Text Link Ads, Why Aren’t they Selling?
About 6 months ago I signed up for and was accepted by Text-Link-Ads. Within a month someone bought a link from me. I thought “Nice! this is going to be the easiest cash ever!”
It’s 5 months later and I still have one link sold per month. I would think this is OK because I only receive between 40 and 60 uniques a day and my PR is 5 with an Alexa rank in the 140K range, with over 700 pages indexed in Google and about 170 links showing up in Google.
Wait a Second! I see blogs that are PR 3, Alexa (which really can be shifted by a lot of factors) in the 500K and 100 pages indexed in Google, with less frequent updates than my few a week with 3-7 links sold in text-link-ads. What gives? My stats are crazy better and my placement of the links sold is primo in my eyes.
This sparked me to look into why this could be? I’ve already tried changing my category once or twice to try and boost my link sales but that didn’t help (once or twice in 6 months so I don’t think doing that has hurt me). Then I started digging around the text-link-ad categories to see if I could figure out what the issue was.
Doing this got me even more confused, I saw more and more blogs and sites that don’t have near the traffic stats and index stats, ad placement, etc, as I do nearly selling out their link-ads. Is it my domain name, my look, my layout, what the heck!
The only thing I could come up with is that my blog ranges a ton of topics and isn’t focused in on one specific topic. (But then again some of the ones I found weren’t really on any topic at all and still were able to sell a ton) But this was the closest thing I could come up with. That my visitors aren’t Niche Specific enough.
However, if you look at some of the links sold on different blogs you’ll see that a lot of the link-ads have nothing to do with their niche so that may blow my theory right out of the water. I’m also listed in TLA with my Aloha Update site which receives about 50 uniques a day and would be a great travel site to link on, PR4 300+ indexed, nothing.
Am I Text-Link-Ad Cursed? I’ll keep searching the web for answers but I’m puzzled. Is it the blog focus or what gives? Can you help me figure it out?
Comments
Comment from Erik
Time: December 19, 2006, 11:47 am
Thanks Empress!
I have the links over to the right at the top of the page under the “Sponsored Links” Section and changed the background to light grey to make them stand out. My links are the cheapest that TLA will sell which I think is $20.
I haven’t yet put the link back to my TLA location but maybe I should do that right now?
Thanks for the tips. I’ll try the “advert here” one and see if it works.
Comment from Marc
Time: December 19, 2006, 6:35 pm
Hey Erik. What are your text link ads priced at? My site is PR6 with an Alexa around 250K and while it started slow, I filled up all my slots within 6 weeks. What I’m thinking is because you have a higher Alexa, maybe the price is higher than what they have me set at, so it’s less likely that someone is going to come along as often with that much cash to spend. I would be patient - if anything updating the description of the site would help. The other thing could be your layout change - I really liked the old one much better. At a glance, I really can’t tell what your site is about anymore. And as someone who has also been on the buying side I have to say that a glance is really all I give before making a decision. If the price is high but people don’t understand what the site is, that could be it. But finally, my site is in the business category so it could also just be that there were not many affordable links there. Who knows - probably a lot of factors. Try asking Patrick Gavin - he’s a super nice guy. Maybe he can give you a tip.
Comment from Erik
Time: December 19, 2006, 6:46 pm
Thanks mark, I think the “what’s the site about” comment might be the closest. My links are the cheapest TLA will sell at, at $20 per link per month.
I like this layout but you’re correct about saying that I don’t really know what it’s about. i’m working on that right now, so I’ll probably ask an opinion or two when I’m closer to the finished beast.
As for category, I believe i’m in business-entrepreneurial and my links are cheapest with the most pages indexed, highest PR, and lowest Alexa, so I don’t think it’s the price.
Who knows at this point. I already tried contact Patrick but he mentioned a shift in category which I’ve done. Maybe I’ll try even more of shift with the description.
Who knows???
Comment from Erik
Time: December 19, 2006, 6:53 pm
Ok, I’ve changed around a few more things on the Title and description. We’ll see if it works.
I’ll keep you posted.
Comment from HART (1-800-HART)
Time: December 20, 2006, 10:52 am
Erik .. if you edit your listing, just on top of the details is the link to where people can buy the text-link-ad directly (click my name and see how I do it). I just add the URL and create my own EXTRA little link below the box where paid sponsors are called “Your Text-Link-Ad Here” .. but, it can pretty much be anything. I found after the first 3 sponsors .. 9 out of 10 sponsors actually read my site at some point in time, opposed to browsing the T-L-A site and categories and descriptions. On some sites, I still get no links so I’m not saying this is an end-all answer. I’m just as clued out as you on this at times.
Comment from Erik
Time: December 20, 2006, 11:07 am
HART-
Thanks for the tip. I’ve been contemplating adding this to my site and I think now I’m going to. I’m currently in a reorganization process so this would be a good thing to add to the mix.
I’ll add it shortly and report back what I find.
Comment from HART (1-800-HART)
Time: December 20, 2006, 11:23 am
Every bit helps 
It’s funny, but on some sites I think back and wonder if I spend too much time monetizing the site (for instance, I can work 1/2 hour and make just as much as month with a text link) .. but in the end .. the sites with more text-links keeps me truer to the content topic and I think I provide better content, and more regularly! So, it keeps me in line too.
It’s always good to find someone talk about what works and what doesn’t. Keep it up!
Comment from HART (1-800-HART)
Time: December 20, 2006, 11:24 am
um .. now if only I can take the time to cheque my grammer and prufe reed lol!
Comment from Marc
Time: December 21, 2006, 6:35 am
HART - great point about the value of your time. For me, I work for a major marketing company and I also can freelance at a pretty high rate if I need to. I currently develop my sites as a combination of wanting to create passive income streams (even if they are, for now, meager) and as a learning exersize. I’ve used some of the techniques I’ve learned promoting sites and reading blogs like this one to promote things for major brands who will pay a pretty penny to get this knowledge.
It might seem silly to say, spend 2 hours setting up code so you can make $10 a month, but you have to look at the money over the long term. If you’re doing a good job with your site, that’s $10 a month, forever. Whereas I might have to spend even more time selling myself for $60-100 per hour. Plus, if you make $100 a year on a site, at the end of the year you can buy a site that’s making $10 a month with $100. Now you’re making $20 a month.
Comment from Marc
Time: December 21, 2006, 6:39 am
Erik - definitely change the look of the site. Feel free to email me (I’m the guy who tried to buy a name from you on namepros and I sent you my email there) if you want a critique before it goes live. You can also write it off to luck in some cases. I sold like 4 in a week. Then none for 2 months, then the rest within another 3 weeks. No rhyme or reason to the buys. They just happened in random clusters. If you made 10 blogs and didn’t sell, then I’d be worried!
Comment from Erik
Time: December 21, 2006, 8:50 am
I didn’t know people didn’t like the look of my site as much as they do?
Thanks for all the input. I may think about changing it now.
Currently I’m just trying to reorganize my categories. I’m separating out the personal articles with the helpful articles. I figure this way people can easily navigate if they want to read about my personal experience with a topic or if they just want the straight help.
What do you guys think of that?
Comment from Marc
Time: December 27, 2006, 7:15 pm
I think that depends on how people use the site. I think when I first discovered it I used the categories since i was “catching up” so to speak. Now that I’ve seen everything from before they don’t matter as much to me. Of course, you’re talking to someone who gets distracted and spends hours making subtle changes no one will ever notice to my own sites, so if that makes you happy I’m not going to argue
Comment from Anita @ Say No to Crack
Time: January 4, 2007, 4:12 pm
Your topic is probably better than mine for selling TLA. Everyone tells me that humor gets almost $.00 per click, so I don’t even bother now (my site averages ~3K visits per day now, so I’m thinking it’s still too soon).
Pingback from December 2006 Earnings : Board Shorts and Business Suits
Time: January 10, 2007, 9:13 pm
[...] December was a pretty good month but could always be better, much better. With 11 of my blogs over a PR3, I still have only one link sold from text-link-ads. I recently wondered why my text link ads aren’t selling, and took most of the comments to heart. I adjusted my blog and tried to re-align some things, while not losing content, but being more focused and more advertiser friendly. We’ll see what happens. [...]
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Time: January 23, 2007, 4:50 pm
[...] I’ve recently displayed my disgruntled-ness over text-link-ads.com, mainly why aren’t they selling as well as others. I chalked it up to, after snooping the TLA listed pages, to the fact that it seems pretty random which blogs get more links than others. [...]
Comment from Todd
Time: February 1, 2007, 12:33 am
I have had mixed results with TLA. On Aridni It has been great. But on my friends site with better stats, We haven’t been able to sell any.
Although it has only been available for about a month or so.
Comment from Justin Chen
Time: February 4, 2007, 9:39 am
On our small business blog we didn’t have many TLA sales until we had an article get dugg to the front page. That brought alot of attention and some buyers that mostly stuck with us for quite a few months.
Pingback from Text Link Ads Deserves My Apologies
Time: May 15, 2007, 10:18 pm
[...] of you might remember a while back when I started bad mouthing Text Link Ads. Ads on this blog weren’t selling while I saw links on other blogs, blogs that didn’t [...]
Pingback from Erik’s Blog: Board Shorts and Business Suits » Earnings Report For March 2007
Time: June 30, 2008, 8:12 pm
[...] for the blog network which has helped in the short term. I’d like to build a presence on (gasp) Text-Link-Ads so I don’t have to spend time tracking down potential advertisers right [...]
Comment from Mercy
Time: November 12, 2009, 2:19 am
my friend is making money with this Text link ads
Comment from Empress
Time: December 19, 2006, 11:37 am
Sometimes people don’t realize that you’re selling text link ads
This is just a suggestion, but maybe if you put an “Advertise Here” that took the person who clicked to your text link ad space so they could buy direct might work.
Keeping the ad above the fold of the page is always good.
Maybe a bit more focus on the ad space - maybe a different colour to make it stand out a little?
Another idea is to post that you’re offering advertising through Text Link Ads - might draw in advertisers.
How much are you able to sell your links for? Sometimes those that are a bit overpriced for their category might not sell so well? It took me several months as well before my links started to sell. I think it has a lot to do with the niche (category) you pick… sometimes it can just be a touch of luck too.
Hang in there… it will happen.