Less Site Links for More Money?

I know that when I setup a niche blog, I tend to put links to every site that fits the niche, which can represent 10, 20 or more sponsors.

I'm wondering if those long "blogroll" style site links are really profitable, and if I should concentrate on just 2-3 sponsors for those side links.

My reasoning is this: it takes a lot of sales shared amongst a bunch of sponsors to see an affiliate check. Less sponsors "should" result in a faster turn-around of payments.

So, does anyone have any thoughts, results, testing to support either method?

The danger is, if you list site A, site B and site C in your blogroll, the surfer might be interested in site D (which is not in your blogroll). I believe it's always best to offer surfers a broad choice.

I thinks it's better to offer surfers a wider choice. I'd rather come back to a site that offers a bigger number of links for me to surf around, than one that only links to just a few sites.

Also if you offer less links, your content (and those few links) need to catch the surfers attention or he's gone. If a surfer hits your site and there isn't something he likes, chances are that he might find something interesting in your blogroll. So I'd say that having a variety here is a plus.

From my experiences there are always a couple of sites that sell very well and of course it might have it's advantages to just promote them. But why not grabbing the odd sale from other site as well, expecially if it doesn't cost you anything extra. If it only results in a payment every year or so, it's still money I wouldn't pass on.

I think there are better ways to push the good selling sites than just dropping the underperforming. :)

Maybe put your 20 or so up ... then in three months you can pair back the ones that just aren't selling. If you send 1000 or more clicks to a site and don't sell anything, it's probably not worth having.

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Originally Posted by pocoloco

The danger is, if you list site A, site B and site C in your blogroll, the surfer might be interested in site D (which is not in your blogroll). I believe it's always best to offer surfers a broad choice.

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Yeah, that's pretty much been my reasoning too. I'd hate to miss even one opportunity to make that sale!

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Originally Posted by attis

From my experiences there are always a couple of sites that sell very well and of course it might have it's advantages to just promote them. But why not grabbing the odd sale from other site as well, especially if it doesn't cost you anything extra. If it only results in a payment every year or so, it's still money I wouldn't pass on.

I think there are better ways to push the good selling sites than just dropping the under-performing. :)

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That's a very valid point about ways to push the better performing sites. (And if you have some tips about that, I'd love to hear 'em!)

And those odd checks that show up ... it's kinda like Christmas! I figure it's "bonus" money to take and use on a nice time going out and about with Che'. :convertible:

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Originally Posted by dzinerbear

Maybe put your 20 or so up ... then in three months you can pair back the ones that just aren't selling. If you send 1000 or more clicks to a site and don't sell anything, it's probably not worth having.

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1000 or more clicks is the "rule of thumb" I haven't really followed, and probably should have. I admit to being sloppy about keeping track of my traffic and where and how many hits I'm sending out to different sponsors, especially after Nifty Stats cancelled the free accounts.

I am working on setting up a link system that
1. tracks my hits to each link,
2. sorts my links by sponsor,
3. cloaks the link,
4. lets me easily edit where links go in the event I need to update links or drop a program.

Damn ... getting organized is a lot of work! LOL

And I have considered getting a paid version of Nifty Stats. Anyone have any pros or cons about using it, or do you recommend another way of keeping your traffic stats sorted?

Bec, I would recommend StatsRemote.com - it's $29.95 per month, but it's well worth your money. It makes it so much easier to track sales and see how well you do with certain sponsors.

I have tried both Nifty and StatsRemote and I think SR is the best there is. Their support is awesome too.

As for the links to sponsors, it's probably best to use a jump script (either one per domain or one for all your sites combined). It enables you to change your outgoing links in an instant.

I can send you a sample of a single php file that does this. Let me know if you (or anyone else) need(s) it.

If some site have both affiliate PPS ($ per signup) as well as Partnership (% on recurs) mix the two codes so some would sign up for the recur (which would take longer to get a check) but if someone signs up via the PPS link you get a boost. The customer doesn't know which one it is and you can use an ad manager like OpenX (or whatever it's called now) to just cycle through them.

Plus if you need a boost to get you over the line, schedule them all as PPS for a few days to bump your totals.

Of course you lose the PPS recur but may be an option since maybe they cancelled after the first month so you're ahead anyway!

PocoLoco: Stats Remote! That's the other one I couldn't remember the name of~! I'll look that one over too.

Now does this jump script keep track of link clicks and let me sort them by sponsor?

thejungle: I've been using PPS unless I don't have that option. When I did the revshare it really did take forever to see a check.

Good luck with that Bec.
I went through a few years ago and switched all my affiliate links into a jump program that I use on all my blogs except a few that already had a bunch of internal linking issues. It took a while but has been worth it in the long run.

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Originally Posted by Bec

Now does this jump script keep track of link clicks and let me sort them by sponsor?

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The jump script does not count clicks. I think you would need something mysql based to keep track in that way.

What is does in short is: redirecting those ugly affiliate links and make them look like this; http://www.domainA.com/jump.php?x=sitename

You can call the script from all your domains (domainB, domainC, etc...)

If you want to change links from PPS to revshare or need to change links of a sponsor that goes out of business, you need to change the link in your php file instead of all your links on all your domains.

So I create a php page with all the links, and call it with your jump script?

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Originally Posted by PUMPaul

Good luck with that Bec.
I went through a few years ago and switched all my affiliate links into a jump program that I use on all my blogs except a few that already had a bunch of internal linking issues. It took a while but has been worth it in the long run.

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Aren't you using the Maxblog Press Ninja Cloaker?

I use a simple jump script that rather than listing my sponsor, I list by site. It ends up being a huge page with hundreds of links, but a ctrl+f makes them super easy to find the one I need.

I wish I had used a jump script since the beginning. I opted for PPS for most programs, but I would have made a lot more money with say Intense Cash had I gone rev. Would have taken forever to go find all of the links and change them, but that became so crazy easy once I started using a jump script. Also saved me from sending bad/dead sponsors traffic that wouldn't make me money.

Edit: oh and as for stats program, StatsRemote has always been my favorite. Nifty makes my computer run much slower, but one advantage it has is that you can break NATS program down by campaign if you choose.

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Originally Posted by Bec

That's a very valid point about ways to push the better performing sites. (And if you have some tips about that, I'd love to hear 'em!)

And those odd checks that show up ... it's kinda like Christmas! I figure it's "bonus" money to take and use on a nice time going out and about with Che'. :convertible:

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We try to offer surfers hot news about website updates. Sites who update regularly, offer promo material about their updates or maintain an update schedule on the website are in general the best sellers anyway. They get automatically pushed to the top because we add their promo stuff regularly. As far as links and galleries are concerned, whenever a site updates it goes to the top und wanders down consecutively until it updates again and returns to the top.

If a site doesn't update at all or doesn't tell us about it in any form, well it stays at the very end of the list, thus getting less traffic and less sales. We're still promoting them to grab a sale now and then, but the better performing sites receive more attention and we spend more time in promoting them. It's a simple system and works pretty well for us.

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As far as links and galleries are concerned, whenever a site updates it goes to the top und wanders down consecutively until it updates again and returns to the top.

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Not quite following that comment. I read it as saying you have a site that updates, and each week after you post the update you let it wander down the blog page, and then when it updates again, you add to the same post to bring it back to the top??

Or do you just mean that the same site comes to the top position again and again because you post about it regularly?

Okay, let's say site A has an update today and I'm posting about it. So site A goes to the top in galleries, new faces, banners, link lists, etc.

Now, the next day site B updates and I add it to my site. Site A goes down to place #2 while site B takes over the top place.

On the third day when site C has an update, site A goes to third, site B to second.

After a few days or a week, whenever there is an update to report about on site A, it jumps back to the first place. The other sites to go down respectively (C to #2, B to #3, etc.).

Obviuously, a site with daily updates gets much more pushes than sites with weekly, bi-weekly or even monthly updates. Site that update erratically slowly wander down the list to mingle with the lot that never updates.

With updates I don't mean those that are hidden inside the member's area, but updates that are either posted on the tour pages, update schedule or are available for affiliates by email, forum posts or site access.

Hope that somewhat clarifies my system. :)

So you make a NEW post for every update, and aren't opening and editing an older post to add to it.

Yes, that's correct every update gets a new post. However, it's not a blog... well, kinda... but not the usual style of blogs. You can find updates from a year ago and longer, as firstly, it gives the surfer an idea how often a site updates and if it does regularly, and secondly, I think there is a fair chance that surfers might find some of the previous models appealing enough to join the site.

It's all about having more fishing poles in the pond and hopefully at those places where the big fish are. But if a small fish catches the hook... well, I won't through it back into the water. :)

Regarding a jump script. I've done a similar thing but made a php file for each link. That way you can name the file something like: visit-gww.php.

Does anyone else do it this way or is one file with a list better for some reason?