How to Select Ads for Your Blog

Everything that appears on your blog is a description of who you are. You want your blog to be professional and more importantly not lead your readers to places that could be a scam. That's why it's important to carefully select the ads you use. While Google Adsense is based on the keywords you use on your blog, there are companies that allow you to hand select ads. How do you know which ones to choose? Here are a few tips to help you make the right selections.

Choose Ads Based on Your Blog's Category

The category your blog falls into should play the main role in helping you select the proper ads. For example, if you write about food, you would want to select ads based on food, cooking, baking and gourmet products. It doesn't make sense to have a food blog and select ads for tools. However, what if your blog is very general? What if you write about random ideas that pop into your brain? If that's the case, you may want to consider some of the following tips when selecting ads.

Keep Your Ads Clean

If you hope to keep your blog PG, it's important to select ads that also represent your blog in this way. In other words, you don't want to place ads on your blog that lead readers to pornography or other adult based sites. It doesn't matter if these ads pay well. Your image as a writer is much more important than a few cents, or even a $1 per click. Don't ruin the reputation of your blog just to earn a couple extra bucks.

Protect Your Readers

We've all the seen the ads, "Click here and get a free iPod". We also know that these ads take you to a long survey where you must join several prepaid sites. Do not tempt your readers with this type of garbage. Only place ads on your blog that are legitimate. If you wouldn't want to click on the link, chances are your readers wouldn't either.

Avoid the Las Vegas Strip Look

Nothing is more annoying than a blog that has more lights and flashes than the Las Vegas Strip. Avoid ads that use bright, flashing colors to attract the readers attention. Not only is this annoying, but it distracts the readers from your content. More importantly, Google Adsense sometimes places these ads on your blog and adding even more can lead to sensory overload.