rather well optimized? is it worth it to put adsense ads, rather than just affiliate links amongst articles as text links? For example should i add adsense to my weight loss blog? (by the way i already have an adsense account so yeah..)
The two ways require different type of traffic. If you can get low but highly targeted traffic, then use only affiliations, don't bother with adsense. If you can get high but moderately targeted traffic, then use adsense, and you can also have affiliations at some place on the site. For adsense what matters mostly is the amount of traffic you can get. For affiliations what matters mostly is a traffic that is highly interested in whatever you're trying to promote. Since the commissions are so high in affiliations, $20 commission is like getting paid $20 for 200 clicks by adsense. To get 200 clicks by adsense, assuming you have a CTR of 5% means generating 4,000 ad impressions. Well with highly targeted traffic on a page promoting an affiliations, if you get 4,000 ad impressions and not a single sale, it means your traffic is not that targeted at all! So I'd say that when someone can manage to generate highly targeted traffic, then affiliations can easily outperform adsense. If someone can generate so much traffic that adsense pays a lot each month, for sure some affiliation sales can be made also on those pages. Just because with moderately-low targeted traffic, maybe you can sale one product every 10,000 visitors, but since you have adsense you are already being paid for that traffic, so anything you earn with affiliation is a bonus. The contrary can't be said, if you have highly targeted traffic, but in low quantities, you want to optimize the number of sales, so if you put adsense on this site, it will remove clicks from your affiliations, and those clicks will be paid cents only and might generate a sales at one of your direct competitor. Plus with low traffic adsense doesn't pay good, there are exception in some niches with high CPC, but they are exception also in affiliations, so as a generale rule that's what I think.
wow. that's a really great answer. true, i like the point where you said that if my blog's traffic is not very targeted, i should just use adsense so that I can hopefully get some income. You seem very knowledgeable, can I ask how you generate all that traffic to your website? do you use PPC, social media marketing or just SEO? or maybe combination?
I agree with James, and I would suggest getting targeted and going with affiliate sales. Give some amazing content so they can use it and see results. Collect leads, and market to them the best products you can.... Eventually create or outsource a product to sell yourself.
i think since my trafffic is partly targeted and partly from random searches or image searches, I think i'll use some adsense first. once my traffic gets very targeted and greater, i will change to only affiliate marketing. what do you think of that strategy?