Blogs...a rant

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   Uninvited Writerposted 15 years ago

   I joined Adgitize just to get some traffic for my blog. It seems to work, I'm gettng a bit of traffic.
   
   But what I want to rant about is how ugly some blogs that I have seen through Adgitize are.  How can anyone in their right mind think that someone is going to read a blog that is all advertising above "the fold"? I had to scan down 2 full pages on two different blogs to find any content at all. People need to realize that the esthetics of a blog are also important. I bet these blogs do not make much money, that is why they put every single blogger advertising system on their front page. I tried Eurocard for a while but I notice that since I took it off my blog I have gotten a lot more hits from Google. Adgitize doesn't seem to hurt...but I could be wrong.
   
   On my new blog I am taking some advice I read on ProBlogger, that a new blog will do better without advertising until it is established and that people will be more likely to subscribe to your blog if there is none. Then when you get decent traffic you should put your ads up.

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      Lissieposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Susan - please, please don't waste too much of your time with the advice from Problogger - hes one of the classic misleading a-listers - he doesn't make his money from doing what he preaches - he makes his money because he was one of the first bigname bloggers and has a huge following because of it!
      
      The whole point of putting advertising above the fold is for people to say - ohh yuck nasty looking blog - and click on the ad to escape - which gets you paid! Mind you 2 pages of ads means that they don't know what they are doing and will probably get reported to Google  as a made for adsense site at some stage if they are successful. A niche blog with Adsense advertising can do well -but its not designed to get readers or repeat visitors its designed to get clicks!
      
      I haven't used agidtise and dropped entrecard, these blog traffic exchanges are basically a waste of time because you get readers rather than people looking for a solution to their problem.
      
      If your new site is another excellent book review site then I suggest that you do provide people with an ad to buy the book right on the review - why not - you are providing a service - they will be happy to pay your commission because you helped them. Its why I run ads and get sales on my lissowerbutts.com blog - I only recommend what I use and generally write a review of the product so people know what it will and not do for them.
      
      I wouldn't however run Adsense, agidtise or any other ads on your blog- they are a distraction - why get a 5c Adsense click when you can get a $2 book sale commission? Run the best paying ads for your niche and for you  I am sure that will some sort of online book shop  - run the exact ad that matches - ie the book not just a general search box.
      
      Pay attention to seasonal search traffic too - graduation gift books, mother day gift books, whatever.
      
      Find real blogs in your niche that may have your target audience and leave intelligent comments or even ask if you can do a guest post.
      
      Basically thanks to some recent controversy (not intentional and I don't recommend it) - I am finally getting new traffic to my blog who aren't "friends" who have followed me from here on other forums I am active on. The new traffic will hopefully become buyers. They may not be buyers today - but I may build up a trust relationship with them and they will buy later. At the end of the day though the blog will never be a huge money maker of mine and is more therapy than a commercial venture LOL

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         agvulpesposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks lizzie this is sound good basic information and is worth repeating .

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   RKHenryposted 15 years ago

   Interesting.  Thanks for the tips.  I'm new to all this, so I appreciate dialog such as this to learn from.

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3. 85

   Everyday Miraclesposted 15 years ago

   RKHenry, I didn't recognize you with the new avatar! Whoah! LOL
   
   I have a hard time creating themes for blogs, depending on the blog platform. I am not versed in php at all and the harder I try to learn it the more frustrated I become. The best I've been able to accomplish has been to edit a theme created by somebody else.
   
   I have noticed though that several commercial or readily available free themes for Wordpress seem to be specifically designed for heavy advertising. I quickly leave any site on which I can't quickly find what I'm looking for.
   
   I think that might be an important consideration for anyone who is considering creating a personal website or blog.
   
   I've fooled around with this on my forums, too, testing putting the announcements forums at the bottom of the page instead of at the top. Unfortunately this tends to result in them getting overlooked. I know that when I've done forum reviews it is frustrating not to be able to find the rules and privacy policy!

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      RKHenryposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Hey, Hi!  Glad you noticed.

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   Everyday Miraclesposted 15 years ago

   I did love your old one though!
   
   Are you thinking about a blog?

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5. 58

   Herald Dailyposted 15 years ago

   I've never heard of Adgitize but I think that I will check it out, just to see what it is about.  Thanks for mentioning it.
   
   There's no doubt about it, there is a tremendous amount of junk online.  I have to wonder if blogs/sites that are about 90% advertising actually make any money.

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6. 79

   Uninvited Writerposted 15 years ago

   Thanks Lissie. I do plan to have Amazon ads in my newest blog. I'll write author biographies and link to their books on Amazon. I just won't have Adsense and other ads. I found before when I had my own website that I did well with Amazon when the books matched what I was writing about.
   
   On my Uninvited Writer blog I have some AdSense and I am actually making a few cents from it. I like to have a nice blog to look at so I won't put too many ads on it. Of course, the optimum would be to get some big name advertisers in the literary or book world; but I would have to get some big traffic there first.

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      LondonGirlposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I'm totally with you, I loathe blogs were you have to scroll down to see anything beyond adverts.

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   cindyvineposted 15 years ago

   Hey Uninvited Writer, could you list my books on your blog?  One of them is sold through Amazon

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