Maximize Website RevenueGenerating more from your website doesn’t necessarily mean rebuilding your webpage, flooding it with ads and disrupting your user experience. As manager of the publisher network at global performance marketing company Matomy Media Group, our publisher monetization works with publishers to assess the quick changes they can implement to quickly ramp-up their ad revenue. It often amazes me to see how much added revenue publishers can generate using simple tactical moves and quick fixes to their website.

In a recent report from Matomy, “The Essential Monetization Guide for Web Publishers” (download here), I outline 10 best practices you should keep in mind to quickly begin uncovering your true site revenue potential. Below is an excerpt from that report.

Working with Your Ad Network
Tip #1: Better Spots, Better service
Filling your last-call impressions is a service that certain ad networks are able to offer, giving you 100% fill on your traffic. The real value, though, that a network can offer is when you combine this fill with guaranteed earlier impressions. That way your entire inventory receives added halo-effect benefits, such as dedicated budgets from premium advertisers, customized buying plans, etc.

Tip #2: Don’t Judge Based on Doggy-bag Traffic
Divide the traffic that you give your ad network into two groups: early and remnant impressions. Backfill traffic often means very late impressions that, by nature, will not yield high performance. Therefore, don’t judge a performance-based network only by its backfill rates. When planning your monetization strategy, know that ad networks are not just for backfill; they can offer significant value on your early impressions.

Tip #3: Video is Booming … Don’t Get Left Behind
If you don’t yet have video on your site now is the time to generate this content and take advantage of this lucrative new online ad real-estate. If you already have hosted video content, and are still streaming it through third-party hosting solutions, you’re missing out on premium ad placements like pre-, mid- and post-rolls. Invest in your own video player (or get one from your ad network) and use this real-estate to your benefit

Targeting
Tip #4: Give More, Get More
If you know your user trends well (beyond the usual age, gender and surfing geo) share this information with your ad network. Your account manager will be able to group different users into targetable clusters and serve them with more relevant ads.

User Experience
Tip #5: More Placements Don’t Always Mean More Money
Talk to your account manager about a balanced and effective ad placement layout and quantity. A common myth is that if you turn your page into a banner farm you will multiply your income by the number of new additional placements. This assumption is entirely false and often lowers your overall revenue, not to mention harms your user experience, which is more important than anything. Side-by-side or stacked placements typically hurt one another’s performance, causing the user to not click at all (but rather click the exit sign out of the browser)
———————————–
This is just a starter kit of essential best practices for monetizing traffic; adhering to the fundamentals can lead to a positive effect on your monthly revenue.
Want more site monetization tips? Download Matomy’s new report, “The Essential Monetization Guide for Web Publishers.”