The best online advertising service
I have tried a couple advertising services in the past: Google Adsense and Chitika. They both promised relevant ads that would attract users and convert my traffic into payouts. They were both total junk for the sites I publish.
A few weeks ago I signed up with Text Link Ads and I am convinced that it is the best advertising service for publishers like me. Text based link advertisements have been around long before this service started, and there has always been a strong market for them. It's great that there is finally a service that serves as the middleman for publishers and advertisers. If you fit the following description, Text Link Ads is probably perfect for you too:
- You have a decent site with an Alexa traffic rank at least in the upper hundreds of thousands.
- Your site fares well in the search engines and has a decent Pagerank.
- You are not at the level where you can manage your own site advertising or join a professional A-list publishing group.
- Javascript-based ads don't work for you because your audience easily ignores them or blocks them entirely.
All of these points fit me perfectly so it's no surprise that Text Link Ads excels for me where all other options fail. Let me explain why TLA is so successful and advantageous for publishers and advertisers alike:
- TLA integrates with your site via server-side scripting. They have a script for every server language as well as plugins for some content management systems, including one for Wordpress which I am using at Liquid Designs.
- Since the ads are not dependent on Javascript, advertisers do not have to worry about losing page loads to users who have extensions installed that block ads entirely (for more information, read Adblock). Also, publishers do not have to worry about complicated Javascript ad frames interfering with their site design.
- The ads function as standard HTML and are recognized as valid links by search engines. Thus, many advertisers buy text ads just because it provides an inbound link from a relevant site of their choice, which boosts their search ranking. If your own site has a good Pagerank, it's very likely that you will sell ads.
- TLA uses monthly inclusion for its pricing model rather than Pay-Per-Click, so click fraud is not a problem and you can expect a steady income.
- Advertiser get to choose the exact sites where their ads show up. This helps them target sites which are relevant to their own product, which is very important for search engine promotion.
- You can offer a page where advertisers can buy ads directly for your site. Here's an example for Liquid Designs. You can also reject any advertiser you don't want, so you are always in control and never have to worry about a tasteless ad appearing on your site.
- Your ad value is determined by the location on your page where the ads are placed, the number of pages ads are displayed on, and your site's traffic volume. You can really offer the price your site deserves.
- Once again, the ads are standard HTML so you won't have to worry about annoying your visitors. They are also painless to customize with CSS, a feature that Javascript based ad frames can't offer.
I think everyone should give TLA a try and help get the word out about the service. TLA is a great alternative to all the obtrusive Javascript and Flash ads that annoy so many users. If you have been frustrated with ineffective advertising options or you are just interested in another revenue model for your site, check out Text Link Ads.
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What is the setup like?
Good question. Here's what it entails, as best as I can remember it:
You sign up, and have your site approved by their team. You provide the description, and they decide what category your site belongs in and what the ad value is. You then put an XML file on your server which will receive the ad data. Then you upload the script in the language of your choice (in my case, a nice Wordpress plugin with an admin page). Then you just setup the information and wait until someone buys an ad. When they do, it appears automatically. After the initial setup there's no more work you have to do, unless you want to remove a specific advertiser. It's a very professional service.
One thing I did do was modify the plugin to remove the CSS it was using. I cleaned out the CSS it had and used my own CSS on it. Really the only thing their CSS was doing was making the text smaller, which was kind of dumb. Now I have plain links that fit perfectly with my layout, as opposed to those kludgy Adsense or Chikita frames.
Hi Christian sorry dude for this mistake of the "she", I've just corrected it, thanks for poking me about that. Now I'm just thinking how this little trackback in here would get to change to display its "he";-) hey dude for ads, are those text-links ads really working and can we trust it? You know since Google made an impact with its Adsense just splashing around everywhere, talking about ads just equal to Adsense and for most of the blogosphere they found it to be the most trustworthy one. Is that company behind text-links ads another trustworthy dude?
The company behind TLA is definitely trustworthy, and as for Google Adsense, I'd say they are anything but trustworthy. Google is really starting to suffer from click fraud and search spam, and while it probably won't make huge waves in the program as a whole, they're reputation might at least suffer among bloggers. Like I said, TLA is popular because they provide search-engine-friendly links, while Adsense does not. I just hope that more advertisers get into the system; I still have just 2 at cssliquid.com.