Are you Thinking about Buying a Website?

By | January 21, 2009

A website as a means of generating advertising revenue

Websites serve many purposes. They can be used to offer goods or services for sale, spread the word about a particular philosophy or cause, or offer a window into the daily life of an individual. They can also be used to generate advertising revenue. If you have steady traffic to your website, you can capitalize on the fact that your site has a loyal base or a steady stream of new visitors to entice advertisers. If your ad rates are reasonable and your site visitors track back to you when they visit your advertisers, your advertisers may decide that your site is a good place to spend a portion of their advertising budget.

If you plan to use your site as a means of generating advertising revenue, you have to do your homework. You will have to research advertising rates, if you are not already knowledgeable in this area. Your rates must be in line with industry standards; if they are too high, you will not be able to attract advertisers. Conversely, if they are too low, you will likely not be able to produce the level of income you seek. In addition, you must examine the technical aspect of advertising. If you have the skills and ability to do all of your own web design, incorporating advertising will probably be a cinch for you. However, if you are like the majority of the population, this type of work is beyond your technical expertise. In that case, you will have to determine how that aspect of your advertising will work. Will your advertisers submit copy that you simply post on your site or will you have to contract out for the design work? The first option may result in lower advertising rates while the second may require you to contract this type of work out to a professional.

Websites can be excellent sources of advertising revenue but it is important to examine all of the relevant issues before deciding that this is the best course of action for you or your business. If you are new to this whole idea, you may want to take some time to look around on the internet. Visit some websites and check out their advertising. Look at it from the perspective of a web host and consider how much work might have gone into it. Then look at it from the host of an advertiser; if you can find advertising rates, they will give you a first look at how much you might want to charge. Take notes as you do this; your initial website visits will provide a goldmine of valuable information which you can continue to learn from after you start enjoying your own advertising revenue.