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Larry Chamberlain · Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2003 12:33 pm Post subject: Do I risk it?

Hi Folks,

I'm seriously thinking of giving AdSence a try.

Mine is a SBI site and I'm more than pleased with the way it comes through with its promise of getting traffic. My problem is that I'm not converting those visitors into customers.

This could be because I fall down with pre-selling, or my visitors are not targeted enough, or the merchants don't do a selling job. I suspect the first of the three.

Anyways, I want to try putting AdSence on some of the pages of my site, to earn a little dosh, while I sort out my pre-selling technique.

I've been studying the posts in this section of the forum.

Also, Allan's excellent

http://www.associateprograms.com/search/adsense.shtml

And Ken Evoy's brilliant

http://adsense.sitesell.com/Larry4.html

I know that I can pull out of AdSence if I decide to. I am also aware that my site has possibly too many affiliate links and may get rejected.

So what is my problem?

I read on Ken Evoy's site about a bloke who was rejected and he implies that the rejection hurt his ranking with Google.

I don't want to remove most of the affiliate links on my site just yet, even though they are not producing, I want to keep trying.

Realistically my site does stand a good chance of being rejected.

So can I ask. Is there anyone who has been rejected and seen their Google ranking drop? Is there anyone who has been rejected and not had this happen?

All the best,
Larry Chamberlain.
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Charlie · **Joined**: 22 Aug 2003 **Posts**: 3305 **Location**: UK

Hello Larry.

Debs · **Joined**: 16 Aug 2003 **Posts**: 4296 **Location**: NY

Larry,

I had just affiliate links when I applied to Adsense and still got accepted. So don't let that stop you.

While I was converting some visitors, there were a lot I wasn't converting, so decided to try Adsense after reading Ken's article about his daughters' site.

In 10 days of having the ads on my site, I made the same amount that affiliate links took me a month to earn. So I considered it a great success.

Then I did some rewriting to expand on my niche topics, and found myself writing more freely knowing I didn't have to worry about weaving affiliate links into the text. That made me more productive, another success!

Since then my income has increased steadily with Adsense, and I still receive commissions for other affiliate programs. So I am very happy with the changes I made because I can offer more information and be completely unbiased. Also visitors can still find the programs they wish to use, and have the right questions to ask the program providers to ensure the success of their involvement in the program.

I agree with Charlie about people wanting to view pictures for free, and Adsense may help you in that regard. However, one thing to be aware of is ... are advertisers available for your niche keyphrases?

Try out the www.about-adsense.com tool to see what kind of ads you would likely get on your site. You can also sign up for a free Adwords account, create a sample ad, then research keywords related to cats to see what current advertisers are bidding. You will get columnar data showing keyphrase, daily searches, and top current bid. This will give you a clue as to the profitability of ads with Adsense and your keyphrases.

One caution if using Adwords however! Once you have the keywords, with bids and daily searches, DON'T click continue ... copy the page and paste into Excel or another spreadsheet, and play with the data there. If you click "continue" after you have the keywords, daily searches, and bid amounts, your ad goes live! I know because I made that mistake the first time I tried it and it cost me $8.57 in less than 10 minutes! lol

If you decide to go with Adsense, be sure and read the Terms of Service (TOS) and the FAQ. Google is very serious about publisher conduct and doesn't tolerate violations very well. Even those made because you just didn't know.

IMO, it is definitely worth a little research on your part.

Hope this helps,
Debs
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speedguide · Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2003 7:44 pm Post subject:

Larry,

I've give a thumbs up on the Adsense. I'm sort of in the same position with may indoor plant site(s). People want a lot of FREE information on plants. Adding Adsense to the sites has been WELL worth it.

I also agree with Debs... it makes writing easier. At least from my perspective.

Gary
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Larry Chamberlain · Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2003 9:17 pm Post subject:

Hi Debs, Charlie, and Gary,

Thanks very much for all your useful advice, I really appreciate it.

Well, I've bitten the bullet and signed up for AdSence. After reading through their policy and FAQ, I can't see any sane reason they would penalize my site rankings if they reject me. If they do reject me, well no loss.

>> I reckon many people are unfortunately more interested in looking at pictures of cats than paying for them! (This is a problem with many niches, not just yours.)<<

You could be right Charlie, my targeting of keyword phrases like "pictures of cats" "cat pictures" ect. may not be the best policy for attracting people who want to buy posters. I will try a few pages for "cat posters" and the like. The demand for "posters" is not as good as for "pictures" but if it is more targeted...

>> I agree with Charlie about people wanting to view pictures for free, and Adsense may help you in that regard. However, one thing to be aware of is ... are advertisers available for your niche keyphrases?

Try out the www.about-adsense.com tool to see what kind of ads you would likely get on your site. You can also sign up for a free Adwords account, create a sample ad, then research keywords related to cats to see what current advertisers are bidding. You will get columnar data showing keyphrase, daily searches, and top current bid. This will give you a clue as to the profitability of ads with Adsense and your keyphrases.<<

That tool is very helpful, thanks Debs. Yes, it seems that there are advertisers available, not too many of them maybe and I don't expect the CPC to be that high, but anything is better than nothing.

Well in a day or three I'll know one way or the other.

All the best,
Larry Chamberlain.
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Debs · **Joined**: 16 Aug 2003 **Posts**: 4296 **Location**: NY

try other keywords for cats also, tie in pet stores, advice on pet care tied into the pictures you offer, things like that?
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Charlie · **Joined**: 22 Aug 2003 **Posts**: 3305 **Location**: UK

Hello again, Larry.

Larry Chamberlain · Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2003 9:47 pm Post subject:

Yes yes yes! I've been accepted. Smile

Just goes to show, nothing happens until you do something. Thanks very much for all your help on this. I've already added the code to some of my pages (so easy with SBI), a few PSA's show up but on the whole the ads fit with the theme of the page.

>>Also, how about key phrases such as "buy cat poster"?<<

Good thinking Charlie, unfortunately that one has no demand, but I will see if I can brainstorm around that.

All the best,
Larry Chamberlain.
_________________
Why Do Most Affiliates Make Less Than $500 Per Month?
Is SBI! eLearning Right For You?

speedguide · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2003 1:09 am Post subject:

Larry,

Great to hear you're accepted.. Now it's time to monetize. I looked on your site for the word "kitty". I did a quick look up on the term and found...

* hello kitty wallpaper,12254
* hello kitty picture,11535
* buddy hello icon kitty,6239
* fotos hello kitty,3032
* hello icon kitty,2877
* hello kitty screensaver,2303
* kitty picture,1902
* hello kitty screen saver,1466
* hello kitty image,1272
* hello kitty desktop theme,1134
* free hello kitty wallpaper,1024
* graphic hello kitty,958
* clipart hello kitty,588
* cute hello kitty picture,587
* art clip hello kitty,570
* coloring hello kitty,487
* calendar hello kitty,472
* pic of kitty,462
* coloring hello kitty picture,434
* hello kitty poster,413
* hello kitty theme,372

How many pages could that be? Stripped out all the "art, image,picture" possibilities. Have you searched this term?

Gary
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Debs · **Joined**: 16 Aug 2003 **Posts**: 4296 **Location**: NY

Gary!!! LOL OMG we must think alike! I sent Larry a PM with a bunch of keywords to research, Hello Kitty was one, as well as tattoos as art, other cartoon cats, and a bunch of other cat related stuff.

Debs
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