Ad Placement on Blogs

I just received an urgent email from a reader that I feel the need to address immediately. This internet writer was begging for my help.  This is what she wrote:

"Emma, I just started reading your blog and I am inspired to make money with my blog. I have over 1,000 followers and I get about ten new comments on my blog each day. I haven't made a penny off my blog because I am afraid to put ads on it. I've seen so many blogs that are all ads and I don't want to make that mistake. I don't know where to put the ads so they are seen and don't interfere with my posts. I think I could make money with my blog, but I don't want to mess it up. What do you suggest? Please help me."

It is wonderful that my reader has that many followers. It is even more wonderful she is receiving that many comments. She doesn't just have followers - she has readers! People are interested in what she has to say, so interested in her internet writing that they interact with her. It doesn't get much better than that. All we have to do now is get that blog to be profitable!

My first suggestion is to make your blog as large as possible. Adjust the widths of you blog to the maximum. This will give you more room for everything - copy, ads and the (must-have only) gadgets. Another part of enlarging your blog is to get rid of all the unnecessary gadgets and gizmos. As you are deciding which gadgets to get rid of, keep in mind you want to keep your readers on your blog for as long as possible. Any add-ons that take your readers elsewhere (unless it is to more your internet writing) should go. The links that you use to boost your page rank should be "buried" as deeply in your blog as possible.

My second suggestion is choose a lay-out that allow you get all of your ads "above the fold." "Above the fold" is an old newspaper term that means just what is says - information, ads, photos, whatever that is above the fold and seen without the reader needing to put forth any effort to see them. Obviously, blogs do not have folds. Instead, blogs have what I call "the scroll line" - the point where the reader must scroll down to read more of the page. You want the majority of your ads above "the scroll line" so they are easily seen.

As bloggers, we must think like a blog reader. Where will the reader look first? What will the reader be most interested in? Where will the reader "linger" on your blog? Those are the places where ads should placed without interfering with your copy. Ads placed at the bottom of the blog are less intrusive of all ads, but you must place your ads where they will seen. How often do you scroll down to the end, the very bottom, of the blog?

One of my pet peeves with blogs with ads is when those ads are bigger than the column where they have been placed. When you column is only 180 pixels wide, do not put an ad there that is 200 pixels wide. The ad will either be cut off and the reader can't get all the information or it will cover up your copy. Make sure your ads fit in the space available to them! Bigger isn't always better; match the size of blog ads with the "sections" of your blog. If you use small sections for your copy, use smaller ads to match the size of your copy. If you use large sections of your blog for copy, you should do the same with the ads on your blog.

Unlike children (throwing in some of my parenting philosophy), ads should be "seen and not heard." It is also my firm belief that ads should be "seen and not noticed." You want your ads to blend in as much as possible, to look like your copy. Contrasting colors for ads are almost a turn off to readers. They scream "Here I am! I am an ad!" It is also my personal preference that ads be "text only" instead of "image and text." Unless your blog contains a lot of photos and graphics, image ads can distract your readers.

The best thing you can do when adding ads to your blog is simply to play with the ad placement and see what looks best for your blog. Try different lay-outs that work well with your copy and will flow nicely. Ask friends and family which lay-out looks best. Pick a lay-out that you think will work and use it for a while (a week or so) to see if your ad revenue increases. If your revenue doesn't increase, try another lay-out. As much as I would love to give you a "map" to the best ad placement, it doesn't work that way. As with most things in life, trial and error will help you find what is best for you blog.

If you have any other questions about ad placement on your blog, please feel free to leave a comment with the link to your blog(s). I would be more than happy to take a look and give you feedback. I would also love for my readers to look at those blogs as well and share their ideas on improving the ad placement.

Google Keyword Tool - Just the Basics

I have mentioned the Google Keyword Tool in previous posts. I have gotten several emails about this. Many of my online readers have never heard of it and, if they have heard it, they don't know how to use it. Internet writers are missing a wonderful opportunity when they aren't using "the tool." This tool will help internet writers pick keywords to use in their online articles.  Sit back, take a deep breath; it isn't as hard as it might sound. These are just the basics to using the Google Keyword Tool.

Think of a topic you would like to create an online article about. It doesn't matter what it is. Concentrate on the words that you know you will repeat in the online article. For the purpose of this post, I will use "coffee" as the topic of the article. Pull up the Google Keyword Tool and type in "coffee," without the quotation marks.

On the far right of you computer screen you will see a rectangular box entitled "columns." Click on that box. You will see all sorts of options as how to customize your columns. I recommend that internet writers only click on "global monthly searches" and "estimated avg. CPC."  Remember that "CPC" stands for "cost per click." This is NOT the amount you will be paid when someone clicks on the ad. This is the amount that the advertiser pays Google when someone clicks on the ad.

To the left of the columns box you will find "sorted by." Click on the box next to it and check "estimated avg. CPC." This will allow the results for coffee (the topic of our pretend internet article) to be sorted from highest CPC to lowest CPC.

Now click the "search" box which is located beneath the "word or phrase" box. The results for the keyword coffee will pop up. At the time I am writing this, the results from the Google Keyword Tool list "coffee am," "green mountain coffee" and "green mountain coffee roasters" as the three words (phrases) with the highest CPC.  The highest CPC is $117.10 - for "coffee am." Scroll through the search results for coffee and find the keyword(s) that will best work with your internet article about coffee. Remember that at the bottom of the page you can also add more rows, up to 100.

Start thinking about the internet article you will be writing about coffee. How can you incorporate the keywords you found? Keep in mind that you want to use the keywords with the both the highest CPC and the highest global monthly searches. If you were going to write an internet article about where to buy coffee, "coffee am" is the the obvious choice.  Coffee AM is a website that sells coffee.

Not quite what you were wanting for your online article? It is time to brainstorm. Try "expresso," "caffeinated beverages" or "hot drinks." Keep brainstorming different options until you find something that will work for your internet article. You can even change the slant of your internet article to fit a more profitable and more "searchable" keyword.

Keep in mind as you use the Google Keyword Tool that you want to write a quality internet article! Internet writers should always write about what they feel passionately about and not what is most profitable. (Look at me! I'm writing about internet writing and internet writing. I feel passionately about it. If I was only "in it" for the money, I would have chosen a blog topic that is more "searchable" and more profitable.) Your passion will shine through and draw readers in. Also, you need to remember that Google is personalizing the ads - the subject of ads your readers have clicked in the past will follow them to your internet article no matter your topic. Internet articles will still have some content-based ads, but as many as before.

Now write your internet article. Remember to use Live Keyword Analysis to get the correct ratio. For more information about this, please read my previous post about using this great tool. Do not force the keywords. Let them flow naturally. You can always go back to the Google Keyword Tool to tweak the keywords you have used in your internet article.

My Blog Hopping Adventure

I decided to go "blog hopping." I visited over 100 blogs. I am now suffering from a massive migraine. I was surprised by what I saw. Shocked is more like it. I had no idea that blogs like the ones I just saw even existed. I noticed all sorts of things that made me cringe. Not just as an online writer or online reader, but as a person. I found so many mistakes that all online writers should avoid:

• Lack of Focus - I read blogs that lacked focus. They were all over the place. One post the blogger was trying to selling shoes. The next post was about the blogger's daughter and the cold she was suffering from. The next one was about blogging tips. Pick a topic and stick with it. That blogger had three potentially successful blogs in one. Sell shoes on one blog. Blog about the daughter in another and give blogging advice in the third. "A Day in the Life" blogs are great and tend to be all over the place without getting away from the focus of the blog which is the blogger's daily life.

• Too Many Ads - I tried to read a blog about dogs. I love dogs and really wanted to learn about this blogger's legged babies. I couldn't. There was an ad of some sort everywhere. The blogger would write a sentence or two and then there was an ad - an image ad the interrupted the post. The text was almost all hyperlinked to some product or service. (By the way, the products and services had nothing to do with dogs.) My mouse was touching all sorts of things that would pop up and cover the text I was trying to read. I gave up and moved on to the next blog.

• Slang - I was shocked by the slang I was reading. I believe it is called "text speak," but I call it "tacky." This is one example: "OMG! Just got back 2 blogging. I C 2 comments. Way kewl! I had 2 LOL." Yes, that was the entire post. Save that for Twitter, Facebook and emails between friends! Remember that you are an online writer (a professional); respect yourself and your online work enough not to use these abbreviations.

• Layout - The layouts I saw were unbelievable. One blog had six columns that could not have been more than 100 pixels wide. Entire posts were in those tiny columns. There were only a few words on each line because the font was so large, making it difficult to read. The next column over had tiny fonts and I couldn't find my magnifying glass to read it. I moved on. It might have been the blog of the century, but I couldn't read it. The ads were cut off and I was unable to see if I might be interested in any of them.

• Errors - I noticed all sorts of spelling errors. The grammar was also seriously lacking. In one of the "Day In the Life" blogs, nothing was capitalized and there were no periods until the very end of the post. The story was interesting, but I couldn't get past the mistakes to truly enjoy it. Another blog was written in all capitals, in both both and italics. Every few sentences ended with "!!!!"

• No Content - I also noticed that many blogs lacked content. Individual posts were just a few sentences longs. One post was simply "BRB." It was the latest post and it was dated 2009. I envisioned Elvis dying on the toilet for some reason. When posting to your blog, make your post long enough to "say something." Cover the topic thoroughly. Concise is great as long you make your point. Remember that search engines pick up online articles that are at least 300 words long faster than "BRB" and nothing else.

• Colors - The reason for my blog hopping headache is probably due to the colors used on the blogs. Many were difficult to read. Some were impossible to read; the words were fuzzy and they moved around on my computer screen. Some colors do not mix well. Be very careful with bright colors, especially if you are mixing them together. Make sure the same colors are in different hues and shades so your readers can see your work.

Please do not do these things! Not only do they make your blogs look bad, they make you look bad. "You are only as good as the worst article/post you publish." Always remember that. Live by it. Write by it. It will make a difference in you success as an online writer.

I will address some of these issues in future posts and give you some ideas on how to avoid these mistakes. Getting your blog to look and read in a way that is reader friendly is important. You do not want to be losing readers because of the way your blog looks.

Using Links to Our Advantage

As writers, we want the world to read our work. The wonderful creation of the internet has made that possible. Any writer with access to the internet can publish their articles. Getting the world to read our online articles is the issue. We need to ranked high on search engines. Getting on the first page of search engines, such as Google and Bing, isn't easy. However, it is possible to use links to help you get the first page ranking.

To clarify, a link is when you add the URL of another website to you work. This can be done in the body of your online article. By using "hyperlinks" that many online writing sites and blogs, you can copy/paste the URL of another website. An example of this would be the following: You will additional tips about using links here. Other times, you may have to type out the URL for the site you are linking.

These are just a few tips to help get your online articles to the world by using links to your advantage:

• Relevant Links - Make sure all of your links are relevant to the online article you are linking it to. If you wrote an online article about weight loss, you wouldn't link it to website about pets. You would link that online article to other websites and online articles about diets, healthy foods, exercise and such.

• Similar Links - Remember to link your articles to similar links. I am currently working on a humorous series for List My Five about rednecks. I am linking all of those "redneck lists" together, even though each list is on a different topic. This gives the reader to opportunity to read more about rednecks. And, to sweeten the process, the reader will be reading MY redneck online articles.

• Highly Ranked Websites Links - Do your best to link your online articles to highly ranked websites. You want to link to places that are on the first page of the major search engines. By doing this, you will help increase your own page ranking with those search engines.

• Traffic Boosting Links - Link your online articles to your own work as often as possible. This is extremely helpful. Not only are you boosting your page ranking to all of your online articles that are linked together, it can also help you create a fan base. Readers will see your style of writing in each of the linked online articles and, hopefully, fall in love with your work. They may start searching for other online articles you have written and read those as well.

One word of caution about using links: Be careful when linking your online work to other sites that have ads on them. You want to get as many ad clicks as possible without sending your readers somewhere else to click on the ads there. I do everything I can to avoid doing this. With only a few exceptions - writers I know personally and whose online work I really enjoy and writers who promote my online work. As a writer, I am just as competitive, if not more so, than other writers. Despite this, I know why I am now able to support my family with only ad/traffic revenue - help from others writers along the way. I return that favor as often as possible!

Using links correctly in your online writing will result in an increase in your page ranking. This is what all online writers want. As I've said before and will continue to say, "You can have the best online articles ever, but it means nothing if they are not read." You must do everything possible to increase your readership. Adding links will do this for you. It is quick, easy and painless. All you have to do is add the links and reap the rewards.

Keyword Density - Find the Right Mix for Your Online Writing

I received an interesting email last night. It was simple, concise and to the point: "How much is too much?" I emails back, asking how much of what is too much. My answered arrived just moments later. Again, it was short and sweet, "Keywords." Ahh, I understand now. How many keywords are too many?

Excellent question. Not  enough keywords in your online articles and your don't get indexed properly by search engines and you won't get the ads your shooting for. Too many keywords in your online articles and the search engines consider your work to be "spam" and won't index them at all. There has to be some sort of middle ground, but where is it?

With all of my searching, I have yet to find the magic number - the perfect ratio that will send your online work to the first page of all the search engines and get the ads you want. When I first started learning about keywords, I thought "less is more." I was such a "real world/non-online writer" at the time. "Less is more" is the standard when writing "out there."

Boy, was I wrong. I wasn't getting indexed and I wasn't getting the ads I wanted - errr, needed. Seeing my error, just like a driver trying to avoid a car accident, I over-compensated. My online work was so "keyword heavy" it read awkwardly. No ads and no first page on the search engines. Like the over-compensating driver, I avoided one accident and created another one.

I wasn't pleased. My online work was scripted and cold. I wasn't making money. I was going no where fast. So, I did my research. I read everything I could about keyword density. That made everything as clear as mud. There were as many keyword ratios as there were experts giving advice about keywords. I read everything from one percent to 12 percent. Some said it didn't matter; others said keyword density was all that mattered.

I have since learned that a good ratio is somewhere between three and six percent. Although nothing in online writing is chiseled in stone, that is a good ratio to strive for. Personally, I like to keep my keywords between five and six percent, leaning to closer to six percent. My work is getting the ads I want and, more importantly, my email inbox always has Google Alerts in it - telling me Google has picked up another one of my online articles.

There is no magic number. Because of this, I've learned to "play with keywords" in my online writing. If I'm not getting indexed on search engines or I'm not getting the ads I need, I will add keywords when my ratio is under 5.5 percent. When my keyword ratio is over 5.5 percent, I edit out the keywords. I keep playing around with it until my online article has been indexed and I'm getting the ads I was striving for.

Dying to know an easy way to figure out your keyword density? That will be in a later post. I've found some great tools for that and I'm using them to see which one I like the best.