author: Kathy
I came across an article in a recent issue of the Website Magazine that I thought many of you would be interested in. It talks about alternatives to Google Adsense. For those unfamiliar with it,Google Adsense is an advertisement application run by Google. As a website owner, you can signup for this program to allow Google to administrater ads on your website according to your site’s content and audience. When your site visitors click on these ads, you receive a percentage of the revenue.
While it is free to signup, easy to use and provides a supplemental income, there are also negatives associated with using Adsense, including lack of control over the ads and small earnings, and not to mention the somewhat ambigious rules and not-that-transparent proprietary click-fraud monitoring system.
Need alternatives?
1. PayPal
PayPal is not just for buying and selling online. You can also create PayPal buttons for your website to accept subscription/membership fees and donations via credit card, debit cards and/or PayPal. Note, you will need a PayPal Premier or Business account.
2. Affiliate Programs
Place links and banners on your website and get a percentage of their spending. You can sign up with services like Commission Junction, LinkConnector and/or ShareASale to access thousands of available affiliate programs.
With affiliate marketing, you decide which merchants to promote and how to promote them. For example, if your website is a blog and gallery of your travel stories, you can display banners or links from major online merchants such as Expedia, Travelocity, Budget Rent A Car or others in your blog sidebar or you can use text links within your site body content.
Another way is to visit your favorite merchants and see if they offer any affiliate programs. For example, you can place a Doteasy Affiliate Program banner on your website and earn up to US$70 per referral.
3. Ad Spots
For websites, blogs or forums that are established and big enough, you can consider selling ad spots on your website. Here is an article you can read for more information on selling ad spots on your website and blog.