Paying Blog Contributors – How to Know If It’s Worth It

If you’ve hired a blog contributor to create content for your site, you may be wondering if you’ll ever make that money back. How do you decide what price to pay for content and if it’s even worth it? Yes, a lot of factors should be considered, but one should be your ROI.

Paying Blog Contributors – How to Know If It’s Worth It

To help me (and you!) figure that out, I’ve come up with a couple of formulas. It’s math, but it’s easy math, promise! Let’s take a look at what the post’s value was to your blog and how many pageviews you’d need to recoup your money via ads.

What was the post worth?

The formula:

Pageviews on that post since you posted it X (Average RPM/1000)

Examples: 

1. The post has received 1500 pageviews since it was posted. Your average RPM is $9.66. You paid $50 for the post. How much should you have paid?

Formula: 1500 X (9.66/1000) = $14.49

Therefore, the post hasn’t made me back my money yet as I paid $50 for it and only earned about $14.49 on it.

2. The post has received 12,000 pageviews since it was posted. Your average RPM is $9.33. You paid $75 for the post. How much should you have paid?

Formula: 12000 X (9.33/1000) = $111.96

Therefore, I’ve earned my money back on this post since I only paid $75 for it.

How many page views do I need to make back the money I paid?

The formula:

Price you paid/(Average RPM/1000)

Examples:

1. I paid $100 for the post for a Green Tech Website. My average RPM is $9.45. How many pageviews do I need to get on that post to make my money back?

Formula: 100/(9.45/1000) = 10582

I would need 10,582 pageviews before the post paid for itself.

2. I paid $30 for the post. My average RPM is $9.02. How many pageviews do I need to get on that post to make my money back?

Formula: 30/(9.02/1000) = 3326

I would need 3,326 pageviews before I made my money back.

Some things to consider:

What currency did you use to pay for the post? If you paid CAD and your ad network pays in USD, you’ll need to calculate the price you paid in USD to figure it out. Alternatively, you could calculate the RPM in CAD and do it that way. Just make sure you are working in the same currency.

I hope these formulas help you out as you examine if the benefits of having a contributor outweigh the costs. For me personally, sometimes those posts go viral and pay for themselves tenfold. Other times, it’s crickets and I can never expect to earn my money back on my Cruise Review Website. You just never know what will happen with a post!

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