If you are committed to blogging, and intend to invest your time in building traffic and an audience, then why not try and earn some money back through simple, unobtrusive text link advertisements?
Text Link Ads was recommended to me by my good friend Kai, who works for Heavy.com, back in November 2006. At the time, I was still 2 months from starting this blog. My focus was GoBackpacking.com, which I began in 1999. I was completely unaware of the impact Google had on the Internet, and only later realized the value of a Page Rank 5 which I had earned based on my work through 2001 (I was on a web site hiatus for 5 years!).
So I applied for Text Link Ads with a PR=5, and an Alexa ranking somewhere well over 1,000,000. They accepted me November 20, 2006, and my inventory became available to advertisers two days later, after I successfully installed the PHP code on my front page (with a little help from my web hosting service). My traffic was anemic at the time, and TLA indicated only 3 ad spaces would be available, at a rate of $25 apiece, per month. I would earn 50% of the ad cost, to be paid monthly via PayPal.
Less than a week later, I received an e-mail on December 1, 2006 indicating I had sold my first ad! I was as giddy as a school girl. While $12.50 would only buy me a nice lunch at the time, I was more excited about the new potential income stream I had just tapped, as it would impact my ability to travel longer down the road! I was amazed at the fact that the hard part (which was fairly easy) was installing the ad code, and I just had to sit back as people paid me for working on a web site I loved to work on anyways!
How am I doing now? As I’ve sold more ads, I’ve been allowed to increase my inventory to a maximum of 10 spaces. I have 7 text ads currently running on the right sidebar. They are simple, and minding their own business in a most unassuming manner. Since starting the blog, I also have the option to sell links at the bottom of my RSS feed (though this has yet to occur). Last month I earned a new high of $96.19. My Page Rank remains 5, and my Alexa rank has fluctuated greatly over the past few months (currently at a 3-month average of 732,834).
I performed a Google search for minimum requirements to join Text Link Ads, and found some mixed messages. Everyone should apply though! If you get rejected, the advice I saw was to e-mail TLA to be reconsidered, and a human will respond (likely approving you). If you still don’t get in, then participate in the affiliate program which can earn you $25 for every new paid publisher or advertiser who signs up via your affiliation! As you continue to build traffic, reapply.
If you have questions about the service, or my experience with it, please leave a comment. I highly recommend it!
PS – My site was used as a case example of how Text Link Ads are effective for advertisers & bloggers alike. Check it out on the YoungGoGetter.com blog!
PSS – This is *not* a paid review…I am really this happy with the service!
About the Author:
Dave is the author of 1516 posts on Go Backpacking.
Dave (Editor-in-Chief) blogged his way around the world from 2007-2009, and then started Travel Blog Success to teach others how to do the same. When not writing, he can be found salsa dancing in Medellin. Follow him on Twitter @rtwdave or look for him on Google+
The Travel Blog Success community offers practical resources and personal support to help you build a better travel blog.
Whether you treat blogging as a hobby, or dream of building a location independent business, you'll learn what's required to create a name for yourself in the online travel world.
Benefits of Joining:
- Personal support from Dave, including site critiques and tips on negotiating advertising deals.
- Ability to learn from others' mistakes, and save yourself time, energy and money.
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Categories: Blogging, How To Make Money, Reviews
26 Comments
I’ve been using TLA for awhile now and completely agree with all your points. It’s a great, simple to install, passive income stream. If you can copy-and-paste a chunk of HTML code, you can install TLA ads. Even a small, low- to mid-traffic blog can earn upwards of $50/month by selling 8-10 ad spots. Highly recommended!
I’ve been using TLA for awhile now and completely agree with all your points. It’s a great, simple to install, passive income stream. If you can copy-and-paste a chunk of HTML code, you can install TLA ads. Even a small, low- to mid-traffic blog can earn upwards of $50/month by selling 8-10 ad spots. Highly recommended!
I signed-up for the service a few weeks into blogging. They didn’t accept me but said that the bot would check-back once a month to see if I then meet the requirements. Yet to hear back.
I signed-up for the service a few weeks into blogging. They didn’t accept me but said that the bot would check-back once a month to see if I then meet the requirements. Yet to hear back.
I keep hearing that Text link is great. I wasn’t accepted yet but I will keep checking back monthly. Do you know the minimum daily traffic?
Ginene, in my experience and research, they don’t care that much about traffic and care most about your Google PR ranking. In general, once you’re at Google PR3 and above you can get approved and advertisers. Am I wrong about this in anyone else’s experience? Cynthia in the French Alps
I think some text link advertisers are interested in clicks through to the site, but they’re in the minority. Also, some are definitely keen to be advertising on the same sites as their competitors, which is good for us, the bloggers.
I keep hearing that Text link is great. I wasn’t accepted yet but I will keep checking back monthly. Do you know the minimum daily traffic?
Ginene –
From browsing the publisher listings, it’s really hard to tell if there’s a minimum traffic requirement. A lot of listings have Alexa rankings at 1…2…even 5 million, which probably equates to a *few* unique visitors per day. Usually those sites do feature a higher Page Rank though, like 4….or 5. Also, I think it may depend on the niche. It might be harder to get accepted if you have a Tech blog with low traffic, than a travel blog about Kenya with low traffic.
It’s worth the effort though, because it’s hands-off once you get started. I’m anxiously awaiting acceptance from the Review Me program (run by the same people), so I know what it’s like. Hopefully Google’s updated Page Rank will come out this month, and we can all benefit!
Ginene –
From browsing the publisher listings, it’s really hard to tell if there’s a minimum traffic requirement. A lot of listings have Alexa rankings at 1…2…even 5 million, which probably equates to a *few* unique visitors per day. Usually those sites do feature a higher Page Rank though, like 4….or 5. Also, I think it may depend on the niche. It might be harder to get accepted if you have a Tech blog with low traffic, than a travel blog about Kenya with low traffic.
It’s worth the effort though, because it’s hands-off once you get started. I’m anxiously awaiting acceptance from the Review Me program (run by the same people), so I know what it’s like. Hopefully Google’s updated Page Rank will come out this month, and we can all benefit!
Yes TLA is the easiest way to make money if you have some good PR. I see that your PR went down a bit. I had also most sites going from 5 to 4 and it affected my TLA earnings.
Yes TLA is the easiest way to make money if you have some good PR. I see that your PR went down a bit. I had also most sites going from 5 to 4 and it affected my TLA earnings.
Another similar program is Etology. I’ve been using this service for a few months now and so far I’m quite happy with the results. I haven’t had a chance to advertise with this system yet, but as a publisher I love the freedom to sell ad space based on my own prices. Check out this review that I wrote for more info.
Another similar program is Etology. I’ve been using this service for a few months now and so far I’m quite happy with the results. I haven’t had a chance to advertise with this system yet, but as a publisher I love the freedom to sell ad space based on my own prices. Check out this review that I wrote for more info.
Looks like the secret with TLA isn't the Alexa ranking so much as the Google page rank….guess that just takes time to build up. Thanks for posting.
Yes, Page Rank is more important. The irony is that Google's stance on paid links is decidedly negative, so if they identify you as a site selling text links, they'll lower your Page Rank a notch or two, thus you can't make as much money selling links.
Did you ever used Google Adsense instead of TLA ? Would be interesting to see comparison.
Yes, I did and still do use Google Adsense on this site. But I wasn't placing the ads well, nor did I have sufficient traffic for the first 2 years to really make anything notable. Maybe $100 per year. It's doing a little better now, but I also have the ads posted on more than one site that I've since developed.
In general, beginners have a better chance of making money with text links than AdSense, unless they know what they're doing with keyword research and SEO.
thanks, will check text links, as adsense doesn't work well on some of my sites.
One more quick thing – TextLinkAds.com pays 50% while Linkworth pays 70%. I've had success with both though.
One more quick thing – TextLinkAds.com pays 50% while Linkworth pays 70%. I've had success with both though.
I use both TLA and Linkworth (and prefer Linkworth – more advertisers and I get a higher percentage of profit). I’m almost at $200/month in revenue but Im concerned about my Google PR4 ranking. I’ve read that Google doesnt like text link ads and can lower your PR ranking if they find out about your links. So I’m always a bit nervous about doing more than I have (about 6 on my Home page) because of this. Have you heard similar warnings? What has been your experience? Thanks, Cynthia in the French Alps
Cynthia, I’ve been selling text links since I started blogging in early 2007. The Google PR for Go Backpacking has vacillated as Google updates the way it calculates PR over the years. I’ve now got about 30 paid text links on my sidebar, and my PR recently went up from 3 to 4. I think it’s more important to focus on producing high quality content than getting a higher PR.
26 Comments