Yesterday I ended my post with “Let your ads do their thing. That’s the beauty of ads. The more you publish the more those ads fire. It’s the perfect business model IMO.”
Too many people view display ads as a “last resort” monetization option. IMO, that’s the wrong way to view the lowly (but mighty) ad.
I see it differently. I create sites with the intention to primarily monetize with display ads. It’s not a last resort for me. It’s how I like to roll.
Do you think Walmart begrudges slim profit margins with their being the lowest-cost retailer?
Not at all. They’re maniacal about selling everything at lower prices than everyone else.
Would you start a business if you were told your profit margin would be 2.8%?
That would be $2,800 profit on sales of $100,000.
Probably not.
I know I wouldn’t get too excited about that. Sounds like a ton of work for a sliver of profit.
Yet, did you know Walmart’s net profit in 2019 was $14.8 BILLION?
Awesome, right. Thing is, that’s from $514 BILLION in revenue which amounts to a 2.8% profit margin.
I’m pretty sure you’d get pretty excited with $14.8 BILLION net income, wouldn’t you? I would.
Display ads are like Walmart.
You make less per 1,000 website visitors compared to successful affiliate marketing content, high converting digital products and/or selling products directly (ecommerce).
But the potential for far more website visitors is better. Much better.
If you’re a veteran affiliate marketer and I told you that I have a great online model that earns $15 per 1,000 visitors, you’d probably not get too excited, until… I told you the site gets 3 million monthly visitors.
That’s $45K per month with not a whole lot of overhead.
Display ads are just a different strategy. It’s not better OR worse. Just different.
I prefer it for sure, but I’m not going to tell you that building up a successful affiliate website is bad. I’m just telling you monetizing with display ads can be very, very good.
Making big bucks with display ads is all about two types of volume.
- Lots of great content.
- Lots of traffic.
The content gets the traffic.
That’s it. That’s all you have to focus on.
Don’t let anyone tell you display ads are the worst way to monetize a website.
Different? Yes.
Bad? No, as long as you pursue a solid strategy that works with ratcheting up display ad revenue.
Jon Dykstra is a six figure niche site creator with 10+ years of experience. His willingness to openly share his wins and losses in the email newsletter he publishes has made him a go-to source of guidance and motivation for many. His popular “Niche site profits” course has helped thousands follow his footsteps in creating simple niche sites that earn big.
Hi Jon, I recently started my own site and Fat Stacks has been a great resource. I appreciate your insight that success with a blog or niche site comes down to one thing: lots of great content. That means it’s attainable, and that’s great motivation to endure the late nights and hard work. Thanks!
I’m curious at what traffic or revenue level it’s worth the cost to go from a free website template to something customized. What kind of bump will this give to user interaction and ad or affiliate revenue?
Hey there, I recommend something in between and that is a premium theme. I like GeneratePress, MyThemeShop, StudioPress and Bimber.
Thanks, I’ll check them out.
Hi there Jon,
Been following your blog and youtube channel since I begin my ads monetization strategy. I really appreciate your straightforward, easy to understand style and willingness to help us beginner in getting into this business. I’m a web developer working on WP platform and would be willing to help you back in any technical issue if I can. Do drop me a mail.
I’m currently working on a site which utilize your rank and crank strategy. I’ve been putting my head down for 2-3 months and manage to publish 130 worth of articles. The site is getting roughly 300 visitors since the beginning. However I realize that my competitors has tonnes of backlink (tens of thousands), with majority of them being spammy.
Do you think how long should I focus on content creation before I start focusing on link building?
ps: It should be Crank n’ Bank
Hey Andy, thanks for the offer for help with tech issues. Super nice of you.
I don’t build links. I focus on targeting low competition keywords in the hopes I rank without building links and/or attract natural links. That’s it.