Reviewing WordAds earnings
I am frequently asked if I earn from maintaining a blog. I do, but it’s very minimal.
Before going into that, let me share with you a bit of The Filipino Scribe (TFS)’s history. I launched it March 31, 2011 as www.rightonthemark.wordpress.com. For two years, it stayed that way. In May of last year, I bought my own domain.
TFS though is still hosted by WordPress.com, which is like me renting a house. If you’re only renting a house, there are many things you cannot do. The same logic governs web hosting. For example, I cannot really customize how TFS looks (don’t ask me though if I am knowledgeable about web development. LOL).
More importantly, WordPress offers very limited opportunities for its users to earn. By its own announcement, it “does not allow third-party advertising networks like Google AdSense, OpenX, Lijit, BuySellAds, and Vibrant Media.”
WordAds is the only advertising system that WordPress allows, and it is only open for those with their own domains. In short, prior to May 2013, I did not earn anything from blogging.
Is there really a potential to earn big from WordAds? On their website, they explain that advertisers pay more for page views from North American and European users. Based on my statistics, 90% of my readers are Philippine-based. Earnings are updated monthly and users will only get a pay-out (made via PayPal) if they earn $100.
As mentioned earlier, I’ve been running WordAds for eight months now and so far, there had been two pay-outs. It was made last November and December. The pay-out for November covers a five month period. It’s like earning a measly $20 per month!
There was a pay-out for November because during that month, I had over 100,000 page views thanks to two blog entries about super typhoon Yolanda that became viral. For three days, TFS was the number one in Top Blogs Philippines for all categories. I earned $100 for getting 100,000 page views? Sayang!
With my blog’s third anniversary coming soon, I felt this is already the right time to finally make the move. It won’t be easy and cheap to be sure but moving forward is the only way TFS can grow. Plus, it is something I have to do to have more time for my other goals like finishing my master’s degree.
Thanks to my friends from Ask Pinoy Bloggers and Filipino Bloggers Worldwide for their valuable insights. If I’m a college student writing a thesis, I’m still on the data gathering stage. I’m doing my best to get as much information as possible about my options.
While pondering on these things, I can’t help but this saying: “A ship is always safe in the harbor, but that is not what it’s meant to do.” Instead, it should travel the turbulent seas and oceans ahead of it because that’s the essence of its existence.
Indeed, we should never fear leaving behind our comfort zones to explore bigger things. The year 2014 promises to be a big one for this blog.
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About Author
Meet tayo! Pakilala ko nga si Stan 🙂 He can help you… At saka andito ako.. ^_^
Hugs, Kuya Richard. Ang laki ng tulong mo sa akin. See ya soon. 🙂
To bigger and better things this 2014, Mark! Seems that I’m finding a number of people I know aiming to sail beyond the harbor. Best!
Kuya Anjo, long time no hear! How are you?
I guess the start of the year always gives us the opportunity to come up with huge goals. Hehe. I wish you all the best in your endeavors as well. 🙂
Hi Mark, doing well. Taking a break after the Yolanda coverage. But I’ve yet to find time to think hard about my goals for the year. Yep, long time nga! Good to know you’re faring well too.
Hi Mark,
So what are your plans now? I think it’s better kung umalis ka na sa WordPress and buy a hosting plan from Hostgator. By doing that, you’ll be in more control. Then, you can monetize your blog through Google Adsense initially. Sayang yung traffic mo eh. If you need help, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Heck, I can even help you promote your blog through my website:) Good luck!
Hi Lui,
Thanks for the offer of assistance! I really appreciate it. I’m very grateful to my buddies in FBW and APB. Ang dami kong valuable insights na nakuha. Right now, I’m leaning on getting a hosting plan either sa HostGator or sa BlueHost. Nagbabasa pa ako.
*I sent you an email a few days ago. Did you get it? 🙂
More power to you Mark and to TFS! – Mang Kanor 😀
Mang Kanor, buhay ka pa pala! HAHAHA
Hi Mark – I manage WordAds at WordPress.com and wanted to clarify a misconception that you seem to have of WordAds. WordAds is not an ad network like Google Adsense or Vibrant, rather the program provides demand (ad network) optimization. So we have tested and manage all of the networks that you mention above. Our role is to identify the highest paying demand sources with the best quality creatives and optimize those. Generally if you run a single demand source like Adsense or Openx you will earn a lot less than if you optimize across a number of sources. That said, if you would like to just run Adsense we can do that. Just write support at wordpress dot com. Cheers, Jon
Hey did you have the option ‘show additional ads’ selected all the time or you just earned via the ads that show below each post? I am very disappointed with wordpress!!! Here is my story-
http://subtlewords.com/2014/02/12/wordads-review-might-not-be-worth-it/
Hopefully one day Wordads will pay as well as Google AdSense!
How to register adsword for my blogspot site?
Please help me, admin…
You can register at WordAds.com.
Really interesting review! I applied for wordads few days back and got approved in 2-3 days, my site http://drambedkarbooks.com/. Let’s see how I progress with earnings 😛
Any tips to get more traffic? 🙂
Hi, Pardeep!
How are you? I haven’t visited this particular blog post in a looong while. This site isn’t really as well visited as I wish it to be. I only get 5000 views a day. The best way to get more traffic, as far as my experience can say, are the following:
1) Write often
2) Use tags
3) Utilize social networking sites for promotion
All the best in your blogging journey!
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Mark, thank you for the post. I’ve just written about you on http://cafearjun.com/2015/11/13/wordads-vs-adsense-how-to-maximise-revenue-from-your-blog/ . It would be great to know how your earnings changed once you moved to WordPress self hosted. Please do write about that.
Hi, Arjun!
Thanks for referencing me in your blog post! Thanks for the suggestion as well. I will consider writing about that when I have time. Anyway, here’s what I can share with you at the moment:
My site gets 5000 views a day on the average. Ideally, that should get me $5 through Adsense but in recent months, that’s no longer the case. But still, it’s better than what WordAds used to give me.