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Affiliate links/banners in a blog

by allpurposeguru
4 replies
My blogs have less than 1% CTR on AdSense, and I suspect that's at least partly because of low traffic. They also have affiliate links to sites related to the content, and absolutely zero sales.

While I'm building up traffic, I'd like to get better conversion from what I already have. So far, I have put banners in the sidebars. I have put featured products in the sidebars. I have put product links and/or banners in the posts themselves.

Here's a recent one with a product in the middle of the text: Warsaw Concerto, by Richard Addinsell | Musicology for Everyone

The immediately previous post in the same blog has banner ads in the text: Now running on Broadway: musicals | Musicology for Everyone

This is a post on another blog from last year. It has had more traffic than any of my other blogs get in a month: Versatile, sustainable bamboo | Sustainable Future, Green Home

I have been told that the sidebars are too cluttered, so I have redesigned one of my blogs to give it a cleaner look. I have made a menu item called "Shopping" and left banners off the sidebar entirely. My subject matter on this and one other blog does not lend itself at all to placing specific products in the posts. Can I occasionally use a banner? Grace and Judgment


What can I do better?
#affiliate #blog #links or banners
  • Profile picture of the author eternalwarrior
    Your site has more ads than content!

    I would suggest you to remove all the banner ads and put one vertical banner at the sidebar.
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  • Profile picture of the author allpurposeguru
    I'd like some more responses to this question--especially from people who look at the posts I linked to.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by allpurposeguru View Post

      I'd like some more responses to this question--especially from people who look at the posts I linked to.
      I looked at them. The impression I got was that the content was just something you needed to hang ads on. Kind of like the wooden pole going up the middle of an artificial Christmas tree.

      Between the packed sidebars and the banners within the posts, along with the Adsense within the posts, it looks like a billboard gone crazy.

      If it were my site, I would remove all the ads. Then replace them one at a time to see if any of them take off on their own, without the competition for attention from the other ads.

      When you find out which individual ads work best, use that set-up as a base and start testing again. This time, start with posts + base ad, then add another element, again one at a time, to see what happens.

      It may take a while, but you will find the most effective combination of content and advertising for your site and your visitors. Good luck to you...
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  • Profile picture of the author allpurposeguru
    Thanks, John. That's helpful. I'm very passionate about my content and take great pains researching and writing it. If after all that work, the content just looks like something to hang ads on, that's a problem.

    I have four blogs, and I changed themes for one of them. There are no ads on it at all except AdSense within the posts. I was hoping that would help with the time on the page, the percentage of new visitors, and the bounce rate. So far, I see no sign of it.

    I have attempted to get feedback on several threads, approaching the question from different angles. So far it's pretty unanimous that the older design is too cluttered. I can easily change the others to the new theme and cleaner look.

    It also looks like that will not be enough to make them convert better. So I still need feedback.
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