October 12th, 2006
You are allowed to place AdSense code on your forums with no limitations, but the problem is that AdSense (as well as other CPC networks) poorly performs with forums. People visit and participate in forums to discuss things and not to search information.
Forums are also not doing well with CPA (cost per action) networks - people are not in the mood to buy something when they browse forums.
The list of adv networks suggests that you should focus on CPM (cost per thousand impressions) networks (plus text link and direct adv sales) – they pay for impressions, not clicks. Exactly what you need – forum visitors can view 5-10 pages or more at one visit to your website.
But if you read, for instance, ValueClick guidelines you will discover that it is not allowed to use their adv in the forums. And this is a CPM network you can join more or less painlessly. Casale, BurstMedia and TribalFusion (other CPM advertising industry leaders) do not forbid the use of their codes in the forums (as far as I know). But it is much harder to be approved by these networks.
So, you should search for some second tier CPM networks that will accept your forums. As a result, expect much lower payouts. Try MammaMedia and RightMedia or contact other networks from the list asking if they are willing to accept forums.
Summary: CPM or any other kind of advertising is good for your forum or website when it is established. Do not spend hours of searching for networks and setting their code if you have low traffic.
This website also runs a forum on links that is supposed to be a sort of service. But it is ridiculous to place any CPM adv there with its traffic volume.
[tags]what are best affiliate programs, seo, internet marketing, affiliate marketing, make money online, home based job, earn your living online[/tags]
Posted in Monetization | No Comments »
October 12th, 2006
With AdSense as a top earner for most website publishers it makes sense to properly research the potential of the program. It is probably the way to start monetizing any type of website (remember to read the program guidelines as it is not allowed to place AdSense codes on certain website types (adult, pharma, etc).
No doubt, the best place to start is the official Google guides including heat maps for blogs:
And for forums:
With that knowledge it is good to browse tips and tricks of experienced AdSense users. You can find a few e-books for sale, but you can save your money and find the same information available for free.
The questions to be answered:
- what ads to place (search box, ad links, ad units)
- where to place those ads on the page
- what ad sizes perform better
- how to blend the ads into your content
- how to rotate the ads colors
- how to get rid of free public ads
A few links that should help you to find the answers:
AdSense Herbal Remedies – start with this one
Top 10 AdSense Tricks To Boost Your Commission
AdSense FAQ
Google Adsense Secret Tips & Optimization Tricks
A look inside Google AdSense
JenSense – Making Sense of Contextual Advertising
Summary: There are incessant discussions that Google AdSense program is doomed, there are click fraud actions against Google all the time, but it is the easiest and most profitable way to earn money for website publishers available currently.
Yahoo! Publisher Network offers higher payouts, but the program is in Beta and accepts a limited number of website owners. It has also more strict rules and closes users’ accounts for many reasons.
You can find more Google AdSense competitors here.
[tags]adsense, adsense tips and tricks, cpc, seo, internet marketing, affiliate marketing, make money online, home based job, earn your living online[/tags]
Posted in Monetization | No Comments »
October 11th, 2006
Every person in affiliate marketing looks for best affiliate programs. And they try to get this information in many ways. I have posted on my affiliate income from miscellaneous networks. What are your ways to find out the best affiliate programs to generate maximum income from your websites?
- Start with testing what types of affiliate offers work with your traffic. Here I again refer to my stats.
- Join the most popular networks (if you are not sure what the recent buzz is – check forums or find the blogs you can trust).
- Browse the network offers (as a rule they provide information about best performing ones).
- In order not to miss indie affiliate programs explore websites that are directories of affiliate programs (but these directories are rarely updated and nobody deletes inefficient programs) and include offers from companies that run their affiliate programs in-house. I am personally skeptical of this type of programs. The company should be with a brand name and among the industry leaders to make me to sign with it.
- Make a research of your top competitors (preferably, leaders in your niche): they are likely to keep their affiliate offers updated. See what offers they promote, what types of advertising they combine on their pages etc. This is one of the greatest advantages (and at the same time disadvantages) of the virtual world – you can learn practically everything about your competitors without much efforts and funds applied).
Summary: Best affiliate programs are something different for each webmaster. And you should revise your advertising mix now and then. New players, new leaders, expired offers, etc. I think you should consider your website monetization as a separate kind of your weekly routine.
But do not spend much time working on this while you have low traffic. Even top offers do not work if you have no visitors – a tip from my experience (though it is so obvious, you would feel tempted to place maximum offers, but of no avail).
[tags]what are best affiliate programs, seo, internet marketing, affiliate marketing, make money online, home based job, earn your living online[/tags]
Posted in Affiliate Marketing, Monetization | No Comments »