Inline ads -- updated advertising offerings
Inline appear directly within the post body. They also include an article link below the graphic. Here’s an example:
For more details, see Inline ads on my Advertising info page.
I introduced this new ad space because I think the sidebar is becoming less noticeable to readers. People tend to see only what’s in the post body, so the inline ads are more inline with content. I’ve had several advertisers who just don’t see enough clicks in the sidebar to continue advertising, so I decided to try making ads more visible.
Inserting an ad into the post body required me to manually add a tag to every single post and page on my site, which required quite a bit of time. In my tests last week, the inline ads did perform quite well. However, pricing these ads higher ($1,800/year) turned people off. Most seemed to prefer the sidebar ad only ($1,000/year), presumably for the lower cost.
For readers who hate ads, sorry, yes these inline ads are more intrusive to reading. However, they aren’t interstitial ads that suddenly expand to fill the entire screen, nor are they annoying popups that have an invisible close button. The ads are related to tech comm products and services and hopefully aren’t worse than an occasional commercial on TV. (If you really dislike ads, you can read content through getpocket.com or simply install an ad blocker.)
If you have a tech comm product or service that you’d like to make more visible to tech writers, consider an inline ad. I also have other advertising options available as well, which you can read about on my Advertising page. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions.
About Tom Johnson
I'm an API technical writer based in the Seattle area. On this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, AI, information architecture, content strategy, writing processes, plain language, tech comm careers, and more. Check out my API documentation course if you're looking for more info about documenting APIs. Or see my posts on AI and AI course section for more on the latest in AI and tech comm.
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