The Best WordPress Ad Management Plugins

Here are some neat WordPress ad management plugins and how to maximize their potential…

Looking for effective methods to make money with your blog? How about by selling advertising space?

Managing custom advertisements gives you greater control over automated services such as Google AdSense, plus you could potentially earn more per click / impression.

So, if you have valuable real estate and enough visitor engagement, why not make some extra money?

Main Benefits

Work directly with advertisers: The main benefit here is money, money, money. Brands are usually looking to promote their offerings; as the feeling is mutual, you can offer them exposure for a fixed or incremental price.

Brand awareness: Some people/companies are looking to spread their name more than actually selling something, especially if they don’t have a solid product just yet. They’d be more than happy to promote themselves to your audience and strengthen their position for future opportunities.

Great for nonprofits: Similarly to the above scenario, there are lots of nonprofit organizations looking to spread a positive message. Once again, your audience could be a perfect match for them.

This question can only be answered with subjective, albeit educated opinions. While there is no definitive answer as to how much you should charge, consider the following factors to determine the best rates…

Ad location: The exact location of the ad typically plays a role in the amount of money you charge for advertising space.

For example, an advertisement on the sidebar may cost less than something toward the top-center of your blog, as the former is not prominently displayed and some users might overlook it.

Blog traffic: Brands love to know how much traffic your blog receives and this number is one of the biggest selling points. Traffic isn’t everything, but this hasn’t stopped potential advertisers from prioritizing it above all else (for the most part).

Visitor engagement: This, my friends, is probably the most important factor that determines advertising rates. Your blog could get 50,000 visitors each month, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they engage or take much action. So ask yourself, how engaging is your audience? This is where your Google Analytics data may come in.

Exclusive spot, or rotating ads? Now, here’s a big decision to consider when selling ad space…

You have the option to display an advertisement on a particular spot exclusively, which means that visitors will see it every time they visit your blog or refresh the page.

On the other hand, you can have multiple “rotating” ads which occupy the same space. This means that visitors get to see a different advertisement every time they refresh or visit the page.

Exclusivity generally allows you to charge more money due to the added exposure on said advertisement. That said, having multiple (rotating) ads means getting a lesser amount *BUT* you can get more customers on a single spot. Makes sense?

If your blog gets tons of views and engagement, you might get away with charging good money for rotating ads because every advertiser will get a lot of exposure regardless.

My personal take: Based on personal / anecdotal observations, a blog with fewer than 20,000 monthly visitors typically charges $50 – $150 per ad. This is still a broad number, but at least you have an idea where to start.

Best Ad Management Plugins for WordPress

With that analysis out of the way, here are the best plugins to sell advertising space. Let’s add this to the many ways you can make money blogging, shall we?

Adning

Formerly known as WP pro Advertising System, Adning allows you to make money in many ways:

Supports unlimited ad units
Ads rotate and reload randomly
Place them anywhere on your site (before content, after X paragraphs, and more)
Supports pop-ups, floating ads, notifications bars, and other types
Support for custom post types
WooCommerce integration

Adning is great for serious bloggers with a healthy amount of active traffic.

WP In Post Ads

WP In Post Ads is quite affordable while providing a wide range of professional features:

• Place unlimited ads anywhere on your website and content
• Place customized ads for each post or content type to maximize click-thru rate and earnings
• Accurate view counter (ensure that visitors are actually seeing your ads)
• Show/hide ads after X amount of time
• Choose whether to show ads to logged-in users
• Google Analytics support

Pretty impressive for the relative low price!

Ad Rotate

This advertising management plugin works great with traditional services like AdSense as well as your own custom ads. Its main features include:

• Place a combination of traditional and custom ads simultaneously
• Track impressions, clicks, and click-thru rates
• Ads can be disguised/hidden from ad blockers to maximize earnings
• Global geo targeting support
• Ads are automatically disabled after their expiration date
• Shortcode and widget support for greater flexibility
• Advertisers can manage their own ads

All in all, this one is just as good as the other options on this list. Highly recommended.

Ads Pro Plugin

A rather expensive choices, but the money is well worth it if you’re serious about selling advertising space on your blog:

• Geotargeting by country, state, province, and even zip codes
• Many display options supported (sidebar in-content, background ads, corner-peel, and more
• Frontend user panel to manage ads easily
• Fully responsive ads display perfectly from any device
• Schedule ads to appear after certain time
• Show or hide them in specific devices

Ads Pro Plugin is easily one of the best on this list. Ideal for casual and serious bloggers alike.

Honorable Mention: Advanced Ads

Finally, Advanced Ads does most of the above (such as displaying ads per device, scheduling ads, support for traditional advertising services, and more).

Note, however, that the ability to sell advertisements require the Selling Ads add-on. It’s a pretty good option for basic advertising needs, overall.

Your Turn

Feel free to suggest additional ways to sell ad space by commenting on our Twitter page. Best of luck!