When you think about it, online advertising is very exciting. Having a blog is kind of like having a lottery ticket—if your blog somehow becomes a success, the earning potential is virtually limitless.
As with SEO, there are thousands of websites completely dedicated to making money online. I’m not trying to compete with those sites—I simply want to provide some very basic information.
Here are the two most common forms of online advertising:
Basic Text/Image Ads
Most advertisers pay cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM). This is the most common form of online advertising/money making.
Google Adsense is the reigning champion of online advertising. You simply sign up, configure the ad, copy/paste it into your blog, and you’re all set. Their ads usually match the content of your blog, which greatly increases the likelihood of clicks (and profit). Based on my (limited) research, this is how most bloggers make most of their money.
I also use blogbank, which specializes in ads for Filipinos. Blogbank pays CPM.
Referrals/Commission/Affiliate Programs
Other advertisers pay when visitors do something, like buying a product or signing up for a service. Amazon affiliates would be one example—if someone clicks one of my book links (recommended reading) and buys the book, I would get a commission.
If you want to advertise on your blog, go for it! It probably will not bother your readers, since they see ads on most of the websites they visit. Just keep this in mind—advertisements are a lot like piercings: a few are OK, but if you overdo it . . .
