Blog Advertising

 How Do You Know If You've Done Too

Much and Gone Too Far?



Advertising is good. It offers information, gives you

access to a product or service you otherwise won't

know about, it earns people money and fuels several

different industries. But you know how anything

excessive breeds discontent and greed and neither one

is pretty. The wrong use of advertising on your blog

could send your traffic south - not exactly the

direction you want it to take. So when is blog

advertising bad and when is it just right?



Is your blog succeeding? The key indicator that you're

probably doing something right with your blog

advertising is when you're actually succeeding. You

get the traffic you want, you earn for a few simple

efforts you made and keep your advertisers happy.



But don't get carried away by your success. You might

think that placing many ads on your blog can help you

earn exponentially. What it will do is earn you a spot

on your advertiser's black list. Advertisers have

guidelines about how many ads you can place on one web

page. Generally, this can range from 3 to 5, depending

on the sponsor.



If you don't want to break the good will that exists

between you and your affiliate or advertising program,

learn what the policies are and respect them.



Is that a blog or a splog? One of the worst labels

your blog can be slapped with is 'splog'. That's a

blog that contains spam. If your blog is nothing more

than just pages upon pages of advertising and little

content, you'd probably be better off publishing a

fashion magazine.



Too many ads on a blog can bury your content, distract

your visitors and even frustrate them. Some, such as

the very wary ones, will leave your blog in a hurry.

If your blog resembles an infomercial, forget it. It

will look annoying and take away from the good

reputation you're trying to build.



Too many choices Another challenge you will be facing

when it comes to blog advertising is persuading your

visitors to pay attention to the ads long enough to

actually do something with them. Otherwise, these ads

will be useless.



The problem with a blog that has too many advertising

units is that it can confuse the visitor. When they're

confused, they're less likely to click on an ad, much

less subscribe or buy anything. That leaves your

advertisers - and you - empty-handed.



Managing your advertising A blog page can easily

handle an average of three ads, which is something

most advertising and affiliate programs will allow.

Placed strategically, these ads can easily catch the

attention of your visitors. Since there are only a few

ads to look at, your visitors can easily decide which

one to click on.



Now imagine if there were 10 to 15 ads running on the

same page at the same time. You've probably seen blogs

like these before, with ads splattered all over,

rivaling a NASCAR race car.



To use blog advertising correctly, first consider the

type of programs you will be running. If you will be

an affiliate to a brand or company, there are certain

restrictions you have to work with. Some companies,

for example, prefer not to have a competing brand's ad

placed in the same blog.



Second, placement and aesthetics matter. Consider some

of the highest-rated blogs and study their ad

placements. Where are these ads placed on a page, what

are their sizes relative to one another and to the

content box and what do these ads contain? If you've

seen enough of these successful blogs, you'll have

picked up enough lessons to know how to use blog

advertising to your advantage.