Revenue Optimization

How To Sell Ad Space On A Website: A Publisher’s Guide

May 11, 2022 6 min read
Sell ad space on website | VDO.AI

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How To Sell Ad Space On A Website: A Publisher’s Guide

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Have you been producing high-quality content for your website but are still looking for methods to monetize it? A publisher can sell ad space on a website to generate revenue from ads. VDO.AI is a prominent video ad solutions service provider that makes the entire process easy for publishers. We connect them with premium advertisers who want to buy ad space on a high-traffic website to reach out to their target consumers.

However, you should first learn how to sell your ad space and monetize it strategically before beginning the lengthy process. As a result, we’ve put up a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to help you sell ad space on your website.

Ad Space: Meaning & Importance

An ad space is a location on a website where an online advertisement can be displayed. It is either situated at the top or bottom of websites, on the sides, or in the midst of the material. Selling ad space on a website entails redirecting page traffic to the advertisers’ ads so that they can boost user engagement and ROI. These advertisements may include banner ads, display ads, text ads, video ads, sponsored content, and native ads.

Ad space | VDO.AI
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Ad space is defined as a part of a publisher’s website that can be used to host advertisements. This type of advertising is either sold through bidding processes or directly to brands.

In order to generate more income from their website visitors, publishers make money by selling ad space. The cost of advertising space is mainly determined by the ad format, placement, and traffic to the website.

Want To Sell Ad Space? Fulfill This Criteria…

Advertisers in today’s digitally-driven world strive to increase their ROI and brand recognition by targeting the right audiences. This is only achievable by deliberately placing their advertisements on high-ranking websites. This presents publishers with the tremendous potential to sell ad space on their websites to these advertisers and unlock new revenue sources.

Requirements to Sell Ad Space on a Website | VDO.AI
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However, prior to selling advertisements on their website, publishers must satisfy the following criteria:

High traffic on website

Advertisers like to work with publishers who have high levels of website traffic. The more page views your site receives, the more likely it is that marketers will purchase ad space from you. But, if you are contacting an advertiser directly, there is no need for this. However, there are certain thresholds set by different ad networks and platforms.

Excellent content quality

Original and high-quality content is what gets people to visit a website in the first place, what holds their attention and keeps them coming back. This is a good chance for you as a publisher to sell ad space on a website because marketers are continuously on the lookout for such websites.

Designing & layout of website

Users should be able to simply navigate between pages on the publisher’s website through a clear and intuitive navigation bar. Selling ad space on your website means keeping an eye on things like page load time and latency. Google AdSense recommends that publishers provide non-obtrusive elements like eye-catching graphics and comment sections. This gets users to interact with the site and stay on it longer, which helps advertisers get their brands in front of more people.

Moreover, the website must be mobile- and tablet-friendly, as these are two of the fastest-growing digital advertising platforms.

A loyal audience

A committed audience is more precious than traffic. If you are a publisher with a devoted, recurring readership but low traffic, you can still sell advertising space on your website. Advertisers seek to place their message in front of an audience with such a high level of engagement.

Disclosure of information

As a publisher, your qualifications and contact information must be clearly visible to visitors if you wish to sell ad space on your website. The IAB has also recommended to publishers that they include a host ads.txt file that lists confirmed vendors of their inventory. You can also let any advertiser who wants to buy ad space know about your data, writers, and content rules.

Popular Methods To Sell Ad Space On Websites

Publishers can sell ad space on their websites in a variety of ways to start earning passive money from their expanding audience. Here are the most common monetization tactics for publishers to sell ad space on a website:

Ad Network

Ad network | VDO.AI
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Ad networks serve as a middleman between advertisers and publishers based on audience size, content type, and budget, using a single, managed platform. Their primary function is to provide publishers with solutions for website monetization by linking them with advertisers eager to purchase their ad spaces. CPM, CPA, and CPC are the most common revenue splits used by these companies, and they typically take a percentage of each sale made by the advertiser. 

VDO. AI acts similarly to an ad network that provides managed services. It strives to create an environment where publishers and advertisers may collaborate to achieve their respective organizational goals.

Native advertising

Native advertising | VDO.AI
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Native advertising entails selling ad space on a publisher’s website that fits naturally with its content and design. It may be videos, paid content, or recommended stuff. This ad style facilitates the targeting of specific audiences with customized information and never interferes with the user experience. Through native advertising partnerships, publishers will be enabled to effectively monetize their websites while assisting advertisers in generating income from their users.

Advertisers in the United States are boosting their native ad spending since it generates a higher CTR than other display ads. AdYouLike research estimates that by 2025, the worldwide native ad business will be worth $400 billion.

VDO.AI connects publishers with a robust network of premium advertisers to insert native advertising on their websites. Such advertisements might be placed on the publisher’s website to reach visitors whenever they discover anything new.

Sell ad space directly to advertisers

Sell ad space directly | VDO.AI
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If a publisher is still growing or does not want to use ad networks to sell ad space, they can sell it straight to advertisers. Making an offer to advertisers can be done via cold calling or email marketing. Publishers can find advertisers by including products, linking to the brand’s website, and connecting with a corporate representative on LinkedIn.

It is one method of selling ad space directly to companies rather than through intermediaries like agencies.

Affiliate marketing

 Affiliate marketing | VDO.AI
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Affiliate marketing is a form of selling ad space that permits publishers to display brand products on their websites in exchange for a commission. Affiliates might include individual influencers, bloggers, large corporations, small and medium-sized websites, and content platforms. Videos, sponsored blogs, and display ads are the ad types employed by publishers in accordance with this advertising approach.

Typically, these publishers provide a link or discount code that leads the reader to the advertiser’s product page. For each product sold, publishers receive a commission.

Summing Up

With new avenues of monetization opening for publishers by selling ad spaces on their websites, there is no turning back for them. All in all, it is a collaborative effort in which both parties will attain their respective objectives through the same target audiences. No matter which strategy you choose, make sure you have high-quality content, a design that is easy to use, and a lot of interaction with your audience.

VDO.AI maximizes monetization and user engagement opportunities for publishers by leveraging the ads of reputed advertisers on their websites.

Sakshi Ecavade is an Associate Content Writer at VDO.AI. She has a zeal to learn new forms of content that will be advantageous to the organization and the end-users.