I made another change to my revenue streams today. Relying more on Google now, which is probably a bad thing, but I'm going to try it out. I also signed up for a new service last week called LinkWorth. I have registered my site for a few different advertising options, but have yet to receive an offer for my site.

I noticed yesterday that there was a message in my Adsense account for Google Referrals. I click on the link and went through the set up procedure. Basically it is similar to Adsense in that it lays out a banner, box, or skyscraper advertisement on your page with links or images in them. They difference is that you do not get paid on the click, you get paid if the individual clicks and then signs up. Thus it is called Referrals.

How Is It Better Than Adsense?

I don't know if it is or not. I will have to wait to find out. The payout for a referral is quite a bit higher, but I have no clue how often that I will actually get a referral. I introduced it part way through yesterday and only had one click and no referral out of it.

The other thing I like is that, in the detailed reporting, they show you the exact company's referral that the individual clicked and how much it paid out. You know exactly.

How Is It Worse Than Adsense?

I had to pick the category of referral links I wanted (i.e. finance, investing, etc). It doesn't seem to pick up the page like Adsense does. Since my site has a few topics on it, I will have investing ads on a page about traveling and such. I am going to wait a week and see if this gets better, but I would think they already have my site indexed so if it was going to work off content it should have worked already.

Placement

I started with placing it at the bottom of my article. My horizontal line at the top and the square box inline with the article are my biggest money sources, so I didn't want to mess with them. I will try this for about a week and then I will try a vertical banner (skyscraper) on the side.

How To Sign Up

I clicked a link in the message they had in my account. Just look for referrals and I'm sure you'll find it.

Summary

I will give you an update after a month to let you know how well it works for me. It has replaced my Chitika advertising, which does less that $1 a month, so if this does not work I will be looking for a new company, yet again.

Post a Comment ... (0 Comments)

My latest focus is on improving the keywords used on my site? What is that? Keywords are the unique words or combination of words used in the content of a web page. Search engines look at keywords and use them in determining where or if a page should show up in the search results.

Based off what I have written, I have shown up for a variety of keywords just by my own luck. I logged into my Google Webmaster account to view the keywords analysis they have. You can view my current keywords analysis by Google below. Unfortunately, it appears there are a lot of obscure words that it uses. I am going to definitely try and analyze the keywords that have a high search frequency or have a higher payout from now on.

Keyword Suggestions

I have found a couple of free sites that recommend keyword suggestions based on search frequency and one even had the top price to purchase these words. I do not know where they get their statistics from, but it does give a good range to look at. The two sites are Overture (they are gone now) and 7 Search. I have a link now for Google's Keyword Tool as well. Both give a variety of keyword variations based on what you enter. It can definitely help you narrow down what you should use in your page.

The key to remember is that how you think is not how everyone else thinks. How you might describe something using keywords will be different than someone else who uses a different variation of keywords.

Here is my current keywords analysis be Google.

Post a Comment ... (1 Comments)

Well, it is almost here and quicker than I expected. This morning, the Canadian dollar is trading over 99 cents to the American dollar. The Globe and Mail have an article on the Loonie today.

It also strengthened against the euro, so it isn't just the U.S. currency falling this time. Canada will have definitely lost the cheapness it has with its imports, both products and services. It will definitely bode well for travelers and those monopoly products we have, but who knows what will happen for the other sectors over time. They will have felt it for the past few years leading up to this anyways.

Post a Comment ... (0 Comments)

This is just a fantastic page of photos with a description for each one. Some of the best photos in terms of journalism and "shock value".

Images That Changed The World

Post a Comment ... (0 Comments)

Sorry, just another link. This guy claims to have received an email of the best National Geographic photos of 2005 and 2006. I don't know if it is true or not or who is making this judgement, but the photos are very cool.

National Geographic Pictures from 2005/2006.

Post a Comment ... (0 Comments)

I just added Blog Rush today. If you look in the left hand column near the bottom you will see their widget. It displays headlines from other blogs.

It works by rotating various headlines through the the widget which is on other people's blogs as well. If someone clicks a link from your blog to go read another article, then you receive a credit. These credits then build up for you and factor into how frequently your blog titles are displayed on other blogs.

I think it should be placed higher on my page, but I will leave it there for now and see how well it does. I will keep you posted, but feel free to signup for Blog Rush yourself and see how it works.

Post a Comment ... (0 Comments)

You will not visit Amsterdam without seeing a bicycle. A major mode of transport. There are many an antique chained to a railing as bicyle theft is rampant in this city. No worries though, you can buy another for around 10 euros from a local vendor.

Post a Comment ... (0 Comments)

Okay. This is the last time I will write about it...I promise. The Canadian dollar went above $1.00 exchange rate with the US dollar.

Read about it on globeinvestor.

Post a Comment ... (0 Comments)

The middle of the afternoon and this airport felt like a barren land. My wife and I just sat there and enjoyed the complete peace and quiet. Ironically, only a few minutes later there was a bit of a crowd as an airplane arrived and all the passengers spilled out in the terminal.

Post a Comment ... (0 Comments)

The Cathedral Of The Spilt Blood, in St. Petersburg, is built on the spot where Alexander II was fatally wounded. It is built in the classic style of many of Russia's large cathedrals.

Post a Comment ... (0 Comments)