Green Llama

There has been debate for quite some time about Google and paid text links. There’s no question that Google doesn’t like them, but it seems more and more likely that Google is actually penalizing sites for selling links. Greenllama.net itself got dropped from PR4 to PR1( the home page only, not the internal pages ) not too long ago, and I wouldn’t be surprised if text links were the reason why.

There’s such a huge market for buying and selling text links, and Google is basically destroying it with this decision. Companies like Text Link Ads and Linkworth will have to adapt, and quickly, or else things will go downhill for them in a hurry.

Google seems to be ok, at least for the time, with folks selling text links - provided that the “nofollow” tag is used. Since the vast majority of the benefit of such a paid link is the link juice, the value of a nofollow link is significantly less than that of a regular link. In other words, Google just shot a ton of webmaster in the foot - myself included. Last month, between TLA, Linkworth, and private sales, paid text links accounted for right about 30% of my total online income.

Quite frankly I think it’s a load of crap that I have to take a 30% pay cut to appease Google. At what point should I draw the line? Adsense is ok, text links aren’t. Affiliate links are bad, Adsense is ok. Are banner / image ads still ok ( i.e. the ad-size-of-the-day 125×125 button )? Who is Google to tell me how I can and can’t advertise and make a living? When does it get to the point that Google is going too far, and overstepping it’s boundaries? I think that point is now, and the the line has been crossed. The real question is what can we do about it?

Online Casinos are still popular these days, despite any potential legality issues. To showcase this, Onlinecasinobluebook.com ordered a Linkpost review of their site, which ranks today’s top online casinos.

What is Online Casino Bluebook all about?

Online Casino Bluebook is a site with one simple purpose - to review and rank the top online casinos. The top choices are rated according to the size of the welcome bonus, the payout %, as well as the allover review. Out of the 10 online casinos listed, 8 have in-depth reviews.

Can I contact the site owner?

Absolutely. Online Casino Bluebook has both an about page, as well as a contact page with an email address. You can email the site owner directly with any questions about either the site, or the service they provide. They even offer a newsletter that you can subscribe to, and catch on to any new bonuses / special offers.

Is there anything else?

Yep. Online Casino Bluebook also has sections for poker rooms, no-deposit casinos, and bingo halls. There are even guides for the various games, if you’re not familiar with one in particular.

Site Design and Notes

The site’s navigation is clean and simple, if perhaps a little too utilitarian. A reskin would really spruce things up, and make the site catch your eye a bit more. Also, I would put a newsletter subscription box on the main page, rather than tucked away on the contact page. Lots of folks are apprehensive about signing up for anything on the spot, and a more prominent newsletter spot may help push some folks over the edge down the road. In the affiliate marketing field ( which is, of course, how Online Casino Bluebook stays in business ), you need to think short-term and long-term. So to sum it up, this site is doing a great job focusing on the here and now, but should look to the future a bit more.

So long, September. Not a bad month by my measure, but just slightly worse than August 2007. Three percent worse, if you’re talking about total profit for the month - so nearly even really. Let’s take a quick look at the breakdown:

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Adsense

Income from Adsense dropped 5%, but made up a total of 48% of my total income - a small improvement from the 51% last month. Though it’s a small drop, my Adsense income has been very solid all summer long.

Text Link Ads

Text Link Ads income increased 3% this month, and accounted for a total of 21% of my income. That’s nearly the same percentage as last month - a good chunk, in other words. TLA is relatively stable ( in the sense than any online income can be stable.

Linkworth

September brought about a 15% jump in Linkworth income - not quite back to my previous high, but good anyway. Linkworth counts for about 6 and a half percent of my income - not much overall, yet.

Kontera

August and September have not seen the same Kontera numbers that May - July brought. In fact, September was even worse than August - 14% worse, in fact. I’m still hoping that this is the last of the “Summer Slowdown”, and October will return better numbers. Kontera counted for just 13% of my income in September - that’s compared to a high of 31% back in June 2007.

Affiliate Programs

I don’t do much in the affiliate area right now… as such, affiliate earnings dropped 14%, and account for a total of just 5% of my income. I won’t lose any sleep over it, because I consider this to be “extra” money, that I’m not actively pursuing.

Sponsored Posts

I continue to see a huge opportunity in sponsored posts, and I keep passing it up. My income from this area dropped 35%, and made up a sad 2% of my income for the month. There’s really no excuse for not doing a better job here - the potential is just huge.

September 2007 Overview and looking forward

September 2007 was a good month when all is said and done. The problem is that I have seen two consecutive months with a drop in income. Why? Quite simply, I have been working less. Less posts + less promotion = less income. Pretty simple formula.

My wrists have been hurting pretty badly all month, which limits how much I can type. I also purchased and closed on a house this month, which sucked up a lot of my free time. Moving this month will keep me away from working a bit too. Hopefully I can turn things around in the time I do have, and see an increase in October.

2007 Year to Date

I set a goal for 2007 way back in January, and if all goes well, I will surpass it in October. A solid 4th quarter could mean a crushed goal.

My focus will be productivity - if I’m in front of the computer, I need to make sure I’m making the most of my time. Between working a demanding day job, and enjoying a wonderful family life, finding time to run a business ( even an online one ) can be difficult at best. But that’s a sorry excuse, so I won’t use it.

The bottom line is that it’s October, and I need a solid month. This month can be better than September, and it will be.

There is a lot of competition on the internet for whatever niche you’re in - there’s no question about that. You have to be bigger, better, faster, and stronger than everyone else around you if you want to be successful. Well, you can do that, or you can be smart, and have a draw. What’s a draw? Something unique about you or your site; a reason for people to visit your site over someone else’s.

Think about some of the more popular sites - what do they have as their draw? John Chow has the massive amount of money he brings in every month - quite the draw. Darren Rowse is the consummate professional blogger - a great draw. John Cow has the whole parody thing going on - humor works too. Shoemoney, of course, has that old Adsense check going for him. And the most famous among this group should be obvious - I have the Green Llama, which is the ultimate draw.

So you have a choice. You can be better than all the other sites. Or you can be smarter, and be more unique. Your choice.

You can have the best site in the world - professionally designed, fantastic content, great monetization. None of that matters if you don’t have targeted traffic flowing to your site. I have several sites exactly like that - great look, great content, and beautifully monetized. However, they don’t make me much money, because they barely get any traffic. What can one do?

• Links, Links, Links. Write great content, get the word out, and hope that links come pouring in. You’ll get some link traffic, and some Google Juice, which should help down the road.
• Work on getting search engine traffic. That means SEO - learn the basics and learn to like it. You aren’t likely to make a fortune without it. You don’t need to be an expert, and you don’t need to go black hat.
• Buy links. I know, that’s taboo these days. But if you can do it covertly, it’s still a good choice.
• Write Linkbait / Digg material. This ties in to the first one above - the more links you can get, the more eyeballs on your site, and the more potential for money exists.

There are tons of ways to get traffic, but the core is SEO & Links. These are the proven, long-term ways to get and build traffic levels. Don’t fall for the fad of the day - stick to the basics, learn them, and love them.