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My blog gets 3 - 4 million views a month, how much should I charge for ads?

by Bloggerguyman
11 replies
Hi, I run an opinion blog that usually gets between 3 and 4 million views a month. Sometimes over 5 or 6 million.

I'm looking to retool my ad strategy. Right now I'm using a couple of ad networks, Ad Sense being one of them. I'm not happy with the results so I'd like to get an idea as to how much I could charge if I sold ads directly. Without knowing very much about my site, what kind of prices do you think a site with my traffic could demand? I'm looking for suggestions for CPM rates and flat monthly rates.

I can tell you that I have a very loyal readership and a relatively well established 'brand.' I'm not just some content aggregate. My readers are engaged, and I think they would respond very well to content specifically tailored to their interests.

Thanks for your help.
#ads #blog #charge #million #month #views
  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    I'm hopelessly out of date on CPM rates, I'll admit. But here's what I would do to find out current rates.

    Go to a newspaper site for a major city, and load a few articles. Watch the bottom of your browser and make note of the various ad networks that load along with the page. Go to those networks and check the rates they offer.

    Oh, and check their TOS for exclusivity gotchas. As you might have guessed, many of these sites run multiple networks on each page. It's one way to turn a $2 CPM deal into a $10 CPM deal, especially on your more popular pages.

    With that kind of volume, you should also be able to find an ad server application that will make sure you show the best paying ads available.
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  • Profile picture of the author jgant
    Go to competitors in the same niche and check out their advertising page to see what they are charging. Be sure to check the sites to see if they are actually selling ad spots.

    Buysellads is a place where you can buy ads so you can see what similar sites are charging... plus you can see if the ad spots are sold.

    I suggest testing more Adsense placements to see if you can increase CTR. I generate quite a bit of Adsense revenue with under one million monthly page views.

    Also I use Media.net ads with Adsense and it ads a good chunk of revenue. I use Adsense toward the top and Media.net at the bottom. The Media.net ads are a very different display and convert quite well. That said my posts are massively long with 1,000 to 3,000 words plus dozens of images so the ads don't clutter the pages too much.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bloggerguyman
      Originally Posted by jgant View Post

      Go to competitors in the same niche and check out their advertising page to see what they are charging. Be sure to check the sites to see if they are actually selling ad spots.

      Buysellads is a place where you can buy ads so you can see what similar sites are charging... plus you can see if the ad spots are sold.

      I suggest testing more Adsense placements to see if you can increase CTR. I generate quite a bit of Adsense revenue with under one million monthly page views.

      Also I use Media.net ads with Adsense and it ads a good chunk of revenue. I use Adsense toward the top and Media.net at the bottom. The Media.net ads are a very different display and convert quite well. That said my posts are massively long with 1,000 to 3,000 words plus dozens of images so the ads don't clutter the pages too much.
      I like that Adsense is easy, but can't sites with a lot of traffic almost certainly bring in more revenue by selling ads directly to companies who produce goods and services relevant to the readership?
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      • Profile picture of the author gjabiz
        Originally Posted by Bloggerguyman View Post

        I like that Adsense is easy, but can't sites with a lot of traffic almost certainly bring in more revenue by selling ads directly to companies who produce goods and services relevant to the readership?
        Consider the polarizing effect of an opinion based site, on any given subject, you are going to have two main camps, Pro and Con, and a bunch of fragmented opinions.

        So you have the perfect opportunity to create (or have created) customized products to offer to both sides of the isle. For example, opinions on politics, sports and economy can present opportunities.

        Say, you have opinions about Obama, the right side is already prepping for the End of Days and total collapse of society (albeit a minority) they would probably read a free report on Survival, and within the report you can offer affiliate programs, such as long term food supplies or cans of seeds.

        At the same time, you could offer the left side a free report on how the banks have destroyed the middle class and what they can do, again, with links in the report to affiliate programs. AND, each little specialty report could be SPONSORED, and or advertising space sold in it, and eliminate the middle man, so YOU get the ad revenue.

        Just something to think about.

        gjabiz
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  • Profile picture of the author Newd
    With that kind of traffic you should be able to do better than Adsense directly. You should be able to easily get $2 - $10 CPM from direct advertisers. Best thing to do is split test and see which one earns you the most!
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    • Profile picture of the author Bloggerguyman
      Originally Posted by Newd View Post

      With that kind of traffic you should be able to do better than Adsense directly. You should be able to easily get $2 - $10 CPM from direct advertisers. Best thing to do is split test and see which one earns you the most!
      Is $10 CPM a realistic possibility?
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      • Profile picture of the author JensSteyaert
        Originally Posted by Bloggerguyman View Post

        Is $10 CPM a realistic possibility?
        Well if you charge that you might sell some ad spots every month, but the possibility exists not all slots will be filled. If you charge a little ower or a fixed price then you might get more sales.

        You might want to look into buysellads if you haven't done already, you shouldn't have too much problems sellng your ad space with those numbers, plus you can also check how much your competitors charge and charge just a little lower
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      • Profile picture of the author MJ Sterling
        Originally Posted by Bloggerguyman View Post

        Is $10 CPM a realistic possibility?
        Yes, I know of websites charging $25 per CPM and mainstream sites often charge 4x that.

        What's your Alexa rank? The only time Alexa matters is when pricing your ad space.
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        • Profile picture of the author Bloggerguyman
          Originally Posted by MJ Sterling View Post

          Yes, I know of websites charging $25 per CPM and mainstream sites often charge 4x that.

          What's your Alexa rank? The only time Alexa matters is when pricing your ad space.
          My US rank is around 3500. How will that effect my pricing?
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          • Profile picture of the author MJ Sterling
            Originally Posted by Bloggerguyman View Post

            My US rank is around 3500. How will that effect my pricing?
            Potential advertisers look at the global rank and decide if your offer is value for money. As long as your global rank us under 100,000, you're golden.

            The best course of action that you can take is to approach other sites that have a similar global alexa rank to yours and request their media kit.

            Let's assume that your global rank is... 10,000 - 20,000.

            A lot of sites in this range will charge around $5 CPM with a buy in price between $500 - $2,000 per month.

            Then again another site that I work with, which receives 1.5 million unique visitors a month, charges a fixed rate of $2,500 per month irrespective of CPM.

            Most importantly, think about what would work best for your potential advertisers.. some detest CPM, for some it's the only way to go.

            Have you spoken to any businesses that might be interested?
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  • Profile picture of the author James 0
    I think $10 to $20 should be a reasonable price to charge for your blog.
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