If you have but one ad unit the ads displayed will be the cream of the crop. If you put multiple ad units on a page the lower cost per click ads will also be displayed giving more opportunity for your visitors to click on an ad that will give you a lower income. This could be a two edged sword. Is it better to get a low value click, but a click, or to hold out for only the higher value clicks.

In addition there may be two sides to this coin. It appears that low click through rates can also affect the quality of ads displayed on your site. I suspect that it is more a function of click quality than quantity. My guess would be that a low click through rate that leads to the advertiser’s most wanted action would not cause a problem. If your visitors click on ads and then only glance at the advertiser’s landing page then the click may be considered low value. With the better quality ads your visitor is more likely to spend some time on the advertiser’s page and you may get extra points for that.

Basically the theory makes sense to me. I have wanted to have the larger number of opportunities to click available but I also want to maximize the value of a click. I decided to add another ad network to my arsenal. NetKlix was mentioned in a blog post as an alternative to AdSense. I looked up the NetKlix site and signed up for an account. I received my account approval email this morning.

Some of the things that were attractive to me about the NetKlix program were the ability to control the colors of the ads and the ability to select categories of ads to match the content of the site. Google does a great job of targeting AdSense ads to the content of the page, but Google has the infrastructure to do this realtime. Smaller networks might not be able to target the ads so well, but the capability to select ad categories should be a big advantage.

The sign-up process was relatively quick and painless. The most time consuming part was reading the full Terms & Conditions document. That along took far longer than the 5 minutes that they talk about, but if you read that first the rest of the steps would probably fall within the time frame for most people.

After I signed up and got my codes and installed them on a couple of sites, I thought that I should check NetKlix a bit further. I used the usual Google search terms to dig up a little dirt. Most of what I found was not too current (2007-2008), but there were a few complaints.

Some of these complaints appear to have been addressed, but there is still a major problem from my perspective. It appears that the NetKlix ad inventories are non-existent for the categories that I selected. Before my approval there were some generic ads displayed on my sites. These were not very high quality, but they showed that the ad code was working.

Today, when I checked the sites after my approval, there were no ( as in zero ) ads displayed on either site. I looked at the page source code and my ad script does show up, but there is nothing displayed. I suspect that the categories that I selected for these sites have no ad inventory.

These sites are two of my highest traffic sites. I will need to do some further testing, but that will need to be done on some less important sites. I really need to maximize my income from these sites that have the most potential.

The other network that I have heard about and went on to investigate a bit is Chitika. The positives that I saw with Chitika were a low payment threshold and the demo did return good quality ads for keywords that I tried. I was not particularly enthused about the thumbnail images displayed with each ad, and no mention of color options was made in the material at which I looked.

None the less, I think it is time that I revisit the Chitika site. I don’t want to put affiliate banners up on the sites, but I do want to offer the opportunity for my visitors to pay me a bit more. Testimonials on the Chitika site say that these ads have provided an additional income stream without negative effect on their AdSense income.

What other ad networks have you tried, if any? Have you had experience with either NetKlix or Chitika? Please leave a comment! Thanks!

In order to maximize their revenue Google displays the relevant ads that have the highest cost per click first. If you have only one ad unit on a page you get the cream of the crop. To fill additional ad units with unique ads you get down to the lower tiers. The first ad in the first ad unit may be worth a dollar a click while the last ad in the last ad unit may be worth a nickel. By using less ad units per page you are more likely to display high value ads.

With the new ad set-up I can display just one Google ad unit on each page. The theme that I use, and probably most WordPress themes, presents some information on the front page that they do not present on post pages. On post pages I have a large rectangle Google ad unit between the post title and post content. There was also a wide tower unit in the sidebar. By positioning the tower unit in the section that is only displayed on the front page I can now display only one Google ad unit per page. I do not use the large rectangle on the front page.

I replaced the Google tower unit with another networks tower unit, and moved the Google unit down to just before the meta section. This falls between my category links and my external links sections. Then after the external links is the Google tower unit on the home page. On post pages I have my large rectangle and the tower unit from my second network, but the Google tower unit does not display because it is located within the sidebar content that only shows on the home page. My visitors will see two ad units on each page, but only one Google ad unit on any page.

I went with NetKlix as my second ad network partner. They were the first that I found when I began my search. Perhaps I should have researched a bit further, but there was a recommendation from a blogger and the program seems to fit with the site, so I filled out the application and now have NetKlix ads on my most active site. I will probably put some of their units on a couple of other sites soon, and then I will see how they perform.

The possible down side that I see from this is that now there are two payment thresholds to meet. If the Google ads are really of more value than it may not make a difference as far as payment frequency. On the post pages the Google ad has the prime territory. On the home page the NetKlix unit is above the Google unit, but if a user scrolls the entries they will be exposed to both. Most search traffic is sent directly to a post page, so this will be an interesting experiment.

Have you tried other ad networks on your sites? What have the results been?

When you go into the AdSense set-up section along the way you are offered the opportunity to identify the ad with an ad channel. You can use this feature to discover which ad placement and the type of ad that works best for you with your content and lay-out.

To do this you would need a unique identifier for each ad unit. I would suggest adding a suffix to the name to identify the type and placement of ads. You might start with the site name or some variation of the name. The suffix might include a number for various positions on the page and you might add a letter to identify a link unit or an ad unit. You might divide the page into sections like:

1. header
2. left column
3. center column
4. right column
5. footer

Using a letter like ‘l’ for link unit and ‘a’ for ad unit would complete your ad channel designation. For an ad unit in the center column your ad channel identifier might look like:

mysite-3a

When you check your AdSense Report you would immediately know which ad is producing your income. You may find that a particular ad position works best with your content. You may also find that what works best on one type of page does not work as well as some other position on a different type of page. Using the ad placement that works best for the type of page can improve your income.

If you have several sections on your site like content pages, a blog, or a forum you may wish to add an additional identifier for the various sections. This would tell you which sections of your site are producing the most income with what ad position. The more information that you collect the better you are able to optimize your site.

When first starting out with AdSense you may not realize the value of the information that Google makes available to you. I used the same ad units and link units across several sites for too long. I have just begun to update these units to provide more information. I am enjoying improving AdSense income as a result.  You may be able to improve your potential as well.

By: Michael Cordova

A landing page is a special purpose website workhorse page that is produced for one goal – to persuade the website visitor to convert into a customer by converting into a lead. It is the most powerful tool for Pay Per Click advertising campaigns.

This landing page quick reference guide ensures that your landing pages convert at the highest level. It is divided into 4 sections and is intended to be an all-inclusive white paper.

Most importantly, consider that you have eight seconds or maybe less than that to convince your visitor to act. If you haven’t convinced the visitor in this time then your mark will leave to another site to find their solution, since the web has created the most fussy buyer in sales history.

PAGE LAYOUT

• Your logo should be at the top-left of the page. Visitors expect your logo in this position so exhibit your company branding where it counts.
• If the visitor came from a search engine keyword search or a Pay Per Click ad then place the keyword words in bold at the top of the page. This reinforces to the visitor that they are at the right place.
• Always keep the Golden Triangle in mind. It is the most important and scanned part of the page. The Golden Triangle is the area of the web page from the top left of the page to the top-right of the page then moves down to the bottom-left diagonally just above the fold. The fold is the area of a website page that the visitor sees without scrolling down. You should never force a visitor to scroll horizontally to see your message. This means that your landing pages must ideally be able to be seen completely on a 1024 x 768 screen resolution. Place your most important messageM in the middle of the Golden Triangle.
• Contrast your Calls to Action with respect to the rest of the page – use different colors, use round vs. rectangular shapes, straight vs. slanted, cold color vs. warm color, big vs. little. Make sure you can spot the Call to Action from 6 feet away.
• Place assurances, testimonials and guarantees in the far-right column.
• Place the logos from proper associations or online companies on the side or at the bottom of the page to show credibility – BBB Online Reliability, certified by…, Alexa rank (if your Alexa ranking is low), powerseller, 24 hour support, live support, credit cards supported, open 24 hours a day, Hacker Safe, Truste, Verisign, Chamber of Commerce, as seen in Entrepreneur Magazine, etc.
• Don’t place external links on a landing page except for the following – links to your home page, contact us and privacy policy pages. Links to your contact us and privacy policy pages will increase your Adwords quality score.
• Having said the above, always place your privacy policies or a link to the privacy policies page on the landing page. This instills confidence.
• Think of Amazon.com. Their Call to Action is the hotspot at the top-right of all pages – add to cart, one click ordering, etc. Consider a similar tactic.

WRITING STYLE AND CONTENT

• Results of many tests have shown that the most effective tool on a landing page is your offer. Ensure you have a powerful offer that speaks to your visitors benefits – and make sure you test different offers for effectiveness.
• Spend time on your strong points – A Unique Value Proposition (UVP) and set is the core differentiator of a company’s product or service from those of its competitors. Put it into the heart of the Golden Triangle. A perfect one will describe your market and the key difference between your competitors and your own company.
• Write in scannable sections without long paragraphs. Visitors scan pages instead of reading all of the text on them.
• Write with section headers and sub-headers summarizing the text that follows.
• Use bullet points as much as possible so visitors can scan them quickly. Search engines prioritize bullets instead of extended paragraph text.
• If you want to add a picture then ensure that the picture is going to reinforce your message. You can easily lose significant conversions by having the wrong image on the landing page.
• If the landing page purpose is to publish an article or white paper then make an image of the article or paper with large, readable text and place it on the page.

THE FORM

• Keep the number of form fields as small as possible. This is important to getting them to complete the form.
• Add a Comments textbox asking for visitor input. It is key to qualifying leads. Those that describe the services they need should be contacted as soon as possible. Here are some titles you can use for this Comments box:
• What problem can we solve for you?
• What is your projects purpose?
• Please list your goals for this project.
• How can we help you?
• In case your site visitor doesn’t fill-in the Comments box on the first page, add a 2nd page with only a Comments textbox on it requesting visitor comments again. Tell them that if they fill in the Comments box now they will receive an extra free article that is germane to their visit. These visitor comments are important.
• Present the visitor with a checkbox that says something like “YES! Send me the free gift that will change my life.” It is the psychological method of coercing them into completing and submitting the form.
• Prominently list the valuable purpose of completing and submitting the form. Make sure to write in terms of user benefits instead of your service features.
• Ensure you save the form information into a database then send the visitor an email as soon as the form is completed so you can immediately contact the web site visitor. The lead’s effectiveness drops significantly with the passing of time. You should contact your lead within minutes.

LANDING PAGE BLUNDERS

• Text that presses the sale too much
• Landing pages that aren’t optimized for keywords
• Using your website home page as a landing page
• Graphics or text not relevant to the landing page – limit copy to only the point of the landing page
• Long forms with unneeded fields – limit your form to what is completely essential
• Fonts that are difficult to read
• Unnecessary navigation leading off of the landing page
• Placing important persuasive copy below the fold

Author Resource:-> Michael Cordova writes about technology and builds SEO optimized WordPress websites. He has been doing Internet marketing, search engine optimization since the beginning of the Internet. BEFORE YOU GO call Michael at (303) 744-2178 for a free initial SEO website evaluation or contact him from the 21stsoft.com links above.
Article Provided By: Published-Articles.com Article Directory

I do think that the plan offers some potential and I am following the plan on my other blogs as well. It does take some time and if I see value I will tune the technics for best performance. I am doing a lot of things that are considered good practices and combining various elements to come up with an overall program that I hope will be workable. I will continue with this program, and add any tweaks that I think of along the way, for long enough to determine if the program will work. It would be nice to see some immediate results, but that is not reasonable to expect. The things that one hears over and over is that one must take action, and one must stick with a program for a period of time to see results. That will be the only way to evaluate this plan.

I will report on the progress at some point in the future. If there are significant results the report may be sooner, but I will give this program some time to get a good evaluation. Stay tuned for further comment on this plan.

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I may need to investigate further. All of the domains are hosted as add-on domains in my hosting account. That means that they all have the same IP address. The serving software at iSnare may not be set up to deal with a situation like mine. The information that I have been able to find is a bit limited. I did not see any notice that this was not allowed or would not work. I registered several accounts because the address is required for the script and there is no way to add additional URLs within the account. I want different subject matter for each of the blogs.

Time will tell, I guess. Has anyone else used this service? Has anyone been able to use it with multiple blogs from the same IP address? Tell me in a comment. Thanks!

I also found an alternative that I like better in some ways. There is a bit more work involved but the result conforms to the article marketing terms of use. The author’s resource box is retained and the article keyword list is supplied. This is a free service of iSnare, one of the frequently mentioned article directories. There is a free script that you put into your blog folder that populates article drafts into your database. You are free to choose the articles that you use.

I had tried a similar service from ArticleUnited, but was very disappointed with the results. The iSnare service seems to be much better. I will be adding it to a couple of other sites this week. I added it to the MC Rally site this evening. That is one on which I had the other service installed. There were only three articles that the script ever pulled and they were not well targeted. The new service had pulled at least a half dozen articles when I checked this evening. They are primarily on one topic, so I may spread them out a bit.

I will test this a bit more and then provide the links, but Google knows now if you ask the right questions.

The Deep Link Engine was provided as an incentive to sign up for a mailing list on what is known as a squeeze page. The developers have their own auto-blogging plug-in that is offered in a program that went live today. I suspect that part of the reason that DLE works the way that it does is so that it will auto-populate links on the auto-blogging sites. This should improve the performance of the blogs.

The grand experiment of the title is an emulation of the new program offered by the DLE developers. It is not as fully automated as their program, but it should be a fair test of the potential in some ways. I put a blog up on a sub-domain space. Sub-domains are not as good as top level domains at drawing traffic. I picked a popular niche. While it will be harder to promote the site in the competitive environment the potential for reward is high. Clicks on ads in competitive markets return higher payouts and there are many high paying affiliate programs. If I am able to drive some targeted traffic to the site there is a chance for a payout. My only expense for this is the time involved in setting it up and overseeing the project. I already have the hosting space and a sub-domain is just a special part of an existing domain.

I have now looked at three of the initial articles that were returned. The first one has almost no content. It appears to have started life out as an affiliate text link with the affiliate link stripped out. The second was either written by a seriously non-native English speaker or was scrambled by the spin software on the article server, or perhaps a little of both. The third article is perfectly readable and of reasonably good quality.

I did have a bit of a problem getting the plug-in to work on the new blog. I jumped through a couple of hoops and was able to get it operating. I then tried to add the plug to a couple of other blogs without success. I jumped through all the same hoops but there was no joy in the end. I have some work to do on the new blog and then I may investigate the difficulties with the other instances. It may be that only one instance can operate on the server. Perhaps a reseller hosting plan would work differently.

Have you tried auto-blogging? What were your results? What software did your use? Leave a comment about your experience or thoughts on the subject.

This plug-in would be fine for an auto-blogger who does not want to mess with the content at all. If you are generating original content and would like to display only relevant blog posts this is not the plug-in for you.

I peeked at the net through Google’s eyes and do not see much in the way of negative comment. There does not appear to be enough experience with the plug for glowing comments either. While looking at some commentary I ran across a free WP auto-blogging plug-in. I think that I will go and try the two of them out together. If I hit the mother load I will let you know! Off to do a little research.