Monetizing Your Blog

Now or later – new bloggers want to know, when should they monetize their blogs?  Every blogger will have a different answer, from “monetize in the beginning” to “wait until later,” and they’ll all have great reasons why their way is better.  It can be a tough decision to make, and the biggest concern bloggers worry about is, “Will I alienate my readers?” Ultimately the answer to that question can only be answered by one person – you, the blogger.  Both strategies have worked, or failed, for different bloggers, and a variety of factors are involved.  Let’s take a thorough look at each of the options so you can decide the best choice for your blog.

Monetize in the Beginning

The upside to monetizing in the beginning is that your readers will be used to seeing ads, and so they won’t be scared away when ads suddenly start appearing on your site.  Your readers will know what you’re about right from the beginning, and you don’t risk losing a huge chunk of your following later down the line by the sudden introduction of ads. Also it means that you can start earning sooner.

The big question is, of course, how much will you be earning? Your blog income in the beginning might not be as high. Advertisers are more interested in blogs with a following. New blogs are less appealing since they can’t be sure that anyone will actually see the ads.  Most blogs that monetize from the start use things like AdSense, which are Pay Per Click ads.  You might make a few cents here and there, but ultimately it won’t be that much because you just don’t have a large enough audience to be clicking on those ads.

Wait to Monetize

Many bloggers will urge you to monetize later.  If you’re not going to be making much through monetizing in the beginning, then to some, it doesn’t seem worth it to put ads up when the main focus in the beginning is on gaining a following and increasing traffic.
The theory is that you will be able to increase traffic to your blog faster if you do not have any ads on your blog.  Once you do have a large readership, then you can monetize because there will be enough traffic there to make ads like PPC worthwhile – you will be able to earn more money blogging. Plus, you can use your traffic statistics to attract higher paying advertisers.

The downside, though, is that you risk alienating readers when you suddenly start using ads.  You can lessen this risk by taking a number of steps, like ensuring that your ads are relevant to your readers and that they link to useful and beneficial products, and using less ads in the beginning.  Always stand behind the products you advertise and even write a post explaining why you advertise.

Other Important Factors

The important question really to ask yourself isn’t so much when to monetize, but when you do monetize, how are you going to do it?  Before making your decision, consider these questions:

What is your blog niche?  Are the readers of this subject the type who would care about ads? Where are you going to put your ads? If you are monetizing later, what is your strategy for implementing the ads?  A gradual introduction may work better if you are worried about What type of ads are you going to use?

Ultimately it is the answers to these questions that could affect your readership.  Timing is important, but the overall success of your blog Monetization will depend on a number of these factors as well: ad placement, amount of ads, type of ads.  Do some research about your blog niche, perhaps even consider talking to other bloggers in your niche to see what worked better for them.