Archive for » December, 2007 «

04
Dec
How To Create An Affiliate Text Link Ad

If you have a blog, and have signed up for affiliate ads, through such services as Commission Junction or LinkShare.com, you know you have the choice to insert banner/image ads, text link ads, or keyword link ads.

Today’s Lesson

Adding banner or picture ads of different sizes, is a matter of copying and pasting the HTML code onto your blog page/post.

To insert a text link ad, the process is similar

Begin by typing the content for your post.

When you get to the place where you want to insert a text link ad, stop typing.

Go to your affiliate network’s website. Depending on which affiliate network you are using, you will have the option of “Banners/Images”, “Text Link”, or “Textual/E-Mail”

Click on “Text Link” or “Textual/E-Mail”.

You will see a list of link choices.

Often it will be a short sentence, or a partial sentence. Sometimes it will be the name of the company.

Choose which “link” you want to insert.

Copy the HTML code, and paste it into your post.

If you choose a sentence, or partial sentence, your post content should compliment the “ad copy”.

Do not add a “link”, as that is already included in the text link HTML code.

After adding the HTML code, continue typing your blog post.

Check to see if you need to add any spaces.

Finish your post, and edit as necessary, before publishing.

Now, just sit back and wait for the money to come rolling in. :)

Adding a text link ad is pretty simple, however, if you have never done it before, it can also be intimidating.

The easiest way I have found work with inserting ads, is by using a split screen. I have my blog on one half, and the affiliate network’s site on the other half. To accomplish this, I use the Firefox Split Browser, which can be downloaded for free, here:

Today’s Assignment

If you are using an affiliate service such as Link Share or Commission Junction, experiment with adding a text link ad to a post.

If you use affiliate ads, do you find they are working for you?

Do you currently use text link ads in your posts?

What do you think works better, banner/image ads or text link ads?

Category: Advertising, Blogging Lessons, Linking, Making Money  Tags:  5 Comments
03
Dec
Learn From Spikes In Visitor Counts

In my last post, I wrote about what can cause spikes in your visitor counts.

By studying what caused these spikes, you may be able to convert some of that “spikey” traffic, to regular readers.

Today’s Lesson

First of all, remember, spikey traffic, can be fickle traffic. Some of those visitors may never return to your blog. They came for one post, and one post only.

Applying what you learn from spikes in your visitor counts, may increase the overall traffic to your blog.

1) If your traffic increases when you leave comments on other blogs, take time to analyze the comment(s) that you left.

Did you write a “traffic building comment”. Did your comment contain a “hook” to lure others to your site?

Did your comment increase the value of the original post?

If so, apply these techniques to future comments.

In order for this to work, you will need to dedicate time to visit other sites, on a regular basis. Networking is the key.

2) Did you write a post that received a lot of traffic?

Research how visitors found that post. What keywords or keyword phrases did they use to discover it.

Can you expand on that post, without creating duplicate content.

Can you reuse those keywords again, to create another post on a similar topic?

3) If your spikes in traffic were caused by submissions to social bookmarking sites, a blog carnival, Ezine article, or a guest post on another person’s blog, using these techniques, may help to generate more loyal readers to your site.

Blog traffic can come from many sources, however, encouraging loyal readership, can only be done by providing quality content.

And lastly, once on your site, can a reader tell, at a glance, what your site is about? Is it easy to navigate?

Today’s Assignment

Do you see spikes in your traffic statistics?

Have you determined what caused those increases in visitor counts?

What methods do you find work to gain more traffic?

Does your blog encourage readers to return?

Is your content providing value?

Is your site easy to navigate?

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Category: Archives, Blogging Lessons, Increase Traffic, Stats  Tags: ,  Comments off
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