If you’re unsure about the answer, now may be a good time to check.
Newspapers across the country are exploring how to make their site a steady source of revenue. It seems there are as many ideas as there are newspapers. With an online site through MyWebPal, several revenue opportunities exist. Even if you're not a client of MWP, the following suggestions could likely be incorporated into your current site. Below are each of the areas and some ideas for integrating them into your other ad offerings.
Banner Ads
Each site has access to our Ad Server and can upload large banner ads as well as smaller tile ads which can be differentiated by newspaper sections. Many newspapers have successfully sold these as part of an integrated ad campaign to their print advertisers. Some also use these ad spots for promoting other areas of their site or special print sections... even sister publications. There is a significant amount of revenue to be had here!
Classified Advertising
Many papers have made online classifieds a forced buy by adding a dollar or two to the cost of a print classified to run online. Other papers still offer online classifieds as an optional up-sale. Those papers who do publish classifieds online, find that their classified section is one of the highest trafficked areas of their site. Make sure to let readers know your publication has an online classified section by running house ads throughout the paper. Mention the address and what kinds of things they can find at your site.
E-Coupons
What if readers had a special place where they could file all of the coupons printed in the street-version and could access them when they needed them without having to hunt through purses, junk drawers, etc? That’s one way that papers are using the e-coupon section of their site. Don’t have a standard coupon section of your print paper? That’s okay, how about selling a print ad and for an extra amount, publish that advertiser’s coupon online for a full month. Great value to advertisers, additional ad revenue to you!
Directory Listings
MyWebPal directory module allows unlimited directories and listings, so the only limit is your imagination. How about an online restaurant guide or worship directory? A listing doesn’t have to cost a lot to make it worthwhile for your advertiser and for your paper. If you charged only $40 a year and had 30 directory listings, that’s $1200 additional income that cost the paper nothing extra.
Sell your paper's photos online!
This can be as easy or as difficult as you want to make it! But being from the K.I.S.S. (Keep it Simple, Stupid!) school of thought, I prefer solutions that make money, fill an existing need, and do so in a simple and easy to implement method. I highly recommend MyCapture.com for online photo sales. For more info about them, read the artilec "Selling Your Paper's Photos Online is a SNAP!" in this month's newsletter.
Real Estate Guide (Enhanced Version Only)
Shopping for real estate, real estate services, and brokers online is truly an exploding trend. MWP Real Estate Guide search engine provides a seperate section on a paper’s site where visitors can search for r.e. listings by criteria including price, number of bedrooms, square footage, etc. If you are interested in learning more about our Real Estate Guide, please send an email to: info@mywebpal.com. We would be happy to set up a demo. We have only skimmed the surface in this article about how to generate revenue from an online site. The opportunities are nearly unlimited. However, it requires a commitment to a quality online product and spending the time and thought to determine what would benefit your readers and advertisers. We’ll continue to look at each of these areas individually and publish success stories in upcoming newsletters.
