WordPress Ad Campaign Results from a Typical Blog
In September 2021, I tested out the recommended ads runner, WordAds, on this WordPress blog. 6,182 ads were served over the course of a month, earning $0.86 from impressions and clicks. My average CPM or cost per thousand impressions was $0.14. My blog averages about 1,600 views a month at the moment, mostly fueled by various search engines. Here's an example of one ad that ran:
Example Ad Run on This Site Shown Above
In my WordPress account, I upgraded to the business plan. This gave me access to WordPress plug-ins. I enabled the Yoast SEO plug-in and activated its site optimization. I also enabled the maximum ads possible in my settings. In spite of these efforts, the results were sparse. Maybe there's more that I could have done. But this blog is passive and more like a hobby at the moment. I'm ok with a blog that makes $0.86 per month. Maybe someday it will be worth more. But I enjoy writing so it's all good. My skills grow and maybe I share something with someone across the world. That's what keeps me coming back.
I concluded I will not be running ads anytime soon. I wanted to get a baseline of what I was leaving on the table by not running ads. Now I can project when I might tap into the blog's potential traffic revenue, if ever. It seems I would need much higher views per month before ads makes sense with my level of traffic, 65 blog followers and minor social media clout.
There's also the added benefit of not serving up people's data to ad companies. Ads seem to be a generally accepted way to earn from your internet labors. But right now, they're not for this blog. Good luck monetizing your blog. Or just writing for the hell of it!
