This has been a controversial issue and the subject of much debate around the blogosphere. Some oppose all commercial advertising and others use blogging as a way of earning their living. This really comes down to what is the purpose of your blog?

If your objective is to brand your business as an authoritative expert in your industry and image is very important, then you probably will not add advertising to your blog. If your objective is to earn a living from your blog then adding advertising makes a lot of sense.

Pro: You should advertise if the primary objective is to earn income from your blog. The amount of advertising will be based on what your secondary objectives are. The more advertising on your blog, the more ways you are splitting up the attention of your visitor.

There are a number of advertising networks that allow blog owners to earn income. Google Adsense is one of the most popular. Advertising on blogs can range from a few discreet text ads to a garish mess of animated flashing banner ads all striving to get attention.

Con: If your business blogging objectives are about branding and positioning yourself (or your company) as the authoritative expert, then advertising interferes with this. Your goal is to keep your visitor focused on what you have to say. If you elect to allow a minimal amount of ads, are you prepared to allow your direct competitors to advertise on your blog?

The decision to advertise should be based on a balance between business image and income goals that you need from your blog. It is all about the results you need and your blogging goals.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 28th, 2007 at 5:05 am and is filed under Blog Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.