What is selling?

Blogs do many things. They inform people, tell stories, generate interest, create a need, and in some cases generate money somewhere along the way.


There are articles, e-books, reports, services, and advertisements, and perhaps actual products that are attached to any one single blog. So what is the answer? Well, first off identifying a niche in the platform of your blog is a great way to start. What is your subject matter and target audience?

The term “products” can take many forms when considering a blog. It can be advertisements such as Adsense, product placements, sponsored posts, affiliate products, surveys, and reports that provide specific information that is difficult to obtain somewhere else, or is much more expensive from other sources.

Adsense is a good source is you are generating 100 or more visitors a day. Otherwise you will find that the ads are not effective in viewing, let alone converting sales of any significance. Two things to remember with Adsense are to place ad boxes within the content of your page. The reader cannot avoid the ads this way, and the reader is more likely to actually view the ad in more detail. The second tip is to place the ads next to something that they already need to click on, as they will be more inclined to actually check out the advertisement.

PayPerPost will pay you a fee for posting a product review on your site. In this case make sure that it is disclosed that the review is a paid product review, or this could appear unethical to your viewers. This information can prove to be quite helpful for readers looking for qualified opinions, and also helps to promote trust and loyalty to you as a blogger, and the content that you provide.

Some interesting statistics related to different advertisements is that According to a new study by Internet Retailer, visitors who arrive on a site from pay-per-click (PPC) advertising are 50% more likely to buy than traffic generated by search engine optimization (SEO. The study found that the average conversion rate from paid search is 2.03% vs. only 1.25% from organic search. Visitors sent to web sites via e-mail marketing convert even better, at 6.9%.

E-mail is a more personable approach leading to the reader having more trust that you have a stake in their needs and wants, and gives the most information about what to expect, so the conversion rate is higher. PPC ads have significantly less copy, so the prospect is not as clear on what is being offered, and conversion rate is less.

SEO (Search engine optimization) actually has the lowest conversion rates, and is directly tied to the much smaller fields available for descriptions, and with less consideration demonstrated in regards to making the ad more personable.



As always, I hope the information proves useful and that you continue on your blogging quest with

Passion, Zest, and Vigor as you grow your Blog and your business.



Regards,
Mark