Some bloggers swear that the easiest way to make money is by independently selling advertising space on your blog, be it in the form of banners or text links. To me, this sounded like a great idea. I had visions of building this blog up, hitting a decent page rank, and then having the power to be able to sell links and banners and make some real money online.

Then I was pointed in the direction of this on Google Webmaster Tools:

We work hard to return the most relevant results for every search we conduct. To that end, we encourage site managers to make their content straightforward and easily understood by users and search engines alike. Unfortunately, not all websites have users’ best interests at heart. Some site owners attempt to “buy PageRank™” in the form of paid links to their sites. Buying links to improve PageRank violates our quality guidelines.

Google uses a number of methods to detect paid links, including algorithmic techniques. We also welcome information from our users. If you know of a site that buys or sells links, please tell us by filling out the fields below. We’ll investigate your submissions, and we’ll use your data to improve our algorithmic detection of paid links.

Where did this come from? If paid links are against Google’s quality guidelines, where does that leave the likes of Text Link Ads who make money for everyone in the blogosphere, including John Chow.

In Google’s quality guidelines I found this:

Don’t participate in link schemes designed to increase your site’s ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid links to web spammers or “bad neighborhoods” on the web, as your own ranking may be affected adversely by those links.

I understand that Google wants to try and stop websites using Page Rank enhancing schemes, but surely this will have a backlash. For a start, there is an area in Google Webmaster Tools where you can tell Google about a site that you think is buying or selling links. I suspect this will inspire a situation in which people will start submitting their competitors’ websites, creating a vicious cycle.

What this means is that us bloggers have to be particularly careful about how we use this information. For example, if you have a section in your sidebar titled “Sponsors”, you might want to change that to “Recommend Links”, or something similar.

Matt Cutts had this to say on his blog on July 25:

As always, webmasters are free to do what they want on their own sites, but Google reserves the right to do what we think is best to maintain the relevance of our search results

When you think about it, this would be a sensible move were it not going to have such a gargantuan and confusing knock-on effect. The problem is that Google cannot tell the difference between a link you sell on your blog to someone who wants clicks and exposure to a link you sell to someone who wants page rank. And as for link exchanges, which are effectively the same thing as buying/selling text links, Google will have its work cut out to spot the difference.

How this will play out, particularly in the blogosphere where many top bloggers sell text links will be interesting.

Tags: Text links by Angel
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I’ve been searching for an ad campaign to run alongside Adsense. All the pro bloggers emphasize that you should not rely on Google for your earnings. I have Text Link Ads set up at the moment, but as I’m busy building up content and not publicizing my blog, those haven’t sold yet.

I’ve seen a few blogs that use Auction Ads. Auction Ads is a simple ad service that advertises eBay auctions in an ad unit. You can choose your keywords, select what size ad unit you want, and customize the colors. I’m not convinced of the virtues of Auction Ads for a blog like mine because it’s isn’t based on being paid for the number of clicks you generate. You can have all the page impressions and clicks you like, but if you don’t score any conversions (ie if nobody buys anything or signs up) then you don’t make any money.

I haven’t seen many bloggers who have used Auction Ads to make much money. It’s difficult unless you’re blogging about a specific product-related topic, like mobile phones or computers, for example.

Pro Blogger had this to say about Auction Ads:

Traffic is going to be a consideration too. CPC programs like AdSense pay out each time there’s a click on an ad so there will be income even with small traffic. CPA ads like Auction Ads will payout less often because they require the reader to DO something (buy, register etc). As a result I’d expect to see less conversions with these ads - a lower percent of your readers will actually convert to dollars.

So if you have decent traffic on a product related site this might be a program to try. It could also be worth setting it up as the ‘alternate ad’ for your current AdSense and/or Chitika ads.

It doesn’t sound too promising, but Million Baby Boomers earned $75.56 in 33 weeks using Auction Ads. I like to think I could earn that and more with a clean layout and decent, uncopied content.

At first I considered running auction ads on my front page in between all of my posts. I implemented the ads in that way and didn’t feel convince that people would click, let alone buy something. For a start, the banner ads have images that are way too small to discern what the product on offer is. I took a note from Desi’s blog and added an Auction Ad block to each single page, just above the comment box.

By doing this I was able to have a big enough block so that people could see the image. I’d like to minimize the clutter on my front page, and having Auction Ad banners between all my posts just wasn’t cutting it.

I’m not expecting to generate big bucks from Auction Ads, but until I can get accepted by something like Chitika, and until my blog will be approved by websites like Pay Per Post and Review Me, I may as well try what I can.

Tags: Monetize your blog by Angel
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I read blogs just like the rest of you, but when it comes to blogs I don’t like, I’ve taken on board what I consider other blogger’s mistakes and tried to avoid them. Here are my top five reasons for leaving a blog.

1. I can’t find the “About” and “Contact” sections: There is nothing more annoying than getting to a blog and looking for these sections and every variation of them imaginable and not coming up with anything. These parts of a blog are fundamental if you want your readers to care about anything you say. I should know, I’m a reader. If there is no “Contact” section then that gives the impression that the blogger is trying to hide something. An “About” section is needed because I want to know who is behind a blog before I commit to it.

2. A messy template: Wordpress has hundreds of themes that don’t need any modifying, so why some bloggers choose ugly templates that are difficult to navigate is beyond me. When I read a blog I want everything to look clean, simple and light-colored. I don’t want hundreds of little widgets and popups and confusing images disturbing my reading pleasure. The best blogs keep everything minimal, and the worst throw dozens of adverts up in random order.

3. Arrogant bloggers: Yes, I want to be in a position where I’m making money from blogging, but few things turn me off from great blogs than an author who gloats about his or her earnings. Stating your earnings is sensible and needed, but using it as a tool to make yourself look good is like an ugly quality. It makes a blogger look desperate and unsure of him- or herself. I also don’t like bloggers that patronize and write their blog posts for children.

4. Poor Adsense placement: Make Money Online with a 13-Year-Old is an interesting blog, but the huge Adsense block at the top of the page is distracting and confusing. It isn’t obvious that it’s below the title of the first post, and from that bad first impression you don’t feel inclined to take any notice of his posts. I’m also still confused how a 13-year-old (who is actually 14) knows so much about credit cards.

5. Blogs that have videos or audio files that start automatically: It’s like MySpace on some blogs. Million Baby Boomers is a prime example. When I log onto that blog, which has some great content from time to time, I find news reports and videos starting up left, right and center. It’s too much, and I end up leaving the blog almost straight away. When I’m browsing and using multiple tabs and playing my own music, I don’t want a blog to start adding its own sounds.

Tags: Blogger rant by Angel
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