Many successful bloggers eventually come to a crossroads in the life of their blog: to monetize, or not to monetize? Of course, there are different ways to approach this question. Some bloggers feel like monetizing as soon as possible is the no-brainer best way to turn your blog into a fast moneymaker. This school of thought is anchored in a few basic assumptions; chiefly, that adding in advertising later will disrupt your regular readers who are used to a sleek, ad-free blog so it’s better to monetize before you build a big reader base. Conversely, there are those who believe that monetization should only be done after you have built readership. This camp is likely to tell you that building readership while building advertising is counterproductive. Both of these opinions are valid, so how do you know which strategy to follow? Read on for more information about the right time to monetize a blog.
On this side of the monetization argument, you may hear that a monetized blog is less likely to attract a big audience of readers. This is considered counterproductive to the goal of monetization because a monetized blog will bring in no money if there are no readers to provide page views, click through ads, or visit affiliate sites. Some bloggers feel that a blog covered in ads and affiliate links will appear unprofessional or untrustworthy to a reader who isn’t already familiar with the site. Plus, there is always the chance that a reader who has just happened by will become distracted by the ads and affiliates, click off the site, and leave – possibly never to return to your blog. Finally, proponents of waiting until you have built a significant readership may argue that time spent on monetization efforts for an unknown blog will be better spent creating quality content and building readership.
Why You Should Monetize Now:
Bloggers on the other side of the fence have a different view of how customers react to monetization. The people on this side of the argument believe that readers may feel betrayed or misled if a blog they frequently visit suddenly makes the leap into monetization. Bloggers who subscribe to this idea may advise fellow bloggers to monetize right away, and then build a readership. Indeed, this strategy will result in readers who are already familiar with your blog’s advertising methods, so there is less risk of alienating your readership. Additionally, many bloggers may feel like there is no real “right time” to monetize a blog. To them, waiting for an indeterminate amount of time for some vague and ill-defined future benchmark seems like a long wait for not a lot of pay off. These bloggers may advise, “Why put off ‘til tomorrow what can make you money today?”
So what is a blogger to do? Unfortunately, there is no formula for knowing the right time to monetize your blog. You must simply analyze your own blog; for example, will you be very upset if you lose a few readers because of advertising? Or are you more of the “can’t please everybody” mentality? How do you imagine your particular audience will respond to monetization? Just like everything else in blogging, your decision will likely have to come down to a matter of personal preference.
Ryan Franklin is a guest blogger who writes about small business, eCommerce, and smart marketing strategy on behalf of Ordoro.
