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Monetizing a News Blog

by cdispoto
15 replies
Greetings all,

I've been managing a news blog that covers the town of Secaucus, NJ for about six months and I've managed to increase revenue by generating more traffic. But I was wondering if anyone had any experience monetizing a site that's not really selling anything.

People come to out site for the latest town news and not to solve a particular problem or find specific information.
#blog #monetizing #news
  • Profile picture of the author Joseph G Spiteri
    If the site is for a certain area and you get a fare amount of traffic you could sell add space on the site. And maybe put some adsence adds.
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    • Profile picture of the author cdispoto
      We do that already but Adsense provides very mediocre returns. I'm looking for something that can really drive up revenue.

      We're in the midst of redesigning the page and "hiring" free help to produce more content to generate even more traffic. I also think the new site layout wil help our SEO efforts.

      But honestly, anyone searching for the town name and our site pops up, so it's like we are being lost in the search engines. It's a matter of getting the 40,000 or so people in town that aren't checking the site to check it regularly.
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  • Profile picture of the author EmmaPowell
    Cpa offers have a wicked return, there are so many offers to choose from but like all things .... test and measure!!

    If you are not yet a member of a CPA network, I recently joined peerfly, it was very very easy to be accepted, basically just meet POI, and they have GREAT offers
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  • Profile picture of the author yugaeko
    did you have traffics for your blog?
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnHYW
    Originally Posted by cdispoto View Post

    Greetings all,

    I've been managing a news blog that covers the town of Secaucus, NJ for about six months and I've managed to increase revenue by generating more traffic. But I was wondering if anyone had any experience monetizing a site that's not really selling anything.

    People come to out site for the latest town news and not to solve a particular problem or find specific information.
    You could try including premium content or premium features such as sending a text message to a user's phone whenever there is a headline story on your website.
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  • Profile picture of the author ishuvonet
    Its true that adsense take sometime to give you a good return.Except this you can sell ad space through Buysellads network.
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    Shuvo Shahid
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  • Profile picture of the author chris187
    Try changing the location of your adsense ads. Make sure you have an ad right in were the content is, have it in the middle of the content or to the left of the content so they will also see your ad.
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    Looking for a Quality Niche Website ? Then Please Check Out Boylers Authority Niche Sites For All Our Latest Niche Sites
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    • Profile picture of the author cdispoto
      The blog gets about 2,000 unique visitors and 12,500 page views per week. Based on the number, I'm not sure what our maximum upside is, but I know we can definitely do better.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ewan1998
    Banned
    If you placed AdSense ads on it related to news just outside your home town or nearby? Or something that people can relate to your town.
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  • Profile picture of the author mattyprimmer
    2 words - Business Directory

    Make it subscription based. If there is value companies will pay to be there.

    I'll give you a tip from experience...To get the ball rolling add random businesses for free when you start it. Their competition will take notice and will be signing up.

    Hope that helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author IM Leauge
    Try Selling ad space to other news blogs. Like the huffington post etc. you should look into turning your news blog into a subscription. Like trendsresearch.com
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  • Profile picture of the author Carl Juneau
    Hi cdispoto,

    For my blog, Adsense works well.

    I've seen a post by Steeve Pavlina (he runs a huge personal development blog) where he said he makes most of his money with Adsense.

    His 2nd and 3rd sources of income were Amazon Associates links and affiliate product reviews, if I remember well.

    Good luck,

    Carl
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    You should offer a classified advertising section on your website, and charge for advertising in the classified. But i wonder if this qualifies as selling ad space on your website.
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    ==>> Free book reveals make money with affiliate marketing
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    • Profile picture of the author cdispoto
      Thanks for the feedback everyone, getting some great food for thought.

      illinimatt81: I am going to look into Skim Links. I think a bring problem is the AdSense ads are very generic and not targeted to our audience whatsoever.

      Randall Magwood: We have thought of the classifieds previously, but are awaiting to roll out a new layout for the site so we don't have to re-do it twice.

      mattyprimmer: We actually have a Business Directory we have been listing for free. This seems dumb in retrospect. When we roll out the new layout, I may scratch the directory and start up a paid one.

      What do you think is fair price to ask to be listed? Should be a one-time or yearly fee?
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