17
Apr
2008
Posted by Mihaela Lica as Advertising
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Everything you do online needs a grain of dedication if you want it successful, so if you want to make money with your site you’ll need to dedicate all your efforts to finding the best ways to achieve your goals.
I discussed in a previous article the advantages and disadvantages of using graphic ads on blogs, and I focused more on the 125×125 pixels banner format which is the most popular among bloggers. You can see them even on the right sidebar here, at eWritings.
Depending on the ads’ target and the content of the blog they could or could not be successful, and I emphasize again that ads that are related to the topics of your site have more chances to convert than miscellaneous ads. Also remember that 125×125 pixel banner ads might work for some bloggers, while you wait endlessly for a click. If that’s the case, maybe you should try using other ad formats that blend better with your design.
Another important trick is to choose the ad service that gives the higher conversions per click. I’ve been testing many such services for eWritings and client blogs, so that today I can easily make a list based on what I learned so far.
LinkWorth doesn’t have the best user dashboard in the industry, but once you get used to it you’ll find that the service has excellent features for both partners and advertisers. The customer support is excellent and the payments come in time.
Once your site is approved – which generally happens very fast – if you have decent traffic and good linking scores you’ll start receiving requests from the advertisers almost immediately. I recommend that you check each site before you approve new ads, to avoid linking to sites that might be detrimental for your brand. You can sell all types of ad space on your site with LinkWorth – and what’s even better you set your own price.
This took the blogosphere by surprise and generated enough pros and cons to make it clear to everyone that the system was not doomed to fail. PayPerPost was the first “sponsored reviews” type of service that really worked. Even nowadays a PayPerPost campaign can be successful if conducted wisely. Advertisers should understand that sponsored reviews should not be focused on gambling the Google algorithms by generating new links.
I successfully tested PayPerPost to monetize some blogger blogs (never at eWritings) and to generate buzz for clients. I no longer use PayPerPost as a monetization system (I still use the affiliate feature), but I still use it as a great advertising channel.
It always worked for me, but I had times when I protested against Google by removing their ads from my sites. Now their system is better and fairer, made for adsense sites stopped invading the search results, the ads displayed are no longer irrelevant to the content of the site, so I have no reason to protest. Google Ads are also the safest way to go when you want to monetize your site. As you know, Google has the strange habit of penalizing sites for selling links and text link ads, but it will not penalize sites that display ads by Google. Of course, if your text link ads are generated with a script that makes them no- indexable by the search engines, you are out of the danger zone.
Also, you should know that Google has all types of ads in the book: from banner ads in different sizes, to video ads, RSS ads, mobile ads, text ads and referrals. The AdSense program is complex and it leaves room for experimenting.
The ad networks mentioned above worked best for me, but there are many other services you could test:

11 Responses
Andrew Flusche
April 18th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
1This is a great review of different ad services. I certainly agree with you that LinkWorth is top notch. Heck, I’ve thought about starting new blogs just to cash in on more LinkWorth ads.
In all fairness, they did update the control panel interface. It used to be really bad. Now it’s just “meh.”
Yvonne Russell
April 18th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
2Hi Mig
This is interesting. I hadn’t heard of LInkworth and good to hear a positive report about Google Adsense.
Thanks for the info.
Yvonne Russell
April 18th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
3BTW - Love the new look on your blog… very relaxing colors and a clean calm look.
Mihaela Lica
April 18th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
4Hi Andrew,
What surprised me is that there is not enough buzz about LinkWorth. Many “make money online” gurus recommend Text Link Ads. I suppose each blogger recommends what works best for him. It makes sense. Text Link Ads never worked at eWritings, and in general the revenue they generate is lower. That’s because of the market saturation.
It’s interesting to hear that LinkWorth updated the dashboard. Each time I go there I feel lost. LOL. This is though their only drawback. I am sure that if we write a few compelling reviews with some good suggestions they’ll improve.
Mig
Mihaela Lica
April 18th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
5Hi Yvonne,
it’s true that LinkWorth is not very popular, probably that’s why they work.
The payouts are higher and the affiliate program brings about 50 USD per signup (if I am not mistaking - I have to log into my account to check that, but the scary dashboard keeps me away - LOL).
Google AdSense works for me, this doesn’t mean that it will work for everyone. What’s even more surprising is that it works best on sites with less traffic than on TerraHermes for example - this one reaches 8000 uniques per day at times. I suppose it’s because the layout is somehow too cluttered. I just started this blog, I didn’t experiment with ads placement enough.
Thanks for the comment on the new design. I felt the need of a cleaner look and the Blogging Experiment Theme seems to be the best solution. It took me some time to customize it, but I am now happy with the result.
Mig
Matt Keegan
April 18th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
6I gave up on PayPerPost last summer even though I made $1300 from them in April 2007 alone — it just wasn’t the direction I wanted to take with my blogs and I agree: it was doomed to fail!
Mihaela Lica
April 18th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
7There are now too many low quality blogs in the network and too many advertisers who still don’t understand the role of a sponsored review. As a monetization system it still works for many bloggers, but you are right: not for what you do with your blogs. For some of us PayPerPost is not even an option. I sometimes accept requests from Sponsored Reviews at eWritings, but that’s it. (I think I have at least one per month and the last one was for WetPaint).
As I said, I still use PayPerPost as an advertising channel, especially when dealing with product announcements - and it works. The conversions are awesome, but it is very hard to write the requirements in such a way that only quality blogs take the opportunity. PPP is a challenge.
James - DigitalKeyToInfo
April 19th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
8While I have heard of Linkworth, I have never looked into it. I will make sure I do now.
Congratulations on the new look.
Mihaela Lica
April 19th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
9Thank you James.
About LinkWorth, I looked at your stats a bit and it looks like you might get $15-$20 per ad. I might be wrong - they have special algorithms they use to calculate prices, but I see no reason why you should get less.
Ed Roach
April 29th, 2008 at 4:20 am
10Great information Mihaela. I’ll check out Linkworth for sure. By the way I really like your new look here. Different from most I’ve seen. Nice work.
Ed
Trisha Frauenhofer
June 19th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
11You made a very important point about the ads on your sites needing to be related to the topic of the site. This is how you get targeted traffic. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in the last 3 years is “Targeted Traffic pointed towards a Targeted Website or Sales page equals Cash In The Bank”. Thanks for sharing!
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