Blogs are growing, and some even use blogs as websites now. When you reach the point of wanting to drive more traffic to your blog, you may consider advertising on other people’s blog. Here are a few things you should know before doing so.
Research Traffic
First you should research the blog you are about to advertise on. Usually on the blog there will be a traffic indicator. Find out what that is, are they getting a lot of hits? The reason for this is if no one sees your ad, what good will come of it?
Additional Traffic Research
Also look for subscribers via the “Follow Me” box. This is a very common way for people to read your blog now, and can be used with many different services from Networked Blogs to BlogLovin, Blogger or other “follow” services. Another key thing to look for is a Feedburner count or feed number indicator of how many people are “subscribing” to the feed. These additional aspects may mean may mean people aren’t visiting the actual pages, but they are getting updates, or reading via their readers or inboxes. This counts, too! So if the overall page views are low but the feed count is high, you may consider advertising here.
Research Type of Readers
You should then make a determination about the blog itself. Is the content something that will attract people, who will read your blog? For instance if your blog is about antique cars, why would you advertise on a hair stylist blog? You shouldn’t. You should however find a niche that best fits you, perhaps an auto body shop blog, an event planner who hosts car shows, or someone who sells auto polish.
Finding Advertising
In most cases once you settle up on a blog that you think will benefit you, there is a “how to advertise” area of the blog. Requirements should be listed, in case you have to submit a small avatar or your blog to fit in a designated spot. This can be easy for you to do using a free service like Picnik. Usually ads are paid and will run anywhere from a month to three months.
Blog Ad Space Services
Sites like Project Wonderful, BlogAds and other services (search for “advertise on blogs” in your browser) are there to help you find a blog to fit your niche. In many cases these will use a “bid” or “flat fee service” wherein you will be able to see the traffic ranks of the blogs and type of visitors they get and from where they are coming. Project Wonderful also shows your pay per click rate so you can use it for a bit and find out how it’s working for you. Both have pros and cons and you should do your research.
Niche Swap Ads
There are always those possibilities where you contact the blog owner and explain what your blog is about, and offer to cross feature and cross promote one another and swap blog ads. Your chances on this will be greater if you