Now that there are ads on New Music Strategies, I’m looking around for the pros and cons. There’s an unexpected consequence that might just make it worth keeping them there.
Okay, so the reason to have ads on a website is pretty much just to make money. But they can be used as a driver for repeat business — which in blog terms means RSS subscribers.
I did have a play around with a couple of plugins that promised to hide the ads from regular visitors to my site and people who have left comments — but all they seemed to do is break the template, so I’ve removed them. The plugin that I’ve used to place the ads is not compatible with the plugin I’d use to hide them. So we’re back where we started.
But there is a way to enjoy the site, and not have to look at the ads:
Subscribe to my RSS feed.
Everything I post on New Music Strategies shows up in the RSS feed. I’m not a big believer in partial feeds that drive traffic to the site. If you’re going to subscribe, I appreciate it, and you can have the whole thing in the way that you want it. Without the ads.
If RSS is a bit of a mystery to you, you might find the chapter I wrote about it in my free ebook helpful.
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4 Comments
Im an avid New Music Strategies reader via RSS but have popped on the site out of interest to see the ads. But I have Adblock Plus running as a Firefox plug in and it strips the ads clean away.
Rich
Xx
Honestly; I barely notice the ads at all. They are quite small and they even seem to be somewhat relevant to who you are and what you are about…or maybe I just caught your ads on a good day?
Sir,
Anyone using Firefox (surely many of your very savvy readers are) will probably have the essential NoScripts addon and not see the ads anyway unless they choose to.
I can’t see them at all.
Blocking ads sometimes makes me feel guilty because I think that writers such as yourself are providing a wonderful service and should be able to reap lucre from their labour. By blocking the ads I am predetermining not to contribute to your coffers.
However, since I don’t buy anything anyway, except from the Pound Shop or Oxfam, I am hardly likely to contribute by way of ad-clicking or whatever the term might be.
I don’t think you should be too worried about the righteousness of revenue-generating ideas as long as they don’t impinge on your integrity. Maybe a Paypal donation option would also be suitable. I often donate small sums to current affairs sites that keep me informed of stuff outside of the mainstream.
Also, I plan to purchase the Radiohead gimmick for 46p because I want to contribute to the downfall of the majors and I think this will help (a little bit, like 2p in one of those machines you get on Brighton pier that has a pile of coins that may supposedly be pushed over a parapet into your hands by a mechanical paddle). I find Radiohead boring but feel the urge to give them some recognition. I may even download and then delete the MP3s.
All the best,
Rambling Rose.
Well, I read somewhere that adverts are most effective with new visitors to the site and quickly lose their “value” after repeat-visits. So if you still find any way to structure it that way, that’s probably the least evil solution. Btw. I like just reading your site, as I can then also see the comments, and I’m sure other people feel that way too.