Key Points

  • Increasing website revenue is the goal of most publishers.
  • There are plenty of ways to do it, but some work better for your preferences and audience than others.
  • There is no magic bullet for boosting your ad revenue, but some surprisingly sharp increases can be found with these techniques.

Billions of ad dollars go to ad monetization platforms every year - more than two-thirds of total digital ad spend in some years - but that doesn't translate to increased website ad revenue for every publisher. Some publishers fare better than others, and we're willing to bet that those who fare best employ the techniques we are going to describe in this article.

In fact, we know that's the case because these are some of the techniques we use to increase digital advertising revenue for the publishers who work with us. Not every suggestion here will work for every publisher, but you're sure to find a gem in these six ways to increase website ad revenue. Read on to learn more.

Increasing website ad revenue is probably one of your top priorities. If that's true, you need to work with a partner who prioritizes your revenue above all else. That partner is Playwire. Contact us to learn more.

-- Article Continues Below --

New call-to-action

The Complete Ad Revenue Resource Center

Go for Balance on CPMs and Fill Rates

Your cost per mille (CPM) and fill rates are important, but neither metric is the end-all, be-all measure of your website ad revenue. That's because you could get a 100% fill rate at $0.01 and make very little money, or you could set very high floor prices and get a fantastic CPM but serve very few ads.

In other words, it's a mistake to focus too heavily on a single metric. It's about balance. You want a solid fill rate and a strong CPM. Of course, higher is better for both metrics - but one should not be higher at the expense of the other.

There is no magic formula for the ideal fill rate to hit the highest CPMs, and it can even change from day to day. It's like a delicate tango where that percentage shifts with each step. The best bet is to have technology that changes settings on a per-impression basis to maximize the combination of fill rate and CPM.

Focus on Page View CPMs and User CPMs

Speaking of CPMs, there's more than one type. You have page view CPMs and user CPMs you can measure. Which one matters more when you're trying to increase your website ad revenue? Neither, or both.

That's because both metrics tell you different things. If you average three page views per user one month and that average doubles to six the next month, your page view CPM will decline, but your user CPM will increase. Similarly, if you get a huge influx of users who look at one page each, your user CPM will decline, but your page view CPM might increase.

What do these movements tell you about your website ad revenue? They tell you how you're reaching your audience. And that, in turn, tells you how to better optimize your ad revenue strategy. For example, if your users are viewing very few pages, you might increase ad frequency to ensure they're all resulting in a monetizable impression. 

In such a case, you might also want to examine your content and app - is there a reason a site visitor might be bouncing after one page view? This kind of insight can help you improve your content and, by extension, increase your website ad revenue. 

Identify Your Website Ad Revenue Goal

Increasing your website ad revenue just for the sake of increasing it is not a good strategy. It leads to burnout, and you lack purpose. That's why any steps to increase your website ad revenue should begin with you assessing what your goal is.

In three years, do you want to make all of your income from website ad revenue? Will this still be a side hobby for you at that point? Would you like to acquire more sites and grow your business? Would you like to be acquired for the highest possible price?

These are just some of the revenue goals you might identify. The important part is understanding what you want. That way, you can make informed moves to reach a level of incoming revenue that will make it possible.

-- Article Continues Below --

New call-to-action

Read the publishers' guide to ad revenue.

Test and Tweak

You might get lucky a time or two - you might make a change based on your gut and see your website ad revenue spike. But those results aren't reproducible on a large enough scale to support long-term revenue growth.

To get those kinds of insights, you have to test all kinds of revenue and yield optimization strategies and implement the ones that work. Make testing a regular part of your website ad revenue strategy, including physical elements as minuscule as ad size, ad formats, ad placement, etc., and never stop adjusting to keep your revenue rising.

Remember: Each Publisher Is Unique

You are not the same as your competitor. You're not the same as any publisher. Every publisher is unique, and that means that the rules, numbers, and statistics can apply differently to you.

In other words, other publishers' results are not a guarantee of your own results with the very same techniques and strategies. Remember that, and make sure you don't fall into the trap of thinking that increasing website ad revenue comes down to a simple set of steps that always work. 

Your strategy needs to be customized to fit your needs and those of your audience, and it needs to be dynamic. That's the only true way to keep your website ad revenue climbing for the foreseeable future.

Contact Playwire

This is sort of an all-in-one way to increase website ad revenue. That's because the Playwire team uses every one of the techniques described so far and then some. We are constantly looking for ways to take out publishers' online advertising revenue to new heights, and we routinely uncover new strategies to help us exceed our publishers' wildest dreams.

It's just what we do. And we can do it for you, too. Ready to get started? All you have to do is reach out to our team.

New call-to-action