Private Ads Part 3: Ad Sizes

Running private advertising on your blog is still one of the most trendy ways to make money. I have talked about whether or not new blogs should start with advertising and what are superior ad placements. For part three of this miniseries, I will be talking about numerous ad sizes you can utilize on your blog.

The quantity of ad sizes continue to grow. Some companies are now offering nonstandard ad sizes as well. You know the right places for ad placement on your blog, but choosing the proper ad unit size can be the difference of making $50 more or less a month. More than likely you will want that $50. You’re going to have to experiment with ad placement and with ad sizes. Every blog is different so grow to be an experimenter on private ads.

One thing that I am proud to be is a researcher. I understand a lot of things that work with private ads and a lot of things that do not work with private ads. However, I made sure to research as much as possible on this topic so that you could benefit the most from this article. What I have found in my research is that by far leaderboards (728×90) and wide skyscrapers(160×600) are the most popular advertising sizes. I want to remind you that this is the all web pages not just blogs. So this may not pertain to all of us bloggers. However, most of the Internet web pages are becoming blogs so these statistics will be relied on more and more by bloggers.

The point to be made here is that if leaderboards and wide skyscrapers are the most popular ad sizes on web pages, then more than likely large banners are what advertisers usually yearn for. To maximize your potential of getting advertising you may want to allow the most popular sizes of advertising available on your blog.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Large Ad Units

Advantages:

• These are the most popular size of ads currently on the Internet. This should allow you to enhance your chances of getting an advertiser.
• More noticeable which may give you a higher click potential for the ads. That is why most companies like to advertise with a larger size because they get noticed easier.

Disadvantages:

• The problem with these ads is that they take up a lot of space on your blog. If you can get someone to advertise on your blog with this size of ad then go for it. However, sometimes you can make more money off of three little ads then one large leaderboard or wide skyscraper. A lot has to do with what advertisers you can find (Which I will talk about later in this series).
• They do not leave very much spacing on your blog. They take up a entire block of space and can make your blog design look dire. You want to make sure not to scare away your visitors because of the size of the ads you have on your blog.
• Also, the size of the ads are really recognizable to people. More Internet marketers are recognizing that Internet users are becoming more immune to these ad sizes.
• Having large advertisements on your web site can also send a message to your visitors that you are all about making money. First impressions are very important when you have a blog so don’t scare away your visitors because of your ad sizes.

Mid-Size Ads are Dead

Unless you are running affiliate advertisements, mid-size ads for blogs are dead and buried. It is likely that they will not be coming back and if they do it won’t be for a while. You will want to make sure to stay away from these for private ads.

Advantages:

• Internet users appear to be less immune to mid-size ads. This is likely because as I said they are dead and so they’re not seen as much on blogs.
• They work well for creating your own advertisement for a company you are an affiliate for. But that is a whole different kind of advertisement than private ads.
• They are good because you can fit them in a lot of different places. 160×160 wide skyscrapers can easily be placed right next to your content which is a placement that has become incredibly popular. That ad size would suit a left sidebar splendidly (a sidebar like Tyler Cruz).

Disadvantages:

• If you are a smaller blog than it will be tricky to find many advertisers that use this size of ad.
• Internet users may not be immune to this size of ad but they may also not click it because they are not use to this size of advertisement being an actual ad. They might think it is a picture or something else.

Smaller Ads Are Becoming Highly Popular on Blogs

It seems like just yesterday that small square ad sizes were becoming popular. These ads are exactly 125 pixels by 125 pixels. More bloggers are using this advertising size because it is currently seen on so many other blogs. Nearly all of the top blogs are using them now such as Copyblogger, Problogger, Dosh Dosh, Tech Crunch, and others. There are many advantages and disadvantages with theses size of ad units.

Advantages:

• One of the most preeminent things is that it gives you the option to sell many ad units in a space that is usually taken by a large skyscraper or rectangle ad. Like I talked about above, many times you are able to make more money selling smaller ad units then selling one big wide skyscraper or larger ad.
• Needless to say they can easily fit in your sidebar. Usually bloggers put them in one single vertical line like Tyler Cruz or put them side-by-side like Copyblogger.
• Larger companies like to advertise using bigger ad sizes. However, smaller companies have a tendency to like this size of advertising because it is cheaper and they can have their ad on many blogs for the same price as a larger ad.
• The design of your blog will look a lot better with this size of advertisement. It allows you to have better spacing on your blog so it doesn’t seem so cluttered. When you have the bigger ads they can make your blog look a little imperfect because the size of ad really doesn’t equal the size of anything else on your blog. With a 125 pixels by 125 pixels advertisement, you will typically have more than just one ad which makes your blog look more organized.

Disadvantages:

• Mainstream advertisers are still preferring the more traditional ad sizes. They are also not set up to pay for anything other than the traditional ad size. So it’s common that you will not be able to get a lot of money for a private ad on your blog because large companies tend to not pay for this size of advertisement.
• Each industry has really developed its own preference when it comes to ad unit size. Like I said before, you will just have to experiment with your ad sizes and ad placements. All industries are not the same so if you can find a top blog that is in your industry or blog niche, then look at what size of advertisements they are currently running.
• The problem that most people will have with this ad size is that it takes more work to sell three to six ads than had just one large one. Even though you can make more money selling smaller ones, it will take you more time and energy to make a sale. If you are only able to sell one or two of the smaller ads on your blog than it could make you feel discouraged. You can always make it easier by using an advertisement plugin like OIO Publisher.

Obviously, I have went through a lot of information in this article. You may want to reread it to take in as much as possible. Like I will say many times in this miniseries, experiment, experiment, experiment. All industries on the Internet are different and you will have to try and figure out what is best for your blog. Look at other blogs in your industry that currently have a lot of visitors and readers. Try to see what kind of private ads they are offering. Take a couple hours of your day and just research what advertisement sizes are currently working with those blogs in your industry and then act on it.