MHN News: Google Ads and Search

I wanted to let everyone know about two new features that have been added to Maritime Heritage Network. We're pretty excited about them.

• Google Ads -- MHN's business plan includes strategies to earn revenue to defray operating costs. Our ultimate goal is 50 percent earned revenue, 50 percent unearned, that is, grants, gifts, and so on. Last week, we added Google Ads to the MHN home page. We also added advertisements to the MHN Blog. Google places content-relevant text advertisements on the MHN site and the blog in exchange for sharing revenue with the site when a visitor clicks on an ad. We don't expect huge amounts of money to come from this strategy, but every little bit helps.
• MHN Search -- MHN has added a search function to the web site, allowing visitors to perform key word searches on the entire site's contents. We've blended Google search technology into MHN in exchange for allowing Google to show its advertisements on the search results page. MHN also earns revenue when visitors click on Google Ads in the search results page. We hope the search feature will keep users on the site longer and help them find the attractions and organizations they seek, ultimately driving more traffic to member sites and raising the visibility of their important maritime history work.

MHN is planning further enhancements in the months ahead. Thanks so much for your support so far. If you have ideas or comments, please post them below.