CPM is one of the simplest metrics to strategize. It stands for cost per mille, which means how much revenue a publication earns for every 1,000 impressions an ad gets.

A CPM calculator takes the amount of impressions an ad unit gets (say, 500,000), divides it by 1,000 (500), multiplies it by the CPM (say, $5), and lets a publication know how much it’s expected to earn from that ad unit (in this case, $2,500).

What Impacts CPM Calculator Results?

Not all CPMs are the same. A wide range of factors impact publications’ CPM rates, including:

1) Ad types, ad placements and readers’ device types. Different readers respond differently, which is why it’s important to test.
2) Your industry or niche. Different topics within the same industry can impact CPMs as well. For example, ads for new cars will likely generate more revenue than ads for car cleaning products.
3) Geography. Advertising to some locations costs more than others, whether it’s because a certain country has more resources or a certain region is more relevant to the product. If a publisher’s audience aligns with the advertiser’s goals, the publisher will likely earn more.
4) Purchase intent. If your reader is actively looking to purchase a car, car advertisers will likely be willing to pay more for her impression.
5) A publication’s inventory. The more ad units you have, the more opportunities to earn.

How Publishers Get Their CPM Calculator to Show Better Results

If a publication gets paid by the amount of impressions it delivers, the simplest way to increase CPM revenue, or the result it sees in its CPM calculator, is to increase its traffic.
But there are other ways, too.

Publish Longer Content

First, it provides an opportunity to integrate more ad units without hurting the reader experience.

Second, keeping readers on the site longer signals to Google that there’s high quality content here, and Google itself will send you more traffic.
Third, the more time readers spend with you, the likelier you are to retain them.

Increase Reader Retention

Create reader journeys that keep readers on the site beyond their initial page. Not only will they consume more ads (and provide more impressions) in the same sessions, but they are more likely to build an emotional connection and trust with the publication.

As a result, they’re more likely to remember the publication, come back to it and share it with their friends

Encourage them to sign up to your email list and retarget them with ads to keep building that relationship.

Publish Profitable Content

Use the CPM calculator and your analytics to understand which types of content (topics, formats, lengths, etc) provide the highest CPMs, and publish more of that.

Think Long Term

The more ad units you have, the more impressions you’ll deliver, but bombarding readers with 20 ads on a short page will not encourage them to stay and give you some extra impressions long term.
Create a high quality experience, and you might end up getting a large number of monthly impressions from each reader for years to come.