The Best Giveaway Prizes to Offer on Your Blog or Website

You'll likely find that the longer you blog, the more opportunities you'll have to offer reviews and giveaways.  However, not all giveaways are created equal.  Some giveaways will double or triple your regular traffic.  Other giveaways will only give you a modest bump in traffic, even if you take the time to market your giveaway.

What will be most popular may depend on the type of blog that you have.  However, the more the prize can be used and valued by people from all walks of life, the more popular it is likely to be.

These are some of the most valuable giveaways you can offer:

Gift Cards

Gift card giveaways are H.U.G.E.   People love gift card giveaways! 

Visa Gift Cards.  In general, Visa gift cards are most popular.  Think about it--winners can use the money for whatever they would like.  What's better than that?  This gift appeals to people of all ages and will create a lot of traffic for your blog.

Another variation of this is a giveaway that includes a gift card as part of the prize.  For instance, I once did a giveaway that offered a free subscription to a meal planning service AND a $50 Visa gift card.  That was one of my most popular contests, largely due to the Visa gift card.

Gift Cards for Stores and Restaurants.  Another popular giveaway is for stores and restaurants.  I was once part of an Applebee's gift card giveaway, and I had almost triple the number of entries I had for other giveaways.  People are looking for a way to cut costs, and getting a gift card to use for a meal out or for a clothing store is a real boon for most people.

Gas Gift Cards.  These types of giveaways are especially popular when gas prices are high.

 

Technology

You will see your traffic go through the roof if you can afford to offer a technology-based giveaway like an iPad.  These types of giveaways are pricey, though, so you may need to get creative with how you offer them.  If you don't have a company that will sponsor this type of giveaway, you can partner with other bloggers.  Say you and nine other bloggers get together to host the giveaway.  You will each donate 1/10 of the price of the prize.  Then, to enter the giveaway, respondents can do the task you ask such as liking your Facebook page, and any other task your blogging partners ask.

 

As a bonus, the giveaway is offered over 10 blogs, giving your blog more exposure.

Cash

There's nothing better than cold, hard cash.  You can make this type of giveaway easy by simply transferring the money into the winner's PayPal account.  Even a $25 cash giveaway will attract a lot of attention.  Make it even more attractive by partnering with other bloggers and offering a bigger cash prize.

These are the three most popular types of giveaways.  If you offer them, you will see an increase in traffic.  Keep in mind that some visitors only come for the giveaways and won't become regular readers, but several others might.

What type of giveaway do you find most popular?