11 Actionable Tips to Easily Get Your Blog Approved by Mediavine

This past September, I was able to attend an amazing conference for bloggers called FinCon and while I was there, I got the chance to talk with an official representative from Mediavine.

Her name is Nicole Johnson and she’s the Vice President of Support.

I lead with that so that you know my advice is legit 🙂

Shortly after the conference, I was excited to share this advice with my email list! Many bloggers have expressed to me that getting into Mediavine is a goal and that they needed help to get there.

That email had great engagement and I got many replies thanking me for how helpful it was.

So, I decided to turn it into a blog post so more people could learn from an inside source on how to get approved by Mediavine, even as a new blogger.

I just want you to know…

This advice was a SECRET to my email list only and unpublished before that, so these tips might not be what you hear every day. 

Fair warning!

Sometimes, you have to change up your strategy to see results.

11 Simple Fixes for Mediavine to Approve Your Blog

I’m sure you’ve read other articles about how to get approved by Mediavine or Pinterest hacks to explode your traffic, so we’ll get right down to the specifics.

Some of what you read might be polar to how you currently think, but that’s all part of growing as a blogger.

Here are my 11 tips to easily get approved by Mediavine:

1. Publish 4 pieces of content per week
2. Score a 70 or higher on site speed tests
3. Avoid shared hosting
4. Aim for Google traffic over Pinterest traffic
5. Attract English-speaking blog readers
6. Decrease your bounce rate
7. Be careful with your table of contents plugin
8. Produce videos to prolong session duration
9. Read the Mediavine blog
10. Produce quality content
11. Focus on long-form content and avoid slideshows and quizzes

Let’s explore these a little more!

Quick little disclaimer: At the time of writing this post, my blog has NOT qualified for Mediavine, mainly due to a lack of sessions. It’s something I’m working on. So, this post is based on advice I heard directly from an official Mediavine representative, not from my experience qualifying for the advertising network. Think of me as your messenger, not your guide. 

1. Publish 4 Pieces of Content Per Week

Toward the start of our conversation, Nicole asked me how many posts I published a week.

I said…

“Well I try to get at least one post up a week, but sometimes I do more.”

I feel like that’s the every day, 9-5 blogger’s manifesto right there.

Without skipping a beat, she said “Four posts.”

Here’s the thing: you need a repository of content.

They’re not looking for viral content. They want consistent traffic.

And, when you publish more frequently, there’s more of a likelihood to gain traction on your favorite search engine (Pinterest or Google).

But, remember that quality is still important, so don’t publish for the sake of publishing.

I have noticed, though, that when I create content more frequently, search engines and social media platforms reward me with engagement, so create a content calendar or posting schedule that you can manage.

2. Score a 70 or Higher on Site Speed Tests

Nicole mentioned that they run sites through Google Page Speed Insights during their application.

So, when you test your speed, use that.

She said to aim for a 70 or higher.

Some other popular sites to test your speed on (that can be helpful in identifying larger issues) are:

• Pingdom Tools
• GTMetrix
• Web Page Test

But, if you are preparing to apply to Mediavine, make sure you score a 70 or higher using the Google Page Speed Insights test.

3. Avoid Shared Hosting

Nicole also specifically noted to NOT be on a shared server.

This is what most beginner bloggers are on.

That includes starter plans on hosts like:

• Bluehost
• Siteground
• HostGator

Shared hosting tends to be slower because the servers are clogged with a lot of sites and requests. Your page won’t load until all the resources have been served up from the data centers, so when many sites are doing this simultaneously, this can cause lags in your page loading.

You’ll want to change to a dedicated server to handle more traffic.

Some examples of hosts with dedicated servers include:

• BigScoots
• LiquidWeb
• Cloudways

My site speed is fine right now on Bluehost, but only because I don’t have oodles of traffic. I plan on changing when my traffic increases to one of the ones mentioned above.

I’m not an affiliate for hosts, so you won’t see me pimping out any affiliate links 😉

4. Aim for Google Traffic Over Pinterest Traffic

When your traffic is coming from Google, the bounce rate tends to be lower.

This means that there’s more of a likelihood for the reader to stay on your page and see all the ads.

More ads seen = more ad revenue

So, that’s not to say that you can’t get into Mediavine with Pinterest traffic. You absolutely can. And, I know plenty of bloggers that have…

But, the traffic should be consistent. It shouldn’t be viral. Pinterest is notorious for viral traffic.

Remember that an algorithm change from Google can disrupt your pageviews almost instantaneously, so it’s important to diversify your traffic sources.

If you want to focus more on Google SEO, then I highly recommend Stupid Simple SEO. My traffic has grown handsomely thanks to this course!

5. Attract English-Speaking Blog Readers

Here’s a quick way to check this in Google Analytics:

1. Click “Audience”
2. Then “Geo”
3. Finally, “Location”

You’ll see a map of traffic and a table below, such as this.

As you can see, my top 5 countries are:

1. United States
2. India
3. Canada
4. United Kingdom
5. Australia

Because the majority of my traffic comes from English-speaking countries, I’d be good to go.

It’s important to them because the advertisers they work with will supply ads in English, so foreign readers won’t be able to engage with them in the same way.

6. Decrease Your Bounce Rate

Nicole didn’t mention a specific bounce rate to aim for, but I think good practice is aiming for around 70-80%.

Your bounce rate will likely be higher if you get a lot of Pinterest traffic and lower if you get a lot of Google traffic.

Users tend to match their search intent more on Google, so the traffic is more targeted, which decreases the bounce rate.

A high bounce rate signals to search engines that your content didn’t meet their expectations, which means you’ll be viewed as inferior and they will decrease your exposure. 

Plus, with a high bounce rate, people won’t see your Mediavine ads, which means you won’t make money.

This is a great article on reducing your bounce rate if you want some technical solutions, but for most people, focusing on Google traffic is all you need.

7. Be Careful With Your Table of Contents Plugin

This was an interesting one for me.

I’ve tended to prefer using a table of contents plugin for ease of navigation. And, I’ve seen the different headers in the table of contents pop up on the Google results page.

Such as this:

But, Nicole said that when users skip sections, that means that they’re missing out on ads, which means less revenue for you.

Use a table of contents for long posts (think 2,500+ words), but shorter posts should be broken down well with headers and images to keep the reader interested in reading the entire post.

A good table of contents plugin (I use Easy Table of Contents) will allow you to disable it on a post-by-post basis. When I revisit my posts, it will be something I focus on for sure.

8. Produce Videos to Prolong Session Duration

If you have the capability to produce videos, do it.

Embed them in your posts with:

• YouTube
• Vimeo
• Wistia

Having videos increases the total time on page and that communicates to Google that your content is valuable and people aren’t bouncing.

Once you’re in Mediavine, you can go to town with the Mediavine video player.

But, be careful with videos, because they will increase your page load time. 

Call me crazy, but I do think there is something with including a YouTube video that Google tends to favor…haven’t tested it out to report on it, though.

9. Read the Mediavine Blog

That was one of the first questions Nicole asked me.

Do you read the Mediavine blog?

Do it.

There’s lots of value there that can help you.

Whether it’s font size recommendations, media kit 101 recommendations, or how to make your sponsored content authentic, the Mediavine blog has it.

And, while we’re at it, you might want to check these out from their perspective:

• The Mediavine application process
• What they look for in an application
• What advertisers want
• How long the application process takes

You should also note that while Mediavine may like your site, advertisers may not, so make sure you read up on those articles listed above.

10. Produce Quality Content

Quality over quantity.

Always.

But, use how-to posts and posts that actually provide value.

Simple product round-ups with Amazon links just won’t cut it. That’s not how you do quality. That’s quantity.

Quality is about helping people go from A – Z.

Nicole stressed that this was more important than posting frequency. If readers don’t find value, you won’t make money.

11. Focus on Long-Form Content and Avoid Slideshows and Quizzes

I love me some long-form content.

I’ve been known to write 3-4k words in one blogging sitting. Your blog posts don’t need to be that long, but they should be long enough to feature in-content ads that don’t disrupt the flow of your article too much.

If you have a lot of photos on your site, adding display ads can make your site look very cluttered.

Focusing on long-form content also means that these kinds of content won’t perform as well for advertising purposes:

• Slideshows
• Quizzes

So, avoid the slideshows (only news sites use these and they’re a pain in the butt) and use quizzes for lead generation.

Conclusion

I hope you found these tips for how to get approved by Mediavine helpful!

I know they’re helpful for me 🙂

To quickly recap, we discussed these actionable tips:

1. Publish 4 pieces of content per week
2. Score a 70 or higher on site speed tests
3. Avoid shared hosting
4. Aim for Google traffic over Pinterest traffic
5. Attract English-speaking blog readers
6. Decrease your bounce rate
7. Be careful with your table of contents plugin
8. Produce videos to prolong session duration
9. Read the Mediavine blog
10. Produce quality content
11. Focus on long-form content and avoid slideshows and quizzes

What’s your favorite tip?

When you get into Mediavine, let me know in the comments below! I really want to see you succeed, so if I can provide any more guidance, let me know.

Here’s the formal link to apply if all you needed was a confidence boost!

Cheers to your business success!