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So You Want to Make More Money Blogging?

There are an estimated 31 Million bloggers in the United States.

Better Content, Bigger Pay

Getting traffic is easy…

How do you get the right traffic?

Identifying Your AudienceTargeting with ContentProviding Visitors Real ValueEncouraging Return Visits

Overview of Content Strategy

Know Your Target Audience

• Target audience = customers

(Not Your Audience: Other Bloggers)

• Current audience and target audience may not be the same group of people.

• Better align content to audience to grow $$$

Steps for Identifying Your Audience

1. Determine your best-performing keywords.2. Identify your competitors.3. Discover key demographics.4. Drill down.

Tools for Audience IdentificationGoogle Analytics - Referral Keywords

• See where you’re currently performing• Identify areas for improvement

Tools for Audience Identification

SEM Rush – Competitor Keywords

• Reverse-engineer keyword portfolio

• Identify missed opportunities

Tools for Audience IdentificationQuantcast - Demographics

Tools for Audience Identification

Bing Ads Intelligence – Excel Plugin

Be careful: You could get lost here forever

(Relevant) Content is KingOnce you’ve identified your target audience,

capture them with content.

How do you know your content is truly relevant?

• Aligns with a business objective.• Relates to visitors’ interests.• Has an element of timeliness.

Keep Them Coming Back

• Consumers need to see a brand multiple times before converting.

• Getting return visitors means you don’t have to work as hard to grow traffic.

How to Retain Visitors on Your Site

• Provide real value• Meet your audience’s expectations• Be creative!

(Beta is going to blow your mind with a story about that later).

Content that Works• Reviews• Video• Other Multimedia (images, sound, infographics, etc.)• Newsletters• Resources and tools (calculators, FAQs, Glossary, etc.)• Case studies, investigative reporting, original data

Additional Considerations:

Design & navigation ● Site load & performance ● Post consistency ● Strong brand ● Engagement

Monetization 101 Techniques

Affiliate Networks

Banners

You’ve gotten this far….so now what??

Build Your Strategy, live your strategyNot Stating the ObviousCustomization Email / NewslettersKPI Goals – Know them, Use themBest Practices

Identify Your

Reader

Find A Reason To Monetize

Build a Strategy

& Execute

T.A.O

Look at Stats – Data

Rules

Monetization Cycle

Indirect offers that directly relate to your content

FACT: 95% of home owners order pizza the first night they move in.

When you move into a new place, what is the first thing you set up?

Customization

Email Newsletters

Targeted messaging can generate dramatic gains in open and click rates, significant reductions in unsubscribes and complaints, plus improve mailer reputation and inbox delivery. ¹ Conversion rates in a recent study increased by a staggering 208% on highly targeted email campaigns compared with untargeted emails. ²

(1) eMarketer.com, Survey of Online Marketers in North America(2) Marketing Sherpa, Artbeads.com Case Study

Biggest Pain Point: Tighter budgets and lower payouts

– What are Advertisers/Agencies looking for?• Increase Customer Base & Quality

– How do you stand out from the crowd?• Quality Content • Understanding Demographics• Understanding Advertisers’ Goals

KPI Goals & UnderstandingWhat They Mean To YOUR Top Line

Monetization Best Practices

Placement of text links near price points to draw higher CTR

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Monetization Best Practices

Using an icon in front of text creatives, as its proven links with images perform better

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Monetization Best Practices

Creatives and/or ad copy should always be above the fold

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Monetization Best Practices

Utilize the term “free” effectively, including different variations

(i.e. Complimentary, $0, etc.)

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Monetization Best Practices

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Relevancy: relate the ad copy to the consumers actions and what they are looking for

Monetization Best Practices

Keeping ad creative fresh – using advertiser ad serving platform to do this without using your own resources

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Monetization Best Practices

Matching creative to site look and feel (colors, fonts, images, etc.)

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Monetization Best Practices

Have a clear call to action for the consumer to take direction

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Monetization Best Practices

Use “trusted partner” or “preferred partner” when applicable “we recommend”

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Monetization Best Practices

Test, Test, Test!

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Monetization Best Practices

Placement of text links near price points to draw higher CTR Using an icon in front of text creatives as its proven links with images perform better Creatives and/or ad copy should always be above the fold Utilize the term “free” effectively, including different variations (i.e. Complimentary, $0, etc.)

Relevancy: relate the ad copy to the consumers actions and what they are looking for

Keeping ad creative fresh – using advertiser ad serving platform to do this without using your own resources Matching creative to site look and feel (colors, fonts, images, etc.) Have a clear call to action for the consumer to take direction

Use “trusted partner” or “preferred partner” when applicable “we recommend”

Test, Test, Test!

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