Website Ad Revenue Calculator

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Use the calculator to estimate your website’s advertisement revenues.

Free Online Advertising Revenue Calculator

“How much does a website with X visitors make?” is one of the most common questions from new website investors or builders. While every niche and website is different, and many factors affect monetization, some tools can estimate what a website owner can expect. Use this tool as an Ezoic earnings calculator.

Website and ad revenue calculators are the best tools for estimating potential ad income a website can expect to bring in based on traffic.

Let’s get into this calculator and how it works.

How To Estimate Website Ad Revenue: 3-Step Process

Estimating website ad revenue is simple, but getting the best possible estimates is a multi-step process. Remember that an estimate is just that: a good idea of what the site should earn on average.

Factors like seasonality, niche, ad provider, and traffic sources can all heavily affect these numbers in real-world scenarios.

Step #1: Estimate Monthly Pageviews

To estimate monthly pageviews, do the following:

  • Take the last 3-6 months of traffic from Google Analytics (or an estimate), 
  • Add up the number of total visitors, and
  • Divide by the number of months you used.

This gives you an average “Monthly page views” number in the formula below.

Remember that the numbers won’t be completely accurate if the site is very seasonal (surfing, skiing) or sees massive changes in traffic trends. That’s fine; get the best estimate possible.

I prefer to estimate a touch on the conservative side so any earnings above that feel like extra instead of falling short of optimistic estimates feeling like a failure.

Step #2: Estimate Industry RPM

Every niche and industry will have a different average RPM range. This information can be found with a little bit of Googling. Outdoors will have a different RPM than toys, just as gardening will have a different RPM than DUI attorneys.

Most answers you find will give you an average RPM range. I advise taking the low and high numbers given for the range or just using the low side of the range if you prefer conservative estimates.

Here are some examples of RPMs you can use:

  • Generic: $10 to $15 RPM
  • Outdoor: $15 to $20 RPM
  • Pets: $20 RPM
  • Energy: $30 RPM
  • Finance: $30 to $50 RPM

Step #3: Calculate Revenue

The formula for calculating estimated revenue is as follows:

Revenue = RPM x (Monthly page views / 1000)

Take careful note to divide monthly page views by a thousand. Since the RPM is money per thousand, missing this step would throw the numbers off.

Example:

A website in the hobby niche is getting roughly 50,000 page views a month. Let’s say the RPM for ads in the hobby industry was $12.50 (hypothetical). Divide that 50,000 by 1,000 and then plug in the numbers:

$12.50 x 50 = $625 estimated revenue

This is the formula to use if you want to calculate ad revenue for your website at different traffic levels.

How Does Website Ad Revenue Work?

When a website owner works with an ad company, they make ads available to the site owner. Whether the website owner places the ads or the company does depends on the company. 

Most ads will be pay-per-click (PPC). That means you will earn ad revenue every time a visitor clicks on the ad. Some of the mixed-in ads will be pay-per-view. These often pay a penny or two for every view of the ad.

The total earned from these ads is what the publisher makes. The ad company keeps a certain amount off the top, so the website owner never has to worry about splitting the ad revenues – this is done automatically before they are paid.

Generally speaking, the more views a page gets, the more website ad revenue it will earn.

Only visitors not using ad blockers will count toward a site’s revenue. If the ads aren’t displayed, they won’t earn money for the website owner (publisher).

Common Glossary of Terms

Here are some common terms you’ll run into when studying how to maximize ad revenue on a website.

  • RPM – Revenue per thousand visitors, the amount a website can expect to earn for every thousand views.
  • CPM – Cost per thousand impressions, the amount an ad buyer expects to pay per 1,000 views of their ad
  • Sessions – The number of user-based interactions with a site. One user’s session could include looking at multiple posts, clicking a link, or interacting with various parts of a site.
  • Page views – The total number of page views on a site. One visitor looking at four blog posts would count as four page views.
  • Above the fold – The most popular and profitable ad placement on most websites referring to the space at the top of a website that appears right when the site loads
  • Header bidding – Publishers offering ad space to multiple ad exchanges before 

How To Generate Ad Revenue On Your Website

Generating ad revenue on an existing website comes down to a few simple steps, but that doesn’t mean it is easy. 

Step one is finding a display ad provider. The most popular are Ezoic, Mediavine, and AdThrive. Google AdSense and Ezoic are the two most commonly used by beginner website publishers.

Each display ad provider has different requirements for a website owner to qualify for their program, so that options will be limited mainly depending on traffic numbers.

Follow the instructions the ad provider gave to set up the site for ads, and then focus on building traffic since more traffic will mean more revenue.

Here are the high-level steps:

  1. Build a site that starts getting traffic
  2. Choose an ad provider
  3. Follow their instructions for placing ads on the site
  4. Get more traffic 
  5. Optimize ads or consider a higher-paying ad provider at high enough traffic levels.
  6. Repeat steps 4 & 5

This is how to get ad revenue on a website and then take it to the next level to maximize it.

How To Maximize Ad Revenue: 4 Battle-Tested Ways

Placing ads is only one step in earning revenue. Ad placements, ad types, the structure of the content, and adding video ads can all strongly affect the total income of the display ads on a site.

1. Optimize Above The Fold

Above-the-fold ads are usually the most valuable location on a site. They get the most attention and clicks and, therefore, make the most money.

So, how do you optimize above the fold? 

Two simple steps:

  • Remove extra whitespace
  • Remove featured image (thus pushing ads higher above the fold)

Reducing whitespace means the ad is more likely to show up on loading, especially on smaller screens like with mobile devices. 

Removing the featured image is an easy optimization effect that pushes the ad above the fold. This also has the added benefit of making it easier to get down to the content where other ads are placed, making them more likely to be profitable.

2. Add Sticky Ads (Footer and Sidebar)

sticky sidebar ad

Sticky ads stay on screen even as visitors scroll through a blog post or other online content. Behind the first above-the-fold ad, sticky ads are the most profitable ad units on most sites.

These are best used in the footer and sidebar areas. This makes them as unobtrusive as possible so they don’t interfere with user experiences while always keeping one or two ad units in view.

3. Improve Content Structure

The structure of content matters. If a blog post is just two giant blocks of text, not only will the user experience and visitor retention be terrible, but that severely limits where ads can be placed and what types of ad blocks can be tested.

Space Out Paragraphs

You want blog posts with a lot of short, digestible paragraphs. This not only breaks up the text and makes it easier to read, but it provides many more places where ads can be placed and tested.

This isn’t just about numbers, but if there are paragraphs spaced out through a post, different types or styles of ads can be tested to see what combination of ads makes that page the most profitable.

Add More Images

Adding images breaks up the text, makes a post more readable, and gives more ads options. Many ad setups have success, with ads placed right after a picture.

Adding more images to a post has many positive benefits for the reader experience, allowing you to optimize your ad content structure.

4. Implement Video Ads

Adding video ads can be a powerful way to increase the earnings of a post. These are often done through dedicated video ad providers and can be used in conjunction with display ads since they aren’t display ads.

Settings are adjustable, so ads tend to pop up and play on the side, not a giant popup screen that annoys visitors in the middle of the screen.

Adding video ads the right way further optimizes the traffic coming to a website.

Recommended Display Ad Providers

Currently, three major display ad providers stand out as the major players. These are recommended display ad providers because they tend to have the best combination of advertisers, customer service, and some of the highest EPM numbers.

Ezoic Review 

Ezoic is the entry display ad provider for many relatively new websites. At a glance:

  • Impression-based ad network
  • Ideally, for less than 50K page views
  • Google Adsense is an alternative for all niches.

Typically, Ezoic requires a website to have 10,000 page views to participate in their program. However, they offer an Access Now program for websites with less than 10,000 page views, which requires approval. Websites with over 10,000 page views can be accepted without approval.

More on those details can be found in the Ezoic FAQ. Ezoic has a reputation for delivering better results than Google AdSense.

This is a good starting point for site owners looking to monetize as they ramp up towards one of the two premium ad networks with more significant page view requirements.

Mediavine Review

Mediavine is an excellent display ad provider with a strong reputation for responsive customer service.

At a glance:

  • Impression-based ad network
  • Ideally, between 50,000 to 100,000 page views
  • Excellent for food, home, outdoor, pet, and finance niches

50,000 pageviews is the entry-level for any site that wants to use Mediavine. They have a reputation for being very responsive to website owners and working to make the transition to their ad system as easy as possible.

Mediavine tends to be a significant step up from AdSense or Ezoic regarding earnings and has a reputation as being especially good for some niches like home, finance, food, and outdoors, to name a few.

Make sure to check our analysis of 1,000+ Mediavine sites. Learn what it takes to get into the network, niches, content that works, and much more.

AdThrive Review

AdThrive has long been known as the premium display ad network. They are hard to get into, and a site owner shouldn’t apply until their site gets 100,000 visits a month (or more). 

At a glance:

  • Impression-based ad network
  • Ideally, above 100,000 page views
  • Excellent for food, home, outdoor, pet, and finance niches

AdThrive works with many of the biggest publishers in multiple markets or niches. It is known for working with the most prominent websites, allowing them to get higher bids from advertisers.

This allows them to distribute more profit to the website owners using their ads. AdThrive is seen by many as being the “last” display ad provider. Once a site is accepted into their program and uses their ads, they rarely revisit changing display ad providers again.

Premium ad provider that is excellent for most niches, although especially noted for finance, food, home, outdoor, and pet.

Others: Google AdSense, Niche Specific Providers

Google AdSense used to be most website publishers’ starting display ad provider. They were easy to get into, and for years, there weren’t many good display ad options for smaller to middle-sized sites.

This isn’t the case so much anymore. While AdSense can be better than nothing, it’s usually best to start with Ezoic if possible.

Some niche-specific providers can sometimes be worth looking at. However, even in very narrow niches, one of the three large display ad providers will usually give better RPM than most niche ad providers.

6-Step Actionable Takeaway Plan

A website ad revenue calculator is an excellent tool for estimating what a site can earn at upcoming milestones or how much difference there could be between two ad providers with different estimated niche RPMs.

Understanding the process will make your estimates more accurate when checking potential ad revenue for your website.

Here are some actionable next steps you can take today:

  1. Use the website ad revenue estimator to understand the levers of growth
  2. Apply for Ezoic if your site isn’t monetized, or even MediaVine or AdThrive if you have the traffic.
  3. Optimize the space above the fold
  4. Optimize your content to make it ad-friendly
  5. Employ sticky ads if you haven’t already.
  6. Add video advertisements

Follow these steps, and you will see better monetization success and a better understanding of what a site in your niche could make at higher traffic numbers.

Discover Your Website’s Earning Potential with Our Comprehensive Revenue Calculators

Maximize Your Website’s Financial Success

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In-Depth Revenue Analysis

Begin your journey to financial growth now. Try our calculators to explore various scenarios and develop a robust strategy for your online presence. With our suite of tools, forecasting and increasing your website’s ad revenue has never been easier or more accurate.

How do you calculate mobile ad revenue?

To calculate mobile ad revenue, use the following formula:

Mobile Ad Revenue = Total Ad Impressions x Click-Through Rate (CTR) x Cost Per Click (CPC)

Here’s an example:

Let’s say you have 10,000 ad impressions, a click-through rate of 2%, and a cost per click of $0.50.

Mobile Ad Revenue = 10,000 x 0.02 x $0.50
Mobile Ad Revenue = $100

Therefore, your mobile ad revenue would be $100 in this example.

How much ad revenue per 1,000 views?

The ad revenue per 1,000 views can vary greatly depending on several factors such as the ad network used, the niche of your website, the location of your audience, and the engagement level of your viewers. On average, websites can expect to earn anywhere from $1 to $10 per 1,000 views. However, it’s important to note that these figures are just estimates and actual earnings can vary significantly.

How much money can I make from AdSense with 1000 visitors per day?

The amount of money you can make from AdSense with 1000 visitors per day varies depending on several factors such as the niche of your website, the ad placement, the click-through rate (CTR), and the cost-per-click (CPC) of the ads displayed. However, it is difficult to provide an exact figure as AdSense earnings can fluctuate. It is recommended to focus on increasing your website’s traffic and optimizing your ad placements to maximize your AdSense revenue.

How much can you make from ad revenue?

The amount you can make from ad revenue will vary depending on several factors, such as the type of ads you display, the amount of traffic your website receives, the engagement of your audience, and the niche or industry you operate in. It is difficult to provide a specific number without more information.

Johnny Sebastian
Johnny Sebastian

Johnny Sebastian is an experienced advertising and marketing expert with skills in content marketing, online advertising, and software conceptualization. He writes clear and actionable content for WPThink.com to help enhance readers' understanding of the hosting industry. In addition to this, Johnny collaborates with startups and works with One Up Digital's management team to navigate the ever-changing landscape of content marketing, online advertising, and software development.