It’s time for our top clicked keyword report again:

“iphone” is always a top-clicked keyword in the Consumer Electronics category, but as the holiday shopping proved, “Nintendo wii” is a strong contender for first place in this particular niche.

“The Pussycat Dolls” are going on a European tour with Lady Gaga, if clicks are any indication tickets are probably sold out. It’s twin girls for “Rebecca Romijn” and husband Jerry O’Connell, and this happy news generated many clicks for the “Ugly Betty” actress. It’s the award season so it’s hardly surprising that “red carpet” and “Golden Globe Award” are topping the clickable keyword list in the Entertainment category.

A new year is always filled with promise and hopes and apparently it’s a season that attracts good business for astrologers… The Society & Culture category is dominated by astrology related keywords with many users interested in a prediction of how 2009 will unfold.

Against the backdrop of Facebook’s “breast feeding” controversy, we’ve witnessed a rise in this keyword’s popularity within the Health category. But can you speculate what sparked the sudden popularity of “face lift” in January?

The “Top Clicked Keywords” post series is aimed at providing you additional information about the top performing keywords in our network.  For previous posts visit our Top Clicked Keywords Category.

Taking a look at top clicked keywords is lots of fun, trying to figure out what exactly made one term turn popular over night sometimes feels like playing detective. So, with no further ado, here are some of Kontera’s top clicked keywords over the last week.

In Sports, “boxing” and “Oscar De La Hoya” get a lot of attention following the latter’s recent loss to Manny Pacquiao. Other popular keywords in this category are “college football” and “cricket.” With regards to “cricket” it’s interesting to note that it now correlates with a top clicked term from the News category, “Mumbai.”  This happens as England’s Cricket Team is preparing to return to India for the Test Series, and its players have announced they’ll donate half their match fees to the victims of the Mumbai terror attack.

In the Entertainment category several celebrities are getting a lot of click-love. “Michael Caine” recently revealed the real ending of The Italian Job on the eve of the film’s 40th anniversary. Guess that playing Alfred in The Dark Knight, adds more interest in light of the upcoming Academy Awards. “Jennifer Aniston” now promotes her soon to be released new film, and her personal life always draws a lot of attention.

The implications of the economic situation are also reflected, as Keywords relating to the “Employment” category are getting more clicks than before. On a happier note, Christmas spirit is already here, with most top clicked Keywords in the Holidays & Special Occasions category directly related to the most wonderful time of the year (we’ll tell you more about this in a special Christmas report).

Where will you be spending your Christmas vacation?
Well, if Travel category keywords are any indication, many of us are thinking about a “ski vacation…”

The “Top Clicked Keywords” post series is aimed at providing you additional information about the top performing keywords in our network.  For previous posts visit our Top Clicked Keywords Category.

We discovered something quite interesting on the Net just recently that we want to share with you. It’s an online self-study course, called Site Build It! (SBI!) that shows you how to create – and have fun with – your own successful internet business.

According to statistic sources on the Net, a large percentage of online business do not make it past the 1st year of operation. While the reasons for this result vary, there’s always one main, constant, never-ending battle each website owner faces: the fight for traffic to their site. And it is this battle, especially for attracting free traffic from the search engines, where the vast majority small businesses fail.

About Site Build It! (SBI!)

Site Build It! is the creation of SiteSell Inc., a privately held company based in Montreal.

When you visit their site,  you will quickly discover that SBI! is an online self-study course (and suite of integrated software tools) that empowers anyone, from beginner to Internet expert, to build a successful online business from scratch.

The most relevant benefit provided by SBI! for online entrepreneurs is the power to attract targeted visitors on an ongoing basis.

The traffic levels to Site Build It! sites, compared to regular sites and blogs, are impressive. According to a Netcraft.com study:

• 6 out of 10 Site Built It! site owners get more website visitors than 97% of all other websites.

• And more than 3 out of 10 – a full 35% of folks using Site Build It! outperform 99% of all websites.

How Does SBI! Do It?

Watch this entertaining, informative 30-minute video for the complete picture.

Final Thoughts

We’re excited to recommend any resource from which our partners can benefit.

Site Build It! is a cost-effective and well-supported way to build a traffic-generating business on the web and we thought that Kontera publishers should hear about it here too:)

Site Build It! Now offers Kontera publishers an unconditional 30-day, money-back guarantee. To get started, click here. 

To be a successful marketer, one must know how to move with the trend, change with the current fashion. A quick look at the most clicked keywords of any week reveals all sorts of interesting facts on what’s popular these days and where public attention is turned.

As promised, we are delivering the next in a keyword report series:

Not surprisingly, matters of finance and politics are now winning more clicks than at any other time in the past year (though we cannot show the actual number of clicks, we can definitely show rank).
On another note, Beyonce just turned into an ultra popular keyword and a quick look in Google reveals (to those of us who aren’t so MTV savvy) that her new singles are freshly released.  And of course, “Halloween” is climbing its way to the top, no tricks

As we well know, some keywords never get old.  For example, in apparel beauty, keyword “hairstyle” always remains at the top.  “Free downloads”, of course, always wins a place at top of computing category.

The “Top Clicked Keywords” post series is aimed at providing you additional information about the top performing keywords in our network.  For previous posts visit our Top Clicked Keywords Category.

In a previous post we’ve defined Link Density as “the concentration of ContentLink ads within a publisher’s content; the higher a site’s link density, the more ContentLinks are presented per page.”

Now we’d like to answer the question: What determines a site’s link density?

Generally, it has to do with the amount of text a site has.  ContentLinks, being in-text ads, are a perfect fit for text rich sites.  So the more textual content you have on your site, the more ContentLinks will appear.  Another factor has to do with the topic of a site.  Let’s face it, not all site topics were created equal.  Popularity of topics is interchangeable and may also vary throughout the year, as does the advertisers’ demand of a particular keyword.

To define link density through a more mathematical approach we’ll say the following:  a link density of 10 would mean a maximum of 10 keywords out of 100 words will be highlighted on a page.

Link density can be changed by Kontera’s optimization team.  To change the link density on your site, login to kontera’s Publisher Center and click on the help tab to contact support with your request.

Building a site or a blog is no simple task but maintaining it is no child’s play either… Like in any other professional undertaking, this occupation requires you to learn a whole new language, a set of new definitions.  Unlike any other professional undertaking, the online world is the fastest growing fastest changing industry existing today.  And so to be in touch with it, one has to keep up with the lexicon.  If you’re a website owner/online marketer, you definitely know what I mean.

Taking this into account, we thought it would benefit our partners if we presented a short glossary of basic terms revolving around Kontera and online advertising in general.  We hope to make some aspects of Kontera more accessible through these definitions.

Kontera Online Advertising:

• Pay Per Click Advertising- an advertising model in which Kontera pays publishers according to a pre-determined amount each time a user clicks on an ad; the amount is determined by the advertiser and is known as CPC.

• Contextual Advertising- an advertising model in which advertisements on a site are targeted to users based on the site’s content.  Kontera’s contextual advertising is highly specific as it recognizes the meaning of a particular sentence and matches it to the highest paying ad of the same topic.

• In-Text Advertising- a form of contextual advertising in which ads are served within the content of a site through highlighted keywords.  Kontera’s algorithms analyze content and extract keywords in order to match them to ads.  The ads appear as the user hovers over a highlighted keyword with his mouse.

Revenue Model:

• Revenue Share- the percentage of a click’s revenue which is received by the publisher.

Kontera Metrics:

• Impressions- the number of times a website is loaded by internet users; this is calculated by totaling all loads of all pages within the specified site.

• Net Impressions- the number of times a website is loaded by internet users, calculating only those pages on which at least one ContentLink was present.

• CTR- (Click-Through Rate) the average rate at which a site’s users click on an ad; this is calculated by dividing the number of clicks by net impressions to yield a percentage.

• CPC- (Cost Per Click) the dollar amount that an advertiser offers for a click on a particular ad. CPC isn’t a fixed rate and varies from one advertising campaign to the next according to advertiser’s specifications.

• eCPM- (Effective Cost Per Thousand)- the revenue for each 1,000 net impressions that a publisher’s site generates; a key tool in estimating revenue projections based on impressions.

Kontera Optimization Terms:

• Optimization- the process in which a Kontera team analyzes a site to identify its ideal ContentLink settings for reaching optimal performance and revenue potential. Click to learn some optimization tips.

• Link Density- the concentration of ContentLink ads within a publisher’s content; the higher a site’s link density, the more ContentLinks are presented per page. (e.g., a link density of 10 would mean a maximum of 10 keywords out of 100 words will be highlighted on a page).  Link density is a scale that Kontera’s optimization team can easily control.  Contact support@kontera.com for more details.

• Zone Tags- publisher-initiated Javascript code that specifies which areas of a site Kontera’s algorithm should analyze to generate ContentLinks; not to be used with Filter Tags.

• Filter Tags- publisher-initiated Javascript code that specifies in which areas of a site Kontera’s algorithm should not generate ContentLinks; not to be used with Zone Tags.

• Metrics Fluctuations – Many factors may influence one or more of your metrics and be reflected in your site’s overall performance. Fluctuations may result from changes in your site’s settings, ContentLink attributes, your site’s traffic sources and visitor trends, available relevant campaigns and advertisers’ specifications and more. It’s therefore very important to remember that when you analyze performance you should keep track of all the values above as well as take a look at your site’s stats as reflected in Google Analytics or any other tracking application you may be using.

We hope this helped in gaining a better understanding of Kontera’s advertising and how to analyze your site’s metrics. Stay tuned for an upcoming post on better understanding Kontera through the use of Google analytics.

Some combinations just work- Lucy and Ricky, peas and carrots… Google and Kontera ads.

These days, more and more website owners are seeing the benefits in diversifying their ad offering in order to accommodate a wider audience. The market has much to offer in terms of ad types, and the trick is to make the selection that will monetize best while serving your users well. A website’s ad diversity has to go hand in hand with an uncluttered display, allowing users to find the information they seek and to conveniently and easily explore your page.

Many publishers find the combination of Kontera ContentLinks alongside Google Adsense to be most beneficial. In fact, our latest publisher survey showed that an amazing 95% of our top earners and over 70% of our bloggers use Kontera and AdSense in order to maximize their site’s revenues. Further research has confirmed that ContentLink ads have no negative impact on Adsense earnings, but rather increase a site’s overall revenue.

Better still, Kontera ContentLinks don’t take up additional ad space. The ad units are “compact”, hidden behind a relevant keyword until a user actively requests to see them. So in addition to the monetary advantages of a Adsense/Kontera combination, ContentLinks can run next to Adsense ads without the need for additional web space and without competing for user interaction. Since the ads completely differ in format, there’s no issue preventing them from appearing on the same page.

Alan Baltes of actinginfo, one of our favorite bloggers and a valued partner has this to say:

“Kontera has proven to be a fantastic addition to the Adsense ads on my blog. It has increased my overall revenue without having any adverse effect on my Adsense statistics. Best of all, I have received very positive feedback from my blog’s visitors!”

Roger Clark from rogers-resume-help-center.com, a very useful resume and career resource site says:

“Adsense has always been the main source of revenue for my website and I was reluctant to place any other advertising as I feared a drop in my Adsense revenue. I decided to give Kontera ads a try because they did not take up any additional space on my web pages. Within a few weeks the Kontera revenues started to grow and best of all there was no drop off in my Adsense. My Kontera results have exceeded my expectations, and now provide a significant complementary income stream.”

So what are you waiting for? Give the combination a try.

Over the past few months we’ve been busy developing and updating different tools to enhance and simplify the use of ContentLink™ ads.

With our new Publisher Center, KnowledgeBase, ContentLink plug-ins and additional customization options, we figured it was high time to tie all these tools together and to remind you of all the great options available to you.

So here are a few useful tips to help you make the most out of your Kontera PPC ads:

• Plugins for quick ContentLink implementation- we’ve simplified the Kontera integration and customization even more. If you’re using Blogger, we have a widget that will distribute our ad code to all your pages in one-click! For WordPress, Joomla or Drupal users, our easy to install plug-ins simplify ContentLink’s integration and customization and provide you with maximum control over the ads’ placement on your site or blog.
• Optimization Tips- many factors influence ContentLinks’ performance on your site or blog – their color, number, density, location on a page and more. Check out the ‘Optimization’ category in the Kontera KnowledgeBase and find out how to customize ContentLinks to best suit your site’s design and content.
• Advanced Reporting- Use the Keyword Report , available through the Publisher Center.  Identify your top performing Keywords, add them to more pages on your site and increase your revenues. Use the URL report in a similar manner, identify your top performing pages and then try to implement their attributes on more of your site’s pages.

And one last useful tip; did you know your SEO efforts can go hand in hand with ContentLink optimization? Find out how

We’d love to hear your feedback on any one of these tools so feel free to leave your comment.

On July 1st Kontera launched a hot deal for new publishers:
Sign up* with Kontera during July 2008 and get 100% REV SHARE for the month!

We’re here to remind you that summer is at its peak and so is your chance to earn big cash.  You don’t need to do much, just sign up to Kontera, add ContentLink ads to your site or blog, and we’ll take care of the rest…

With 2 weeks left for the offer, what are you waiting for? Sign up* today and get 100% Rev Share till the end of July!

*Offer is valid only for sign-ups through the promotional page.

July is a hot month, in more ways than one

Kontera is launching a scorching hot deal for new publishers:

Sign up* with Kontera during July 2008 and get 100% REV SHARE for the month!

This is a one month offer, so don’t waste any time!

The sooner you sign up*, the sooner you can start earning 100% of all revenue generated by your site! That’s twice the normal 50% terms.

Sign up* now and take advantage of this amazing limited-time offer!

*Offer is valid only for sign-ups through the promotional page.