How to Sell or Rent Ad Space on Your Site

We received an email the other day, asking about our rates for ad space on one of our sites.  We didn’t have any ad space on offer, and thought “Hm!”

It was time to do something about offering ad space!

The email enquiry had come from somebody wanting to rent or buy ad space for a gambling site, and as our sites and blogs are family friendly, we were not interested in this particular enquiry, but we are hoping to get more enquiries soon – now that it’s obvious we have ad space on 4 of our sites.

We also have Google Adsense ads on our sites and blogs, and the Google Adsense terms and conditions or Google Adsense program policies mention somewhere that gambling site advertisements should not appear on the same pages as Adsense ads.

What were the steps we took to make it obvious that we are now renting ad space?

We went googling, of course, to see what other people are charging for their ad spaces, and where the ads are placed on their sites.  We also checked to see if the ad space is shared with other advertisers (rotates), and if the ad appeared on one page only, or across all pages of the site.

It is logical that the higher or larger an ad is on a site, the more one can charge for it.

It is also logical that one can charge more for ad space that appears on every page of a blog or site, instead of on just one page, but of course, if just that one page is receiving more traffic than an entire 20 pages of another of your sites, this needs to be taken into consideration too.

We found some very helpful information about offering ad space on a website or blog, and what to charge for it, on Lisa Irby’s popular 2 Create A WebSite blog on this post Selling Ad Space and Setting your Prices.

Once we had decided on our prices (different prices for different pages or sites), it was off to Photoshop to design some little images to place in the appropriate areas on the 2 sites and 2 blogs we were planning on offering ad space from.

Each image basically declares “Rent this Ad Space!” and informs of the size (example 140 x 140), price, and how to contact us (email address.)  The images also tell a viewer if the ad space to rent is for just that page, or if it is all for pages on the site.  It also helps to tell the viewer how many pages that is.

When a person enquires, you can email them further details, and attach screen shots of your site’s statistics.

It may also be a good idea to have a page on your website or blog, offering further details and screenshots of stats for the viewer to go through, so that he or she can start thinking about if it’s worth his while and money to advertise with you. If you decide to include a page with further details about renting or buying ad space on your site, be sure to have clear links to it too.

It’s not really nice for a viewer to get to your site and see “empty” ad spaces all over it, so you may have to make your prices really affordable, at first.  Even “affordable” can be further reduced if nobody shows any interest for a week or so (decide how long you might want to wait – perhaps even a month), as you can always put your prices up later.

Think about it.  Even if it’s not a lot you’re asking for your ad space, it’s money you didn’t have before.

Once somebody is keen to rent ad space, what do you do next?

When somebody emails you about renting ad space, they may also send their ad through at the same time, as well as tell you on which page and in which spot they would like it to appear, but if not, you need to tell them to:

• Tell you which page and space they want to see their ad on
• Send their correct size ad (or perhaps you can charge a small amount to resize or create the ad for them)
• Tell you how long they’re wanting their ad to appear for (perhaps you offer monthly fees, but offer reduced fees on 3 months’ or 6 months’ fees)

You also need to tell them any rules you have, and inform them of your disclaimer (which might be something along the lines of you having a right to refuse to accept any ad, for whatever reason, or that you don’t promise that they will receive any traffic from their ad being placed on your site.)

Once you are happy to accept their ad, you can email them your banking details, wait for confirmation of payment (or check your bank statements regularly), and then place their ad for them. Tell your ad space client what reference to use when making payment, so that you can easily keep track of payments and of all your clients.

Keep records – in case you start selling lots of ad space! You don’t want to appear too unprofessional.  Remain friendly and down to earth, but if selling something to earn some money, a bit of professionalism and planning is also required.

Good luck!