It has now been about three weeks since I first put up some Google ads on FiftyWordStories.com. I know ads can be a bit of a touchy subject, so I want to explain my reasoning behind trying them out and share how things are going so far.
Background
First, some context. I’ve been running 50WS since February 2009, and the site has grown quite a bit over that time. In July 2010, 50WS got 1,822 pageviews from 590 different visitors. In July 2013, site traffic was several times higher, with 11,934 pageviews from 5,066 different visitors!
What about annual traffic? Well, in all of 2011, 24,874 different people visited the site. In 2013 so far, with one full month left to go, the number of unique visitors has grown to more than 54,250, and could top 60,000 by the end of the year.
Outside of site traffic numbers, in the past four and a half years I’ve also released two 50-word story collections (with the third in production for release in January) and held several contests with a variety of prizes.
The Future
So 50WS is growing, and that’s great. Of all the writing projects I’ve taken on over the past several years, 50WS has been by far the most unique and the most successful.
My goal from here is to keep that success rolling. The question I’ve been asking myself is: what might the continued growth of 50WS look like? Here are some ideas:
- Monthly themed contests (with prizes)
- Two stories a day year-round
- Published anthologies of submitted stories
- More opportunities for writers and readers to interact and share feedback
To make any or all of these ideas a reality, I need four things: 1) readers, 2) writers, 3) time, and 4) money.
Readership is growing. Submissions are pouring in. I can make time for 50WS when I have to (though not always as much as I’d like.)
The fourth one, though, is often the most complicated. Contest prizes aren’t free. Neither is producing and publishing a book. The site also has some overhead in the form of hosting and store software.
Now, I don’t really need to make a profit on 50WS, but if I want the site to move forward I do need it to be self-sustaining.
Advertising
That’s where the ads come in. I decided that if I was going to try site ads, they had to earn enough to pay for the cost of hosting the website. For the past 4+ years, I’ve been paying the hosting costs out of pocket. That’s fine; as a hobby, 50WS is a lot cheaper than most other things I could be doing. But expenses are expenses…
My plan has been to set up advertising, let it run for a month or two, and see what happens. If the ads earn their keep, they’ll stay, and I’ll reinvest the money into other areas that will help the site grow. If they don’t make enough to at least cover hosting expenses, I’ll get rid of them and make other plans.
So how are the ads doing? As of today, the ads have been up on 50WS for 18 days, or just over half a month. During that time, they have earned enough for about a month and a half of hosting expenses. Projected over 30 days—which is a bit risky with this little data—they’ll earn about three times as much as I need to pay for hosting each month.
Verdict: the ads will stay until something happens to make them go away.
Of course, I’m very interested in hearing feedback from anyone who has found that the ads have affected their 50WS experience, because that’s an important factor here. So far I haven’t had any negative feedback about the ads, and I haven’t seen any annoying popups or audio ads. Let me know if you’ve seen anything obnoxious!
Next Steps
Having a (small) revenue stream for the site could mean some very exciting things moving forward. Continued site growth means continued revenue growth, which means even more exciting ways to make 50WS grow, which is a pretty exciting concept.
I hope you’ll join me in seeing what comes next!
Ads are a great revenue stream. The ones I’ve seen are site specific and don’t deter from the content. As a frequent submitter, I am excited at the prospect of my work possibly being published in a collection. Congrats to your and the sites success.
Thanks for the support, Craig. If an anthology does come together, I think you’ve got a pretty good shot at getting something included!
I fully support ads. Nothing is free, and for as much as I enjoy any publication (as a reader, contributor, or both, as is the case with 50WS), I am more than happy to overlook some advertisements to ensure its continuation and growth.