Interesting Post on Inside AdSense

Etienne Jambou from the AdSense Optimization Team recently posted on the Inside AdSense Blog is this fashion,

Imineo.com is a French video-on-demand site offering a wide variety of videos in different formats. In 2005, the site's owners decided to use Google AdWords to drive qualified traffic to their site. After setting up their first campaigns, they implemented conversion tracking to evaluate their overall return on investment. More recently, the company added AdSense to their site. As co-owner Jean-Baptiste Sers told us, "Our business model is not based on advertising revenue -- but in order to increase our AdWords spend, we wanted to use AdSense."

For an e-commerce advertiser, this might seem risky. Some might think that integrating AdSense could have resulted in a sales drop because of users clicking on the ads instead of buying one of the videos. But as Imineo team implemented AdSense, they noticed that qualified visitors came to the site with the intention to buy the videos and did not click on the sponsored links, while other visitors usually clicked on one of the relevant ads.

Imineo's strategy highlights how e-commerce sites can use AdSense to monetize traffic that usually exits the site using the URL address bar. Overall, the use of AdSense can help sites like these increase overall revenue without changing their current business model. As Jean-Baptiste put it, "AdSense has helped us monetize the visits of these other visitors and therefore increase the overall revenue/client ratio."

If you own an e-commerce site, here are a couple of suggestions.

• Try testing AdSense first on your exit pages, and then evaluate the effect it has on your sales.
  
• If, like Imineo, you find that adding relevant ads on your site does not affect your conversions, we encourage you to increase the coverage of AdSense on your site. The additional revenue coming from AdSense can help you generate more qualified traffic and therefore increase your overall sales.

Here's my take -

So where does my site's branding go? AdSense doesn't allow me to open the ads in a pop-up so a user once gone might never find his way back. I'm sure there are many intelligent users out there but not everyone. The 'lurkers' will possibly click an advert and and unknowingly make me some money but what if the attractive text that Google teaches everyone to write on Adwords takes my buying traffic away too - don't forget AdSense shows relevant ads on the site so if you are selling videos it wouldn't ask the visitor to buy a Lamborghini.

Starting of the last month Google sent out letters to publishers whose business model they did not like and the next month they are suggesting to use AdWords and AdSense on the same site. Apparently what they did not like was getting cheap traffic from MSN and Yahoo and then show them ads by Google.

But they have done a good job - limiting the post only to e-commerce websites - but why would an e-commerce website owner want to show other ads unless he doesn't care about the image he wants to create for his brand. Not the best of ideas unless all you are looking for is to please Google and earn some quick money.

Backdrop Song - Minerva - Deftones

Traffic To Your Blog - Links

I'm sure you want your blog to have lots of traffic and to get that you need links.

I'm not talking about incoming links. Everyone remembers that they have to work their fingers to the bone to get those.

I'm talking about outgoing links.

If you simply reference someone else's blog in your post and link to it, you won't do your traffic size much good. You won't do it any harm either though and but you'll help your site.

When you mention what's happening on other sites, yes, you risk sending people away before they've hit an ad. But you also show that you're part of a community and that you're up to date with what's happening in your field. It might cost you a few clicks, but you'll help to build trust.

And when the owner of the blog you've linked to sees your post, there's a very good chance he'll link back, replacing those lost ad clicks.

The other kind of link takes a bit more work. If you've seen a site that impresses you, instead of just linking to it, you could contact the person behind it and write about them. When you tell them that their profile is up, what are the odds that they won't put a link to it on their site?

So it's not only about incoming links but outgoing links as well. Well said - Joel Comm

To monetize your blog, all you need is a blog and an approved Google Adsense account. But to really earn money, you'll need traffic.

Backdrop Song - Elite - Deftones

Google Adsense Fraudsters

Have told you people about how smart Google is and that you can't get around them!

Here's more on that - not from me - but read on

http://www.sofizar.com/adsense-fraud.php

Keep it in mind when you monetize your blog with Google Adsense!


Backdrop Song - Seven Nation Army - The Whitestripes

Adsense Simplified

Recently, I pointed out that blogging can be an excellent way for people to start earning with AdSense. It takes no effort at all to get a blog up and running on Blogger and you pretty much start with one ad well blended at the top of the page.

But there's a difference between starting with AdSense and making a good income from it, and that's really the goal, right? I'm sure that most bloggers who put ads on their sites would really like to see their entries making so much money that they can kick the day job and make their living as a professional blogger. They'd be getting paid to talk about their favorite topics, and what could be better than that?

There are some people online who do exactly that. But you've got to do a lot more than put one ad at the top of your Blogger site -- however well-blended it might be -- to become a professional blogger.

First, most professional bloggers run more than one blog. They often run several. They also talk about a lot more than their families and their points of view. They give valuable information that people can use in their own lives or their businesses, and best of all, they become the center of a community in which other people swap tips and ideas. So if they're travel agents, they can write blogs that reveal how to find bargains. If they're accountants, they can warn about hidden tax liabilities.

That's valuable content aimed at a market that wants it.

And then there are the ads.

You could tell readers how to choose next week's winning lottery numbers but if you don't have ad units in the best places on the page and showing the sorts of ads your users will want to click, you won't get a penny from the winnings. You'll have to know how to make sure AdSense is serving the ads you want to receive. You'll have to know how to make those ads stand out while still blending in. And you'll have to know how to follow your stats so that you can leap on a drop in earnings as soon as it happens.

It's a combination of creating valuable content, smart AdSense strategy and a good knowledge of Internet marketing too. Just get that -- and it's really not too hard -- and you can be a professional blogger too.

http://www.adsense-secrets.com/

Backdrop Song - Break on through - The Doors

Highway to Hell

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Backdrop Song - Hum Kis Galli Jaa Rahe Hain - Atif Aslam

Affiliate Marketing

Next in the series of 'monetize your blog' is affiliate marketing.

Selling a product which isn't yours on your website is the simplest definition I could think of for affiliate marketing. Here you are the affiliate and whose products you sell is the merchant. So if your blog is about Monday Night Soccer, you might sell jerseys and accessories.

For your traffic to buy, all you need to do is place a banner or link of the merchant on your site which takes the visitor to the merchant site where he spends and you earn!

Affiliate programs are available for anything and everything from flowers to lingerie and from car and hotel rentals to condoms, there’s one for every blog. Merchants even pay you for sign ups on their sites. Payment arrangements vary from percentage cut to per sale or lead you generate.

What you need to do is find an affiliate network, which wouldn’t charge you for an initial sign-up. Some that do are either hoax or are too big and don’t want to risk it with small affiliates like us. Once you have signed in, find a program suitable to your site and subscribe to it. Take a banner or a text link from the program and place it on your site, strategically, where you think its going to convert. Mind You- Don’t fall for programs which promise you the world and you end up a big LOOSER.

Blogs have been very popular in the affiliate marketing industry which pays well. Start with your friends buying through links on your site and ask them to spread the word. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising your blog could get. Better still – if you want to take a loan, sign up for a loan affiliate program and use the links to get yourself a loan – use for it for anything you can think of.

Backdrop Song - Give Me One Reason - Tracy Chapman

Monetize Your Blog

In the materialistic world of today who wouldn’t be interested to squeeze out dollars even from his hobby. Many bloggers have commercialized their blogs and the prospect of earning has driven many a non-bloggers to step into this virtual community. There are many who earn a living out of this and others in a process to reach that stage. Everyone wants to quit desk jobs and work from home.

But the question is how to earn money through blogging? The only requisite is that you must have a blog. So if you still don’t – what are you waiting for- make one and monetize it.

ADSENSE
For those who haven’t got a clue about AdSense try and remember visiting a site where you saw –ads by Google followed by (usually) 3 ad texts- That’s exactly how AdSense would reflect on your blog as well. AdSense is the content search network for Google and MSN calls its counter-part AdCenter and Yahoo has its own too. A visitor to your site clicking the ads generate revenue for you.

Relevance of the ads to your blog and its placement determine your revenue which is often very less. But with a little touch of promotion in the blogging community and your family and friends would see some money flowing in and satisfy your ego!

And mind you its Google you are dealing with so you know that you have complicated algorithms and fraud tools to detect your bad conscience. Continued / Frequent clicks from the same computer would result in having your account banned for ever without paying the residue.

But it still is an easy way because all the effort it will take is a week’s wait for the approval of an AdSense account and then pasting the code into your blog carefully.

Backdrop Song - Youthanasia - Megadeth

Professional Blogging

Ever since web 2.0 came out of O'Reilly's mind it has generated huge interest and has set many a minds at work. One of the foremost things in the concept of Web 2.0 is user involvement which forms the basis for blogging which started out as a means of putting one's thought in front of the e-community is now shaping up to be a powerful and defining professional tool. More and more corporate bodies are now investing time and money in preparing corporate blogs. Thus comes in picture a professional blogger.

The amount of research and study that goes in writing a blog is sure to reflect in the text and will come under the scanner. Corporate personnel would not want to spare this magnitude of his time and energy into writing, creating a vacuum to be filled by a professional blogger who researches and pens it down instead to keep online corporate profiles rocking.

A company might also weigh down an idea of hiring a blogger in the office because the fellow will be - I believe - so lost in the corporate world. The best option here would be outsourcing this bit to professionals.

Long hail the content writers of this age of world wide web and web 2.0 will have a new role and designation - PROFESSIONAL BLOGGER.

Backdrop Song - Bombtrack Track - R.A.T.M.

Hell Yeah!!!

You know what...my blog is worth $1600 odd and whoa i think its time to do something serious with it! And so here goes my bragging session - a couple of my other blogs are now at $1100 odd and I guess its my turn to be rich. My desktop now hosts busty bikini babes - first level of richness - or am I just being pervy. Dunno much and like i care.

Its 2 at nite and in a couple of hours I will be driving out for my weekend. And spirits would be high ;-) coz I got blogs worth $4k.

But just to keep you blawgers interested, I have something more informative to post and would soon find time for it. Not a good time to type now, haven't slept and wouldn't be getting it soon.

Backdrop Song - Freedom - R.A.T.M.

Smashing Bugatti Veyron Smashed

A Bugatti Veyron worth ₤830,000 owned by Kumar Soni, 41 year old business met with a fatal accident a week ago. Fatal not because a living being died but because the car might just not be coming back on the road again.

A Bugatti Veyron is the costliest car, hand-made in France where it is now heading for repairs. It was cruising at 100mph on a 40mph stretch by Kumar's brother it is said.

The car hit a 7 month pregnant lady's car but lady luck prevailed and she escaped unhurt. Amazingly or ironically, it was towed away by the same person who had delivered it to them two weeks ago. And the driver was left by the owner to walk home in the rain.

Backdrop Song - Bombtrack - R.A.T.M.

EUREKA EUREKA

For a rookie like me, I have surpassed my expectations. For someone more learned it'll be a joke. Like I care. But the question is what did i manage to do - integrate the Google Analytics code in this very blog.

And the next GOAL - integrate the how much is my blog worth thing. Should be a cakewalk - please forgive my over-confidence. Its already worth some $500 odd. And man am I not impressed with myself.

Brimming with pride I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight. I'm a rich man and would soon need to have busty bikini babes around me - its a measure of wealth I believe. A private jet - private island - soccer ground for parking limousines - oh my GAWD I need to hire a secretary at once and an accountant and bodyguards and a pilot too.

Backdrop Song - Yellow - Coldplay

What is a BLOG?

Blog is short for what in technical terms is a WEBLOG. They are the creations (apart from ones who have limited computer knowledge i.e Ctrl C and Ctrl V) of the man behind it (forgive my sexist ways!). It can be called an online journal, diary, post or a script of the human mind.

A blog reflects the author's thought on a subject / object. Blogs could take a philosophical bent bearing in mind the level of intoxication of the author. It could be about a hap or mishap, political or social, an essay or poem, a story or your day's report.

The earliest forms of blogs were forums and threads which were a sequential conversation between e-participants with discussions ranging from petite personal issues to vital political statements.

Well I find blogging to be a vent for the molten passion deep inside. I'm sure there's something everyone has to share and what better way!

Just be yourself. Its your space on this world wide web. Write whatever and connect.

Backdrop Song - Fistful of Steel - R.A.T.M.

Midnight Adrenaline Rush

So whats the whole buzz for blogging all about?

Baffled and confused here i am writing my first blog ever. Maybe some years hence, I'll be looking at it and wondering what a fool I was. Maybe I'll be praising at what a start it was. Have nothing in my mind so am here to find more about how this thing works. People have found careers here, some have found their best friends here. I'd be lucky to have a best friend like blogger. Filling up a slam book - best friend - blogspot!!!

I wonder how many more things there are that i am yet to discover. I don't want to die without knowing each and every one of them. But blogging should be my best find till date. I can do it without anything on my mind. I'll find something more about this hitherto unknown world and vent the vacuum out.

I'm not sure if it's enough for now but am leaving. Have to think of something for the next blog. My only constructive thought in all of my being. Am already feeling better.

GAWD am out.

Backdrop Song - Thoughtless - KoRn