Home Traffic Monetization How Much Money Do Websites Make from Ads? Cases and Examples

How Much Money Do Websites Make from Ads? Cases and Examples

by Adsterra Team
how-much-can-you-really-make-from-ads

Building and managing a website takes time and effort, and you must constantly improve and optimize it to stay competitive. But is it worthwhile? And how much money can you make on your website?

A well-managed website is a digital asset that provides many earning opportunities. A website allows you to share your content with people and have a reliable source of income once you start monetizing traffic.

So, how much money do you make from this monetization with ads? What are the factors that influence the revenue of publishers? Keep on reading the article to learn the answers to these questions.

How much money do websites make on average from ads?

Several factors determine the amount that a website can make from ads: from industry averages and pricing models to the average number of page views and ad clicks. These factors will significantly impact your actual revenue, so we’ll go over some of them in greater detail.

While some publishers make a lot of money from advertising, others may barely make enough to cover their website maintenance costs. For example, 1000 views on a Google AdSense account can earn you up to $10. These are reasonable rates, but getting higher than that can be not so easy. If you want to monetize a blog, you could look into alternative options.

A lot depends on the pricing model advertisers choose to pay for your traffic, so you must understand some of these before we get into the numbers.

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CPC, CPM, and CPA are just a few pricing models you can use to calculate your website’s ad revenue. The most popular models—CPM and CPC can vary widely by country and industry.

CPM rates

The cost-per-mille, or CPM, is defined as the price per thousand impressions. Advertisers are expected to pay a price for a thousand impressions, regardless of how many clicks these impressions generate. CPM is a little more complicated, as even more factors influence it, making it challenging to obtain precise data across industries. Actually, the most advanced ad networks will calculate an eCPM rate, which allows for getting higher revenues.

CPC rates

It is a business model in which ad revenue is determined by the number of people who click on an ad. In this case, an advertiser pays a price per click, so the publisher’s income depends on ad CTR.

CTR refers to the proportion of people who clicked on an ad versus the total number of people who saw it. So, how much money do you make from advertisements on your site? CTR has an impact on this. Here are some figures showing average CPC and CTR rates by industry and by GEO:

CTR and CPC averages by industry

Some industries perform better than others; for example, dating and financial and consumer services websites have the highest rates. B2B, legal, and real estate businesses are among the other profitable niches. While customer services have low CTR rates.
ctr-cpc-by-industry

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CTR and CPC averages by GEO

Advertisers are expected to pay the most for a click in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada. So traffic from these countries will most likely bring you the most money.
ctr-cpc-by-country

However, India, the United Arab Emirates, and Japan have the highest click-through rates, which may help compensate for their relatively low CPC rates.

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5 factors that determine website revenue

The truth is that we can only make broad assumptions. Knowing them isn’t nearly enough to predict how each campaign will unfold. How much money can you make from ads? If you ask publishers this question, they will almost certainly tell you that there are essential factors to consider:

1. Your user data

The more precise your user data is, the more value you can provide to the advertiser through your website. It’s especially true in the case of targeted advertising, where many marketers are willing to pay more for a niche audience segmented by interests or demographics. Users with a higher income level and stronger purchase intent are regarded as more valuable, so advertisers would benefit from websites that cater to this demographic.

Geographical location is also significant. Going by average CPC rates, visitors from English-speaking countries can provide greater value than users from Tier-2 countries.

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2. Your site’s focus

Your website should have a well-defined niche, such as sports, finance, hobbies, etc. The more specific your topic is, the more valuable it is to advertisers in that niche. Of course, your content should be high quality, user-friendly, and brand-safe, as these factors can help your brand convert customers.

3. Your audience’s intent

It’s also crucial to understand what stage of the buyer’s journey your website ad targets. Advertisers will pay more for traffic nearing the end of the decision-making process. Let’s put you in the shoes of a young student named John, who wants to buy a laptop. John starts out by searching online “Top 10 laptops to buy in 2022”. This is the top of funnel content.
audiences-intent

He’ll find listicles showing recommended laptops and their specifications, aka general product information. Then John goes further down the funnel when he searches for Macbook Pro 16-inch vs Asus Chromebook. At this stage, he is trying to make a decision and advertisers will love to convince him at this stage by showing their ads.

When John now searches for “Asus Chromebook flip cx5 review,” he is at the bottom of the funnel and ready to convert, therefore advertisers will be willing to pay more to show him ads at this stage. In general, product review websites will convert more than websites with general information therefore they’ll make more money from ads.

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4. Your on-page elements

Some ad placements are more popular than others, so demand for those ad units will be higher: ads with a higher viewability can potentially generate more revenue. Advertisers will reward you with higher bids if your ad slots show good ROI.

5. Context

Experienced advertisers know that context isn’t limited to your site’s contents. A list of other factors can influence how much money you make from ads. For example, device types are essential because desktop users are still more likely to convert than mobile users.

Holidays, local news, and events, especially if they are relevant to your specific niche, are all important factors in determining your revenue. These factors may also impact website visitors’ purchasing.

How do website publishers make money from advertisers? 4 proven ways

1. Display ad networks

You can join Advertising/Publisher networks like Google AdSense or Adsterra, which allow you to sell space on your website for displaying ads. As mentioned earlier, the most advanced ad networks will calculate your revenue using the eCPM rate, which is: 1000 * earnings / impressions. They will send you the highest-paid ads and take into account the quality of your traffic, not only geo and the number of impressions. That’s why your CPMs with Adsterra and similar ad networks can be higher than the average market rates.

Ad networks provide you with options to place Native Ads, Banners, Popunders, or Direct Links on your website pages. Ad networks also remove the necessity for personal interaction with advertisers. Payments are automatically calculated, charged, and paid out.

Register on Adsterra to multiply your ad revenue thanks to the network’s innovative technology and methods.

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2. Affiliate-marketing

In this model, a website earns money from a unique partner link that leads your website visitor to the partner’s product or service landing page. If you have sufficient traffic volume, it’s worth trying. For example, the Shopify Affiliates program offers you $58 for each user who signs up for a paid plan via your link.

Some niche programs work for both widely promoted and newbie blogs. Experts recommend taking a closer look at the web hostings’ affiliate programs from Bluehost, which rewards its partners for each qualified sign-up.

However, beginner bloggers might find it challenging to make money with the largest affiliate platforms because of the lack of traffic and a loyal audience. As we know, most of the programs work on a pay-per-sale model.

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A quick start in making money from advertising on websites

Adsterra’s Smart Direct Link allows you to work with multiple advertisers when your website or blog is new. You need to get the link’s code (a typical URL) and place it anywhere on your web page.
The link contains thousands of advertising offers. But your website visitors will get only those relevant to their interests since AI algorithms take into account user preferences.

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3. Sponsored content

There are different profitable ways to increase your website ad revenue with sponsored content. Consider adding a backlink to an advertiser’s platform within your regular publication or writing an article dedicated to the advertiser’s product or service. This way, you can keep your website content consistent in style and charge advertisers for a link and content production. Depending on the niche, a sponsored post can cost between $150 and $300.

Consider the following content as an alternative:

  • Record a sponsored podcast;
  • Sell ad banner placement directly to the interested advertiser for the price and time you want;
  • Form a brand partnership to expand your visitors base by mutual promotion with a partner.

4. Paid products and services

When you become more expert, grow your audience, and gain their trust, you can sell your products and services. At this stage, you’ll probably want to become an advertiser to promote your products on other platforms to increase sales.

Here is the list of things you can create to sell on your website:

  • Courses,
  • Books,
  • Coaching sessions,
  • Your participation in the conference as a speaker.

The most profitable website niches

Let’s clarify at the beginning: here’s the list of broad areas with some suggestions for more specific niches inside. A particular niche will help you attract a more devoted and active audience. Still, blog topics shouldn’t be too rare and odd because websites first make money from their traffic volume. Only then the quality of your visitors and subscribers will play a role in your revenue.

This niche review will help beginners decide what kind of website to start to make more money from advertising.

According to the SEMrush stats, insurance is the most expensive niche, with an average CPC rate of $17.50. Of course, competition is also high. Blog readers interested in these topics prefer to get information from trusted sources that established their online presence tens of years ago.

It’s not an easy niche for beginners. If you’re still determined to create a website or blog dedicated to these topics, you should have a strong industry background and known name.

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Education

Online education, to be precise, is in trend with a cost-per-click rate of $12.08. A variety of educational options and courses make your niche choice nearly limitless. You don’t have to be a teacher or coach, start a blog with tips for self-education or teach how to learn quickly.

Education sub-niches include

  • Online schools,
  • Learning methods reviews,
  • ‘How to…’ lifehacks,
  • Self-education,
  • Education webinar platforms.

Marketing

This niche wins a $6.61 CPC rate, making it the third most profitable. Marketing topics are ubiquitous now, marketing specialists are in high demand on the job market, and they also benefit from endless freelance options.

Startupers, business owners, and average bloggers continually search for ways to improve their digital marketing strategy, brand awareness, and content tips. You can build your website around a single marketing tool, channel, or specialization.

Pay attention to the following sub-niches:

  • Landing pages advice,
  • SEO tactics,
  • Email campaigns,
  • Business presence and development strategies,
  • Personal brand advice,
  • Marketing tools.

How to make money

how-to-make-money-ahrefs
Popularity of ‘How to make money’ blogging niche according to Ahrefs.

Sub-niches:

  • How to make money online,
  • How to make money blogging,
  • How to make money from + [hobby/industry].

Health and fitness

Health is an extensive niche with endless options for narrowing it. You can focus on people with some illnesses like diabetes and have enough content topics to cover for many years. A self-care routine or a healthy diet are also popular directions. Blogs on mental health and spirituality matters continuously grow their audience by offering coping and developing techniques for relaxation, breathing, and meditation.

The fitness niche is a great big world with enough room for everyone. Private coaches are developing their brands via blogs; fitness lovers share their lifehacks on exercising and diet, and those who want to be fit are looking for the methods to suit their lifestyle: fitness for moms, 55+ fitness, fitness tips for office workers, etc.

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What sub-niches you can explore here:

  • Nutrition,
  • Self-care,
  • Meditation,
  • Yoga,
  • Fitness.

Relationships and parenting

This niche is a mix of different sub-niches that rely on general self-development topics and narrower things like vegan culture or pilgrim trips. Help people find integrity in their work-life balance, give them helpful time management tools, and step-by-step guidance on achieving their goals.

  • Time management,
  • Self-development,
  • Financial guidance,
  • Traveling,
  • Hygge,
  • Mindfulness.

Lifestyle

This niche is a mix of psychology, lifestyle, and personal growth. People desperately try to figure out how to make their relationships work. Some ideas include parenting blogs and baby care guides, family activities, games, and responsible parenting.

Sub-niches for the relationship sphere:

  • Dating websites,
  • Mom/Dad blogs,
  • Relationship advisory,
  • Teenage parenting.

DIY and decor

Decor can be a hobby for some readers and a lifestyle for others. The decor niche has a $2.01 CPC rate, but its popularity has been sustainable for years. This niche can be an excellent fit for those who want to choose it based on their passion.

Discover a couple of sub-niches:

  • Home decor,
  • Garden decor,
  • DIY projects and ideas,
  • Hand-made decor.

Food and beverages

This is one more niche with eternal popularity on the list. Food and beverage blogs are forming a ‘blue ocean’ for foodies with different tastes. Finding partners for affiliate marketing and sponsored content will also be easy in the early stages of your blog development.

You can develop your blog in the following directions:

  • National cuisine,
  • Exclusive recipes,
  • Baking,
  • Coffee-lovers community.

Technology

Interest in this niche grows year by year. Previously, technology websites were subjects of professional interest for industry specialists or geeks. But still, technology is becoming increasingly popular among managers, marketers, creators, and even artisans.

Sub-niches:

  • IT solutions and programming,
  • Artificial intelligence,
  • Smart homes,
  • Smart speakers and voice-enabled devices,
  • Drones,
  • Medical technologies.
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Gaming

Gaming is another world that attracts more and more followers regularly. Games are becoming interconnected with books and movies by sharing the same plot and, as a result, extending the fan base. eSports, as a separate niche, now make huge amounts of money.

Some sub-niches for the gaming market:

  • Specific console focus,
  • Retro games,
  • Video game reviews,
  • AR/VR games,
  • Gaming software,
  • Game optimization and lifehacks.

Real figures

You can promote any niche; the key is to put yourself in the shoes of your readers. Don’t be too concerned with perfection, but consider blogging a job. In this section, we discuss two Adsterra user cases.

1. Waseem Afzal: how I make $100 daily on my sports blog

Waseem Afzal is a blogger from Pakistan who loves cricket and decided to run a sports blog dedicated to cricket. i.e., made the first step to making money from his bobby.

He launched a website/blog where he posts current cricket news and chose Adsterra to monetize his blog with ads.

choose-adsterra

Although his cricket blog was new, but he earned $1, $3, and even $6 CPM almost immediately by combining popunders and social bar ad formats; generating up to $100 daily.

Popunders are not visible to readers on his blog because ads are displayed in a new tab when a user clicks somewhere on a page. In addition, Social Bar ads resemble push notifications but are more compact and interesting. Users like to click on Social Bar ads because they use animation and other visually appealing elements.

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2. Akerele Emmanuel: I make $50 a day blogging with Social Bar

Akerele Oluwatobiloba Emmanuel created his news website back in 2017 covering hot topics from sports to entertainment. But he originally started with celebrity gossip because he’s very good at turning celebrities’ social media pictures into fully readable and viral articles. And that’s a winning move in this information age.

Emmanuel previously monetized with AdSense, but the results were pitiful. For example, 10,000 visitors a day will yield less than $5, which is inadequate to meet the minimum payout.

In June 2021, he found Adsterra as the best alternative to AdSense. It changed everything because the same traffic that yielded $5 on AdSense now generates up to $80 daily on Adsterra.

statistics-adsterra

Adsterra pays out an estimate of $55 million to its publishers annually. You too can get a share of this very large pie, by simply doing what others before you did: signing up with Adsterra and improving their website.

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Conclusion

How much money can you make from ads? You’ll get different answers from different sources. But you now know that average rates differ by country and are frequently determined by the industry.

Generally, audiences with more purchasing power are regarded as more valuable, and websites with such audiences are compensated more. The context of the ad is also important; many advertisers want their message to reach the user at the right time and place.

Finally, website content should be relevant and valuable to the visitors to spend more time viewing ads and making purchases. And by placing Adsterra’s ad codes, you’re sure to see your revenue double or triple in a few months!

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