Website monetization can be profitable, as long as you know what you’re doing. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case with the webmasters, so we’re here with an article explaining common monetization mistakes and how to fix them.
While advertisers have more pitfalls to avoid, publishers have a greater responsibility to ensure that monetization functions smoothly. Without further ado, let’s explore some red flags regarding monetization.
Inefficient Use of Ad Space
As you start monetizing your website, it becomes more than just a hobby, but an additional, or in some cases, primary source of income. Your task as a publisher, besides consistently providing content for your visitors, is to properly monetize your traffic.
There are lots of platforms that can help you with the task. But a common mistake many publishers make is relying on a single monetization platform. This limits your earning potential and leaves valuable ad space underutilized. If you’re focused on growing organic traffic, a smarter approach is to diversify—combine Google AdSense (with its banners and interstitial ads) with complementary formats like RollerAds’ web push notifications.
By merging these methods, you can fully leverage your audience, boost engagement, and increase overall revenue—without compromising user experience. And if AdSense isn’t an option for you, alternatives like Taboola or Ezoic can fill the gap, as long as you don’t overlook the added value of web push monetization.
We’ve covered the top-performing platforms in our dedicated article to help you choose the best mix for your site.
Incorrect Setup
When publishers begin to work with ad networks, they need to insert code snippets or tags into their website and do a test to see if everything looks as intended. If not, don’t shy away from communicating with your account manager, as they have all the required expertise to fix any mistakes. RollerAds offers a straightforward setup process, but our managers will also assist you upon request.
However, besides “hard-coded” mistakes, when monetization doesn’t work at all, there are “soft-locks” when monetization delivers suboptimal returns. This can be attributed to ad cramming, ad blockers leaving blank space behind, lack of frequency capping, mistargeting, and trivial things like grammar mistakes.
Poor UX can damage the trust and connection that you’ve built with your visitors and ultimately result in low revenue. To prevent that, you need to work with a reputable ad network where you can monitor which kinds of ads enter your website, and you must have the methods to influence ad categories. RollerAds provides just that and more, so you can be your own boss and get paid without losing hard-earned users.
Lack of Patience and High Expectations
Rome was not built in a day, and neither can a website. Online marketing is a very competitive line of work, so you need to be prepared to grind. When it comes to creativity, advertisers and publishers face the same problem: they need to come up with new ideas for their content to either engage or retain their users.
A good website has a high SEO ranking, and it takes at least 6 months to reach the top—but that’s the best-case scenario. Performance marketing benefits publishers indeed, but only as long as they maintain and update their website. Your user base determines your level of income, and users can migrate between similar websites really quickly. So if you’ve found your niche, it doesn’t mean you can hold onto it automatically: you need dedication and persistence to create content that is worth visiting.
If you want some inspiration and to see that everything is possible, we have an article about one of our publishers, who went from $0 to $60,000 in 4 months. We cannot guarantee you will get the same returns that fast, because it all boils down to how big your website is in terms of reach. However, with the proper setup and preconditions, it’s possible to earn even more, especially if you put your mind to it and have RollerAds by your side.
Refusing Assistance
People say “there is strength in numbers” for a reason. Whether you’re just a newbie or have been in the market for a long time, you’d better not disregard the help of your manager.
Neglecting a manager’s guidance can significantly hinder a webmaster’s success. Managers provide expertise and insight on ad optimization, crucial updates, market trends, and more. And with that, by ignoring your manager’s help, you may experience lower conversion rates and reduced earnings.
As we already said in this article, your success affects everybody around you, so it’s in the manager’s best interest to help you with your problems.
Also, it’s a great idea to attend major affiliate conferences to stay in the loop. You might find new partners and talk face-to-face to figure out all the relevant details of a potential partnership. After all, that’s how we at RollerAds were able to get acquainted with the publisher, who later achieved $60,000 in four months with us.
Neglecting SEO
Another mistake that webmasters make is creating content for their platforms with little to no focus on SEO (Search Engine Optimization). This impacts the ranking in the search engines, which results in low organic traffic, which is one of the best sources of traffic.
Ranking high in search results is essential to enjoy the influx of new users. Your userbase of push subscribers correlates with how many people visit your website—the more, the merrier. Basically, SEO and PPC (Pay Per Click) approaches go hand-in-hand, whether it’s keeping your users engaged, conquering Google Discover, or maximizing your income.
Paid advertising is great when you want to retarget the acquired users, but you need to obtain them first. And this is where SEO helps a ton.
Staying Behind the Curve
Digital marketing isn’t always about the most recent trends, though staying informed about them can significantly boost success. For example, do you know that Google Discover, originally a mobile feature, is coming to desktops? While as of writing it is still in development, this is a huge deal for webmasters, as Google Discover increases audience reach, making advertisers more interested in their traffic.
Following trends doesn’t mean that you must jump in and promote every newest product and discuss the latest situations in the world. It means that you need to know what is becoming popular and how you can use it to your advantage. Combine valuable content, niche expertise, and audience engagement with the knowledge about what recent trends can resonate with your visitors, and you have a goldmine on your hands.
If you want some ideas, you can check out a couple of our articles about creatives and what is popular in the affiliate marketing industry in 2025.
Closing Thoughts
Summing things up, you need to love what you’re doing to excel, and digital marketing is no exception. If you want to monetize your website successfully, you ought to treat users with respect and bring something refreshing to the table.
But if you enjoy finding the latest trends or exploring unique, underexplored niches, you can create a website that is interesting for both advertisers and users. If you have an established web resource but have never monetized it or are open to try new monetization approaches, register on our platform and drop us a line to have a consultation on what we can offer.
