You
put Google adsense ads on your page.
see the right hand side panel, you will find an image saying, "earn money by showing relavent ads with google adsense"
WHAT WILL MY BLOG COST ME (IN TIME, MONEY, EFFORT)?
Few minutes a day might be enough.
Or 26 hours in a day may not be quite enough.
It depends upon how much you want to do, and how fast you want it done.
If all you wish to do is post a few messages every day on your blog, it won't take
long at all. Just a few seconds to log on, write your message into an online form,
and click a button to publish it to your blog!
You could even host it remotely on a free service - all it'll cost is the time you take to log in and post.
To be a true member of the blogosphere, though, you have to work a bit harder.
You'll need to spend time looking for, and visiting other blogs. You'll have to link to them - and get linked back in return.
You'll have to host your blog on its own domain, on your server. If your blog is commercial in purpose, you'll need to purchase commercial licenses from the software developer. Then you'll have to install it - or get it done.
It'll cost a bit, though not too much. Look at it this way. You could either publish in a flash for free and hope for luck to guide you to glory. Or you could do it step by step, investing in your blog, knowing you'll reap rich rewards in the future.
Or 26 hours in a day may not be quite enough.
It depends upon how much you want to do, and how fast you want it done.
If all you wish to do is post a few messages every day on your blog, it won't take
long at all. Just a few seconds to log on, write your message into an online form,
and click a button to publish it to your blog!
You could even host it remotely on a free service - all it'll cost is the time you take to log in and post.
To be a true member of the blogosphere, though, you have to work a bit harder.
You'll need to spend time looking for, and visiting other blogs. You'll have to link to them - and get linked back in return.
You'll have to host your blog on its own domain, on your server. If your blog is commercial in purpose, you'll need to purchase commercial licenses from the software developer. Then you'll have to install it - or get it done.
It'll cost a bit, though not too much. Look at it this way. You could either publish in a flash for free and hope for luck to guide you to glory. Or you could do it step by step, investing in your blog, knowing you'll reap rich rewards in the future.
WHAT SHOULD I NOT DO WITH MY BLOG?
Don't post false information!
In the blogosphere, word spreads fast.
Amazingly, blindingly fast - sometimes.
You could be very popular - or very red faced - with equal ease.
It all depends on what you post on your blog!
In the blogosphere, word spreads fast.
Amazingly, blindingly fast - sometimes.
You could be very popular - or very red faced - with equal ease.
It all depends on what you post on your blog!
HOW CAN I GET READERS TO COME BACK OFTEN TO MY
Fresh content.
Keep it updated with new messages. By their very nature, blogs are constantly
evolving. By making your blog a frequently updated resource for breaking news
or information on your topic, you'll make it a 'must-see' destination and attract
targeted readers who'll keep coming back for more.
Bulletins.
Invite your blog readers to sign up for reminders whenever you update it. Many
blogging software programs have a feature that allows editors to send bulletins
via email to members who have chosen to receive them.
Third-party programs also plug into blogs and offer this service. Bloglet - at
http://www.bloglet.com - offers a similar feature where you host a sign up form on
your blog. Bloglet sends subscribers an email every time you add a post to your
blog.
Syndication.
An RSS feed is available for weblogs. People who use news aggregators can
subscribe to the weblog. In a convergence of push and pull technologies,
services like Klip offer a way to 'subscribe' to regularly updated data feeds from a
blog.
Keep it updated with new messages. By their very nature, blogs are constantly
evolving. By making your blog a frequently updated resource for breaking news
or information on your topic, you'll make it a 'must-see' destination and attract
targeted readers who'll keep coming back for more.
Bulletins.
Invite your blog readers to sign up for reminders whenever you update it. Many
blogging software programs have a feature that allows editors to send bulletins
via email to members who have chosen to receive them.
Third-party programs also plug into blogs and offer this service. Bloglet - at
http://www.bloglet.com - offers a similar feature where you host a sign up form on
your blog. Bloglet sends subscribers an email every time you add a post to your
blog.
Syndication.
An RSS feed is available for weblogs. People who use news aggregators can
subscribe to the weblog. In a convergence of push and pull technologies,
services like Klip offer a way to 'subscribe' to regularly updated data feeds from a
blog.
HOW CAN I GET PEOPLE TO FIND MY BLOG AND VISIT IT?
In essence, this is very similar to promoting a newwebsite.
And the answer is very simple –
Mention your blog EVERYWHERE, to EVERYONE
Note, I said 'simple', not 'easy' :)
Here are some quick ways to get started:
1. List it onSearch Engines, especially Google which will soon boast a new tab specifically for blogs on its search interface. Blog content is usually SE friendly, so you can rank high for specific terms by sticking to a theme as you blog.
2. You visit other blogs and comment on their articles. Leave links back to your blog. Even write about them on *your* blog. Then tell them about what you've written. They'll respond. This way, readers of both blogs can find them. It is a mutually productive form of link exchanging.
Blogs have a feature calledTrackback. When your post links to a post onanother weblog that supports Trackback, it can ping (send an electronic message) to the other weblog notifying it that it has been referred to. In this way each blog post will serve as a collection point for content on a given topic.
3. Blogrolls - Weblogs often have a blogroll, linking to sites that the author thinks are interesting, informative, or useful. Keep your own blogroll growing. Try and get your blog listed on as many blogrolls as possible.
And the answer is very simple –
Mention your blog EVERYWHERE, to EVERYONE
Note, I said 'simple', not 'easy' :)
Here are some quick ways to get started:
1. List it onSearch Engines, especially Google which will soon boast a new tab specifically for blogs on its search interface. Blog content is usually SE friendly, so you can rank high for specific terms by sticking to a theme as you blog.
2. You visit other blogs and comment on their articles. Leave links back to your blog. Even write about them on *your* blog. Then tell them about what you've written. They'll respond. This way, readers of both blogs can find them. It is a mutually productive form of link exchanging.
Blogs have a feature calledTrackback. When your post links to a post onanother weblog that supports Trackback, it can ping (send an electronic message) to the other weblog notifying it that it has been referred to. In this way each blog post will serve as a collection point for content on a given topic.
3. Blogrolls - Weblogs often have a blogroll, linking to sites that the author thinks are interesting, informative, or useful. Keep your own blogroll growing. Try and get your blog listed on as many blogrolls as possible.
CAN I GET OTHERS TO WRITE FOR MY BLOG?
Yes, there are several ways you can have content added to your blog - by
others.
If you have a team of content providers, you can create several user accounts
using your blogging software. Each member of your team then logs in and writes
for your blog, adding their content. You can even assign different levels of
permissions for each user in some types of blog software.
Another way to get contributed content is to invite your blog readers to enter
comments and feedback. Clicking on a link at the end of a post will bring up a
popup window in which a reader can add comments. And the author can
respond.
A third way to include content on your blog is by publishing syndicated content
from others on your blog using some XML programming.
others.
If you have a team of content providers, you can create several user accounts
using your blogging software. Each member of your team then logs in and writes
for your blog, adding their content. You can even assign different levels of
permissions for each user in some types of blog software.
Another way to get contributed content is to invite your blog readers to enter
comments and feedback. Clicking on a link at the end of a post will bring up a
popup window in which a reader can add comments. And the author can
respond.
A third way to include content on your blog is by publishing syndicated content
from others on your blog using some XML programming.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD I WRITE OR UPDATE MY BLOG?
A good weblog is updated often, with pointers to interesting events, pages, stories and happenings elsewhere on the Web. New stuff piles on top of the page; older stuff sinks to the bottom.
Suit Yourself
A calendar can be intimidating. Is there any point to aweblog - a website - that is only updated once a week?
Once a month? Once a year?
That depends on many factors that go to the heart of why you wish to create a
blog in the first place. The good news is that no one's going to punish you if you
post material infrequently!
So relax. Enjoy blogging.
Suit Yourself
A calendar can be intimidating. Is there any point to aweblog - a website - that is only updated once a week?
Once a month? Once a year?
That depends on many factors that go to the heart of why you wish to create a
blog in the first place. The good news is that no one's going to punish you if you
post material infrequently!
So relax. Enjoy blogging.
WHAT SHOULD I WRITE ABOUT ON MY BLOG?
There are many kinds of content you can put on your blog
Stories.
You could use descriptions of things you've done, thought threads, streams of consciousness, idea feeds. Longer articles or short snippets. If you're using a long story, you could display a short summary on the homepage and link to the full post in an archive.
Pictures
One of them is worth a thousand words। Good weblog software lets you store and display pictures and also combines them into sequences for display to readers in attractively packaged format.
Presentations.
You could have any type of data including media objects like Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, Macromedia or Apple movies, PDFs, Audio feeds, downloadable applications - whatever.
Stories.
You could use descriptions of things you've done, thought threads, streams of consciousness, idea feeds. Longer articles or short snippets. If you're using a long story, you could display a short summary on the homepage and link to the full post in an archive.
Pictures
One of them is worth a thousand words। Good weblog software lets you store and display pictures and also combines them into sequences for display to readers in attractively packaged format.
Presentations.
You could have any type of data including media objects like Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, Macromedia or Apple movies, PDFs, Audio feeds, downloadable applications - whatever.
IS IT BETTER TO HAVE BLOG SOFTWARE RUN ON YOUR OWN
Benefits: More security. You don't have to give out your FTP details or password. Your blog's accessibility is dependent only on your server, not the remote hosting service's.
Disadvantages: You need to have some basic knowledge about installing blogging software and scripts on your own server and troubleshooting problems. It requires some knowledge of changing directory access permissions, and other basic script installation techniques. Most of the blog software creators run helpful online forums and discussion groups to help out with problems.
Disadvantages: You need to have some basic knowledge about installing blogging software and scripts on your own server and troubleshooting problems. It requires some knowledge of changing directory access permissions, and other basic script installation techniques. Most of the blog software creators run helpful online forums and discussion groups to help out with problems.
WHAT ARE THE PROS / CONS OF REMOTE HOSTED BLOGS?
Benefits: No problems or hassles related to installing software or scripts on your
server and troubleshooting problems. You don't even need to have your own
domain name or web hosting service if you plan to host the blog on the remote
service itself.
Disadvantages: The remote hosting service might get taken down for
maintenance or other issues at an inconvenient time. Or if traffic is very heavy
on the service, you may face delays or periods of inaccessibility to your blog for
updating it. This is more likely if you host it on a free service.
If you're hosting your blog on your own domain, you have to disclose
administrative details about your website (like your FTP account username and
password) in order that your blog posts can be uploaded to your server.
server and troubleshooting problems. You don't even need to have your own
domain name or web hosting service if you plan to host the blog on the remote
service itself.
Disadvantages: The remote hosting service might get taken down for
maintenance or other issues at an inconvenient time. Or if traffic is very heavy
on the service, you may face delays or periods of inaccessibility to your blog for
updating it. This is more likely if you host it on a free service.
If you're hosting your blog on your own domain, you have to disclose
administrative details about your website (like your FTP account username and
password) in order that your blog posts can be uploaded to your server.
WHAT ARE THE BLOG PROGRAMS AVAILABLE TODAY?
There are many commercial and free software (free not only as in free beer, but
also as in freedom - you can change the source code if you want - Open Source).
They'll get you started blogging - fast and easy. Popular among them.
a. Blogger (commercial) - from Pyra labs (recently bought out by Google, they're
getting the excitement about blogging up to fever-pitch)
http://www.blogger.com/
b. Radio Userland (commercial) from Userland software (Dave Winer's creation.
Dave's one of the earliest bloggers and his Scripting News is the longest running
blog on the Internet - launched 1996)
http://www.userland.com/
c. Movable Type (free & commercial) from SixApart. This feature-rich program
is the one I use on my own blog, "remarkably purple spots..."
http://www.movabletype.org/
d. Grey Matter (free + opensource)
http://www.noahgrey.com/greysoft/
e. Open Journal (free)
http://www.grohol.com/downloads/oj/
f. pMachine (commercial) I'm hearing many good things about this one.
http://www.pmachine.com
Where the software runs and how you update your webblog :
Blogger - Blogger runs on a remote server. You log in to that server, then make
your new entries and publish it to your server with the click of a button. There's
also a free hosting option on their servers at blogspot.com
Radio Userland - Radio software runs on your desktop. You do the editing on
your own system and Radio publishes it to your site.
Movable type - Set of perl/CGI scripts that you can install into your webserver's
CGI-bin directory. The editing and publishing all takes place on your webserver.You access the clean and simple user interface through a regular internetbrowser like MS Internet Explorer or Netscape.
Grey matter and Open Journal are both like movable type.
also as in freedom - you can change the source code if you want - Open Source).
They'll get you started blogging - fast and easy. Popular among them.
a. Blogger (commercial) - from Pyra labs (recently bought out by Google, they're
getting the excitement about blogging up to fever-pitch)
http://www.blogger.com/
b. Radio Userland (commercial) from Userland software (Dave Winer's creation.
Dave's one of the earliest bloggers and his Scripting News is the longest running
blog on the Internet - launched 1996)
http://www.userland.com/
c. Movable Type (free & commercial) from SixApart. This feature-rich program
is the one I use on my own blog, "remarkably purple spots..."
http://www.movabletype.org/
d. Grey Matter (free + opensource)
http://www.noahgrey.com/greysoft/
e. Open Journal (free)
http://www.grohol.com/downloads/oj/
f. pMachine (commercial) I'm hearing many good things about this one.
http://www.pmachine.com
Where the software runs and how you update your webblog :
Blogger - Blogger runs on a remote server. You log in to that server, then make
your new entries and publish it to your server with the click of a button. There's
also a free hosting option on their servers at blogspot.com
Radio Userland - Radio software runs on your desktop. You do the editing on
your own system and Radio publishes it to your site.
Movable type - Set of perl/CGI scripts that you can install into your webserver's
CGI-bin directory. The editing and publishing all takes place on your webserver.You access the clean and simple user interface through a regular internetbrowser like MS Internet Explorer or Netscape.
Grey matter and Open Journal are both like movable type.
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