About 4 in 10 U.S. adults check digital media sites every day – that’s 40% of the adult population!
If you’re a growing business in the digital publishing industry, you’re probably thinking, “Wow. How do I make this amount of traffic work for me?”
You may already be trying. Chances are you’re running dozens of experiments and trying new things to monetize web traffic. Or maybe you are just in the planning stages. Either way, we’re here to help!
Take a look at these 6 popular ways of converting readers into long-term sources of income.
#1 PayWall Popup
PayWall popup is a blocker that lets only subscribers through to access specific content, making it effective if you are serious about promoting certain content.
Some media sites debate the effectiveness of PayWalls, but if you create mind-blowing content and your readers can’t get enough of it, why not to use it to your advantage? You’re running a business, so your customers should be ready to pay for the things that are useful and beneficial to them.
Digital publisher Newsday.com was one of the first media sites to charge $5 a week, or $260 a year to access content. Similarly, Telegraph Media Group launched a PayWall so that most of their content was free, but a premium subscription offered the most exclusive content to members-only. They charged $112 per year for it.
#2 Metered Access
Another popular subscription to media sites is metered access. This allows visitors to read a certain number of articles per month for free. Then, a popup suggests they sign up for continued access.
The Financial Times uses this system, allowing visitors five free articles before asking for a subscription. A similar system is used by National Observers with the limit of three articles.
Metered access is not limited to monetizing traffic. It can also be used to grow audiences. It is particularly successful at attracting a global audience by offering free or discounted content to international users.
via nationalobserver.com
#3 Banner Ads
Does native advertisement sound complicated? Don’t worry, it’s not. Display banner ads are one of the simplest yet most effective ways to monetize your traffic.
If your site has decent traffic, authority, and your customers trust you, hosting your own banner can be a lucrative move. Talk to your team to choose ad size, display duration, position, high converting copy, and template.
There are countless resources for banner ads best practices, and you can find some fantastic content to get you started here: how to craft good banners.
#4 Donation Popup
If you are in a non-profit business, you may need to monetize traffic in order to keep your site running. Donation popups are an ideal solution in this scenario.
It’s a simple and effective way to monetize traffic. Just place some friendly language in a popup to raise funds.
Wikipedia does it well.
Here are some more great tips on creating banners and popups that benefit your UX.
#5 Native Ads
Native ads have two typical goals for the media industry:– Positioning your brand image in minds of customers and prospects, and/or
– Motivating consumers and prospects to take a particular action
Keep in mind that there is a difference between online display ads and native ads. Native ads are displayed in the flow of editorial content. They are typically found in headers and navigation bars and may look like calls to action, online video advertorials, sponsored or branded content.
A typical placement of native ads is in headers and navigation bars. It can look like a call to action, online video advertorials, sponsored or branded content.
#6 Build Email Lists With Lead Magnets
Most media sites utilize robust email marketing strategies. While you may not sell directly through email marketing, that isn’t the goal. The goal is to engage your subscribers or get readers to take a desired action. But in order to utilize email marketing, you have to have a list of people who are interested in hearing from you.
One of the most practiced ways to build email lists by offering something of value in return for visitors’ email addresses. It can be your latest article, infographic, video, special discount, or any other piece of content.
A quick and easy way to test such lead magnets is to use popups to offer the content and solicit an email address. While there are many marketers who still believe that popups are annoying, a well-planned popup strategy is highly effective.
If you’re not convinced by popups, you can always just place your offer somewhere on your site. Check out how Vix Media places their sign-up box in the footer.
Which Strategy Will You Try To Monetize Your Traffic?
Web traffic can be a huge asset if you leverage it properly. If you’re ready to start earning extra revenue on your media site, get started by trying one of these strategies to monetize web traffic:
- Paywall Popup
- Metered Access
- Banner Ads
- Donation Popup
- Native Ads
- Build Email Lists with Lead Magnets
Don’t leave money on the table! A well-planned and expertly executed web traffic monetizing strategy can take your business to the next level.
Have you tried any of these tricks? What was the result? Share, comment, and suggest in the comments below.
Do you want instant 300% growth?
Picreel popups can get YOUR website 300% instant sales growth. See Case Studies.
Comment