Generate Traffic with Valuable Content

This might be a bit of an obvious tip but bear with us. Brands, businesses, and stores buy ad inventory to reach a broad audience and convert them into paying customers. To do so, they might use direct deals, affiliate programs, or buying ad space from publishers through a network or exchange.

If you want to appeal to or even access these advertisers, you’ll need to show that your website consistently attracts new visitors. The best way to do that is to regularly create and share high-value content that ranks – and in that sentence lies the problem.

While many publishers understand the principle of valuable, high-ranking content, it’s not always easy to put it into practice. Typically, valuable content can mean any article or post that is informative and relevant to a user’s search. To create content that also ranks well, you need to understand search intent and use it to your advantage. Remember, quality beats quantity.

Being consistent would also help; the goal is to turn a first-time user into a regular visitor. To do that, you’ll need to continuously create informative content that appeals to your target audience – and that of your advertisers.

Professional and User-Friendly Design

Appearance might not be everything, but when it comes to online advertising, it’s undoubtedly one of the more critical things publishers need to consider – particularly the appearance of their websites. As we mentioned, having valuable content is a surefire way to lure visitors to your website. However, if they don’t enjoy the experience on your site, they’re not likely to come back.

If you’re using Google Analytics and Search Console, or another data gathering platform, you should be able to see if your site has a problem. For example, a high bounce rate is one way of spotting issues with your design.

Slow loading times are another common issue that may be affecting your website’s performance and page rank. In July 2021, Google implemented Core Web Vitals, a series of metrics that evaluate performance, loading speed, and design. You can use free tools like GTMetrix and PageSpeed Insights to spot any issues that may be chasing those valuable visitors away.

Collect and Share Audience Data

For many advertisers, it’s not enough to know that your website is drawing visitors. They also want to ensure that those users are interested in the products and services they offer. While some networks and exchanges automatically deliver relevant ads using cookies, the advent of the P3PC-era is close at hand.

Luckily, it means publishers now have an ace in the hole: first-party data, i.e., the data you gather about users who use your website. You can track:

• User demographics.
• Device information.
• On-site behavior.
• Purchase history.
• Subscription data.

Instead of relying only on programmatic ads, you can use this data to diversify your revenue streams through direct deals and sponsored content. Essentially, you can directly approach advertisers and show them how your website’s audience fits within their target audience. Brands and businesses will buy your ad inventory at a premium if they think the potential ROI is worth the cost.

Source: Wordstream

Remember, visitor data is one of your most precious assets, so use it to your advantage.

Unfortunately, establishing direct deals isn’t one of the easiest ways to monetize your site. Luckily, there are monetization partners that can help make these deals on your behalf. For example, rev•amp has built relationships with several top tech brands, and we leverage these partnerships on behalf of our publishers.

Follow Best Practices for Ad Viewability

Not too long ago, impressions were the be-all and end-all of ad performance metrics. However, recently advertisers and monetization platforms have begun to emphasize viewability over impressions. While the two may seem similar (viewability is sometimes referred to as “actual impressions”), there’s a very distinct difference.

Typically, impressions are recorded regardless of how much of an ad is seen or how long it’s visible. However, a study in 2013 found that less than half of impressions meant actual views. That’s when viewability became a significant concern for advertisers everywhere.

A high viewability rate is a great way to make your website and your ad inventory, by extension, more attractive to advertisers. Start by optimizing the sizes of your ads and improving the placements in line with recommended best practices. You can also lazy load your ads and make some advertisements sticky, keeping them visible for longer.

When advertisers see that your ad inventory has a consistently high viewability rate, they’ll be far more likely to bid higher to show their ads on your website.

Conclusion

Being a successful publisher isn’t easy. You need to have an appealing website, attract thousands of visitors per month, and regularly create informative content. More importantly, you need to know how to make your ad space look like a valuable investment to secure high bids and negotiate direct deals with brands.

If you use these basic, foolproof methods to use your visitor data, improve your website, and enhance your ad inventory, you’ll be well on your way to attracting more advertisers.