Many independent publishers are not making the money they should be from digital advertising. That’s the view of Richard Cook at Trade House Media, a provider of managed ad solutions.
I was interviewing Richard for a (sponsored) piece in the upcoming Nov/Dec issue of InPublishing magazine (which you can register to receive here).
What then are some of the factors publishers need to get right to improve their ad revenue?
First and foremost, obviously, is great content and a viable audience, and publishers are pretty good at those two things.
Its some of the other factors they sometimes struggle with, such as:
- Access to full digital ad market: for one reason or another, many publishers are only taking ads from one small part of the market and are therefore missing out on revenue.
- Ad formats: ads can be much more than static banners. There are a lot of variables with regards positioning, size and rich media which can all impact campaign effectiveness.
- Ad density: striking the right balance between the number of ads on a page and the user experience is not always easy. It’s very tempting to try and shoehorn extra ad units onto a page, but it’s not always a good idea.
- Campaign performance: remember, in digital, everything is known, so if ads on your site perform badly in terms of click-throughs, engagement and time in view, then your site could be blacklisted.
- Site performance: similarly, a poorly designed site, slow to load, will have poor SEO rankings, and this will impact on monetisation.
- First party data: this can enhance the value of your inventory if used properly. With the impending demise of the third-party cookie, how you collect first party data and the consent management platform you use are all factors in play.
These are all areas that need constant attention. The good news is that if you can manage that, then substantial increases in ad revenue are achievable.
You can catch James Evelegh’s regular column in the InPubWeekly newsletter, which you can register to receive here.
