Good morning! Today we continue with our series about making money online. You can check the previous posts about
Choosing a name, domain and hosting,
My July blog income and stats,
How many hours are you willing to put in?,
Blogging mistake #1: blogging in the dark ,
How I got my Alexa below 100K in 8 weeks,
Monetize your site with affiliate and Adsense,
August blog income and stats recap,
Going self hosted right away: How to link Godaddy, Hostgator and WordPress,
Go self hosted or migrate your blog to a new server for $5 or less,
What to outsource on your blog
If your blog is growing, you may start to get offered direct advertising opportunities, generally in the form of sponsored posts. The advertising agency puts up a post with a link to its client on your site, in exchange for a fee. Should you say yes or no?
What is the deal with paid links?
What an advertiser is looking for when placing a link on your site is not so much the exposure on the day you publish, but the power of the link back to his client’s site, also called link juice. Paying to be featured on several sites will increase the link juice back to his client, and help the client rank higher in search engines. This link building strategy is considered unnatural and frowned upon by Google, as it defeats the purpose of its powerful algorithm to spot the best search results for a keyword. Say you look for a hotel in Chicago. There is a very nice hotel that hasn’t paid for links, it has good reviews and a few people who did stay there have linked to its homepage as a vote of confidence that this is really a great place to stay. So far, it ranks first when you search for “hotel in Chicago” on Google. Comes a brand new hotel that is not very good, but buys out links from authority travel sites all around. Google’s algorithm sees a lot of links coming from great sites, vouching for this new hotel. The good old one now ranks number two and this new one who paid to pass ranks first. Knowing that about 40% of the clicks will be for the #1 search result, the amount of online business it can bring is huge. The #2 site will only get 10% of the clicks or so. Imagine how big of a business referral we are talking about when the keyword companies fight for have millions of hits each month.
A personal choice
Your readers are coming to your blog to read your posts. They enjoy your writing and follow your adventures regularly. If they see you publish a paid guest post, the first time, they may read it. After all, some (a minority, generally the ones you are required to write yourself) are well written and informative. The second time, they may only scan the post and the next, skip it altogether. Most readers will understand that you provide a ton of quality content and occasionally, to help with your blog expenses or get compensated for your time, you’ll put up a paid link. Some will stop reading you, or start calling you a sellout.
As I said before, linking back to any site is considered a vote of confidence in Google’s eyes. The same applies to your readers. But again, most of the post’s traffic will come for search engines. If people search for “gambling” and end up on your site, you will have one more pageview and improve your stats. Can you be blamed as a bar owner for people getting drunk? That is a question only you can answer.
You can decide to focus on affiliate sales instead, and ask yourself if pushing 12 different credit cards you have never used to get a referral fee is better ethically than putting up a post about payday loans. With affiliate sales at least, you are doing nothing wrong for Google.
Selective linking
You may have seen some bloggers say they will not link to a payday loan or a gambling site, to a site that operates abroad or one that is not in line with their values. They do not want readers to think that they endorse the company because they link to it. Other bloggers will publish anything for a quick buck, even posts that will net them $25, or not realize when they start blogging that those friendly emails offering “free content” are just trying to push links they get paid on their side to publish. Some are fine with linking to almost any site for the right price.
If you decide to publish paid posts, you will have to decide on the following
A minimum rate. Market rates are hard to determine, you may accept $100 for a post only to find out your blogging buddy got $180 because he haggled better, even though you have similar stats. Whatever you accept, set your minimum and don’t sell yourself short.
Types of posts. Don’t lose your time emailing back and forth with a rep only to find out after 10 emails that they want to link to a site you won’t be ok with. Set the record straight from the first email.
The risks. If you agree to put a dofollow link to a site in exchange for money, you are violating Google’s rules about linking, and risk being “Google slapped”. You may lose your pagerank, see your site ranking drop in the search engines, and decrease of traffic. Know what you are getting into before you accept a paid post.
What is your take on paid links?
This post was featured on the Making Sense of Cents, How to Blog Carnival, thank you!
This is a very informative article! I would consider paid links, but would be really careful. I’m not there yet with my blog, but hope to be someday.
Dear Debt recently posted…It’s not where I am now, but how far I’ve come
Hey Pauline,
This is why they invented the “nofollow” tag,
Google have a problem with selling links that pass PageRank, (dofollow links),
you may sell links if you wish, as long as you attribute them with a “nofollow” tag, you’re fine, no violation.
but either way this is very old news, good serp results does not depend solely on pagerank, there are 101 factors that affects serp ranking and pagerank is just 1.
also guest posts are no longer that effective in the new seo game.
Many thanks and Best wishes!
Mitch recently posted…Loading, Web Design Lebanon, full-service marketing and advertising company
Google has a tendency of shaking up things so often its tough determining what will get one ranked or penalized. Three things though, if am to accept paid links:-
a) I have to ascertain whether its a company am comfortable linking back to.
b) I have to heavily vet their writing to ensure they are providing awesome and relevant content to my readers.
c) Haggle on the price as if my reputation depended on that link 🙂
Simon @ Modest Money recently posted…How to Get a Mortgage When You’re Self-Employed
I usually have more than one site in any niche. One with quality content I spend a lot of time on and at least one where I pay foreigners to write the posts for cheap. When I get requests for paid guest posts or guest posts on my real site I refer them to the crappy site(s), which usually have just as good pagerank and gets decent traffic even though the content sucks. They’re happy to get a good link out of the deal and I don’t mind posting another garbage post.
I’d never post a guest post or paid post on a site I actually care about but on sites that are just there to make money and push up my main site, why not.
Tyler Herman recently posted…WordPress 3.7 is in Beta
I can’t imagine bloggers getting slapped for a $25 paid link. Considering the time it takes to build up a blog I would consider that counter productive. By generating zero revenue like I have I don’t have to worry about that.
charles@gettingarichlife recently posted…Do You Know The Difference Between Twerking And An ETF?
Thanks for the information. This is eye opener to all of those who want to monetize their blog. I made some mistakes, I learned from it. Now, I will be strict when it comes to guest posting and there is link to their site.
My Wealth Desire recently posted…13 Ways to Solve Not Having Enough Money to Live on | My Wealth Desire
I don’t think paid links are so bad as long as they are for products and services in line with the blog topic and consistent with their message. And if they only make an occasional appearance. Like you said, most readers will understand expenses need to be paid.
Taynia | The Fiscal Flamingo recently posted…An Accountability Partner – Why You Need One If You’re In Debt
I think I might have let a debt site write a free post for me in the early days because I didn’t know what I was looking at. 🙁 The content was ok but I will be much more cautious in the future. I would consider paid links but I would definitely be selective in the future.
Hayley @ A Disease Called Debt recently posted…Friday’s Fab Links #11
I’m still forming my opinions on this and haven’t had a paid link yet (though possibly very soon). I’m definitely concerned about the message it sends to me readers, and of course the possibility of a penalty from Google. I certainly wouldn’t sell a link for only $25.
Matt Becker recently posted…Learning to Live Without the Result
I think the fact that some of these posts/links (if not most) might not even be seen by your readers – if you use certain approaches – makes it much more favorable for a publisher. You don’t have to “bother” your reader and the company still gets the link juice. There’s too much money in it not to participate, in my opinion. I would prefer affiliate sales but it’s also a lot harder to get the same amount of money from affiliate sales as paid links, at least in my experience.
DC @ Young Adult Money recently posted…The Weekly Quick Hits Roundup
I have no problem with them in general. I am somewhat selective in what I’d post but overall, as long as it’s a reputable company then I have no real issue with it. It can be good money and I have benefitted from it, though I do think we’re going to see more of it dry up as G cracks down on it more. As an aside, I believe part of the reason G is the way they are with them is because they could be losing out on ad revenue and we know they don’t like it. That said, I am just trying to diversify as much as possible so I am not to dependent on one revenue stream vs. another.
John S @ Frugal Rules recently posted…OptionsXpress Review: An Online Brokerage Worth Looking At
I personally think it’s each blogger’s decision to make. But, what I really hate is when people are so judgmental about it. I personally couldn’t care less whether others do paid links or not.
Holly@ClubThrifty recently posted…And……We’re Renting a Home
For new bloggers like me, this information and discussion is really usefull.
Thanks for sharing
getrichwithme recently posted…The Best Home For Your Savings
As long as it is clear that it is a paid link, I don’t see any problem with having paid links. Morally, you would assume people wouldn’t use paid links promoting something they didn’t believe in, and assuming they are within other advertisers T&Cs (google adsense, for example), then I don’t see the issue.
moneystepper recently posted…Celebrity money photos – celebs showing off their wealth!
It reminds me of a scene in the Bad News Bears movie when the coach needs sponsorships and he goes to places he knows like strip clubs and bail bonds to get funding for team uniforms. The parents are all upset and he says something like, “Hey, these are all tax paying businesses, do you want to fork over for the uniforms yourself?” I think it’s kind of that way. If a company wants to pay me so that I can keep writing as I do, then that’s OK in my book. I would not expect a newspaper to never run an ad or a TV show not to have a commercial. I might not like seeing erectile dysfunction commercials during football games, but I understand why they need to be there. Without the payments, you are basically a volunteer, which is fine up to a certain extent, but at some point we all have to be compensated to do a better job and keep growing as a business.
Kim@Eyesonthedollar recently posted…Maybe First Graders Should Run the Government
haha, that’s the idea. I’d rather have links than have readers pay for the content.
Hey Pauline and thanks for an informative post 🙂
I have yet to be approached on The Joy of Simple for paid links/posts…but on my Jazz Guitar Life site, which has a PR 4 page rank, I am always getting requests for this type of thing and I either ignore them or turn them down. The reason being that they never have content relative to my brand or niche and it would be completely ridiculous for me to add a post that had nothing to do with Jazz Guitar just to make 150 bucks or so.
That being said, there are some legitimate sites out there that can use the help/link and if hey ever contacted me…I might consider their offer.
As you state, it all boils down to how you feel about your audience and your brand.
Thanks again and take care.
Lyle
lyle @ the Joy of Simple recently posted…My First Guest Blog Post And My First Reader Q & A 🙂
Hi Lyle, it sure feels weird to see a non related post on a specific niche site. However you can also exclude them from RSS, from your homepage, etc. which is what some bloggers do and the reps don’t mind since they just buy link juice.
I think it depends on each person. However, if a blogger is taking a low amount of money, you are really hurting yourself. Most blogs can command $250 plus.
Michelle recently posted…October Goals and Life Update
The text links are something I don’t do anymore, but I realize that it’s kind of the low hanging fruit that’s easy to make some decent money on, especially when you’re a newer blogger and your traffic isn’t big enough to make a ton of money in other ways. At one point in my first year or so of blogging at one point I was making in excess of $1000/month from text links, but after seeing my page rank drop and my search rankings suffer, I stopped selling them and removed them from my site.
Thankfully by that point I had other revenue streams to more than make up for it, but I do understand why people accept them – it’s an easy source of decent money – although I think as time goes on it may not be sustainable. I think text links are going to start going away as Google and other search engines rely less on those things, and advertisers see less benefit from buying them.
Peter recently posted…Motif Investing Creator Royalties Program: Get Paid When Others Buy Your Motif
it takes a lot more work to increase your affiliate sales instead but once it starts to work out, it can generate way more thank links.
I don’t have a problem with a blog accepting sponsored posts/links as long as it doesn’t make up the bulk of their content or isn’t a good fit to their niche, then it can be a bit oft-putting. But every blogger needs to decide what’s right for them and the risk they are willing to take with Google. 🙂 I do, agree, that if you accept a sponsored post that you need to be compensated appropriately.
Shannon @ The Heavy Purse recently posted…Blog Round-Up: Week of September 30, 2013
Sure, some topics are just weirdly fitting, but maybe they were well compensated!
I think as long as the site you’re linking to is legit and trustworthy, it’s okay. You just need to check it out first just to be safe.
Mark Ross recently posted…Things You Should Avoid If You Want To Be Rich
yes, I made the mistake not to check once… it was bad.
I don’t mind if a blog has paid links, but I would not host a paid link to sites that are typically bad for consumers, like payday loans, debt consolidation lenders, or debt payoff services, to name a few.
Bryce @ Save and Conquer recently posted…Carnival of Financial Camaraderie – October 5, 2013
That is what most PF bloggers seem to be doing, to keep their message consistent.
Thanks for the tips and explaining this a bit better. I’d like to know how to price especially when it comes to ads and sizes etc.
canadianbudgetbinder recently posted…The Saturday Weekend Review #40: Nothing is free at a wedding not even being a guest
It depends on what the advertiser is looking for, some are only wanting link juice and will pay based on your pagerank or mozrank, others want exposure and will pay based on your pageviews. About $50 per page rank and $5 per point of mozrank is an average price for a link for a year, for banners it depends on the size, location… I’d say a 125×125 banner should cost about the price of a yearly link for a month if placed on the homepage, that would be $150 per month for a PR3, and then about $150 per year if placed on a category that brings as much traffic as a normal post.
I don’t mind doing them as long as it doesn’t take over my blog. People come to my site to read my stuff I would assume, not some generic content. But I also have to pay my rent. 🙂
Budget and the Beach recently posted…Link Love/Week in Review 10/6/13
it takes some balance, although more than half my readers come from SEO for example so they land on the article they look for (sometimes an ad) and visit a couple more pages, I don’t think it bothers them. Regulars sure.
I don’t have any paid links on my site (yet) but I would definitely only do paid posts for services and goods I believe in.
Lisa E. @ Lisa Vs. The Loans recently posted…Lisa Vs. the Lbs. – Changes
It’s a hot topic among bloggers, that’s for sure. I personally think that Google is changing their PR structure , hence the lack of an update for so long, so paid links will be phased out soon as a thing of the past as they change the way they rank sites. We’ll see though!
Daisy @ Prairie Eco Thrifter recently posted…5 Foods to Help Lower Your Blood Pressure
This post comes at a great time for me. I’m starting to be contacted more frequently by advertisers who want to publish sponsored content on my site and I haven’t been sure how to navigate the process. I appreciate these tips.
Stefanie @ The Broke and Beautiful Life recently posted…Money Manners: Property Damage
Thank you for sharing the tips with us. I will try doing it as you instructed to see if it works for me. I am interested in making money online and have tried some ways but not succeeded yet.
vkool recently posted…Discover step by step how to overcome social phobia with top 15 little known tips now!
At this time it appears like BlogEngine is the best blogging platform out there right now.
(from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using on your blog?