Well when all your pages are reduced to the big goose egg it is usually a sign that they perceive you to be selling links. Am I selling links? Nope. But I can see how they might get the idea based on the amount of links I have on my homepage. I could write them and plead my case - I have a lot of friends and all my links are legit but I'm not going to. I have said this for ages - pagerank has nothing to do with serp rankings and perhaps dominating the MMO niche with a big fat PR0 site will get my point across in spades. For those who were concerned my serp rankings haven't changed and the SE traffic is still pouring in.
How this happened is likely the result of some "friend" who reported the site as selling links. You will find that dominating a popular niche is a constant battle with competitors and they will do whatever it takes to unseat you.
Which brings me back to keeping anonymous online. Yes I know this goes against every blogger's deepest desire - to get famous. The thing is I'm not a blogger - I'm an internet marketer and my goal is to make money. You make money by flying under the radar and I want to give you all a prime example of what I mean.
I don't post often. I get a lot of emails asking me to post more. There is a reason for not posting (aside from being lazy)... I make more money not posting.
Huh... wtf you say.
Tis' true... let me show you what I mean.
Some Adsense Secrets
This has taken a long time to decipher and I'm still not convinced that I have it right so don't take this as gospel but...
3000 ad impressions a day seems to be a magic number with Google.
The screenshot below shows my Adsense income for January (for this blog only) - the January 18 (today) total is not final as it shows my earnings early in the day when I took the shot.
After two months of lower than normal earnings (lack of advertiser competition I believe) my January earnings bounced back nicely and until a few days ago were on course for a new high with this blog.
Click image to enlarge
A recurring problem is that weekends see a drop in visitors. Friday night until Sunday evening is always the poorest traffic - sometimes several thousand fewer visitors. When my visitors drop below 3000 ad impressions (according to Adsense stats - not your own stat counter) I notice a drop in my CPC (how much I get paid per click). I am not allowed to divulge all the details but my CPC can drop as much as half. It varies though and it has to do with the traffic I get.
Whenever I post I get a surge of traffic - the surge is un-targeted (my readers) and my CPC drops for several days until readers tail off. As long as my ad impressions stay above the 3000 barrier my CPC doesn't drop more than 10 cents a click. If my ad impressions fall below the 3000 barrier I see a 30 cent drop in earnings per click.
Because I haven't posted since December 27, 2008 my earnings have been great - my traffic has been 80% search engine and 20% social. In other words I make more money when my readers aren't flocking to the site - ie. the less I post the more money I make.
Absurd? Yup. Unfortunately this is the key to making money with Adsense.
So what happened on Friday the 16th? My earnings nosedived without me posting.
Less clicks? Nope. I had more clicks on Friday than on Thursday but earned $50 less.
Less Ad impressions? Yup - I dropped below the magic 3000 for the first time in weeks.
and to top it off I began getting a steady stream of un-targeted traffic from the Warrior forum.
The cumulative effect was a quick drop in earnings.
And since my earnings are already in the crapper I figured today was a good time to post a new entry.
And now you know my secret to when I post. I usually only post when my earnings are down and more un-targeted traffic won't do any more damage.
This is not to say I don't appreciate all of you who read my blog - I surely do. This blog completely baffles me as it actually has readers and I have made a lot of great friends because of it. Friends can do a lot to help you online so I can't say social traffic isn't worthwhile. The conundrum I have is that I make money with Adsense and Social traffic isn't conducive to that. I, of course, want my cake and to eat it too. If nothing else this blog is a great learning tool when it comes to straddling the Internet Marketing/Social Network approach with straight up SEO. I've always known that SEO works - it did 4 years ago and it hasn't really changed today. The thing is I have learned a lot this past two years about Google and Adsense that I wouldn't have known if not for the Social traffic.
The thing that interests me now is how to convert Social visitors into earnings without resorting to the A-list method. (selling crap to your readers and advertising crap to your readers) Perhaps if there was something worthwhile to promote... the thing is... there just isn't.
I get a ton of JV emails - people wanting me to promote stuff - many of the people are legit and well-meaning but they sell crap. Sorry - no offense but if I wouldn't buy it then it's crap. I'd really like to see something worthwhile come along one of these days.
I digress - back to the point. For the thousand or so emails I have about how often should you post. If you are using Adsense - only when there is no reason not too.
If you truly want to make money online - stay anonymous. This greatly lowers the amount of "friends" who want to dethrone you. Yes I know this contradicts everything you've learned from the A-List but that crap concerns blogging and not Adsense.
In my absense...
- I have several thousand emails piled up... oops
- It's winter road season here at the Lodge, just finished building the ice road last night, it's been cold r' n' hell for weeks now - 30-40 below zero, everything that can break has broken; water lines, sewage lines, trucks, boilers etc, all fixed except the water line to my house, wife and kids unhappy about that "little" exception, haven't read a blasted email in weeks - social blogging has some drawbacks and hope everyone understands, Lodge is full and real life has intruded upon my online endeavors once again and probably why I have always liked making money passively with Adsense.
I have lots to yak about but little time at the moment. I will get to it as time permits but I have a water line to look at...
Cheers,
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