Infolinks Blog

In the previous posts we discussed a few elements of your Infolinks account that should be optimized in order to improve earnings. After you set your account with Single/Double underline, match the right color for your in-text links, decide how many links to allow per page and choose your content category, you may also want to use the On/Off HTML comment tags to determine whether a specific section in your page should or should not include the Infolinks links.

By default, if no tags are implemented, the Infolinks ads will appear in all appropriate sections. However, if you want to restrict the In-Text ads to specific sections you can use the tags below:

You would probably want to add the Infolinks code to as many sections and pages of your website as possible, to maximize your earnings. However,  some areas on your web pages are just not suitable for in-text ads. We recommend using the Infolinks off tag in areas where visitors won’t likely to choose to get exposed to an advertisement. Placing ads on certain sections such as: headers, footers, navigation bars, “About” and “Contact” pages, “Add comments” paragraphs etc. may annoy your visitors and lower your chances for future visits and revenues.

Therefore, don’t waist the limited number of in-text links per page on useless real-estate but instead place them on the most relevant and updated content on your website. By using the off tag to avoid certain unwanted areas on your website, you can actually help the in text ads algorithm to choose better keywords and increase the potential website monetization.

Last week we highlighted the importance of matching the right color of In Text ad links to your website’s overall appearance. Another factor that should be taken into consideration is how many highlighted links per page to allow.

Within the Infolinks Integration Guide, you can set the number of highlighted links per page. The Infolinks In text Advertising algorithm optimizes the number of highlighted links according to your page’s content. But with a little customization, the algorithm can improve its performance and increase your website earnings.

Obviously the more links marked on each page – the more clicks and revenues you will get.  But you still don’t want your readers to be too interrupted. Web pages which are too crowded with in text links can annoy readers and interrupt the smooth reading of your content. Here is an example of crowded in-text ad links:

On the other hand, limiting the number of links per page can hinder CTR and prevent you from monetizing to your site’s full potential. Here is an example of a page which doesn’t maximize the full potential of its content value:

Our advice? Quiet simple! Set the max number of links per page and get the feeling of it on your website pages. Give it a few days and analyze the statistics. You can always reduce the number of links later, until you feel that it is perfectly optimized.

The previous blog post discussed the importance of making a clear distinction between In Text ad links and regular hyperlinks, preferably by using double underline format. Another factor that contributes to this distinction is choosing the right color for your In Text links.

During the Infolinks integration process, you can set the links color to better suit your pages. You should keep in mind that In Text ads become part of the website’s general appearance and the color should match the surrounding environment. Good design will contribute to the user experience and in the long term help in building up your users’ satisfaction. The color of the In Text links should stand out from the text just enough to clearly present the link as an advertisement, but not too much, avoiding interruption to smooth reading.

An example of a successful color combination can be found at: lifeiscolourful.com.

But keep in mind that there is no magic matching formula. Our advice? Do it by trial and error! When you first integrate Infolinks’ In Text, take a look at your website, and choose a color that you think would work with the general theme. If you can’t decide, simply stick with the default color. You may get inspired in a few days.

Once you change the color, give it again a few days and compare the statistics. In most cases, they will provide you with a clear picture. Look for changes in CTR, eCPM and bottom line revenues. If there’s a change, it will probably provide an answer about which color is right for you. The right color choice should increase your revenues significantly.

And if you’re still not sure, change the color again until you find the right match. It’s all about finding the color that gets you the clicks and revenues, matches your website’s overall appearance, and still doesn’t interrupt smooth reading.

In the previous post we provided you with some In Text ads optimization tips to whet your appetite. Since many of you showed interest in the subject and asked us to elaborate, we decided to devote a detailed post for every optimization tip.  So today we will start this series of posts by focusing on the Single versus Double Underline Debate.

During the Infolinks integration process, you can set the highlighted links on your pages to have single or double underlined hyperlinks. Using the double underlined format is considered a better way to optimize your In Text ads. The reason is because more and more online users recognize this format as unique to In Text advertising and will click on them only when they are interested in the highlighted term. They will hover over it with the mouse, consider the ad within the bubble, and click the ad and that’s exactly where the cash is!  An example of a successful Infolinks publisher using the double underlined hyperlinks can be found at: Britannica.com.

The other option is to highlight your In Text ads with single underline. In the past, In Text ads with single underline could confuse visitors with other links on a given website or blog. When disguised as regular links, readers used to click on the ads without knowing that they lead to paid-for content. For the short term, it generated more clicks per page views and higher CTR, but in the long term the website’s readers understood that not all links are regular and avoided clicking entirely, or screened them carefully with a hover. This way, after the first increase in clicks, there will be a significant drop.

To avoid confusion, Infolinks developed a new and distinct format of single underline called “Single Dotted Underline”. The dotted underline should make a clear distinction between the regular hyperlink of the page and the In Text ads links. An example for the new dotted underline can be found at the Jimkarter’s Blog.

Choosing the right format for the In Text ads is all about making a clear distinction between the In Text ad links and other hyperlinks on the page. Until the dotted single underline becomes better recognized, we recommend sticking to the standard of the online community – noticeable double underlined hyperlinks. All the advantages of making both your visitors and the advertisers happy by getting permission for clicks are leveraged by using a common format that doesn’t annoy your visitors and doesn’t distract their focus away from your content.

After completing the quick and easy Infolinks integration process, you can easily customize and configure various parameters of the In Text ads to better suit your websites. Many of our publishers report a significant increase in their websites’ earnings after they customize their In Text ads.

Here are some tips to optimize Infolinks’ In Text ads across your sites which can easily maximize your revenues:

Single/Double Underline – You can set the highlighted links on your pages to have a single or double underline. The most common method of highlighting the links for in-text ads is with a double underline. The double underline links are unique and as such, they send a clear message to your website’s visitors: these links are In Text ads.

Link Color – You can set the link color to better suit your pages. The color of the In Text links should stand out from the text just enough to clearly present the link as an advertisement, but not too much, avoiding interruption to smooth reading.

Links per Page – Usually the In Text Advertising algorithm optimizes the number of highlighted links in accordance with your page’s content. It is recommended to set the max number of links per page and to get the feeling of it on your website pages. You can always reduce it later on until you feel it is perfectly optimized.

On/off Text – You can use the On/Off HTML comment tags to determine whether a specific section in your page should or should not include the Infolinks links. Add the Infolinks code to as many sections and pages of your website as possible, to maximize your earnings.

Add more websites – You can add more websites and manage a multi website account. By adding more websites to your Infolinks account you create more impressions, more ads and more earnings.

Crown your Content King – By adding more quality content which is interesting and relevant, you will attract more traffic and improve the CPC of your ads.  Having up to date, relevant, and fresh content will increase impressions, CPC, and CTR.

Some simple tweaking of your Infolinks account can go a long way to boosting revenues – try it yourself!