Get started with ads on your website – an easy guide

With ads on your website, you can focus on creating the best website and still earn money without needing to sell anything. You can write a blog, review movies, or share your passion while earning money from visitors who see ads.  

In this article, we’ll explain how to get started with Google AdSense and other types of ads for your website. 

How to sell ads on your website 

If you have a small website, finding the time to sell ads yourself can be hard. It might be better to use an ad network like Google AdSense. We’ll explain what ad networks are and the pros and cons of other types of ads. 

Google Adsense

Google Adsense is a service that publishers and website owners can use to sell ad space easily. With Google AdSense, you can sell selected spots on your website. You can create a Google AdSense account, and with a little bit of code, Google will start showing ads on your website in no time. Google does take a cut, but you still get a significant share of the money advertisers pay to appear on your website. 

Google AdSense is a large ad system used for websites and YouTube channels. For websites, Google AdSense is primarily used for display ads, also known as banner ads. A display ad is often a small static image visitors can click to be redirected to the advertiser’s website. 

The major advantage of Google AdSense is that it’s easy to set up and use. You don’t need to contact an advertiser to start making money, and Google automatically ensures that as many ads as possible are displayed. The downside of AdSense is that it can offer relatively low payouts per view. Moreover, as a publisher, you may have little control over which companies or organisations advertise on your site. 

Affiliate marketing 

An affiliate is a publisher who advertises a product or service and receives a commission on sales. Because their compensation is directly tied to sales, affiliates are highly motivated to get visitors to purchase the product or service they promote. Affiliate marketing operates almost exclusively at the bottom of the so-called marketing funnel. Affiliate marketing is not used for brand awareness but to convert visitors into paying customers. 

An example of a site suitable for affiliate marketing could be a blog about sports bikes. The website could partner with a store that sells cycling accessories. The website could advertise products and earn 10% of the value of every order placed through an ad. 

Affiliate marketing is common for services like mobile subscriptions, streaming services, and other digital services to which customers can subscribe. For example, one.com has an affiliate program that publishers can join to sell our services. Websites that can convert visitors into customers can receive generous compensation for each customer gained. 

Online shop ads 

An ad on your website can promote your products or services. For example, you can display ads in your blog posts to sell products from your online shop. Sometimes, you can earn more by selling your products than by showing ads for other companies. 

Native ads

Native ads, or ‘advertorials’, are content like articles or videos paid for by advertisers and written in a journalistic style to build credibility. A good native ad is published on a website that usually creates editorial content since the goal of a native ad is to borrow the website’s credibility. 

A valuable native ad doesn’t necessarily focus only on the product or service the advertiser wants to promote. Instead, it enhances the impression of being journalistic. 

The advantage of native ads is that advertisers often pay a lot. The downside is that selling native ads can be time-consuming and difficult for websites with fewer visitors. 

Sponsorships

A sponsorship can blur the lines between different types of ads. A sponsor may pay a large sum for a more permanent and visible spot on a website. This can be displaying ads, native articles, and more. It can also be in exchange for products and services on the site. For example, if you run a recipe website, you could take sponsorship from a cookware manufacturer and feature their products in your recipes, images, and descriptions. 

Sponsorships are common among many organisations. A local football club, for instance, might be sponsored by a local business. In return for financial support, the club can display ads on their website and feature banners beside the football field or on players’ uniforms. 

Other ad networks 

Google AdSense gives you access to Google’s large ad network, but other ad networks might be more local to your market or industry. For example, if you have a website that reviews movies, you could find a network that sells ads to film companies. Niche ad networks can sell ad space on your behalf and often get better compensation than AdSense since they offer a smaller and more valuable target audience. 

The best way to find ad networks that suit you is to visit competitor websites to see their ads. You can right-click on an ad, click Inspect, and see which domain the ad comes from. You can also ask other publishers. If you run a niche website, you and your industry colleagues can benefit from sharing tips and tricks. 

Putting ads on your website 

Once you start using ads, you need to consider where to place them. It’s not always easy, and the best ad placement can vary greatly. We’ll explain more about the display ads available, how many you should have, and where to place them. 

Different types of display ads 

Display ads come in various sizes – wide, square, tall, and everything in between. If you’re using an ad network, it’s best to adapt the spaces on your site to fit the formats the network uses. 

Another type of display ad is an interstitial ad. It takes over the entire display and may appear, for example, before a user reaches an article on your website. Interstitial ads can be significantly more expensive for advertisers and thus generate more revenue for you. However, keep in mind that they can also disrupt user experience and drive visitors away. 

Some display ads can be animated, include videos, or be interactive. They can perform better for advertisers and generate more revenue for publishers, but they can also slow down your website and negatively impact the user experience. 

How many ads should you have? 

More ads can generate more revenue, but they can also negatively impact the user experience. Your job as a website owner is to find the balance between enough ads to generate good revenue and few enough to ensure a positive user experience. 

Larger websites commonly have ten or more ads on a single page. How many ads your site can accommodate depends on how much content is on each page. A news website with 50 headlines can fit more ads than a website with 5 headlines.  

Exactly how many ads suit your website will vary, but as a guideline, a large website might have 10 ads, while a small one might have 3. 

You can also adjust the number of ads to different website sections. For instance, you might have 8 ads on your homepage and 4 on an article page. 

A website with too many ads can negatively affect the user experience, leading to fewer visitors and, consequently, lower revenue. Another outcome of too many ads is poor ad performance. If you have 15 ads and 5 of them are at the bottom of your site, they may go unnoticed by many visitors. This can hurt your reputation with advertisers and negatively impact the user experience. 

Where should you place ads? 

Ads should be placed so they are visible without getting in the way of content. On computers or larger devices, sidebars are a good place for ads. Here, they can be visible while the main content of the site is displayed alongside. 

Another good spot for ads is between pieces of content. For example, if you have a list of blog posts, you can place ads between the posts. Just remember to clearly label what is an ad so you don’t confuse visitors. The easiest and clearest way is to add a small label above each ad spot that says “Ad”. 

Be sure to never place ads where they might be mistaken for a feature of your website. An example of a bad ad is a file archive website with ads that say “Download.” This can frustrate users and, at worst, get you banned from ad networks. In short, make sure it’s obvious to everyone what’s an ad. 

Ensure ad quality 

A common problem with ad networks is that they’re open to almost any type of advertiser, which means inappropriate ads might appear on your website. With networks like Google Adsense, you can block advertisers or categories of ads. This way, you can block ads from competitors, advertisers you don’t like, or those unsuitable for your audience. 

Set up ads on your website 

How you set up ads on your website depends on the CMS or website builder you use. In many cases, an ad network will provide a code snippet that you can place where you want the ad to appear. If you’re advertising your own online shop, a simple image with a link can serve as an ad. 

For WordPress, there are many plugins and themes that can help you place ads. Advanced Ads is one example of a plugin that allows you to add ads with great flexibility. 

If you want to add an ad using one.com’s Website Builder, you can do so by dragging and dropping a code container onto your website. You can also easily create an ad for your webshop by selecting the online shop module and placing it where you want it. 

Analyse revenue and performance 

Choosing the right type of ad, the right number, and the right placement can be tricky. Once you activate ads, it’s essential to evaluate their performance. Use Google Analytics to understand how users behave on your website. Compare that data with your ad performance and ask yourself: 

• What percentage of your visitors click on your ads? 
• How much revenue do the ads generate? 
• Which ads perform best and which perform worst? 

If an ad performs poorly, consider why. Could it be due to poor placement or that you have too many ads? Adjust your ad placements regularly, but only make one change at a time. This way, you can see if a change brings the improvement you hoped for.

Also, remember to pay attention to ads that perform well. Can you learn something from them? Experiment to achieve the best results. 

Now it’s time to get started! You can always begin with one or two ads and see how they perform. Keep building from there and find a balance that works for you, your advertisers, and your visitors. Good luck!