How To Get Sponsored Posts On Your Blog
If you would have asked me when first starting this blog what would have brought in the most revenue, I’d answer without pause that Google Adsense would lead the pack. well, I would have been dead wrong 🙂
How to Get Sponsored Posts on Your Blog – The Background
When visiting other sites, I’d notice from time to time that there would be articles that didn’t really seem to fit with the main content hosted on the site, or they’d have really strange links… These would usually be labeled as “sponsored articles.” Maybe I’m just slower than most, but I didn’t really realize what these were until just recently.
How to Get Sponsored Posts on Your Blog – What is a Sponsored Article?
Well, I’ve come to find out that a sponsored article is a post where typically a third party will write some content, include a link to another website, and pay the webmaster some amount of money to post it on their website.
The way things typically work is that an “advertising company” will solicit businesses to improve their Search Engine Optimization. When they find someone that is willing to pay, they will plan out an article with a link to the business’ website. They will then farm out the articles to blogs in an industry that fits.
Why would someone pay for this? Companies shell out big bucks to get higher search engine rankings for their websites. Higher Google rankings means more money coming in – at least that’s the pitch from the advertising companies!
How to Get Sponsored Posts on Your Blog – Sponsored Articles vs. Guest Posts
Sponsored articles differ in one main difference from a guest post. A guest post will usually contain a link back to a BLOG whereas a sponsored article will link back to a COMMERCIAL website.
Why is this important? For me, as MoneyAhoy began to increase in traffic, I started getting unsolicited emails daily for “guest posts.” I followed up on a few of these, and the article quality was almost always completely terrible! They also linked to some of the most random stuff you could imagine. In addition, most of these were pitched to me as a: you get free content, and we’ll get the link type of a deal. Not exactly that great of a deal from my end…
How to Get Sponsored Posts on Your Blog – My Experience
One day I received an email to sign up for a service called Valued Voice. This company basically acts as the middle man by selling advertising links for you to place on your blog. They write articles for you to use with the paid link, or you can compose your own if you’d rather. The great thing about Valued Voice is that you can name your own price what what you’ll sell links for on your website/blog.
With Valued Voice, I have heard of some folks getting anywhere from $50 a post all the way up to $250 a post. The price that you could command for your blog will usually depend on the Google page-rank. The higher the rank, the higher you would be able to charge per post. Regardless, those sound like great results to me!
How to Get Sponsored Posts on Your Blog – Final Thoughts
If you have a blog and you’re looking for ways to monetize it, you should consider sponsored posts. It’s a great way to pick up a little side money each month. Just be sure that the content is something that your readers would be interested in viewing. If the articles are completely off in left field, I could see how this could hurt your blog. In addition, if you’re getting side offers through email for “guest/sponsored” posts, Valued Voice is a great tool that can help you determine what a good market price for sponsored posts would be for your site.
One thing to keep in mind is that “sponsored posts” are against Google’s terms and conditions. This means that if you get caught, you could have your search results hit as a slap on the wrist. All the popular blogs do “sponsored posts”, but few like to talk about it because of this. If you do decide to try sponsored posts for your blog, please keep this in mind 🙂
*Note: the Valued Voice link above is a affiliate link. If you sign up, then I get a small benefit. If you do decide to signup and use the service, then thanks 🙂
Thanks for sharing this! I always wondered if bloggers just got randomly contacted by interested advertisers or if they sought out the sponsored posts somehow. My site is pretty new, so I’m not sure that I could command much for sponsored posts, but I’m definitely going to check this out.
Lauren recently posted…The Story of My Student Loan Debt
Lauren,
I wondered the same thing for a long while. The advice I got was “if you write it, they will come.” Meaning that advertisers will contact you. In terms of ROI on your time, it is very low if you are trying to contact them. Good luck!
Hey Derek, I just started my blog and found this article to be very informative. I will keep this in mind as my website traffic grows. Thanks again for the info…
Brian recently posted…God, Money, And The Rat Race
Brian,
Glad to be of help – good luck out there!
As you mentioned, sponsored posts are generally poorly written and many times don’t “fit” the overall content of a website. Usually (like you did ) readers can spot these a mile away and will likely just “click off” of the site. You have to be careful, because the sponsor usually doesn’t give a rip about the actual content, all they want is the link into their site. The great google search engine usually penalizes sites that appear to be hosting sponsored links, so you have to be careful. One thing to consider for a sponsored post is to write it yourself. Simply get the requirements for the link from the sponsor, and then write a meaningful post yourself that includes the link. That way you earn the money, the sponsor gets their link, and you provide real content that is meaningful to your readers.
Brock @cleverdude recently posted…Success is All About Choices
Brock,
I couldn’t agree with you more. This is just about the only way to go when it comes to sponsored posts. Anything else, and you risk alienating your regular readers.
Hey Derek, thanks for the info! I just got into blogging and will definitely use that referral link to sign up for LinkVehicle. Thanks again for sharing.
Thomas @ i need money ASAP! recently posted…How To Be A Movie Extra
Thomas,
No problem – happy to help out. Let me know if you have any questions getting your blog up and running!
Interesting…I just received my first e-mail regarding a sponsored post. It asked me how much I charge…I have no idea. I have put some guest posts up since I don’t post consistently and I thought it was helpful to have some content up…I try to screen them though. Not sure it was worth it. Same for the sponsored post, I don’t think I want the slap on the wrist from google, and losing out on the sponsored post isn’t too big of a deal for me right now. As for Google AdSense…I think I’ve made a total of $5. Yea, I need to work on that!
Andrew@LivingRichCheaply recently posted…Are Personal Finance Bloggers “Pound Foolish”?
Andrew,
I bet you could pretty much get $200 per post based on the Alexa rank of your blog… I say go for it if the articles are quality 🙂
hmm…interesting…thanks for the info!
Andrew@LivingRichCheaply recently posted…Image is Everything. Isn’t it?
Andrew,
Sure thing – hopefully you can put it to good use at some point!
I have been using Linkvehicle and other paid to post sites in the past and i can tell you that some times the article are written by professional writers.
And if it is not upto par with your site, then you have the right to edit the article a bit.
If you are looking to make some extra money on your blog, i say go for it.
Thank you.
frank joseph recently posted…[Journey] Building Amazon site from scratch to earn $200 per month update 3
Frank,
Yes, some of the articles are 9/10 quality. Others are maybe 5/10. I guess it just depends on the luck of the draw. I’ve done other complete articles from scratch and they’ve been approved, so I think they work pretty well with you…
I always laugh when I get offers from guest bloggers who tell me that they will “give me post for free!!” All they need is a measly link in the article. I’m sure they get some bloggers to fall for this, but I would hope that the number is small.
Jon @ Money Smart Guides recently posted…Is iForex Trading Safe? A Brief Guide to iForex Practices
Jon,
I think I was 90% of the way there in falling for it. But, when I received the “free” post, it was such bad quality that I pulled the plug right then and there!
I have heard about Sponsored posts long way back. But have never come across any till date. Once I inquired about them and one of my fellow blogger told me that some companies, like here you mentioned, offer sponsored placements on the basis of the traffic the concerned blog is getting on a daily basis. In fact, PR and Alexa ranks are also considered. I don’t have definite answer to this. But I had heard about this thing once.
Martha Gonzales recently posted…Comment on How Twitter Can Help You Earn Money: Some Interesting Tips by Easy Ways to save money when shopping online – Be Royal Extreme
I haven’t heard of LinkVehicle but I will have to check that out, thanks!
Dan @ Our Big Fat Wallet recently posted…Wacky Tax Deductions
The interface is a bit strange, but it is actually legit. Good luck with it!
I will research this and see if its a good fit for my site. Im sure if you do not abuse and post links on occasion, you will not get penalized from the big boys.
EL @ Moneywatch101 recently posted…The Last Hundred Dollars
EL,
I think you’re exactly right. If you don’t go crazy with it I think it can be a good source of income.
Hi Derek,
I was looking for the good article on how to get sponsered post and landed your blog. It’s great article and you’ve nicely covered all the aspect of sponsered posts. I am going to use link vehicle and needless to say from your affiliate link 🙂
Thanks,
Ashutosh
Ashutosh,
Glad to help – it’s hard to get info on this and I thought I’d help out as a learned more about it. Good luck!!