How much traffic does a website need to make money?

“Are there enough people reading my articles to earn from it?” That’s the question every blogger asks at some point in their publishing journey. Although you may stumble upon some specific numbers, they’re not enough to properly answer this question. Many ad networks establish what traffic they agree to monetize. These numbers can sometimes reach even a million impressions a month, which seems to be a utopian dream at the beginning. To really spice up your monetization game, you have to put importance on more factors than just how many users read your articles. After all, it’s not the quantity but quality that counts!

First, you need to ask yourself what’s your exact business goal and earnings expectations. It will determine the number of visitors you need to fulfill your revenue desires. The numbers will differ according to the income you aspire to generate. Someone who wants to earn $10 a day will need a completely different approach than someone who wants to resign from their 9 to 5 job and become a full-time blogger. Next, you must decide which monetization methods you wish to use. As I mentioned before, huge traffic doesn’t always make a blog profitable; it’s about the effectiveness of the publisher’s monetization efforts. Some popular websites can take high traffic for granted and may not think of any logical monetization strategies for the future. Thus, it will not generate significant profit as it doesn’t exploit its potential.

Alternatively, a blog having fewer visitors may earn much more money as it uses its resources more thoughtfully. Thus, it is recommended to apply various ways of monetization, taking full advantage of created content. There are many methods that allow you to earn money online. Generally, the more creative you get here – the better. However, it doesn’t mean that you have to use all the existing methods at once. You should get to know your audience, acknowledge what works best for them, and adjust your monetization style accordingly. All in all, there are much more factors that have a meaningful impact on your blog earnings.

Aspects influencing blog’s monetization potential:

The country of origin. Developed world regions have more significant spending potential than the less advanced ones. Thus, an advertisement addressed to the willingly buying citizens will bring more income than the ad put on service dedicated to the audience with a smaller online wallet or reduced purchasing needs. For example, let’s assume that you run a blog about yoga and meditation, and one of your monetization methods is to display ads of a partner selling fancy meditation pillows for $150. It is much more effective to show these advertisements to people from prosperous countries who can afford this luxury. Advertisers will look for websites that enable them to get the most considerable profit possible. Keep in mind what kind of target audience you have, and adjust your monetization efforts accordingly. Otherwise, it doesn’t pay off to lose your steam over it.

Language. Not only the country of origin but also the language of your content matters. If you’re from Italy and create everything in Italian, your audience may only come from within your country’s borders (except for people abroad who know the language). However, if you decide to translate it into English before publication, you may gain significant international traffic. The most spoken language worldwide in 2022 is unsurprisingly English, but not further from it is Chinese (Mandarin). The following positions are covered sequentially in Hindi, Spanish, French, and Arabic. But it doesn’t mean you should instantly take classes to learn mentioned languages to create content in those. Before deciding on the one, consider the aspects discussed before. Think of the market characteristics and what’s the spending potential of people speaking those languages. For example, German wasn’t listed here, but European German-speaking countries have a huge earning capability in ad generating revenue. Additionally, you need to know foreign speech perfectly to write in that language. Remember that creating in even the most prosperous language is pointless if you make grammar mistakes and use painfully basic vocabulary. Keep that in mind, and don’t make impulsive decisions. Consider all the aspects when choosing a specific language to write in.

Traffic. We cannot lie, it’s one of the most important ones. This aspect will always impact monetization, and there is no way to omit that. However, you have to consider that each ad network will have different traffic demands depending on the budget and earnings predictions. It’s difficult to expect miracles when having minor traffic – chances are you will not earn a lot on a few visitors. But, all is not lost! You can increase your traffic, if you’re not satisfied with it. It’s not that complicated!

Traffic types. It determines the source of the audience visits (referrals, search results, social media, etc.). Although direct traffic is believed to be the best, it isn’t always like this. To be honest, it doesn’t matter where people come from. What is most important here is that they want to read your content. So, when your visitors get to you through social media, you should consider focusing your marketing efforts more on that channel. Big chances are that this may be the golden goose for you, so own it!

The scope of the blog. The thematic area of your blog may significantly impact its monetization potential. The advertiser tends to pay more for ads on websites with high purchase potential, as it is more likely that consumers reading these topics will simply buy more. In order to find out if the topics of your interest are prone to earn significant money, you can check this on already existing websites. Even if they don’t reveal their financial reports, look for the monetization methods they use. It should give you an idea of how you can generate income when covering similar topics.

The right timing. You can’t expect your earnings to be constant. As in every business, blog monetization results undergoes seasonal tendencies. It doesn’t only depend on the niche you choose for your website. Seasonality concerns every thematic area in the publishing world and should be considered when anticipating certain revenue.

The economic situation, global trends, events, etc. No matter the reason, the financial crisis will always impact the advertisers’ budget decisions. Usually, a crisis causes more considerable traffic and simultaneously lower ad prices. This is a sad one, but we have to realize, that what happens in the offline world is still relevant in the online one. For instance, people will not read on gardening or buying new trousers when dealing with economic crisis.

Everything from speed to navigation and clarity. All those aspects will influence the perception of your website, thus, its monetization potential. User Experience must be at its finest to manage today’s standards of website optimization and to provide users’ comfort. Also, don’t take the appearance of the website as an irrelevant detail. It’s as essential as any other aspect.

Layout, size, and assortment of ads. It’s a very subjective matter – for some esthetically sensitive publishers, even one advertisement on their website is too much, while for others, there is never enough. Balance is the key here. Remember that not every ad allows earning the same amount of money, but one is for sure – the ad displayed at the top of the website will always get more impressions than the bottom one. Why? The problem here is the viewability level, which diminishes when scrolling down. As you can see, you need an effective ad layout to earn a significant amount of money. Trust me – it will make a difference effortlessly!

Finally – technology. The one you use should provide you with high variability regarding Supply Side Platforms. It doesn’t mean you have to cooperate with international giants only. Find a perfect spot for you to combine huge company partnerships with smaller, local collaborations. It ensures that ads will always be displayed on your website, so you can sleep peacefully.

Cherry on top

Now you know all the ins and outs of content monetization potential and why traffic is not everything. Considering all mentioned aspects while creating your monetization strategy, you will likely get ahead with your business goals! Remember, it doesn’t happen overnight! Firstly, you will need to get a foot in the door of the publishing world and patiently wait for the right timing for you to shine. Trust me, the period dedicated to getting to know the ropes of this business will pay off in the future. After fulfilling all the mentioned aspects, you may want to find a method to force the pace of ad revenue-generating just a little. To do that, you can join an ad network, that will help you along the way. See if you meet the optAd360 requirements and let us know whenever you are ready. We will gladly help you get your blogging project off the ground!