More Monetization Options for Your WhyPark Sites

I prefer using the default WhyPark adfeed over something like Google Adsense for monetizing my sites because the terms of service are automatically followed for you. I had a site that ran Adsense ads until one day I got an email from teh Adsense team stating it had violated the TOS by "deceptively" displaying the ads as if they were content. Never mind the fact that the ads were:

• A different color than the other links on the page.
• A different size than the content blocks around the adsense block.
• Had a border around them.
• Clearly displayed "Ads by Google".

I pointed this out in a response to their email, and even though the reviewer agreed that they were very different from the rest of the content and link blocks, there was nothing I could do to get the site reincluded in the adsense program. Apparently one reviewer's bad day affects your website forever without any recourse.

Ever since that incident, I have tried to avoid Adsense whenever possible and sought alternate methods for monetizing sites. One method I use in addition to the WhyPark adfeed is affiliate links. I've tried several affiliate networks: LinkShare, Share-A-Sale, Google Affiliate Network, ClickBank, Amped Media, CJ, Shopzilla, etc. My favorite though is LinkConnector. Forgive me as I insert my affiliate link here: Join the LinkConnector Network.

The reason I like LinkConnector the best out of all of them is that they have tools and resources to make placing affiliate links on my sites easy. Their best feature is something they call "Affiliate Connections". This is essentially just their name for rotating ad banners. By creating an Affiliate Connection, you can specify up to 10 affiliate links or banners that get rotated each time the page reloads. This way instead of having one static banner that never changes, you can offer several different banners. You can specify different banners from teh same merchant, or banners from multiple merchants. The only catch is that they must be the same size. This isn't a huge problem though, since you likely have a spot in your template where an ad should be placed and only want ads of that size anyhow.

One thing that really makes this feature great is that the banners can be optomized for your site. So, if one banner performs better than another for your site's traffic, it will get shown more frequently. Another great thing is that if/when an affiliate campaign changes or if you find another merchant that would be of value to your site's visitors, you can modify the Affiliate Connection code from your LinkConnector control panel. So for example, if one of the merchants in your affiliate connection just is not producing any clicks, you can easily remove those links from the 10 rotating ads in your connection. And if, like me, you have several sites that use that one connection, all your sites will be instantly updated with your new ads.

Another great feature offered by LinkConnector is Link Widgets. These are Flash based widgets that can display products from merchants with a datafeed. Like Affiliate Connections, you can select to display products from one particluar merchant or from multiple merchants. You can also specify keywords to limit the types of products that will be displayed. If a merchant ever changes their datafeed, you don't have to do any updating to your site; all product links are automatically updated.

Here are some of the merchants you can promote through LinkConnector: