Well, I've written this post on my blog and it seems to answer a few questions that people have about using Text Link Ads. I know when I first went to buy from them, I couldnt find any real decent indepth thread about the results a person has had in dealing with TLA. I was going to just post the link to my blog here, but figured alot of people might think I was just trying to get traffic to my website, so for that reason I'll republish it here in a quote. The links I've used in the post are affiliate links, just to make it clear that I'm not trying to push them by falsifying any details. I believe I've been as objective as possible and give a decent description of the results I've had thus far:
TLA is an excellent site and does help your site get better rankings in SERPs via text links. Google is really all about "link age", so buying text links for 3-6 months is really where its going to start to benefit you.
Started a minor buy with them yesterday. I plan on giving it a go unquestionably for 3 months and then analizing the results.
Good post, thanks for sharing. I think for many smaller sites you might want to try buying links on your own and cutting out the middle man. There are lots of reputable links sellers at this forum. Make sure to deal with those folks that have good ratings. Some things I have noticed from buying text links on and off for the past 18 months is that you tend to get what you pay for (surprise!) I bought some really low-cost links and then had the sites go off-line or get completely neglected. But overall I have had a good positive experience and would say that link buying should be an important part of your overall traffic building strategy, but as mentioned above try and buy long-term links 6 months + to reap the greatest rewards.
That's pretty much what my little post is about. I'm with the others though, I'm gonna leave it a few more months and update this post at 6 months
Honestly it's not a bad service BUT! The one thing they are really really great at is selling. Here are my problems with them: - Their comission is 50%. I already asked, that's not going to change. - There isn't a clear way to cancel the ad without it automatically being renewed (you get charged). - They will charge your card sometimes couple days before it's time for renewal. - I've been told by them the way to avoid the preemptive charge is to cancel my ads, which GOT THEM OFF THE SITES IMMEDIATELY!!! Even though I already paid for that! WHO DOES THAT? So yeah... they have a lot to work on. The reason they are being arrogant with the 50% is because there is no good and competetive alternative. I really like www.receivelinks.com, except for they need a way to ensure more quality links. They already allow you to filter by PR. It would be great if they just add where the ad is positioned into the calculation. (They already calculate the points based on outgoing links, etc. very close to Google's PR algorithm so you get good organic hierarchical linking)
Yes, it is about the "Age" of the link. Think about Google PR as a social system. If you come recommended to me by a new friend of mine(new link) I may hesitate. If you come recommended from a long time grade school chum(old link), you are shoe in. Searchnology - Technology Enhanced Searching
My buddy was looking under the top 25 links and saw a link for sale on the bluehost.com homepage (pr8). It sold out in about 3 hours, after the 24 hour period, where they said he'd have his link up, they sent him an email saying that it was no longer going to be available. he tried to contact bluehost to see if it was ever going to be available again and they never replied. made us wonder if it was an easy thing to possibly hack to get accepted...
BigMack, you shouldn't put affiliate links in your blog post You got really lucky grabbing that coupon! I was listening to it on a podcast a few days ago! Their 50% commision rate is fine by me (for publishers) as long as they actually bring me buyers!
Lol, That's funny 66. I shouldnt put affil links in my blog post? Should I as well not run adsense on my websites? Seriously though, the 50% commision thing is something they seem to have complaints over alot, but I agree with you. As long as they sell the spots and guarantee the payment, it saves alot of personal hassle with emails and I don't have to do any extra work promoting the sale of my ad space. The coupon was nice, but unfortunately it only runs for a month - just enough time to figure out if you'll get any referral traffic from a site as well as the link strength. It let me play around with a few sites, but when the month was up I cancelled a bunch of the links to drop my bill down a few hundred.
No I wasn't kidding, you can't put affiliate links directly, use a redirection service like everyone else...
He doesn't mean your blog, he means in your forum post as it is against the rules. Nice thread though
Ohhh, I see, seriously it's not allowed? Thanks for the heads up, I'll change them out - or not, I guess you can't edit a post after a few days.
That was uncalled for, I think the article is perfect and it does reflect on Shoemoney's Net Income Show which I was listening a few days ago!
Two whole posts and one of them is an uncalled for slamming. Just let it go. Nice article and lots of good info. I appreciate the effort you put into it.