For years, most businesses have used Google AdSense to monetize their blog site, but a changing of the guard could be underway. In November, WordPress announced it would develop a program for monetizing websites that offers benefits that Google AdSense (of which Google AdWords is a part) does not. As it stands, WordPress' new program will be called - brace yourself - WordAds. If its nomenclature seems a bit obscure, so does the program itself.
What will it offer that Google AdSense doesn't?
At present, it's difficult to say. WordPress has taken a page from Google's book, remaining mum about the details of the new program. But there are indicators that WordPress WordAds will differ from AdSense in ways that many bloggers will appreciate. According to John Burke, ads lead for WordPress; WordAds will be more "tasteful" than Google's program.
A Matter of Taste
Burke's comments seem to indicate that WordPress ads will differ from Google ads in at least two ways: aesthetically, and concerning how they sync with a website's content.
"You pour a lot of time and effort into your blog and you deserve better than AdSense," said Burke, who also commented that WordPress has resisted developing a monetization program because it saw that Internet advertising wasn't "terribly tasteful."
For bloggers whose websites have been sacrificed for ad revenue, Burke's words should be a breath of fresh air. How WordPress ads will look is unknown, but if "taste" is a deciding factor, they won't look like garish bumper stickers that someone sticks on a Cadillac as a joke, which is how Google ads can look.
In the end, web ads that cohere with a site's design and sync with its interests do more than please the webmaster; they make the site more appealing to visitors, which can translate into a larger blog following and increased web traffic to business websites via backlinks. Serious bloggers pay attention to how their website looks and feels, and there's no reason why web ads should be an exception to the rule.
Website Aesthetics and SEM
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) experts know that a website's appearance impacts how web visitors respond to it. Ecommerce websites that under perform are often aesthetically off kilter, with a smattering of Google ads adding to the visual purgatory. When a blog is used to generate interest in a business and/or direct traffic to its website, it is incumbent upon the Webmaster to make the blog visually appealing. Apparently, WordPress WordAds will help webmasters do exactly that.
If your blog suffers from unattractive ads that seem misplaced, WordAds will ostensibly replace them with "high-quality" ads. For bloggers who use their blog as a satellite to an ecommerce website, ads that have improved aesthetics and coincide with the blog's interests could help them make a better first impression on web visitors, which could translate into increased website conversions.
WordPress representatives aren't promising these things. But if you judge by the few things that are known about WordAds, you can assume it will become a difference maker in SEM campaigns.
In my research on WordPress WordAds, I studied the importance of Wordpress's new program to search engine marketing.
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