I’ve usually found Google’s webmaster tools to be fairly accurate. However, I have a site that shows I rank for some pretty competitive terms.
I don’t even need to show you my analytics to prove that I don’t rank in the top 10 for [cell phone]. But if anyone trusts these rankings and would be interested in purchasing a site that ranks for [cell phone], contact me for my paypal info. 
I’m a little behind in my feed reader so I don’t know if this is old news but this is the first time I have seen localized search results when i am not logged in or there is no geo-qualifier in my search term.
Notice the local search results in the middle:
In addition to that, it appears Google is recognizing search terms that people might also need locally and offering to search by location:
There is an explanation included:
Local Search is going to be incredibly important for businesses with physical locations. A recent YOUmoz entry from SEOmoz indicates that a good chunk of clicks go to those local search results. With local search on mobile devices growing and Google placing a greater emphasis on local search (even on non-local searches), being in those coveted top results for local could make or break your business.
***Just to clarify, the marriage counseling search is client related, not personal
Automattic released a free WordPress app for the iPhone that im testing out. So far it looks pretty slick! Now I just need copy and paste…
If this doesn’t convince you to put customer reviews on your ecommerce site, I don’t know what will.
Chitika is another Ad network that I use regularly on some of my product related websites. Chitika has been around quite a bit longer and is more widely used than Widgetbucks (previously reviewed here). Many top bloggers like Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net and Digital Photography School have made hundreds of thousands of dollars from Chitika.
Chitika has a lot of options when it comes to displaying ads on your website. Their most popular (and the one I most frequently use) are eMiniMalls.
The eMiniMalls are great because they are very customizable. You can change all the color, borders, tabs, etc. Blending these into your content definitely increase CTR but also don’t stick out and look like you over-did it on ads.
The other Chitika product I have been using are Related Product Units (RPU). At one time, these were only available to certain publishers but have since been released to anyone. They can be styled via CSS to match your site exactly. They typically go at the end of a post and look a lot like the Related Post plugin.
I started using Chitika because I read that it was great for product related sites like mine. The ads are easy to use and customize. If I’m talking about a particular model of electronics, I can usually easily create an ad for that specific model. In addition to the 2 types of ads above they also have Linx (in-text link ads), Facebook Advertising, Whitespace Ads, ShopClouds and several others.
In the last year, Chitika has really expanded their line up of ads to make it a great fit for almost any website. They now have Premium Ads that are similar to Adsense and Chitika for Parked Domains so you can use them to advertise just about anywhere.
Overall:
Chitika started out really awesome for me. Just like Widgetbucks, the average CPC dropped quite a bit over time. I’m not involved in the Make Money Online community much but I’m starting to wonder if this is common practice for ad networks; reel people in and get them hooked with nice CPC averages and then slowly drop them.
Things I like about Chitika:
Things I Dislike:
If Chitika could increase their average CPC for me, it would be my dream ad network. They currently come in 2nd or 3rd each month for my top earners. With their ad units and functionality, I think they could easily be 1st. I haven’t used the non-product related ads much but if you are working with a product related site, I’d definitely recommend testing Chitika out. Based on your category, you might see even better CPC averages.
Sign up and start earning with Chitika
Disclaimer: Links above may contain affiliate codes but the review is my honest opinion!
I originally began learning SEO because I wanted to be able to make some extra income through the Internet. As a result, I’ve used several CPC ad networks and a few affiliate programs. Jumping into a new ad network can be a little scary if you already have an established website that is making money. You’re not always sure what kind of CTR and CPC averages you can expect so mixing up your current setup can cost you money.
The first Ad network up on the block: Widgetbucks
Widgetbucks is a fairly new ad network but is a product from Mpire Corporation. Their ads are pretty unique and a nice change of pace from many of the other ad networks. Here’s one sample of about a dozen or so different sizes and styles:
Widgetbucks really started out great for me. Their CPC for my category was much better than I was receiving with other ad networks. I think their rotating, colorful ads really interested people in clicking on them. My CTR with Widgetbucks was bordering on suspicious it was so high.
But as most things go, Widgetbucks took a turn for the worse.
Bad Move #1: The average CPC dropped substantially. The Widgetbucks Team worked to improve it and it eventually settled somewhere in between awesome and crummy. For the past couple months, it has held steady and a pretty decent rate.
Bad Move #2: Widgetbucks started showing ridiculous banner ads before the products. They were the classic and horrible fake “windows alert” box and smiley face emoticons. I believe these banner ads pay at an impression rate but it definitely took a cut into my earnings since my website is product based and the regular Widgetbucks ads were perfect for my site.
Bad Move #3: Pop-unders. Seriously? Fortunately, you can opt out of these. This was another attempt to improve earnings but it just comes off as over-kill and spammy to me.
Bad Move #4: Strange data issues. My impressions and clicks are pretty steady. However, there are days when Widgetbucks reporting shows 0 clicks. I’m not buying it. Another anomaly occurred on a day where my traffic really increased as did my clicks. I had earned the exact same average CPC for the previous 2 months, then the one day where my clicks double, my CPC magically cuts in half so my earnings stay the same. The next day my traffic returns to normal and my CPC increases to its normal, steady rate. Strange, eh?
Overall:
Widgetbucks is still a fairly new ad network so you can expect some bugs and glitches which we have seen. Overall, it is still a pretty decent network and my #1 earner for most of my websites. They pay via PayPal which is awesome and when I had a major technical glitch, I was eventually contacted by their CTO to resolve it (after some failed attempts with their difficult to use support system).
If you have a product related website, I’d definitely recommend testing them out and see what kind of CPC you get. Feel free to leave your opinion of Widgetbucks in the comments or contact me if you have any questions about my run with them.
Sign up and start earning with Widgetbucks
Disclaimer: Links above may contain affiliate codes but the review is my honest opinion!
We have all seen various instance of horribly placed ads or unrelated Google Adwords or other advertising. Irony? Advertising for Smarter.com.
Utah CEO Magazine’s latest edition is about “Web 2.0″ and Utah companies. Geoff Griffin wrote a great article about general outsourcing and asked me a few questions about relinquishing control when you are outsourcing to a tech company where you may not completely understand the industry. The full article is available online (after registering) as well as many other interesting web business related articles.
I’ve spent a considerable amount of time over the last 6 months diving into the world of social media and in particular, Digg.com. Everyone knows the benefit of getting on the front page of Digg is the massive amount of traffic and potentially some residual links from those that really enjoyed your submission. I never really considered that the wording and timing of a Digg submission would have such an impact on how many links it would attract.
There are many articles and tutorials about how to become a top user and get on the front page of Digg but if your ultimate goal is attracting links, how do you maximize your submission’s potential to gain links? That’s where Dan Zarrella, social media consultant, steps in.
Maximize Your Digg Submissions Link Potential
Dan took 33,322 of the 39,000 stories that went popular on Digg in 2007 an analyzed them beyond my comprehension. I was fortunate enough to get a sneak peak at his report and in it you’ll find all the information you need to maximize your link building efforts via Digg including the best categories and sub-categories to submit to, what day of the week and time of day to submit, which keywords result in maximum links and more.
From ReadWriteWeb.com’s Story on this Report and the tools Dan has created using the same data:
The Keyword Tool analyzes a specific word or phrase and returns the average number of links a story mentioning that keyword got in 2007. While the Title Check Tool analyzes an entire title string and shows you which words tend to increase links and which tend to decrease links. These tools can be used by webmasters or social media consultants to help them tweak their copy for optimal social media link attraction, or by other researchers looking to expand on my work.
Overall, I’m really impressed with the report and the tools that have been generated from gathering this data. I can only imagine how time consuming this project was and impressively, it’s available for free. I’m sure this data is invaluable to someone who makes a living off of social media optimization and using Digg.com as a link building tool for clients.
