In order to maximize the amount of revenue generated by a blog, a publisher must consider as many different monetization methods as possible. More money can be made by utilized a varied portfolio of advertising, including affiliate marketing, cost-per-click banners, and other methods. One of the emerging trends on the Internet is the sale of text link ads.
The appropriately named Text Link Ads (TLA) was one of the first ad networks to spark this trend, helping bloggers sell text links in the sidebars of their websites. As time progressed, TLA also started to sell post-level text ads, which were single snippets appended to the end of blog posts. Continuing with this trend, the same team that developed Text Link Ads has created a new ad network call InLinks.
Instead of selling text links in the sidebar and custom snippets at the ends of posts, InLinks sells text links that are placed right inside of the blog posts themselves. This sounds like it operates in much the same way as Kontera ContentLink or IntelliTXT, but the system is actually quite different. Bloggers are given more control and the in-text links are more natural-looking.
Features
Whereas the ads served by Kontera ContentLink results in "pop-up" ads that appear when a site visitor hovers over the advertised link, the InLinks process makes the paid links look as though they were placed there by the blogger in the first place. There is no hovering ad box. This "natural" link provides advertisers with not only the benefits of advertisement and exposure, but there may also be search engine optimization (SEO) benefits as well.
For example, if a blog contained the following sentence in one of its posts—"I really like my new Apple iPod, because it seems to be more intuitive than other MP3 players."—an advertiser may purchase a link on the anchor text "Apple iPod", linking it to an online store that sells iPods.
Text links are priced on a monthly basis. So, in the example with the "Apple iPod" above, the advertiser would have that text link on the blogger's website for one month for a set amount of money. Prices range considerably based on the popularity and traffic levels of a blog, but the typical price for a month-long text link is in the $10-$15 range. The publisher earns 50% of that price with the remaining 50% being earned by InLinks. This is the same revenue share model used by Text Link Ads.
There are two key advantages to using a system like InLinks over the paid post model used by networks like IZEA. First, the same text link can be sold over and over again, because it is not a permanent link. Second, a special "sponsored post" does not need to be written, because the paid links are inserted into existing blog posts.
At this time, InLinks supports the following blog platforms: WordPress, Movable Type, and Ruby on Rails. Additional platform support is being planned for the future.
Control Panel
Enlarge (Pop-Up)
The InLinks control panel is broken up into three core sections – Bloggers, Advertisers, and Affiliates – and these are accessed using the large buttons near the top of the dashboard. The Advertisers section is used for buying text links, whereas the Affiliates section is used for acquiring information about the affiliate (referral) program. More on this is discussed in the Referral Program section of this article below.
The Bloggers section is of primary interest here for publishers. The layout and appearance of this section is somewhat similar to LinkXL, another in-text advertising network that operates in a very similar fashion to InLinks. The left sidebar provides the core navigation, including areas to submit and edit sites associated with the InLinks account, managing the money earned and viewing the payment history, and adjusting the ad approval system.
Navigating through the InLinks control panel is incredibly simple and straightforward. There are very few frills, if any, which makes InLinks approachable by both novice and advanced publishers alike.
Registration
Publishers can sign up with InLinks one of two ways. If they are already existing publishers with Text Link Ads, the InLinks team says that these publishers can access the system from within the TLA account. However, in conversing with a TLA representative, it was discovered that it is not possible to run both Text Link Ads and InLinks on the same domain. The representative said the two systems are not compatible, so a publisher would need to stop offering Text Link Ads if he/she wanted to offer InLinks. Further still, the InLinks integration is not immediately obvious on the Text Link Ads website and control panel
The alternative is to sign up for a new account through InLinks. The registration form is very short and does not immediately require any website information. Instead, it simply asks for an email address, preferred payment method, and personal contact information. There are fields for a mailing address, but these are not required. An approval email is usually sent within one business day.
From there, the publisher would need to log into his InLinks account to add his websites to the InLinks inventory. Because the adding of websites comes after account approval, there do not appear to be any traffic requirements for approval with InLinks.
Publisher Support
Publishers can get technical support from InLinks through a provided contact form on the InLinks website. Publishers are not assigned a specific manager or point of contact. While the physical address of the InLinks office is provided at the bottom of the page, a phone number is not. In this way, the primary method of contact is via email. Most messages receive a response within one to two business days.
Payment Details
InLinks offers three payment options. Publishers can choose to receive payment via PayPal, via a check in the mail, or via Payoneer. Payoneer uses prepaid MasterCards, so InLinks would load the publisher's account with the amount of money earned in the previous month.
Unlike many other networks that operate on a net-15 or net-30 payment schedule, InLinks issues payments on the first of every month. This is easily the fastest payment schedule available. It should also be noted that there is no minimum payment threshold if publishers opt for PayPal. Minimum payment via check or Payoneer is $25.
Payoneer Prepaid Debit MasterCard is available to publishers based almost everywhere in the world. The card can be used anywhere MasterCard is accepted, including online purchases and ATM withdrawals. There is a $5 card activation fee for users based in the US and a $10 card activation fee for non-US members. This is a 50% subsidized price, as InLinks pays for the other 50%.
Referral Program
InLinks rewards publishers for referring both additional publishers and new advertisers.
Referring publishers earn a 10% commission based on the revenue earned by the referred publisher within the first two years of membership with InLinks. This 10% commission increases based on a tiered system.
For example, if the referred publisher generates over $1000 a month in revenue, the commission rate increases to 11%. Monthly revenue levels of $2000, $3000, $4000, and $5000 result in commission rates of 12%, 13%, 14%, and 15%, respectively.
Publishers who refer new advertisers to InLinks earn a flat bonus commission of $25.
Summary
Given the strength and established reputation of the Text Link Ads team, publishers can be confident in the performance of the new InLinks advertising network. The seamless integration of paid links takes up no additional space on a blog and installing the necessary components can be done with a simple WordPress plug-in.
The payout levels are comparable to paid post networks, but the paid links are not permanent and publishers do not need to write dedicated sponsored posts. The lack of a minimum payment threshold (via PayPal) is also very attractive, particularly to smaller publishers who may normally have trouble reaching these thresholds.
The two possible pitfalls that may hurt InLinks are that it is not compatible with Text Link Ads and it may result in SEO punishments due to its paid link configuration. This second problem may be a non-issue, however, so long as the paid links remain relevant.
