Sites That Generate Ad Revenue

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How To Build A Network Of Websites That Generate Ad Revenue

Imagine owning a network of several websites that generate thousands of dollars each month through advertising revenue. You – or someone you hire – would supply the content.

Traffic would grow organically as a result of using smart search engine optimization strategies and other internet marketing tactics. Over time, your network becomes more popular and starts ranking competitively in Google for a growing number of keywords. Momentum builds, traffic increases, and your income rises.

Most marketers approach this model in the wrong way and they severely limit their income. I’m going to provide you with a quick tutorial for building your network of sites for the long-term.

Choosing Your Niche

There is a lot of advice out there about choosing niches for your sites. Unfortunately, most of it is limited in scope. “Experts” will tell you that you should use the Adwords keyword tool to pick topics with high click prices. But, that assumes you’re relying upon Adsense to generate revenue. It also assumes that the niches for which Adwords advertisers are paying will maintain their popularity.

First, you should not rely upon Adsense (I’ll explain why below). Second, hundreds of niches fall out of favor – sometimes quickly – and never recover.

When choosing niches for your network of websites, keep them related. For example, suppose you’re interested in fitness. Your first site might address exercise. Your second site could cover fitness for teens. From that point, your network would expand with sites about dieting, fitness for expecting mothers, exercise equipment, nutrition, and even bodybuilding.

By creating a network of related sites and linking between them, you can attract a massive audience. What’s more, you can shuttle them back and forth. Those who are interested in exercise equipment might also be interested in bodybuilding. Expectant mothers may want to learn about both fitness and nutrition.

Not only is this important for increasing your ad revenue, but it plays perfectly into your exit strategy.

Adsense Is Only The Beginning

You may have noticed that I did not mention Adsense in the title of today’s post. There’s a good reason why. Adsense can be a fantastic way to generate revenue. However, there are severe limitations. First, you have no control over the amount you’re paid each time a visitor clicks an ad. You might be paid $1 on Monday and $.75 on Tuesday. Second, you have no room to negotiate the ad spot. Google determines how much it is worth and pays you accordingly.

When you begin building your network, use Adsense to generate income quickly and easily. But, consider it a short-term solution. You’ll want to eventually find your own advertisers to replace the Adsense ads on each of your sites. You’ll have more control and you can negotiation individual ad spot prices.

Build With The End In Mind

Most online marketers don’t start building their sites with an exit strategy in mind. Unfortunately, they squander an enormous opportunity. Let’s return to our network of fitness-related sites. By keeping your sites related, you can leverage their respective audiences, shuttling them back and forth between sites. Consider for a moment how valuable your network would be to a company that wanted to penetrate the fitness niche quickly.

Your network already has a trusting audience. Your sites are gaining authority as the number of incoming links grow. Your exposure in Google continues to improve, leading to more traffic, additional links, and increasing authority. Many media companies would love to negotiate a network-wide media buy. Other companies would love to buy your network outright.

A network of related websites that generate advertising revenue can become a valuable asset down the road. But, you must build it properly from the beginning, keeping the end in mind.