The web portal you have created is supposed to be a source of information for the users. However, you must remember that for you, it will also generate certain costs. It would be nice for your portal to earn for itself, and, in addition, become a source of income to you. There are several ways to monetize your internet portal. We have already discussed one of those ways at length – the use and placement of advertisement within the Google AdSense network. It’s not the only way, though; you may also offer your advertisers a direct form of advertising, such as sponsored articles, adverts that are supported by you, not the advertising network, and also the use of affiliate networks and partnerships.
Sponsored Articles
The popularity of sponsored articles as a form of advertisement is unwavering. Websites as well as blogs may use this method of promotion. Advertisers are eager to choose this form because it provides them with the largest available space on the portal where they can advertise their product, brand, or service.
A sponsored article on a portal may take various forms. It may be a typical text advertising the items and demonstrating the advantages of offered products. However, you should take into account that this type of article has the least added value for your readers because from its first words they realize the context of said article and many of them would refrain from reading its entirety. Other articles available on websites include thematic and expert articles that are better received by readers and generate better engagement due to the way they refer to the advertised product, service, or brand.
Various sources of new content for sponsored articles is allowed, however, it has to be approved by the advertiser. The advertiser may provide the site owner with the text they want to be published, that was prepared by their own marketing department, external agency, or a copywriter. They may also rely on the editorial office of the portal where the article is to be published.
Banner Advertisement
Internet portals are often monetized through banner ads. We mentioned this form of earning money in our discussion of the process of creating an account in the Google AdSense service. However, there are several significant differences between the use of banner ads provided by the network (such as the abovementioned Google AdSense, or others like AppNexus, Rubicon Project, PubMatic, Index Exchange, Openx, Media.net) and banner advert options offered directly by the portal.
In the case of an ad network, it is the network that delivers the ads to the portal. The publisher only provides the advertising space and paste the code generated by the network. Therefore, the owner of the portal has much less control over the type of displayed ads – their control is limited to the mentioned advertising spaces and the choice of the subject matter.
When the portal directly offers banner advertisement to the advertisers, the situation is different. The publisher prepares the offer in which they take into account the placement of the advertisement, the time during which the ad will be displayed, and the price. Graphic files are delivered to the portal’s editorial office, which publishes them and manages the advertising campaign. You may use assistance in this process, via advertising plugins such as AdFoxly, which will help you create ad placements, insert ads, as well as create and manage ad campaigns. The benefit of this approach is that the settlement for displaying an advertisement is only between the advertiser and the publisher, without any intermediaries.
Affiliate Links
Another interesting form of monetizing the content of your website are affiliate links. Those links redirect the reader of your website to a store or a company website, and if the reader uses the service, purchases goods, or performs some specific activity (for example fills out a form), your portal receives a pre-determined commission. Internet portals use affiliate links after joining specific networks, or by establishing direct cooperation with companies that offer affiliate programs. When you are using affiliate links, it is worth to inform your readers about it.
Summary
When publishing on an internet portal, you have several methods of monetization at your disposal. They should provide for the maintenance of the portal, and in many cases also serve as an additional income for you. Those options include offering sponsored articles, displaying banner advertisement, and using affiliate links within networks or partnerships. You may use only the abovementioned ways of earning money or use all of them at the same time, but you should remember about some moderation, thanks to which your website will not become an advertisement or announcement column.
