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True, this did give me a few bucks, (literally just a "few" because I was getting very little hits at the time) but on a more important note, i think i lost many prospective websites that may have linked to me... Because I had some good, original content, BUT... i found:
Most sites dont want to link to sites with ad's... These ad's were unobtrusive, but most sites I find are much more inclined to link to sites with no ad's at all.
And because google works where the more sites that link to you, the better your search engine pagerank/position.
So here's a tip: I think it's best to WAIT to put ad's on your site, so that you will get more links, so you will be placed higher in Google. Then maybe a year down the road, when your gettin lots of hits, maybe add a little ad, and start makin some real money!
It might kinda suck at the time, your like, dam i wanna join an affiliate program, or put some ad's on my site RIGHT NOW, and make a little money so i can atleast pay for this dam domain and hosting costs! But I think if you wait till you actually start getting hits, it will pay dividends.
To sum up this whole post in 1 sentence:
Good original content + no ads = more links from websites = higher rank in google.
PFOnline
[edited by: PFOnline at 10:02 am (utc) on Oct. 21, 2002]
Now I get people emailing me to ask for links and if they can link to me :)
Take google itself for an example:
Imagine if google started off there site with a big fat banner ad on the front page of there site, think they would be where they are today? Makes ya think don't it. :P
I have 9, yes: 'Nine' banners on my 'site'.
And i don't have any problems with my ranking.
[You probably have the everflux, with fresh tag cause your code changed by removing the banner-code? and maybe not]
anyways, my banners don't hurt my ranking.
<added edited later> actually after counting there are 6 banners and a popup. And my visitors like it, and so does Google.
[edited by: ikbenhet1 at 10:08 am (utc) on Oct. 21, 2002]
Pleaze....
I have 9, yes: 'Nine' banners on my 'site'.
And i don't have any problems with my ranking.You probably have the everflux, with fresh tag cause your code changed by removing the banner-code?
anyways, my banners don't hurt my ranking.
ikbenhet1, I dont think you understood my post right. I didn't say having banner ad's on your site would hurt your ranking, I said, if your a new site starting off, sites are less likely to link to you if you have them.
[edited by: PFOnline at 10:13 am (utc) on Oct. 21, 2002]
If the site looks good even if it had a banner i would send visitors even if it's new. but no mass traffic unless you have mass traffic too.
Somebody linked to me the first time i made a 'website' so i'll would links to new sites that look promising, i'll be fair.
Now certainly I wouldnt link to a site that has ads (or links) to direct competitors, and that maybe the case with sites that do a LOT of advertising especially with common affiliates. I guess some think, why should I link to a site that may make advertising revenue from my visitors when I should be? I think those 2, especially the first one on competitive advertisers, maybe more the cause than just having ads in general.
Generally people still link to the NYT, Yahoo, CNN and MSNBC news items and many sites that are absolutely packed full of advertising. But if they have good original content that cant be found elsewhere, originality and quality wins over the non-ad look!
I see no problem with a site with ads, but you will do better having something like this:
Star Wars Geeks - The latest DVD for Episode 2 Came out
and blah blah and blah blah
and blah blah
and blah blah
and blah blah
and blah blah
and blah blah
and blah blah
if you want the DVD yourself - click here to go to Amazon.com
THAN THIS:
BIG BANNER FOR AMAZON
and then article.
The thing that cracks me up about google and their competitors seem to fail to realize - is that Google makes MORE money for their advertisers than a banner ad ever will.
Google appears to be cleaner and less advertising related, but all this does is give advertisers better results for their money.
Back to the original comment - sure less ads are better to get people to link to you, but you don't have to sacrifice profit for this. If people would spend more time understanding how people and what people click on - they would make so much more money.
If you were selling books, then why use a banner?
Then clicktru rate would be low, i suppose.
But the banners on my site look like pic's, even if people don't click, they will like the things they see :)
To me this seems to make sense. After getting popular, webmasters will be more keen to reciprocate links as you already have some web presence.
Just my take on an idea that seems to ring true.
Cheers
Below that, there's all the "sales pitch and informational content for the products I'm pitching" and then below that is all of the primary affiliate and merchandising links for that product. Conversions work fine, inbound links are rarely refused (though some are ignored from the big sites that don't link to many sites, period).
I do agree, though, that if your page/site looks like its primary purpose is to get people there and then send the visitor to another site, then for the person linking to you, it's silly to do a recip. You're never going to get your visitors to your links page as you're trying to send them away as soon as you get them.
Remember, 80-90% of the sites out there are completely unaware that PR even exists - even many that have been around for ages. They look at link exchanges as a means of getting a little extra traffic and/or brand recognition and exposure. If the page they are linking to tries to send every visitor to another site and not explore the site they're recomending, I don't blame them for not linking.
G.
I don't think ads are going to hurt you if you follow four simple rules:
1) Run only relevant ads. (For example, if you have a tech-support site for PC users, it's okay to run banners for memory upgrades...but it's a bad idea to run ads for credit cards.)
2) Don't run ads for questionable products or services. (Banners for Internet casinos, porn, or debt consolidation will turn off Webmasters who otherwise might linkto you.)
3) Don't run pop-ups or pop-unders. (Some Webmasters won't link to ANY sites that use pop-ups or pop-unders; others, including myself, won't link to such sites unless the sites are so good or so important that linking to them is almost a requirement.)
4) Don't go overboard on ads. A page that's cluttered with banners, skyscrapers, buttons, and e-commerce text links will turn off users AND other Webmasters.
I had my first amazon.com sale within a week. Wasn't much money, but it helped to motivate me.
I agree with europeforvisitors on the other stuff.
if your a new site starting off, sites are less likely to link to you if you have them.
I think this is a gross generalization! If your site has good, sought-after information, cares whether it has ads is not going to be an issue for those who wish to link to it.
We have two fairly new sites. Both have ads on every page as well as Amazon store sections. They have from day 2 or 3.
Both have excellent Google ranking and both are linked from major sources in their categories.
We never had to ask any of them to link to us. They do it because our sites address niche issues and have an abundance of useful information about those subjects.
So, my advice would be to plump your sites up with hefty useful information which make the fact that there are ads on them irrelevant.
