Thanks - it is something I will have to consider... The .5% conversion rate is probably a bit high in my case - but you are right - If I was making $50 on each conversion rather than like $1 for firefox with the google toolbar - it would be certainly be worth considering!

(particularly now that it is so easy to set up a google checkout shopping cart :- Getting started with the Google Checkout shopping cart - Google Checkout Developers Forum | Google Groups

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

Have you noted this

Announcing Google Affiliate Network

thread and got your auto email with no reply from the AdSense team saying:

"If you currently use referral ads, either to promote Google products or offerings from AdWords advertisers, AdSense Referrals code will no longer display ads beginning the last week of August. We encourage you to take the following steps before the product is retired:

* Remove the referral code from your site(s): Please take a moment to remove all referral code from your sites before the last week of August, so you can continue to effectively monetize your ad space.

* Run and save all referrals reports on your desktop: Create and save all reports related to the referrals program on your desktop, so you continue to have access to your valuable campaign information".

My bolding. With whom, the new network?

Hopefully this is clarified when I come from my summer holiday, unless I have to change / delete a lot of code on my sites

Hopefully the new network is an improvement.

Any information on how that project develops?

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I agree that the .5% conversion rate is high FOR PURPOSES OF CROSS-SELLING those visitors who are only coming to look for free images...very true. BUT if you have a stand alone site, it too will be attracting MORE QUALIFIED buyers, the point is that your current site will simply bolster the sweaters (or whatever it is). I picked .5% for a reason because I also sell leather jackets which currently has a .53% conversion rate which is the lowest of all the items that I am selling because they are SIZED (ie. the customer looks at the pic and wonders if it will fit him or her)

Adsense is simply catching google's crumbs, not saying not to do it, just recognize that is the bottom rung of the value added chain....

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cw - thanks - food for thought..

kgun - if you are talking about my $3000/month project rather than the $30,000 project (which wasn't mine) - I am going backwards! Last month saw less than $600. My eCPM is well under 50% of what it was 9 months ago - despite making a number of improvements to my web site. I have increased traffic a LOT but the slice of the pie that Google gives me has gotten a lot smaller. With regard to referrals these did not work well for me so I removed them almost completely ages ago...

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What are you traffic numbers?

If you don't mind my asking, just around about numbers, nothing pacific.

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Quantcast Stats

NB - this quite far from being 100% accurate for just my Adsense pages - but it gives you a fair idea.... (Google if you are reading this it is only a WILDLY EXTREMELY VERY approximate representation!)

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Looks like I'll be making about $600 again this month (July 200 !

The good news is that my eCPM is back up a bit now that my traffic is down for the summer hols...

Maybe my traffic will pick up again in September ....

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1. Is there better seamless software than that?
2. What about making your own analytical software digging deeper into the bid / ask (supply / demand structure like NASDAQ level II (III) quotes)? Exel may be good enough.
   
   Related link: https://data.nasdaq.com/BookViewer.aspx
3. Datacollection. What do you autmatically get and what are the possibilities for colleting additional (even real time) data?

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jordanmcclements, I enjoy reading this thread. Its upfront, sincere,informative, a great thread. (just thought I should mention this)

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Kgun - I use Google analytics as well - the Quantcast stas were just to give Janeth a rough idea about traffic.

Tubby - Thanks. I am glad you like it for it seems that it will be going on for some time to come yet!

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1. Data, data is very important.
2. A battery of (proprietary) tests to analyce your data.
3. You may know that I am an economist specializing in econometrics and mathematical finance, so I know, this is a field where you have a potential to get an edge. Should like I had more time to study the subject myself. Time is a very limiting factor.
4. IDEA: In Norway students at univerities are glad to get a project. Most of them will do it for free if they can use it in their education. If a student can be paid for writing a master / PhD thesis most of them are more than willing to do it. Why not write a short project description and advertise it at a University / high school? I have participated in a lot of such projects where the final outcome is proprietary seamless methods.
5. I can help you with the project if we can share the results.

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I have decided to go for a couple of more affiliate links on some of the sites, by way of a test.

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http://thatsnews.blogspot.com http://thats-business.blogspot.com/ http://thatschristmas.blogspot.com

Martin - let us know how you get on - I had ZERO success with ALL affiliate stuff I have tried.

Janeth - how much do you spend on Adwords per month for your bracelets site?

Kgun - I am not sure I understand.....

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$0.00

I do not do any kind of paid advertising.

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Janeth - in that case your earnings are very impressive..

You see a lot of BIG affiliate checks - but they are usually spending a significant portion of that amount on PPC..

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If you are satisfied with Google analytis or other automatic solutons forget it.

Unless reread carefully.

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It's not bad at all. We are making about $4,000.00 per month right now.

I've not messed with the site for the last couple weeks however we are working on trying to duplicate it on some other sites now, as well as trying to figure out the best ways to drive traffic.

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I have on my website about 200 unique visitors per day but I don't see great results with Google Adsense. Only little money...

Regards,
Antonio


reformas baratas barcelona

Antonio - you'll need about 200 times that amount of traffic before you can start making a living from Adsense (although this varies with the niche you are in - AND don't even think about having all your eggs in one basket - as Google can make changes overnight that will decimate your Adsense income and there is nothing you can do about it!)...

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Janeth - how many man hours have you spent / do you spend on your bracelets affiliate site (if you dont mind me asking) ?

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

July Adsense Earnings = $574

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

My attempt at affiliates has given me zero income so far.

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http://thatsnews.blogspot.com http://thats-business.blogspot.com/ http://thatschristmas.blogspot.com

Ditto.

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

Which implies one of two things. Either the affiliate advertisement that you are putting up isn't narrowly tailored to the message of your website; or the value of the advertising your website is generating is being overvalued by the market.

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The whole game changes.

You have to have the right type of traffic, the right website, and send the site visitor to a website that looks and feels good enough to the site visitor that it will convert the traffic.

And enough traffic to make it convert.

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I agree with you both...

My one (photo) web site which gets a lot of traffic is 'un' targeted in the extreme. So I guess I'll have to stick with Adsense for that web site... (I hope it is not being overvalued - I already get a lot less than I did last year per visitor)..

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

It would seem to me that the best potential candidate for an affiliate program would be the website that is currently getting the most natural click throughs from your website.

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I don't follow....

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

Jordan, If visitors calling at your site are looking for images, do you have a simple form where a visitor could lodge an "image wanted" request? . . . My thinking is that a simple form would be a simple test to find out if your users would submit a request. if they do (even a few of them) This could open your website up to other photographers looking for work or even offer the opportunity to develop a 'submit a photo to a user that has made a request' section.

My own sites offer users an easy 'submit parts wanted' section. I could not imagine my sites working without it.

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My be he means that you shall use analytic software like Google analytics (if that is possible) to identify "the website that is currently getting the most natural click throughs from your website" and participate in their affiliate program if they have one.

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Ah right.. OK. Thanks both for the feedback. Will look into these things...

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

And did you note this Google Launches AdSense for Feeds thread that I posted in the wrong sub forum.

Is Ad sense for feed available in Ireland?

I have made my own solution: Internasjonale nyheter om søkemotor optimalisering og markedsføring

There are some audio's of Jon Alexander that the top of that news page that may be worth listening to.

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Adsense for feeds does sound interesting - but I have less than 100 people subscribed through my blog - and I don't want to risk affecting my eCPM (which is why I do not have Adsense on my blog at all)...

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

What I mean is that on your website exist ads from adsense. Those adsense ads are there hopefully because the advertiser is finding the advertisement to be profitable. If you go back in time and look through logs (or however you analyze), those advertisers are your best potential target for an affiliate program.

Perhaps the advertisements are so scattered among the websites that it would be impossible to have any single affiliate program that would be worth your time, but there may be one or two sites that are grabbing a substantial portion of the click thrus that you are generating. IF there is, that is the candidate for the affiliate program because that advertiser is most likely analyzing traffic and has determined that the advertisements coming from your site are 'profitable.'

Essentially you're cutting google out as the middle man on those 'significant' ad units

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Yes - I understand (sorry to be so slow)....

I will look into this, but I still think the majority of adverts on my site are from advertisers who have no idea what they are doing!

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

August 2008 - $550

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

By now you should have learned that the Adwords Math is pretty simple:

More visitors = more adwords money.

At first you can play a bit with ad placement and stuff like that, but once those hurdles have been taken, you get stuck.

Actually it just brings you back to the old problem,.... you need more visitors!

And that, (remember ), takes time and a lot of hard work!

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Correct.

I am fairly confident I can build the traffic up significantly, but it will take me a LONG time to get to $3000 per month with my current photo web site.

Maybe I'll have to look into setting up some more web sites in different niches....

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

That would be a waste of time in my opinion. You´re better of figuring out a way to add new information to the existing site. Your goal should be to get 6 times more visitors than you have now (6*500 = 3000),.. but to be on the safe side, go for 10 times more visitors.

Your current site has lots of advantages that new sites take a year to obtain. You'd be simply throwing away a whole year using new sites.

What could you do to make your site receive more visitors?

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Follow me on Twitter PeterIMC

In an ideal world - I agree with you 100%... (I only need to add about another 5000 photos on different subjects, and do a bit more SEO and SEM - but this will take me YEARS, and you never know when Google will decide to take away 50% of my traffic on a whim or smart price me again - so I am just keeping an open mind)..

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

Just to go a bit off topic again, I was inspired by janeth's post on how much she was making as an affiliate.

So I decided to join the "Wealthy Affiliate University" programme.

From what I have seen so far - it is fairly good, but will report back once (in this or else another thread) once I have been in it a little longer.

NB - are we allowed affiliate links in our signatures - the forum rules are not very clear on this?

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

Pass along any information you come up with. I'm currently making about $5,000.00 per month with what I'm doing.

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Custom Web Site Designs | Search Engine Optimization | Silicone Wristbands

Will do..

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

Our SPAM Policy

* Please make sure that you are posting for the good of the community, not just for the sake of self-promotion
* Please refrain from posting affiliate links and press releases in our forums.

Forum Rules and Guidelines

Taken literally, there is a difference between signature links and links in post.

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Yes - I did read that, but was not sure if this meant you definitely could not put a link in your signature (which would be a bit unfair if that was the case)..

IS that the case?

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Net (after deduction of Ad costs) or gross income?

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And how many man hours per month?

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As far as I remember there was a dicussion about affliliate links in the signature and Mike allowed it then. I don't know how it is today. You may find the post by

advanced site search on Mike's user name and relevant KW's or using Google's site operator on WPW.

KW proposal:

affiliate mike

affiliate links signature mike

etc.

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OK - I'll leave it in my sig until someone tells me to remove it in that case.

NB - if WA turns out to be not very good value for money - I will of course remove it anyway!

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Advice: I am not a mod, so ask a mod or Mike himself.

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