Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Affiliate Marketing vs. Google Adsense: Let the Battle Begin...

Lately there has been a lot of discussion on how to make tons of money with Google Adsense. In fact, many people are making the claim that Adsense sites can earn a higher revenue then an affiliate-marketing site.

So that brings us to an important question: Which is a better online business - Affiliate-Marketing sites or Google Adsense sites?

Let's explore each one and then find out which online business is better option:

Google Adsense

How do you like the idea of earning m*ney without dealing with customers or answering emails. This is possible when you run a Google Adsense site. With Adsense sites, you can have a virtual passive-income that requires little maintaining. But is this the best option for an online business?

Here are the positives of Google Adsense sites:

- They are perfect for people who run information sites that have no related affiliate product

- You can set it and leave it. With Google Adsense, you can create a content page, and there is little need to update the content.


- Adsense sites are easy to scale. Since they require little upkeep, you can easily create multiple websites that each make a nice income.

Here are the negatives of Google Adsense sites:

- They are not a great long term solution. Instead of getting your visitors to subscribe to a mailing list, you are focusing on getting people to click on ads. Real online businesses concentrate on building assets that can use for long-term growth.

- These sites are dependent on search engines. Most Google Adsense sites make the mistake of depending on search engines for the majority of their traffic. If the SE algorithms change then your income might drop significantly.

Affiliate Marketing

Being an affiliate marketer is great for those who want build a theme site. With this type of business, you can easily create web pages around a topic and get people to buy products through your products. If done correctly, you can easily build a loyal following that will help you make money for years to come.

But can affiliate marketing make you more money then Google Adsense?

Here are the positives of affiliate marketing:

- A great advantage of affiliate-marketing is that you can build a long term business that will bring in a revenue stream for years.

- With affiliate-marketers you need to focus on building an email list. This list is a major asset of your business. Every time you have an offer, you can go to your list and increase your profits..

- Unlike Google Adsense sites, which only concentrates on high paying keywords, an affiliate marketing site can be centered on a topic that you have an interest in.

Here are the negatives of affiliate marketing:

- You have to learn how to write persuasively and get people to purchase the product that you are recommending. For many people this is a difficult skill to learn.

- Each affiliate marketing site requires a lot of effort. You must spend a lot of time writing product reviews, building your email list and creating web content.

So which is better: Affiliate marketing or Google Adsense?

The answer is that both are great solutions for an online business. Instead of choosing one over the other, you should create websites that can take advantage of both.

Here is how you can do this:

1) Create a content site on a topic that you are interest in, while paying a good amount per Adsense click.

2) Integrate your Adsense into the menu bars and the top of your web content.

3) Add web pages for affiliate-products and your opt-in email list. But, make sure that you leave out the Adsense blocks on these pages. This way you are ensuring that you are building your long-term assets.

4) Create optimized web page articles that focus on a specific keyword phrase. Place your Google Adsense in these blocks.

5) Provide your email list with good content and product recommendations. Once in awhile, email your list and provide a link to some of your web articles. That way, you can earn a little bit of m*ney from your subscribers while giving them good content.

By focusing on both affiliate products and Google Adsense, you will be building both short-term and long-term profits

6 comments:

R. Brady Frost said...

I come by way of Entrecard! Enjoy your adsense bump! Keep up the good work on your blog!
-Brady

Stunning said...

thx u buddy

Anonymous said...

Very interesting. I am new to blogging and am not as technically sharp as you are. what are the keyword phrases that you are talking about? I would be interested in monetizing my blog in the future but am learning from folks like you how best to do it. Stop by and visit anytime. Rick

Anonymous said...

Nice comparison. I run both in my blog. As in AdSense and Affiliate Ads. Usually, these days, affiliate ads over perform Google AdSense.

But I have to say, the winning formula is the perfect balance between the two of these.

Anonymous said...

Google Adsense is good, and will return a small profit for smaller sites. It really racks in the money on high traffic sites though. I suggest being in a few affiliate programs, and have a few other programs. Don't throw tons of ads on your site, rotate the ads so you don't look like a sell out.

Anonymous said...

My biggest issue with Google Adsense is the fact that people are starting to avoid the ad like commercials on TV. The ones who know about Google Adsense will naturally not click on them.