Last week, we touched on ten ways that you can earn income from your blog or website. Today, we’re going to dig a little deeper into the what, how, and why of advertisements. We’ll look at some of your options, and what you can do at different stages of your blogging experience.

Mostly, we will focus on the rookie blogger, as I imagine that if you’re NOT new to blogging, then you are aware of most of your options. I do, though, want to give all of the new kids, or those looking up their game, something to look forward to – so, if you’re NOT new to this, you still might find something helpful here. We will discuss WHY you want to be in control of your ads, and HOW to place those ads on your blog, whether it is self-hosted, or a free site.

Advertisements can be automatically generated through an add service, your host provider, etc., or you can (eventually) actually sell add space. This option will come later, once your site is well established. You need about 10k hits to your blog each month before you look at automatically generated ads. When you’re just starting out, this may be as simple as placing your own ads for affiliate links by creating a photo with a link or inserting an Amazon Affiliate link. For example, I’d love for you to check out these beautiful, unique hair accessories from Lilla Rose, so I’ll place a photo here that you can click to explore! You can also simple place a graphic leading people to another post on your site – this will help to boost your site traffic and SEO rankings.

Why YOU Want to Be in Control of the Ads on Your Site

If you’re currently using, or considering a free blog hosting platform, you should already know that random ads will be placed on your site, usually without any input from you. And, well, how much do you love scrolling through an article and seeing those random ads that are generally NOT relevant AT ALL to you, or your target audience? Also, if you’re using a free hosting service…

YOU ARE NOT EARNING REVENUE...

but someone else is.

If you haven’t already, consider taking the plunge, when you’re ready, and creating your own hosted domain. You’ll be surprised – it doesn’t have to break the bank, and is a worthwhile investment, especially if you are planning to make a living from this site. If your blog is more of a journal for yourself, friends, and family, then there’s no need to pay for hosting.

How To Place Your Own Ads

Let’s at two options: Custom ads for products or services you sell, and Amazon ads. Almost every blog utilizes amazon ads at some point – it’s very simple, and kind of a no brainer. It’s also not really going to earn you a ton of money, especially in the beginning. We will talk more about Amazon when we get to Affiliate links, but since so many utilize them, I thought it prudent to include them here. Below, is an example of a personalized ad, a simple link to an amazon product, and an amazon native shopping ad. In the video following those, you’ll actually see me place the ads in this post. I am using WordPress, and my site is hosted by Bluehost.

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You can also place ads in the ‘Widgets’ to your site…let’s play with those next week!

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I hope you learned something today – I know that, for some, these tips may seem very basic. To others, it is just what you needed. This world of blogging can be a bit overwhelming and you can spend hours of your life trying to figure things out. My goal is to SAVE YOU THOSE HOURS! Let me know what you’re trying to do, and I’ll see if I can break down into easy, actionable steps for you.

Much Love to you and yours!

Cindi

^{Self proclaimed Godmother of the Messy Bun Mafia.}

Let’s get connected!

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