How To Qualify For Mediavine Ads

This post will share how I qualify for Mediavine Ads based on my experience.

Almost two months ago, my Mediavine application was approved after applying about two weeks prior.

My lifestyle blog got over 51,290 sessions between March and April.

I was hoping to submit my application by the end of April, which will be classed as 30 days, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I had crossed 50,000 sessions by the 26th of April.

Let me tell you, I was ESTATIC and submitted my application ASAP.

So, I took my blog seriously in April 2020, just after we went into lockdown.

I have always dreamed of blogging full-time, so I figured this was the sign to do the work.

Before then, I wasn’t consistent with blogging because of my job.

Now I had more than enough time.

I became consistent with populating my blog and promoting via SEO and Pinterest Marketing before the latter went downhill.

A few of my pins went viral, which helped boost traffic to my blog.

I was also publishing about ten new pins daily, which also helped.

Since I started focusing on SEO right from the start, my posts have consistently ranked on the first page of Google.

When I was about to reach the initial core Mediavine requirement of 25,000 sessions, they increased it to 50,000.

I was SO SAD.

I hoped I would get in so I would not have to return to my job after lockdown.

Anyway, I didn’t let the disappointment get to me, so I continued to work.

Two years later, I am ready to share how I got in with some tips.

Here’s How Towards The Mediavine Requirements

Most bloggers know how incredibly lucrative it can be for your blog on Mediavine.

So it’s understandable that everyone wants to get in and possibly blog full-time afterwards.

That’s why they had to increase their core requirement from 25,000 sessions to 50,000 sessions during the lockdown.

Many people lost their jobs and suddenly remembered that they had a blog.

They tapped into pandemic-related content; some were lucky to go viral and immediately qualify for Mediavine.

Now, things are reasonably back to normal.

There isn’t precisely a demand for pandemic content, so the honeymoon is over.

You have no choice but to face your niche and put in the work by pumping out your best content and getting enough diversified traffic to qualify for Mediavine.

So, how exactly do you go about it?

If your goal is to get into Mediavine, your blog strategy needs to be tailored around it.

Study the new requirements to see what they want and work towards it.

I’ll break down the new requirements to show what you can do to achieve them.

They include:

50,000 sessions in the previous 30 days, according to Google Analytics.

Original content in any niche as a Lifestyle publisher.

Long-form, engaging content.

Good standing with Google Adsense.

Let’s get into it!

50,000 sessions in the previous 30 days, according to Google Analytics.

This is possibly the most essential requirement.

Instead of pageviews which most ad networks use, Mediavine uses sessions.

According to them, sessions gauge how well your audience interacts with your content and monetization potential.

However, if you prefer to monitor the pageviews metrics, 50,000 sessions is about 60,000 pageviews.

Plus, it isn’t only about the sessions; the traffic coming into your site must predominantly come from the U.S., U.K. and Canada.

Obviously, these markets are more lucrative.

So how do you achieve 50,000 sessions a month?

Your entire content strategy should be based on the U.S. market.

When you’re doing your keyword research to populate your blog content calendar, your primary location should be based on the U.S. market.

Personally, I remove any default location and use worldwide, but I still get predominantly U.S. traffic.

I live in the U.K., but you’ll never find me creating content specifically for the U.K. because we don’t have enough disposable income.

As a blogger, the U.S. market should be your primary focus wherever you are, except if your site is a local niche.

Also, if you’re tapping into trends, make sure they are primarily trending in the U.S. Pinterest Trends has specific trends for the U.S., U.K. and Canada, so use that.

It will come in handy.

Sometimes, I have to go out of my way to buy stuff only available in the U.S. for a higher price to review for the traffic.

It is what it is.

Whatever your core traffic channels are, whether through SEO, Pinterest Marketing, or Facebook Groups, make sure your U.S. traffic is diversified enough and doesn’t simply come from one platform.

Diversifying your traffic builds extra credibility and increases the chances of your application being approved.

Be consistent and let your traffic grow.

Honestly, you’re not going to get 60,000 pageviews overnight.

But once you do the work consistently, the traffic will creep up on you.

Make sure your content is optimized for SEO and constant Google traffic.

If you’re using Pinterest, ensure you’re keeping up with the updates affecting your traffic.

If you’re using Facebook Groups, be specific and ensure that your group members predominantly live in the U.S.

With all these steps, you might still get traffic from other countries, which is fine, but the goal is for the traffic to be at least 50% from the U.S.

Original content in any niche as a Lifestyle publisher.

If anything, I know how incredibly hard it is to create content consistently.

In 2019, I abandoned my blog because I was too exhausted from work to do anything else.

Many people outsource their blog writing in situations like this, which can be tricky.

In my experience, instead of finding writers, I’ll still edit; I prefer to work with my capacity and write as much or as little as possible.

This means that most of my free time is spent on blog writing, but I’d rather have that slow high, quality progress than fast low, quality progress.

Mediavine wants to see that your blog has original content in any niche.

Trust me; they’ll read your blog and give you feedback during the vetting stage.

Please let us know if you can afford to hire and pay great writers who will speed up the entire process.

If you can’t, don’t feel bad.

Start slowly and give yourself a target.

Even if it is one-two posts a week, it is better than nothing.

Make sure you’re using Grammarly Premium to edit your posts.

Long-form, engaging content.

The days of writing 300 – 500 word blog posts are long gone.

Over the years, Google has been prioritizing posts with long-form content, so have the ad networks.

We’re talking 1000 and above.

Mediavine says long-form content means enough ad space to make you money.

So the longer and well-spaced content you have, the higher your chances of getting approved.

Don’t be afraid of using more paragraphs in your content.

Good standing with Google Adsense.

If you have previously used any ad network like Ezoic, Momumetric or SheMedia, you’re probably in good standing with Google Adsense, so I won’t worry too much about it.

But suppose you have used Google Adsense previously, or you have gotten warning strikes from Google for different reasons, and your account has been closed for various reasons.

In that case, you must resolve it before applying to Mediavine.

I had never used Google Adsense before, and my previous ad network, Ezoic, had never had issues with my site, so I was okay.

In Summary,

To qualify for Mediavine, you must write original, long-form, engaging content and drive traffic to your site predominantly from the U.S. by using strategic location-based keywords.

It’s honestly as simple as that.

Overall, the most important thing you must do is be patient.

Yes, many want to quit their job and blog full-time, but it takes time.

Even after you have been accepted, your Mediavine earnings take a few months to stabilize and are very dependent on the seasons.

So, slow your roll and keep your day job for now.

The general application and approval process was very smooth, and in about two weeks, I was ready to go live. Mediavine has one of the best customer services in the game.

Their support staff is accommodating and will work you through the process step by step.

My first month has just ended, and even though my earnings aren’t there yet, I’m very hopeful for the future.