How do I estimate the ad revenue that my website will bring in?

[Matthew E]

What are the normal CPM rates that websites are charging today for advertising? I'm trying to project ad revenue from a social network I am starting and don't know how to project these numbers.

Is there anything else I need to keep in mind other than ad impressions when estimating the revenue?

[imisidro]

There were reports that Facebook is charging $10 CPM but has a minimum spend of $50,000 http://valleywag.com/tech/online-adverti...284029.php

However, your site is new which means you have little to no traffic, no brand recognition, no track record of success, and no proven customer engagement. $10 CPM may be a little high for your new site so try offering something lower than that, perhaps $3-5 when starting out, and then slowly increase your rate when your site starts getting more traffic and users

If you wish to estimate revenues, there are other considerations :

- What advertising formats are you going to offer? You can sell banner ads, skyscrapers, leaderboards, rectangles?
- Are you going to offer text links?
- Aside from advertising, are you going to have other ways to monetize traffic -- e.g. newsletter advertising if you're going to have a newsletter, affiliate programs?
- Are you willing to offer premium features that a user will pay for -- e.g. customization of their profile will be allowed only for a fee?

I suggest you study how the other social networking sites monetize their sites.