1) TopRank

http://www.toprankblog.com  - TopRank Online Marketing is a digital marketing agency founded by Lee Odden and Susan Misukanis that helps companies increase sales, brand visibility online and develop better customer engagement. We specialize in content based customer acquisition and relationship programs that emphasize social media marketing, search engine optimization and email marketing.  Companies hire us for consulting, training and implementation services.

2) Small Business Trends

http://smallbiztrends.com  - Small Business Trends was founded in 2003 by Anita Campbell, in Cleveland, Ohio. Small Business Trends is an award-winning online publication for small business owners, entrepreneurs and the people who interact with them.

Small Business Trends is the premier source of information, news and advice covering issues of key importance to the small business market.  Small Business Trends appears repeatedly at the top of lists of small business websites.

3) The Small Business Newswire

http://www.sbwire.com  - SBWire is an online newswire specializing in the needs of small to medium-sized businesses. Thousands of businesses and organizations in over 150 different countries rely on SBWire for commercial news distribution, media contact management, online news room hosting and other public relations related tools and services.

4) KISSmetrics Marketing Blog

http://blog.kissmetrics.com  - KISSmetrics is different from other analytics platforms due to a combination of three key features. We focus on funnels and conversions and make them easy to track and interpret, use people as the basic unit of measure, and support custom tracking. KISSmetrics is run by a team of designers, developers and entrepreneurs that are passionate about helping online businesses measure, grow and monetize. The team’s experience comes from previous ventures including ACS, Crazy Egg and Product Planner. As a result, the team has hands-on experience understanding and developing analytics solutions for high-end web properties. KISSmetrics is backed by well respected private and institutional investors including True Ventures, SoftTech VC, Felicis Ventures, Dave McClure, Shervin Pishevar and Bobby Yazdani.

5) Thirty Six Months

http://www.thirtysixmonths.com  - Marissa – recent grad who has credit card debt. and student loans. Unfortunately, I learned my money lessons a bit later on in life.  Even though I worked all through university and grad school, I also spent a great deal of it, foolishly. This blog will document my efforts to have a positive networth and pay off my debt as soon as possible.  There might also be stories of my life and other goals in here as well.

I heard somewhere that it is advisable to be able to pay off all of your consumer debt within THIRTY SIX MONTHS, otherwise debt fatigue sets in. My goal to do it way before that.

I may have friends join me in writing along the way, as I found that most of GEN Y didn’t really get taught lessons about money.  Any insight, and common sense, and personal experiences are appreciated.

6)The College Investor

http://thecollegeinvestor.com  - Robert – I’m a recent MBA graduate who has always had a passion for investing and personal finance. I’m not uber rich, I don’t run a hedge fund (yet!), and I’m not a millionaire. What I do have is a beautiful wife, a loving family, great friends, and a passion for helping others with their personal finance.

7) Brian Solis 

Brian Solis

http://www.briansolis.com  - Brian Solis is principal at Altimeter Group, a research-based advisory firm. Solis is globally recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders and published authors in new media. A digital analyst, sociologist, and futurist, Solis has studied and influenced the effects of emerging media on business, marketing, publishing, and culture. His current book, Engage, is regarded as the industry reference guide for businesses to build and measure success in the social web.

8) Coyote Blog

Warren Meyer, Coyote Blog

http://www.coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/  - Coyote Blog is the work of Warren Meyer, a small business owner in Phoenix, Arizona. The name Coyote Blog came from two sources. First, it’s a reference to my adopted home of Arizona. Second, it’s a salute to my favorite all time cartoon character Wile E. Coyote, and, of course, that most famous of small businesses: ACME. The original mission was to cover some of the day-to-day travails and lessons learned in running a small business. That is still part of the mission, but since I have about the same attention span as an 8-year-old boy mainlining Hershey Bars, I have found myself wandering all over the place, from business to economics to libertarian philosophy to sports to electronics.

9) DollarVersity

http://www.dollarversity.com  - This blog is a service provided by GreenBridge Advisors, an accounting and consulting firm located in Coral Springs, Florida.  Taking that fact into consideration, you can expect to find articles on topics such as taxes, entrepreneurship, credit, debt management, personal and business finances, and a variety of other financial and business related issues.  More than that, the blog’s goal is to inform, teach, and hopefully entertain you as well.  The theme of the blog is to provide “A distinctive voice standing out from the crowd”.  What that means is that you will notice a more rebellious and challenging tone to many of the articles.  This is because so many writers out there talk about the same topics in the same way, and so many people take everything that they read and hear at face value without thinking for themselves.  The articles here are meant to take take common social and financial issues and challenge those norms, getting people to question things and think for themselves.

10) Faith And Finance

http://www.faithandfinance.org  - Faith and Finance was founded by Tim in 2010.  Tim is a Christian, husband, MBA grad, and entrepreneur.

Business is in his blood.  While in college, he spent his free time creating an auto detailing business, a lawn care business and traveling to South Africa and China to study even more business.  After competing a full-time MBA in less than one year (crazy? yes) he and a fellow MBA grad started a marketing firm designed to help small businesses with their online presence.

You’ll find his approach to personal finance to be straight forward and practical.  His love for learning and teaching others is what drives him to write such interesting articles and eBooks.

11) Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing

John Jantsch, DuctTape Marketing

http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog  - John Jantsch has been called the World’s Most Practical Small Business Expert for consistently delivering real-world, proven small business marketing ideas and strategies.

John Jantsch is a marketing consultant, award winning social media publisher and best selling author Duct Tape Marketing and The Referral Engine .

12) Caribbean Media Vision

http://cmvlive.com  - Caribbean Media Vision is a contemporary graphic & website design studio located in St. Kitts. We here at CMV Specializes in helping companies to make their presence online and in the media by utilizing technology. Encompassing services that are geared towards giving companies a solid and comprehensive Internet presence, as well as services aimed at making the presentation of information much more professional and insightful, allowing companies to leverage competitive advantage off of the end results.

13) Inkling Media

http://inklingmedia.net/  - Inkling Media is an inbound marketing shop based in Lancaster, PA with an emphasis on social media. We provide consultation on utilizing social media as part of an overall marketing strategy. In addition to Social Media, we work with you to help implement a strong blogging plan, as well as organic search engine optimization. Our work includes the creation, and implementation of social media plans. A social networking media plan can be extremely simple and cost effective if done properly. We can work with you to find the best mix of social media to meet your needs, from broad-based social media branding, to smaller, more specific campaigns and events. We also will provide you and your staff with the knowledge and tools needed to effectively carry out your social media marketing plan. We’ll also help you navigate and understand the inherent differences between traditional media and social media, and how to use those differences to your benefit. We offer a personal, hands-on approach that gives you the education and tools necessary to create and manage a successful Internet marketing program.

14) Accounting and Small Business /Beverly Shares

Beverly J Conquest

http://www.bjconquest.com  - Beverly J Conquest, Owner and CEO Accounting and Small Business, LLC — Knowledge + Expertise + Experience = Solutions. Over 20 years experience providing accounting solutions for established and startup businesses.

15) Living Locurto

Amy Locurto, Living Locurto

http://www.livinglocurto.com/  - Living Locurto is published by Amy Locurto, a designer, stylist and mom of two from Dallas, Texas. What started in July 2008 as a blog about creative things I did at home with my children, Living Locurto has since turned into a top craft and party blog with great resource for moms. Today you will find my original ideas and designs, hundreds of free printables, weekly menu plans, recipes, party ideas and DIY crafts.
With a Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design, I am also busy with my design firm Atomic Egg, specializing in corporate branding.
You can find fun party supplies in my shop, Printables by Amy.

16) CloudTweaks

http://www.cloudtweaks.com  - With a team of content creators from around the globe, including CTOs, CEOs, CIOs, cloud bloggers, engineers and technology enthusiasts, delivers in‐depth articles, the latest news, interviews and other valuable content on cloud computing to a growing audience of technology professionals, including representatives government agencies, financial institutions, technology firms and Fortune 500 organizations.

Established in 2009, CloudTweaks.com is one of the fastest growing cloud computing resource sites on the web.

17) Litigation and Trial

Maxwell S. Kennerly

http://www.litigationandtrial.com  - Maxwell S. Kennerly - I’m a trial lawyer for injured people and businesses at The Beasley Firm. Founded in 1958, we have recovered over $2 billion for our clients through hundreds of verdicts and settlements in excess of $1 million. We’re listed in Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, U.S. News’s Top Lawyers, et cetera. The Firm’s legacy speaks for itself; the law school at Temple University was re-named the Beasley School of Law in honor of the Firm’s founder, James E. Beasley.

18) Sramana Mitra on Strategy

Sramana Mitra

http://www.sramanamitra.com  - Sramana Mitra has been an entrepreneur and a strategy consultant in Silicon Valley since 1994. Her fields of experience span from hard core technology disciplines like semiconductors to sophisticated consumer marketing industries including fashion and education.

19) E-junkie Blog

http://www.e-junkie.info  - Since E-junkie’s inception, our mission has been to lower the barriers to online selling. As E-commerce has grown more diverse and competitive, it occurred to us that merely providing good technology, such as our copy-paste E-junkie shopping cart, along with good customer service and tech support aren’t by themselves sufficient to meet our mission fully.

People will also benefit from information to help them realize commercial opportunities online, as a complement to our technology that can help take advantage of those opportunities.

We started this blog to provide such information to anyone who is selling online or has ever considered doing so.

20) Intuit Small Business Blog

http://blog.intuit.com  - This blog is dedicated to a discussion of small business, including advice, resources, and insights we think will help you be more successful . We’ll talk about broad topics of lasting interest to small business owners, such as Money, Customers, and Employees. We’ll also share information on current Trends as well as stories about Local businesses. Authors include professional journalists, people who work at Intuit, our customers and research partners, and guest experts we invite to share their perspectives.

21) Marketing Trenches

http://www.marketingtrenches.com  - The Marketing Trenches Blog is designed to provide marketers and business executives concrete examples of successful marketing strategies and tactics.  The content is largely focused on internet marketing, but given that internet marketing should be integrated with traditional/offline marketing, the content is relevant for all marketers.

22) Inventor Spot

http://inventorspot.com  - InventorSpot.com is a fun and informative website focused on Inventions, Innovations and Interesting Ideas from around the world. We offer serious fun for the inventor in all of us. We believe we are the most popular and most referenced invention related website on the internet. We also support the largest community of independent inventors in the United States.

Our website was originally named AmericanInventorSpot.com. It was inspired and formed in March 2006 by an inventor to discuss the reality television show American Inventor. We are now a website that helps, informs and entertains independent inventors, innovators and others who think outside the box.

23) Jim’s Marketing Blog

Jim Connolly

http://jimsmarketingblog.com  - Jim Connolly – worked in marketing for 25 years, with my own successful marketing business since 1995.  I specialise in helping small and medium sized businesses to make massively more sales and boost their profits.  I achieve this by sharing my most effective marketing strategies with them and then coaching them on exactly what they need to do, to achieve ongoing, amazing results.

24) Smedio

http://smedio.com - Founded in January 2010, Smedio is the new media and social web guide for businesses and marketers. Our aim is to continuously define the business value of new media and the social web by equiping you with the needed insight and innovative ideas to help your business grow even more, using technology, new media, and the social web by bringing you useful breaking news, latest trends and techniques that you can use immediately.

25) Rewards Cards Canada

http://www.rewardscardscanada.com  - Your complete source for finding and using the best rewards cards in Canada.  Rewards cards can be a great way to supplement your everyday spending and help you save for amazing products and experiences.

Our wallets are full of all types of rewards cards since it seems like every store has their own brand loyalty program these days.  Here you will find detailed reviews of every major rewards card in the country, including the major credit cards that offer rewards points.

26) Crafty Raffle

http://www.craftyraffle.net  - Lisa –  I started this site because I have serious craft envy.  I love handmade stuff.  Love it.  It is a minor joke in my family that half my gifts for anyone are bought on Etsy (it’s not untrue).  I used to make quilts as wedding presents before I was overrun by children, and I’m a photographer, so I am capable of pursuing creative outlets, but sometimes my efforts fall flat, and sometimes I don’t know where to start.  I also love entering giveaways.  I am not obsessive about it, but I have a baby who is breastfeeding and sometimes she settles in for a long turn in my arms, so I’ll enter some giveaways one-handed.

Drew McLellan

27) Drew’s Marketing Minute

http://www.drewsmarketingminute.com/  - Drew McLellan - a 25+ year marketing agency veteran who lives for creating “a ha” moments for his clients, clients’ customers, peers and audiences across the land. Sadly, for his daughter, he attempts to do the same thing at home. Recently he has appeared in the New York Times, Entrepreneur Magazine, Business Week and Fortune’s Small Business. The Wall Street Journal calls him one of 10 bloggers that every entrepreneur should read.

Jared O’Toole and Matt Wilson, Under30CEO

28) Under30CEO

http://under30ceo.com  - Under30CEO is the leading media site covering news, advice, trends & events for the young entrepreneur. Under30CEO is dedicated to everything relevant to a young person starting a business or anyone looking to learn more about the space.  The site and it’s founders have been recognized in outlets like Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur.com and many more as leaders in the industry. Under30CEO was founded in 2008 by two ambitious young entrepreneurs, Jared O’Toole and Matt Wilson. Now, nearly 1000 small business articles and over a million readers later, Under30CEO has developed into a thriving community for young entrepreneurs. Under30CEO is based in New York City.

29) Roundpeg

http://www.roundpeg.biz  - A full service marketing firm, serving the Indianapolis small business community, we create websites, press releases, newsletters and brochures to help you launch your ideas and most importantly, close sales!

30) Content Marketing Today

http://contentmarketingtoday.com  - By creating conversations with your customers we build your brand and your bottom-line. We bring more than 25 years of successful business experience to our content marketing strategist role.

31) Diversity

Ben Kepes

http://diversity.net.nz  - Ben Kepes is an analyst, an entrepreneur, a commentator and a business adviser. His business interests  include a diverse range of industries from manufacturing to property to technology. As a technology commentator he has a broad presence both in the traditional media and extensively online. Ben covers the convergence of technology, mobile, ubiquity and agility, all enabled by the Cloud. His areas of interest extend to enterprise software, software integration, financial/accounting software, platforms and infrastructure as well as articulating technology simply for everyday users.

As organizations react to the demands for more flexible working environments, the impacts of the economic downturn and the existence of multiple form-factor devices nd ubiquitous connectivity, Cloud computing stands alone as the technology paradigm that enables the convergence of those trends – Ben’s insight into these factors has helped organizations large and small, buy-side and sell-side, to navigate a challenging path from the old paradigm to the new one.

Ben is passionate about technology as an enabler and enjoys exploring that theme in various settings.

32) I of the Consumer

Zach Heller

http://www.zachhellermarketing.com  - Zach Heller – My goal is to create a place of open communication about marketing, advertising, small business, etc. I invite comments, emails, and connections of any kind.

33) Point Blank SEO

Jon Cooper

http://www.pointblankseo.com  - Jon Cooper - Here you’ll find all the information you need to start building high quality, white hat links in order to move up in the SERPs. This blog helps all link builders, both beginners and experts, in learning how to build quality links in a productive & time efficient manner.

I’ve lived & breathed link building exclusively for the last two years, digesting every link building strategy known to man. I’ve consulted with clients on shoestring budgets, in highly competitive niches, and with little to no links prior to my services. I’ve consistently stayed updated with everything search engine optimization related, regardless if it concerns link building.

34) Young Entrepreneur Blog

http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/blog  - YoungEntrepreneur.com was launched in 1999 and has grown to become one of the largest online forum communities for entrepreneurs worldwide.

YoungEntrepreneur.com has become a “must visit” resource for start-up CEOs, founders, aspiring entrepreneurs, mentors and investors worldwide, reaching an audience that very few can match.

Our social network and blog properties showcase Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Online Business Strategies, Entrepreneur Interviews, and several features, solutions and support to assist small business owners with starting, managing and growing successful business ventures. We cater to the entrepreneurial passions of our entrepreneurial audience, giving them all the latest news, entrepreneurial conversations, small business webinars, access to seasoned experts and of course access to the most active community of like-minded entrepreneurs.

YoungEntrepreneur.com is one of the largest and fastest growing small business social networking forums for entrepreneurs. The YoungEntrepreneur.com members are comprised of entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs who are truly passionate about economic development and enjoy promoting the formation and success of innovative and growth-oriented companies.

35) Indie Fixx

http://indiefixx.com  - Indie Fixx is a lifestyle blog with a very healthy mix of indie design love, crafting and diy, some gardening and cooking mixed in with plenty of commentary and a healthy dose of joie de vivre. Indie Fixx had its roots as just an indie design blog, but has morphed into more than just a review of independent art & design. Plenty of that still goes on, but man can’t live on design alone (although one can try) and so the focus has shifted to include more aspects of living a well-rounded life—cooking, eating, creating, gardening, playing, loving, discovering, learning, meeting, sharing & more.
Jen Wallace is the editor behind Indie Fixx and her goal is to share her indie life with you in the hopes that it will inspire, entertain and inform you.

36) Vandelay Design Blog

http://vandelaydesign.com/blog  - Vandelay Website Design exists to help businesses and organizations build a stronger presence online. By working directly with our clients to identify and address areas of need we are able to provide a customized experience and an end product that will produce results and lead to increased profitability.

37) ConverStations

Mike Sansone

http://www.converstations.com/  - Mike Sansone is an independent business consultant specializing in teaching professionals in various fields about using their voice (in-person or digitally) in ways to better reach their audiences. His experience in public speaking, sales and marketing, writing, and real-time online communication are strengths Mike relies upon in his role as a Conversation Conductor.

Prior to starting his own business, Mike helped to build thriving online communities with America Online, Real Fans Sports Network, Ignite Sports Media and HeyMax. He also has coordinated the growth of offline communities as a property manager, volunteer, and minister.

38) Rex Hammock’s RexBlog.com

Rex Hammock, founder of Hammock Inc.,

http://www.rexblog.com  - The blog of Rex Hammock, founder/ceo of Hammock Inc., the content marketing, strategy and media company founded in 1991 in Nashville, Tenn. Rex is also founder/helper-in-chief of the wiki, SmallBusiness.com.

39) Jeff Korhan

Jeff Korhan

http://www.jeffkorhan.com  - Jeff Korhan is an authentic, informative, and inspiring speaker who helps mainstream small businesses use social media and Internet marketing to increase their influence, enhance customer relationships, and accelerate growth.

In the first decade of his career, Jeff was a Fortune 50 Sales and Marketing Manager with an MBA. He later founded a construction services company that was twice named Business of the Year.  After 20 successful years he sold his business, and now applies three decades of marketing experience to helping clients develop sustainable marketing practices that capitalize on emerging business trends.

40) Business Pundit

Drea Knufken

http://BusinessPundit.com  - Drea Knufken - one of the writers at BusinessPundit.com. Before joining Business Pundit, I worked in a variety of business and content production positions. Most recently, I was a travel writer. My book, “The Backroads and Byways of Colorado,” covers the best road trips in the state, mile-by-mile. Before that, I helped create two major websites for the Los Angeles tourism bureau, worked for Google (specifically, AdWords and Blogger.com) for three years, and worked for several technology startups in Silicon Valley at the tail end of the .com boom.

41) Aweber Blog

http://www.aweber.com/blog  - Founded in 1998, we create email marketing software to help small businesses automate email follow up and email newsletter delivery. Our growing team shares a wealth of experience and knowledge about permission-based email marketing services with over 102,000+ current clients we work with daily.

42) Live and Love…Out Loud

Kristin O'hea

http://liveandloveoutloud.com  - Kristin O’hea - Encouraging, empowering and celebrating the everyday woman is what this here blog is all about. I’m living it up, loving out loud and laughing it off as I navigate my way through the challenges and triumphs of motherhood. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll realize that you’re not alone.

You’ll also meet a few new women along the way through my Women Who Empower showcase and Small Business Spotlight each month. Celebrating women who empower others and sharing small businesses owned and operated by women is something I’m passionate about.

43) Understanding Marketing

http://www.understandingmarketing.com - The majority of small businesses realize the importance of marketing and PR in today’s ultra-competitive environment. They know the key to success is driving awareness and engaging with their customers in a way that enhances their brand. But they also know that margins can be razor thin and they typically don’t have the budget to hire an expensive marketing/PR agency to create exciting campaigns that increase the bottom line

44) Ohio Environmental Law Blog

Joe Koncelik

http://www.ohioenvironmentallawblog.com  - Joe Koncelik is an attorney with the law firm of Frantz Ward LLP which is based in Cleveland, Ohio. The focus of Joe’s practice is in all facets of environmental law as well providing counsel on issues relating to renewable energy and climate change. Prior to entering private practice Joe worked in State government for 12 years and held the most senior positions at Ohio EPA, including Director, Assistant Director and Chief Legal Counsel.  Joe has also fulfilled U.S. Green Builders Council’s requirements to qualify as a LEED™ (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional.

45) SeanDaniel.com

http://sbs.seandaniel.com  - Technology Tips, Tricks & News – featuring WHS, SBS and other Microsoft and Related Technology.

46) Simply Business

http://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/knowledge/ - The Simply Business team offers a range of business expertise which we are keen to share through articles, downloads, guides, news and more.
We can also answer questions about business insurance.

Caroline Melberg & Steve Melberg, founders of Small Business Mavericks

47) Small Business Mavericks

http://www.smallbusinessmavericks.com/internetmarketing - Founded by Caroline Melberg & Steve Melberg. Small Business Mavericks offers Website Marketing and Social Media Strategy for small and mid-size businesses.

48) Business901

Joe Dager

http://business901.com/  - Joe Dager is president of Business901, a firm specializing in bringing the continuous improvement process to the sales and marketing arena.  He takes his process thinking of over thirty years in marketing within a wide variety of industries and applies it through Lean Marketing Concepts. Joe put himself through college utilizing the GI Bill, the result of being a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, and as a welder at Asphalt Drum Mixers. This hands-on approach and an education in both in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering has served him well becoming President of that company and later leaving to own Barlow Marketing, re-start Burke Heating Systems and Asphalt Machinery Corporation. He has over 30 years in the process equipment field and still regularly consults on some of the more difficult issues encountered.

49) Apptivo

http://runapptivo.apptivo.com/small-business-university - Apptivo’s platform is a collection of 40+ cloud based Business Apps. All the generic Business Apps are free and have absolutely no limits on usage. All the Apps communicate with each other and share the data so Apptivo users never have to worry about syncing or duplicating the data manually.
Founded in 2010, Apptivo, Inc. has a strong global development team and management team with over 10 years experience in building enterprise applications. Apptivo aims to be a one-stop shop for all business management needs of SMBs and Independent Professionals. Currently Apptivo platform helps manage the following areas of business:

50) Mind Your Business

http://blog.bizelo.us/  - Bizelo’s small business apps (“mini-apps”) are web-based applications that work simply, and simply work! Our apps are purchased as a low-cost, monthly subscription (most apps are less than $30 a month), and each app is designed to solve a particular problem for a specific market or industry niche.

Grab the Badge

Algorithms, robots and cloaks got you confused? To make sure your customers are able to find your company’s website online, you need to master more than just the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) jargon. You need to understand how search engines work, and how to design your website in a way that will get it noticed. The good news is you don’t need to be a professional SEO marketer to get your website ranked high. Follow the tips on the blogs below and take yourself to the top!

1) The Official Google Blog

Quick post today!

Every year we put together a list of the top search engine optimization posts of the year.

The idea is to make it easy for you to find the most important post of the year from some of the top experts in the field.

If you’re interested in improving your search engine rankings then this list is a must read for you!

You can check out the list here: Top 50 SEO Posts of the Year

Comments and thoughts are appreciated as always! What are your favorite SEO blogs?

It’s been a while since my last AdSense post so to continue with the series on From $0.30 to $300 / Day on Google AdSense here is Part 6. If you haven’t been following along or need a quick recap our Money Making Formula is $ = V x CTR x CPC. In previous posts I focused on:

V (Volume of Traffic)

1. The formula for AdSense success: $ = V x CTR x CPC
2. Have other people write the content for you

CTR (Click Through Rate)

1. Location, Location, Location
2. Don’t Make Ads Look Like Ads!
3. Focus on Ad Relevancy

Today’s lesson is…

Get the Right Traffic

We’re still going to focus on improving your CTR for this lesson and where your visitors come from can have a dramatic effect on how much money you can make.

There are a number of ways you can drive traffic to your website including getting repeat visitors and finding new visitors through search engines, social media, and partner websites.

“It’s called banner blindness – the more people visit the same website, the more they know where the ads are, and the less likely they are to click on them.”

Repeat vs. First Time Visitors

Let’s first focus in on getting repeat versus first time visitors. Repeat visitors are more loyal, will buy more from you, will tell more people about your site, will link to you… but they won’t click on ads! It’s called banner blindness – the more people visit the same website, the more they know where the ads are, and the less likely they are to click on them.

Think about your own experience with your favorite blogs and websites. When was the last time you clicked on an ad from that site?

This is a main reason why bloggers can have a hard time making money through AdSense – it’s not that blogs themselves are not profitable, it’s that many of the visitors are returning blog subscribers and they won’t click on your ads. If you have a lot of loyal, repeat visitors then you’ll likely have a better time selling your own product or recommending other products and taking a commission because these people trust you and will listen to your recommendations whereas a first time visitor doesn’t know who you are and won’t care about your suggestions – but they will click on your ads.

If you want to make more money through AdSense, the message is simple: You need to focus on getting those first time visitors.

Not All First Time Visitors Are Created Equal

Now that we’ve established that you need to focus on first time visitors, the question becomes “What kind of traffic source should I focus on? Search engines? Social media? Partner websites?” I’ll break these down for you individually.

Social Media: There is no question that social media websites like Twitter, Facebook, and Digg can drive thousands and thousands of visitors to your website. I’ve had an article hit the homepage of Digg and it actually caused our servers to melt because we had too much traffic coming all at once.

“If you serve up too many AdSense ads that don’t get clicked, Google will stop showing high paying ads on your site so not only can social media traffic cause your website to crash, it won’t lead to a lot of clicks, and can actually reduce the quality of future ads that get shown on your site.”

Great news right? Unfortunately no… almost none of the social media traffic clicked on my AdSense ads. People who come from social media websites  a) are generally very web savvy and quickly spot your ads and ignore them and b) are browsers looking for a way to kill time – they aren’t really interested in solving a problem and are unlikely to click on an ad that offers a solution to a problem.

Even worse, if you serve up too many AdSense ads that don’t get clicked, Google will stop showing high paying ads on your site so not only can social media traffic cause your website to crash, it won’t lead to a lot of clicks, and can actually reduce the quality of future ads that get shown on your site. Social media definitely has a place in your overall marketing efforts but don’t count on it to help your AdSense revenue.

Partner Websites: Partner websites can be a good source of targeting traffic, assuming that the referring site is related to your own. If your website is about cars and you get linked from a beauty supply website, I wouldn’t expect too many click conversions.

Traffic from partner websites will generally have a higher conversion than social media traffic but you will still get a lot of people who are just browsing and aren’t really interested in your content or ads . It can also be really hard to get a lot of traffic from partner websites that is targeted. Remember the V in $ = V x CTR x CPC Money Making Formula is Volume of Traffic. If you can’t get many many people coming to your site then you won’t make much money with AdSense.

“Search engine traffic is the holy grail of AdSense revenue and should be your primary target.”

Search Engines: Search engine traffic is the holy grail of AdSense revenue and should be your primary target. People who come to your website through search engines are typically looking for a solution to a problem which will make them more likely to click through on ads. They are also not as web savvy as social media visitors so if you do a good job in not making your ads look like ads, they will spend more time reading your AdSense offers and clicking through on them which means money in your pocket.

To get some tips on how to improve your search engine rankings and traffic there are a number of great bloggers who cover the topic and I also write a regular series on search engine optimization as well.

The bottom line here is if you want to have a high click through rate then you need to focus on getting as many people finding your website through the search engines as possible. Google has suggested that an average click through rate should be 1-5%. If you’re not in there (or above… why do you just want to be average?) then it’s time to focus on getting more search engine visitors and the other methods I’ve already discussed to improve your click through rate.

What have your experiences been with search engine vs. social media vs. repeat visitors and their impact on your AdSense revenue? Do you have any examples to share?

I’ve love to hear your thoughts if you leave a comment below!

Photo credit: labnol

In my first two posts in this series I discussed the AdSense formula $ = V x CTR x CPC and how to increase your V through search engine optimization, Twitter, and getting others to write content for you. Today I’m going to assume we’ve solved the “How do I get traffic?” problem and move on to the next part in the formula – the Click Through Rate (CTR).

Now we’re worried about getting the people who are coming to our site clicking through on our AdSense ads. All the traffic in the world won’t help you if they don’t click through on your ads.

“It might make sense logically to put it at the top because that’s where everyone else is putting it but it’s exactly that reason why you should choose a different location.”

Location, Location, Location

You’ve heard that in real estate the location of your property is the key to getting a high sale price. The same principle applies to websites and Google AdSense – the location of your ads can make a big difference in how much money goes into your wallet every month. Most people who get started with AdSense end up putting the ads in the low value areas which result in poor earnings.

Because Google only earns money through AdSense when you earn money they have provided a number of tools to help you be more successful. One of the most important ones is their Heat Map. According to Google:

“Certain locations tend to be more successful than others. This “heat map” illustrates the ideal placing on a sample page layout. The colors fade from dark orange (strongest performance) to light yellow (weakest performance).”

Note that the banner spots at the top of the page, bottom of the page and right side of the page are not high paying locations. This is where most websites owners who are new to AdSense will put their ad units and it might make sense logically to put ads at the top because that’s where everyone else is putting them but it’s exactly that reason why you should choose a different location.

People have “banner blindness” and are used to seeing ads at the top, for example, so they ignore it and move downwards to where they think the content will be. You can see from the Heat Map that the highest payout area is in the middle of the page within the primary content of the page – not where you would expect ads to be which is exactly the point. According to Google:

“All other things being equal, ads located above the fold tend to perform better than those below the fold. Ads placed near rich content and navigational aids usually do well because users are focused on those areas of a page. ”

What If I Run Forums?

For all you website owners with forums, Google hasn’t forgotten about you and they launched a different Heat Map specifically for you. Here is what Google has to say and what the Heat Map looks like:

“Because forum regulars tend to skip the header and go straight to the meat of the thread, placing your ad unit above or below the first post can be more effective than ads next to the logo. Place a leaderboard immediately after the last post. This provides users who make it to the end of a thread with a ‘next step’ when the content ends. Try to avoid placing it after the footer, though, as your readers will likely move to the next thread without seeing the ad. ”

What If I Have A Blog?

Finally, if you are a blogger and want to make money from AdSense, Google has two suggested layouts to choose from. See which one works best for you. Here are Google’s comments and the layouts:

“In general, wider ad formats tend to be more reader-friendly. Placing an ad unit after the first post will likely catch your readers’ attention. Take a look at our sample implementations to get some ideas. Also, consider placing a Skyscraper (120×600) or vertical link unit on the right side of your blog. ”

One of the greatest parts about running a business through AdSense is that you can quickly test different variables and see what generates the best results. Whether you have a website, forum, or blog, use these layouts as general templates to help figure out starting points for where to put your AdSense ads. Keep testing until you find the location that works best for you. Changing my ad locations was the first thing I did to optimize my AdSense and helped move me from having a website to having an online business.

In Part 4 of this series I will continue to look at how you can increase the click through rates of the AdSense units on your pages.

As always I look forward to your comments. What experience have you had with changing the location of your AdSense ad units?

In my last post (From $0.30 to $300 / Day on Google AdSense Part 1 – How To Make Money) I talked about the importance of the formula $ = V x CTR x CPC which means that the money that you make ($) is equal to the number of visitors (V) that you get to your site multiplied by the click through rate (CTR) of those visitors onto the ads on your site multiplied by the cost per click (CPC) of the ads being clicked on. I promised you last time that I would give you a powerful way to increase your V alongside search engine optimization and Twitter so here it is:

Have other people write the content for you.

Having great content is the key to generating traffic through search engines, referring websites, and social media. The expression “Content is King” is true and the more excellent content you have, the higher your V score will be and the more money you can make.

As an entrepreneur you are limited in your time and you need a lot of content and traffic to make a living off of advertising. How many articles could you possibly write per day? What if you could leverage the writing talents of people who loved to write and were great at it and have them create content for your website?

John D. Rockefeller, one of the most successful entrepreneurs who ever lived, once said: “I would rather earn 1% off a 100 people’s efforts than 100% of my own efforts.” In other words, if you want to build a successful business you need to build a plan to take yourself out of the equation and leverage the work of other people effectively.

Here is how my sitemap size has grown over the years since I started keeping track in September of 2005:

September 2005:            885 pages of content
September 2006:         4,067 pages of content
September 2007:       29,043 pages of content
September 2008:       42,397 pages of content
June 2009:                 65,687 pages of content

As you can see there has been significant growth over the years and my advertising revenue has climbed accordingly. How am I able to generate over 65,000 pages of content? It’s not coming from me writing thousands and thousands of articles. The answer is that I created a system that motivated other people to want to write and contribute to my website.

“I learned a valuable lesson to outsource to technology wherever possible and humanize the exception by hiring staff or handling it myself.”

Here is the quick story: I started creating articles for my site on famous entrepreneurs and quickly discovered that I while I enjoyed writing, it wasn’t what I wanted to do all day so I hired someone part time to continue doing the stories. As my site grew and my articles got picked up in the search engines, business coaches, marketing consultants, PR experts and other small business leaders wrote to me asking if they could add articles to my site. I picked the good articles and added them in manually.

It started as a trickle and soon dozens of people were writing in with articles. It got to be too much for me to handle. I was basically just adding author articles in by creating HTML files all day long. I tried outsourcing this to a student intern but she made too many mistakes. I learned a valuable lesson to outsource to technology wherever possible and humanize the exception by hiring staff or handling it myself.

To make a long story short, we created a system where authors could log in, write their bios, and add in their articles. Each article gets reviewed by our editor and then gets posted live on the site. We currently have over 4,000 contributing expert authors on the site. Without their help I would not have been able to generate so many pages in my sitemap and would not generate much advertising revenue either.

“If you’re hoping to build a business from advertising you need to create a road map for how you’re going to generate 10,000+ pages of content.”

So how do you get people to contribute their articles to your website? The key is to offer value in return. Expert authors who join my site rank higher in the search engines for their keywords, get increased traffic to their websites, build credibility as an expert in their industries, attract targeted customers, and get the chance to publicize their small business for free. It’s a win-win-win situation. My authors benefit from the great exposure, my readers benefit from the valuable information, and I benefit by bringing them both together, selling advertising, and not having to write the content myself.

If you’re hoping to build a business from advertising you need to create a road map for how you’re going to generate 10,000+ pages of content. It’s not going to be from you writing all those articles yourself so figure out a way you can add value and make it worthwhile for authors to contribute to your website.

In Part 3 of this series I will continue to attack the $ = V x CTR x CPC formula and will share one of the biggest breakthroughs that I made on the CTR side that drastically changed my mindset and made me realize that I had an actual business on my hands and not just a website.

As always I look forward to your comments. What experience have you had with getting other people to write for your website?