Ten Things Text Link Brokers Can Improve

by Paul Flyer

More robust searching for publishers advertisers should be able to search for publishers by keyword, category, various ranking criteria, and PRICE.
More variety in the kinds of advertising. Text link advertising is too home page centric. Sub page advertising is also essential, especially if there are pages that see more traffic than a home page. Most text link brokers are geared towards presenting a site as a whole rather than presenting a single page to advertisers. The reasons for this are connected to statistics. It is hard for third party services to present stats on a single page, while it is easy to present some level of statistics for an entire site (i.e. via Alexa)
Stop using Alexa. Using Alexa as a means by which advertisers can assess publishers seems a little off base. The inaccuracy and unreliability of Alexa has been well documented. While we need to admit we all check our Alexa ranking, for we are addicted to those kinds of stats, it still does not justify using it as a means of judgement and assessment.
Let publishers add their own stat information. Yes, people can lie. However reputable sites stand out and less reputable typically fall to the wayside.
Help Sellers too. There is a general emphasis on helping link buyers (for indeed this is what provides the revenue), however Link Sellers need help too. Don’t forget them!
Create other means by which advertisers and publishers can meet each other - blog, forums, etc. Here’s one idea: you know those group writing projects Problogger initiates? Use the same idea but apply it to pairing up advertisers and publishers. For example, place a call out for all websites that are about pets and want to add some advertisers. Challenge them to write a post about what their site has to offer (content, visitors, readers, etc.). Post links to all these posts. ADvertisers can then easily check out all the potential sites. Do this for all the various categories. Maybe do it once a month. Don’t fear the volume to be overwhelming. I am willing to bet only about 10% of those who are currently signed up for your service that would qualify for the topic would take the time to write a post and submit it before deadline.
Improve the user interface for both advertisers and publishers. Some do a great job, others need a little help.
Make the code minimal. Makes it easy for publishers to publish ads without a lot of code. In particular, beginners shy away from complicated code that has to be added to their site.
Provide one on one service to those willing to pay for it. You might be surprised the amount of people who would pay for one hour of time to help them get off the ground with text link advertising.
Continue the process of education. Do not cease in educating your members.