Google Ads on a professional site?

Discussion in 'HTML & Website Design' started by Gravereaper, Nov 21, 2006.

  1. #1
    Is it ok to place google ads on a site providing internet business products & web designing services. Designed in a very 'superior' way?
     
    Gravereaper, Nov 21, 2006 IP
  2. thedark

    thedark Well-Known Member

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    #2
    why not ? if you can get good money from adsense...
     
    thedark, Nov 21, 2006 IP
  3. login

    login Notable Member

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    #3
    Will you get more from adsense than from your own sales ?
     
    login, Nov 21, 2006 IP
  4. Gravereaper

    Gravereaper Banned

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    #4
    Not sure but possibly, yes.
     
    Gravereaper, Nov 21, 2006 IP
  5. James12513

    James12513 Well-Known Member

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    #5
    if its a new website, don't put any ads up, it will look unprofessional and show the viewers that you need money that badly as to put ads all over your site.

    when you get some traffic and your site gets some good exposure, then I would say yes, put some ads up because people know the sites good, they won't really care about the ads. :p
     
    James12513, Nov 21, 2006 IP
  6. Eskarina

    Eskarina Guest

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    #6
    If they are placed discreetly and blended to suit your colour scheme - there's nothing wrong with it at all whether it is a new site or not.

    You could keep your index page clear of ads if you feel it was appropriate.

    I'm talking from personal preference and as an individual that has some sort of phobia against sites that display ads top-left-right-bottom & in between articles.

    BUT - about 2 months ago I put one adsense horizontal banner size ad on the footer of one of my new websites (which was experimental in itself) ... and ....proceeded to forget about it. I did blend it in really nicely and the site had some good content.

    A couple of weeks ago I remembered it and went to check out if it had any hits - not expecting a damn thing. I discovered it had earnt just over $3.00 on one measly page of a website that I hadn't even bothered optimising, putting a keyword tag too or getting any backlinks for - and then forgetting all about it as soon as it was launched!

    So, this week I chucked up some adsense ads on each page - nicely blended, in the footer as before and it's up to $8.00 and in my opinion does not detract from the design or content whatsoever.

    To be honest I'm really surprised because I had always been put off the idea of adsense because of all those sites that were obviously created purely because of adsense revenue! Those sites don't appeal to me at all and I agree - do not look professional or in the least bit interesting.

    But just think - if I continued to develop my experimental site with PR of zero and sad little billy no backlinks which earnt a few dollars behind my back whilst I was busy neglecting it! - what could it do with a bit more development?

    If your ads are blended well and not too in the visitors face - there's no reason not to see what it may achieve for you .... because you can always remove them if you get any negative feedback.

    You can also apply filters to stop potential competitors from advertising on your site.

    Give it a go - just on one page and see what happens.
     
    Eskarina, Nov 21, 2006 IP
  7. fsmedia

    fsmedia Prominent Member

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    #7
    If I see adsense on a professional site, I will almost automatically close it and not even consider purchasing at that site. Why? Because they are showing ads for their competitors. They should be able ot make enough money without that kind of advertising on their site to sustain their company. I don't trust professional sites that use adsense if they're selling a product.
     
    fsmedia, Nov 21, 2006 IP
  8. zodiac

    zodiac Peon

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    #8
    brand new or 10 years old,it is unprofessional to have any kind of ads if your mainly having products/services for a fee.
     
    zodiac, Nov 21, 2006 IP
  9. klown

    klown Peon

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    #9
    how about ads in a tutorial/resource section? I'm considering that for the seo and stuff site in my sig. I am working on building out the resource section significantly, however almost any services greatly out prices the adsense ads. Then again im poor!
     
    klown, Nov 21, 2006 IP
  10. solid7

    solid7 Well-Known Member

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    #10
    fsmedia - while I respect your decision not to patronize vendors who utilize AdSense, I think that you may be going just a bit over the top.

    My company site - the company that I own - utilizes an AdSense display at the bottom of the page, with 2 images above it. Our business is a niche, and we rank very well within it. Because we rank well, we get TONS of "stray" traffic. Now "tons" is a relative term, of course. Our site gets a few thousand hits a month. But only about 1% of those hits lead to a sale. However, those few sales are several thousand dollars a piece. (and there are 2 people in my company - we work from home offices)

    So what to do with all the extra traffic? Well, that's the whole premise of AdSense, as you know. It needs to be monetized, or it's just a waste of bandwidth. We know, based on our stats that 80% of our traffic is not looking for our services, but looking for some hack or crack related to what we offer. We cannot change that. So we AdSense it. We convert it. We make money for nothing.

    We lock out our competitors. That's a nice feature. In return, we get paid very well for low traffic volume, and the ads that are displayed are almost always for tutorials, books, or training - but not direct competition. I can live with that. In fact, that's just good business.

    I'm sorry to hear that you take that position. In your defense, you DID say product, NOT service. But I think that our situation could also apply to other companies who distribute goods. But that doesn't necessarily cover what you are searching for, so I may just be talking in the wind. Nonetheless, it's good to have the "other" perspective.
     
    solid7, Nov 21, 2006 IP
  11. mani

    mani Peon

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    #11
    May be adsense can give you even more revenue than your own business. If you have a website then you must have adsense.. its my recommendation
     
    mani, Nov 21, 2006 IP
  12. imnajam

    imnajam Well-Known Member

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    #12
    It depends upon how many pages you have, level of professionalism, and solely depends upon your wish, if you wish you can place ads complaints with google adsense TOS.

    Google have would have no objection (IMO)
     
    imnajam, Nov 22, 2006 IP
  13. crazybjörn

    crazybjörn Peon

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    #13
    I agree with fsmedia on this, while I wouldn't click away, I'd still expect a reputable company that sells something through their site(especially if it's design, and they have an online portoflio) not to have adsense ads. If their blog has ads then I don't have a problem with them, but their Portfolio page should not have them.
     
    crazybjörn, Nov 22, 2006 IP
  14. Gravereaper

    Gravereaper Banned

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    #14
    I don't know what you meant by professionalism, its supposed to be a professional site but basically its using an edited version of one of template monster's templates. Its not a web design site just a service promoting internet business, and web design is just a small part of it so any site designed will be designed using pre-made templates, with minor or major modifications if required and offcourse insertion of all the necessary codes..

    The way i see it, i shouldn't be placing ads if the service did well on its own even if my ads revenue can get bigger than the site's actual earnings
     
    Gravereaper, Nov 22, 2006 IP
  15. solid7

    solid7 Well-Known Member

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    #15
    I'm glad that my customers don't agree with you. (who believe AdSense on a professional site is taboo)

    I'm not Microsoft or Adobe, and I don't ever plan on being so. Since I have no corporate partnerships, and I don't have anyone banging down my door to buy ad space, I have no problem with advertising links that supplement the knowledge/services that I offer.

    I guess this is one of those topics that should be viewed through the lens of crystal reality. Maybe I wouldn't be so keen on certain types of professional goods/services providers displaying AdSense - but I don't view this as a "one size fits all" scenario.

    You do?
     
    solid7, Nov 22, 2006 IP
  16. kh7

    kh7 Peon

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    #16
    I think it depends. On a sales page, I would not mind adsense (just more opportunity to buy something for the customer). I don't trust Amazon any less because they show 'related products' or something. On a service, like a translator or a web-designer - I don't think it looks good (read reliable) to put adsense on at all.

    On tutorial pages, where you don't expect clients to go (though they will) you can certainly put adsense. That's really just a content-section, and like any content it can be monetized. Magazines have advertisements: that does not detract from their reliability.

    Personally I do have a different design on my 'tutorial pages (Dutch)', from my design-business site. The change in design makes it very clear that people are moving from one section of the website to another. And because the design-business gets traffic that often doesn't convert into actual customers, I have liberal links to my design-tuturial pages which are in their turn monetized with adsense.

    That's my choice for now - but this is also cultural. I would ask around in your circle (in your country) whether people would trust a webdesign-firm less if they had ads on the website. Getting you to do something for people means they are going to have to trust you. Think about how getting trust works - in your life, and in business in general. Ask around on that as well.
     
    kh7, Nov 22, 2006 IP