Blogroll re-shuffle

It's hard to surf the net without me thinking about the impending Google Page Rank update. Perhaps I'm getting a little obsessed with it but it never hurt to be prepared. The update will be like a flood where there is destruction but everything re-grows and flourishes more than before. I always say that necessity causes change and it is causing me to re-shuffle my blogroll and the 'my favourite sites' list.

As a I pointed out on Friday, this site has far to many out going links in its sidebar. It's time pick a select few and start over.

Why do I need less links there?

- There are too many links for readers to manage; it has become the custom to 'randomly click' on the list somewhere.
- It looks bad. Big lists like that are not pretty for readers or the Google spiders.
- Each outbound link 'leaks' a little Page Rank. Many of those sites are no longer updated and I don't want to be giving them better Page Rank (or traffic) when they are dead sites.
- It was a mistake to link out to some of them in the first place. Some are not at all relevant to readers of this blog. I didn't understand that concept months back when I offered/accepted a link exchange.
- Some have changed topic/drifted away from being about blogging and making money online.
- Too many links makes this page slow to load.
- The long list causes the sidebar to extend beyond the bottom of my blog posts! This could be solved by me increasing the number of posts per page but this means less AdSence earnings and doesn't help with the page loading time.
- Each outgoing link decreases the value of other outgoing links because it fragments traffic. On one level this means I am diverting traffic away from sites I want readers to visit. On the money level having more outgoing sidebar links decreases the price I can sell Text link ads for.
- Google likes sites with less outgoing sidebar links. The Sitening SEO tool ranks my site lower because of all the outgoing links.

If your site has been removed from my lists it is for one or more of those reasons. It is not because I don't like your site but because I feel you site won't benefit the readers of this blog as much as the others.

Below are all the sites I am removing. All of the sites below no longer have any obligation to link to me in their sidebar. (You can keep me there if you wish!) but there is no pressure or strings attached. I have stated the specific reason for removal next to some of the sites. Hopefully by linking out in this post they will be alerted to my actions and they can unlink to me.

bestest blog of all time

Techchee


online money tips

make money online

Current world news has moved to a new address, I haven’t been getting traffic from there for over 2 months and is off topic to this blog.

All blog submit gives an error 404

Jerrykobylt

internetbazaar hasn't posted for nearly 2 months

world of a mysterious life Isn't relevant enough to this site

free online games isn't relevant to this site

Money Making Machine hasn't posted since February

boys from the past isn't relevant enough to this site

WritingUP will not load

Canimakebigmoneyonline I had linked out to here twice in the same blogroll! whoops! I have kept the other link.

quick register

Highly recommended business oppourtinities drifted away from being relevant to this blog.

web money blog

earn online money

cool photos not relevant to this blog

Disenchanted

resourcelinks.net

the composed gentlemen not very relevant to this blog

Free ads for bloggers has not posted for 10 days

Quest to make money on the internet had not posted for over 2 months

My Quest to earn had not posted for over 10 days

Our blog review.

I have now removed those sites. The 'My Favourite sites' list is still too long but this will do for now.

Make Money with Affiliate Programs

Amidst the era of AdSense it is important to look to the future and predict what the game will be. I think affiliate programs are a major contender for the future.

Why do I think it will be 'the thing' to make money with affiliate programs?
- There are so many different companies that have an affiliate program; unlike AdSence where there are a few major players with one dominating the market (Google AdSence). This means affiliate programs are more stable. There have been mutters that Google won't be able to maintain its incredible growth rate for much longer and if 'something happens' to Google people will turn to the ever present, ever reliable affiliate programs to make money with.

- Affiliate programs are very adaptable. Sure, Google Adsense is contextual and highly targeted, but affiliate programs have ultimate flexibility. They allow you to chose the precise product you think will have a high conversion rate. You can totally customise the colours and blend them perfectly (providing you know how). Some affiliate programs may not allow you to customise their code to your hearts content but that’s the great thing about them; you can just find another affiliate program that does and make money with them instead.

- Affiliate programs don't make your site look tacky (providing you know how to use them on your website/blog). Due to it's over-use AdSence is very recognisable and the telltale 'ads by Google' massively reduces the click-through rate. Affiliate programs (again provided you find the right one) don't have these picky rules and regulations that prevent you from customising the ads. This is better for everyone.

How is is better for everyone?
- You the publisher make more money.
- The affiliate program you are working with makes more money.
- The customer buys the product they want.

People argue that blending ads is sneaky and shouldn't be done. I say that with affiliate programs you are being less sneaky than with AdSence. To be successful with an affiliate program you are going to need to believe in the product you are selling and know something about it. This means the product is more likely to be reliable, because given the choice (which you are with affiliate programs) you wouldn’t promote a bad product. This is not at all true with AdSence!

People say not to link into a bad neighbourhood, but I have no idea what sites I am sending people to via my AdSence Ads!.

The downside is that it takes time to get to know your product and market it well on your site. However, most half-experienced bloggers know that putting in time and effort pays off handsomely and is better in the long run than making a few quick bucks. I believe making money with affiliate programs is the future, which is why I started myAffiliate Programs site to guide people (and myself) to find the best affiliate program to use. What do you think about the future of online advertising?