CASE STUDY…

Okay, here’s the big news. In a couple-three days, I’ll be posting information about a case study I’ll be beginning. I’ll be asking for those of you who don’t feel you’re making enough on your blog (AdSense, Chitika, etc… publishers) to sign up if you’d like. I’ll be helping you go over your blogs, step by step, and ensuring you’ve done all the SEO work you can do, and you’ve maximized your earning potential with your ad unit placement, etc…

Why am I doing this? I’ve recently completed a case study, where I was the one getting the help. With what I learned, I’ve managed to take my AdSense earnings and increase them by over 1,000% (Earnings in Jan vs. earnings for March (Study began in Feb)). I figure I’d help share the wealth. Besides, blogging is my passion, and I love to help people.

So, if you’re interested in participating, leave a comment with your blog URL. This isn’t the formal application process… I just want to get a handle on who’s interested and who isn’t. I’ll be posting more information and how to request to join the study, later this week.

So, let’s get down to business.  For starters, the Official AdSense Blog has an entry entitled “Earnings: Your Questions Answered“.  Many of us will think that everyone should know the answers to the questions presented in the post, but for an AdSense beginner, they are asked fairly often.

Moving from the making money through advertising, to the arbitrage vein, Shoemoney has started something called the $10,000 experiment.  You can read bout it in his first post, and his second post on the topic.  Essentially, he’s using Arbitrage-type manuevering (more on this later.. if it doesn’t make sense,
don’t worry), to make money off of affiliate links.  He’s essentially advertising to get people to come and click on his links so he will make money from said links.  So far, it appears to be a success.

There’s a technique called AdSense Arbitrage that concentrates specifically on AdSense/AdWords combinations.  I’ll post more about this in the next couple of weeks (someone remind me, if I haven’t by the end of the month), and introduce you to the basics, as well as pimp a great ebook on the subject.

Finally, I’m coming back from this break in a big way.  With the success of the past few months, I’m ready to spread some of it around.  I’m beginning a few case studies.  Basically, I’ll be asking for applications from beginning and new-ish bloggers who want to use my SEO and AdSense knowledge to help them maximize their profit potential (buzzword, buzzword, buzzword).  I’ll also be including a fair bit about affiliate marketing, and other possibilities in the study.  Stay tuned for
more information, and the requirements to submit an application.

As such, I’ve decided to take on a bit of an SEO challenge, and attempt link exchanging. I’m going about if through a new web forum set up by the editor of The Blog Herald (Duncan Riley). The forum is called Web Log Empire, and it is dedicated to blog link exchanges.

A lot of you are about to say “WAIT! Didn’t you speak ill of link exchanges, before?” Yes. Yes, I did. However, I spoke ill of only a certain type of link exchanges. Those being the “pay for play” exchanges - where you pay to have your site listed (usually in hidden text) on many other sites. I also spoke a bit negatively of the automated link exchange systems. The reason being is that both of these systems can actually hurt your performance within the SEO spectrum. Search Engines looks very negatively on the pay-for-play exchanges - especially when they utilize massive amounts of hidden links. The automated exchanges, usually aren’t what they’re cracked up to be, and thus far I’ve yet to find one that is as good as offered.

Therefore, I’m going the “old fashioned” route, of seeking out individual blogs with which to exchange. How will I be exchanging links? All exchanged links will be set up in categories using WordPress’s links system. Then, they will be listed on my sidebar. Additionally, when I find a blog that I really like (or one that will do the same for me), I’ll make a post about it.

These exchanges are the simple, old-fashioned way of doing things, and they provide the most quality control. Every. Single. Blog. I exchange with will first be explored by me. If I don’t care for the blog, or the writing, I won’t offer (or accept an offer) to exchange.

For those of you who are wondering, “what about when you said no, before,” let me put it this way: That was before. This is now. Formerly, I didn’t want to do link exchanges, primarily because I thought they were too much work, and not enough reward. I’m doing this now, as an experiment. If it works, WONDERFUL! If it doesn’t, no harm done. If it crashes and burns, and Google throws me back in the sand box, then - well - I’ll have learned a very valuable lesson.

I will give you one tip, though. Be, at least, pretty sure that the blogs you’re exchanging with aren’t splogs (spam blogs), and don’t engage in underhanded SEO tactics. Sometimes you can’t be certain, but trust me - look over things, carefully.

Oh, yes, monetization report. I’ve done some re-arranging of ad units, etc… on the blog, as per the case study. Well, to be honest, I’m not sure I’m happy with things, as they are right now. I think the site looks a lot more “ad heavy” than it did. Primarily because of the 160×600 skyscraper in the right side bar. I’m not sure if I’ll keep that as a full skyscraper, or if I’ll shorten it to a verticle banner. Once I get to the traffic level I truly want, I might even remove it, entirely, and go with Adbrite, or Bidvertiser. No, no, I’m not trashing Google, I’m just saying that when you combine aesthetics and bang-for-the-buck, it’s not adding up to brilliant, in my mind. I do have to say, though, that I’m already seeing an increase in my Adsense CTR, with these changes. It’s not overwhelming, but it’s increased, and even a slight increase is a good increase!