Design And Monetization

Good design draws a reader in instead of repelling them. Good design makes your web site appear more credible. Design is secondary to content, but it’s an important cornerstone of your web site’s foundation. Since design is subjective, mastering the design that works for your web site is a task you will never really consider completed. There is always room for improvement, and experimenting is the only way to wade through the hits and misses to arrive at the elements you want to keep.
Think of your website’s monetization as being part of your design. You should. Those ads are eating up real estate on your pages. People see them. Thinking of your web site’s monetization as an aspect of your design is important, regardless of whether the herd has already hit your site or whether you are still building traffic. Bad monetization can set back the hard work you’ve put into the rest of your design and keep your web site from generating the income it is capable of producing.
Your web site should be designed with monetization in mind, so that you can produce some income from your pages without your readers feeling like you are cramming ads down their throats. On Wordpress this means having headers, footers and sidebars that are optimized for placing ad content. On one of the popular CMS solutions this means having enough module positions in your template for flexibility in ad placement and display.
Make an effort to have the ads you place on your web site be relevant to whatever your content is, if possible. Some niches are harder to pair with products, some are easy. Nobody is going to click ads for nutritional supplements on your World of Warcraft blog.
Pursue private sponsors that are perfect for your web site. The ads are perfect for your reader. Your web site is perfect for their targeted traffic. Private ads usually look an order of magnitude better than pay per click ads. Private ads mean guaranteed money every month. You may end up developing important relationships with your sponsors that will benefit you down the road. They may give you a crack at reviewing their hot new product, or better yet, may send you one gratis.
Don’t monetize too early? Look, if you have a design and more than a page or two of content, go ahead. It may not produce, but it won’t kill you to try. You won’t make much money, but you’ll get some experience with placement, design and different ad providers.
Don’t overmonetize? Boy, this is really subjective. We have different opinions on what “too much” means. Just don’t let your content or your design suffer because of your monetization. I’ll use the example of the blog I found who had a PayPerPost affiliate banner in between every_single_piece_of_content on his site. Too much.
Ad positioning. Some locations pay, some don’t. In my experience the sidebars don’t get too many clicks, which is too bad because it’s a nice place to put ads that doesn’t interfere with your content. Same goes for the footer. Above the content is by far the best. Immediately below the content is good (It gives the reader somewhere to go). As far as ads within content goes, this can be the most successful strategy of all. The caveats are A) don’t annoy your readers and B) don’t pursue monetization at the expense of your content. Undermine that and the ad revenue will surely go south. Your article should still flow, and if you place your ads the same way you place images, it will. Don’t let your content be overtaken by your attempt to produce some income.
Since more often than not you are not the one designing the ads you will place, in many instances you will still have some degree of control over how they display on your page. A good rule of thumb with pay-per-click ads is to either A) make them blend into your pages or B) really make them stand out. I have always gone with strategy A and felt that my ppc ads performed as well as can be expected.
Advertisers don’t care if your web site validates or not. If you do, you better check your XHTML validation on the pages you have placed ads on. Many advertisers have sloppy code in their ads that will break your XHTML. A common culprit is use of a ‘language’ declaration in javascript. XHTML doesn’t allow it. Remove the offending snippet from the code and replace with type=”text/javascript” and you’ll be alright. Generally you can make someone else’s ad code validate, but there are cases where it’s just plain broken. If someone can’t be bothered to make ads that will validate, I can’t be bothered to publish them on my web site.
If you’ve read any of my articles on Connected Internet, then you know that I am not a fan of text link ads. They offer very good money for very little space. They will almost never give you something that is relevant to your niche, which is my first issue with them. My second and overwhelmingly strong issue with text link ads is that they will hurt your web site. That good text link income comes at the expense of your web site’s relationship with Google. If you do not care about that relationship, by all means, take the money and run. If you do care, then be advised that your pagerank and location in search results will suffer from having any kind of paid link on your web site. This is your decision. I am absolutely not anti-text link ad, but I have made the decision that using them is contrary to the goals I have for my web site. If using them is not going to set back your web site as far as what your goals for the site are, then you’d almost be stupid for not using them. They represent a fantastic, guaranteed source of income if you can get them. Just be aware of the issues surrounding Google’s stance on paid links.
Following these tenets of good design will help you monetize your web site in a way that will complement your design and content, allow you to make some money, and not have your readers think you are more concerned with the lucre than you are them. Content is king, but that doesn’t mean you have to wrap it in a brown paper bag. Whether the thought has crossed your mind before or not, your monetization is part of your design. Give it the same consideration you would the other aspects of your site’s design.

PPC Summit Unites Thousands of Online Marketers with Pay Per Click Experts

PPC Summit has expanded its event schedule to educate more online marketers around the country and abroad in 2008. The summits will unite pay per click advertising experts with online marketers during educational, interactive two day summits scheduled for cities across the USA, Canada, and London. The Summit speakers, who are leading industry experts, share their pay per click marketing secrets and successful campaign management tactics.
(PRWEB) December 17, 2007 -- PPC Summit announced plans to extend its reach to online marketers in 2008 with educational, interactive two day summits scheduled for cities across the USA, Canada, and London. The Summits will connect thousands of marketing and advertising professionals with leading industry experts who will uncover pay per click marketing secrets and successful campaign management tactics. Based on the growing number of advertisers who are requesting more information about Pay Per Click, PPC Summit has evolved from teaching one day classes to expanding the content and offering 3 focused tracks designed to appeal to beginner and advanced search engine marketers.

Helvetica, sans-serif; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.ppcsummit.com/" alt="Link to website">Many of the folks who consider themselves qualified users are shocked at the little things they were not aware of that have been costing them money all these years Focused on helping advertisers learn the many facets of search engine marketing, the Summit experts ensure that every attendee walks away with the ability to maximize PPC opportunities, out perform competitors, and increase marketing ROI. Attendees have been able to take these campaign strategies back to the office and see instant results. "We'd been doing Google Adwords for the past year. We never received any conversions. We are now receiving 2 - 5 PPC leads per location every day (at a whopping 5 - 10% conversion rate), when we were receiving none before," said Jonathan Praklis, New Horizons Marketing Manager
PPC Summits focus solidly on advertiser education: how to spend less money, more effectively, with better results http://www.ppcsummit.com/agenda.html "Many of the folks who consider themselves qualified users are shocked at the little things they were not aware of that have been costing them money all these years," said Mary O'Brien, PPC Summit Founder and CEO. "We are thrilled with the positive feedback we have received about our workshops and the level of interaction and participation of the attendees has been incredible," continued O'Brien.
The Summits are designed to remain small, so that attendees have an opportunity to interact with presenters, build peer relationships and gain answers to their most burning industry questions. The speakers have years of experience managing pay per click for clients and share case studies, client tactics, testing results and strategies for successful campaign management. Attendees will also have the opportunity to test drive new cutting-edge search engine marketing solutions like BidHero, a component of the new Lyris HQ integrated marketing platform from Lyris, Inc., that has an integrated approach to optimizing PPC campaigns and ROI. "Whether you are managing 10 or 10,000 PPC campaigns, BidHero automatically imports all campaigns into a single interface so they can oversee campaigns across multiple search engines," said Dan Robbins, Director of Marketing for Lyris, Inc.
The PPC Summit 2008 event schedule is set for Dallas, Boston, Vancouver, London, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. For complete registration details, please visit the PPC Summit web site at http://www.ppcsummit.com/register.html
To learn more about PPC Summit events, or information about sponsorships and partnerships, please go to http://www.ppcsummit.com
Contact: Kelly LarsenMarketing Manager PPC Summit(360) 554-9683 ext. 707

PPC Summit Unites Thousands of Online Marketers with Pay Per Click Experts

(PRWEB) December 17, 2007 -- PPC Summit announced plans to extend its reach to online marketers in 2008 with educational, interactive two day summits scheduled for cities across the USA, Canada, and London. The Summits will connect thousands of marketing and advertising professionals with leading industry experts who will uncover pay per click marketing secrets and successful campaign management tactics. Based on the growing number of advertisers who are requesting more information about Pay Per Click, PPC Summit has evolved from teaching one day classes to expanding the content and offering 3 focused tracks designed to appeal to beginner and advanced search engine marketers.

Focused on helping advertisers learn the many facets of search engine marketing, the Summit experts ensure that every attendee walks away with the ability to maximize PPC opportunities, out perform competitors, and increase marketing ROI. Attendees have been able to take these campaign strategies back to the office and see instant results. "We'd been doing Google Adwords for the past year. We never received any conversions. We are now receiving 2 - 5 PPC leads per location every day (at a whopping 5 - 10% conversion rate), when we were receiving none before," said Jonathan Praklis, New Horizons Marketing Manager
PPC Summits focus solidly on advertiser education: how to spend less money, more effectively, with better results http://www.ppcsummit.com/agenda.html "Many of the folks who consider themselves qualified users are shocked at the little things they were not aware of that have been costing them money all these years," said Mary O'Brien, PPC Summit Founder and CEO. "We are thrilled with the positive feedback we have received about our workshops and the level of interaction and participation of the attendees has been incredible," continued O'Brien.
The Summits are designed to remain small, so that attendees have an opportunity to interact with presenters, build peer relationships and gain answers to their most burning industry questions. The speakers have years of experience managing pay per click for clients and share case studies, client tactics, testing results and strategies for successful campaign management. Attendees will also have the opportunity to test drive new cutting-edge search engine marketing solutions like BidHero, a component of the new Lyris HQ integrated marketing platform from Lyris, Inc., that has an integrated approach to optimizing PPC campaigns and ROI. "Whether you are managing 10 or 10,000 PPC campaigns, BidHero automatically imports all campaigns into a single interface so they can oversee campaigns across multiple search engines," said Dan Robbins, Director of Marketing for Lyris, Inc.
The PPC Summit 2008 event schedule is set for Dallas, Boston, Vancouver, London, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. For complete registration details, please visit the PPC Summit web site at http://www.ppcsummit.com/register.html
To learn more about PPC Summit events, or information about sponsorships and partnerships, please go to http://www.ppcsummit.com
Contact: Kelly LarsenMarketing Manager PPC Summit(360) 554-9683 ext. 707

Content networks see largest increase in click fraud

It isn't just paid search advertisers that are feeling the pinch from click fraud. Content networks are also feeling the pinch. According to a recent Click Forensics report, click fraud on content networks increased 28% in Q3 2007.
by Kristina Knight
Just over one in four ads running on content networks like Google's AdSense or Yahoo's Publisher Network were fraudulent in the quarter according to the report.
Tom Cuthbert, president and CEO of Click Forensics said, “Advertisers, publishers and search engines need to take notice because content networks are becoming the fastest growing source of click fraud. Ensuring their quality is essential for the pay per click advertising market to continue its growth.”
Traffic quality on content networks has also been shown to have a decrease in quality. Parked domains are part of the problem, according to the report. According to the report traffic from parked domains is especially poor.
Overall, click fraud was shown to have increased only about 1% during Q3. The average click fraud rate was just over 16% during the quarter, up from 15.8% in Q2. For Q3 2006 the click fraud rate was reported as 13.8%.
What this means for marketers using paid search or pay-per-click ads is that the source of traffic from the ads needs to be checked as well as the keywords purchased. The best keywords for a particular product could be purchased from the legitimate PPC ad platform, but if the traffic being brought in isn't legitimate or if the traffic is poor, advertisers won't see the kind of ROI they would like.

Top Position Launches Own Brand Credit Accounts For Pay Per Click Advertisers

Leading online advertising consultancy Top Position has launched own-brand credit accounts for pay per click advertisers. Rolled out on the Google platform, pay per click credit accounts from Top Position are designed to ease cash flow and increase performance for companies advertising their services on Google AdWordsMaximising on and offline effectiveness, a Top Position credit account gives advertisers greater control over advertising expenditure with detailed cost reports issued at the beginning of each working week. “Top Position credit accounts are an ideal solution for businesses wanting to spend larger amounts on their pay per click advertising while retaining control over company cash flow,” said Daniel Jupp, managing director of the Google-certified agency. “In addition to credit terms, advertisers can rest assured that their pay per click advertising accounts are being managed with science and creativity with the focus on growing return on investment and targeting more relevant traffic.” Although credit accounts are currently restricted to AdWords campaigns, there are plans to roll out the system across other major advertising platforms including Yahoo and MSN. With offices in five European countries and a new North American headquarters in San Francisco, pay per click credit terms are also valid for multi-lingual PPC management. Founded in 2001, Top Position specialises in pay per click and SEO Digital Marketing. Managed by a team of specialist search marketing executives, online journalists and internet advertising technicians who work with clients around the globe, Top Position has been named one of the UK’s top digital marketing agencies, is Google certified and a Yahoo Platinum agency. Find out more at www.topposition.co.ukEditor’s Note: Please direct all press and media enquiries to Rebecca Appleton. Tel: 0800 040 9192 or email: Rebecca@topposition.co.uk About Top PositionFounded in 2001 by British entrepreneur Daniel Jupp, Top Position is an award-winning digital agency with a presence in five European countries. The latest addition to the Top Position network is a North American headquarters in San Francisco, California. Top Position’s SEO digital marketing service is an industry first, combining tried and tested search engine optimisation techniques with digital marketing activities. Top Position is a Google-certified pay per click management consultancy and Yahoo Platinum Search Marketing agency. Website Link: http://www.topposition.co.uk