Alhtough Google Adsense is far and away the leading content-based advertising network, there are times, for whatever reason, when a publisher must opt for an alternative ad network.  Here are 10 Adsense alternatives worth considering:

1. Chitika
2. AdBrite
3. Bidvertiser
4. Infolinks
5. Performing Ads
6. Project Wonderful
7. Kontera
8. Clicksor
9. Exit Junction
10. Text Link Ads

Here is the latest search engine traffic market share for June, 2011, as reported by Nielson-Net and Alexa.  As you can see, Google still commands the lion’s share of search engine traffic. The top three search engines, Google, Yahoo and Bing, account for more than 94% of all search engine traffic.

Blog commenting is a highly effective way to build links to your site and boost search engine rankings.

I’m pleased to announce a new blog commenting service where we will submit comments to DO-FOLLOW blogs on your behalf.  Do-follow links, unlike nofollow ones, are  followed by the search engines, passing link juice to your site.

This is not a spamming service.  We read the blog entries and submit relevant, on-topic comments that link back to your site. Many of the comment links will come from pages with high PRs, including PR5.

What’s more, you pay for only $1 for each approved comment (and backlink to your website).  Most comments will come from pages that are PR2 or higher.  Considering that PR5 links go for as much $20 a month, this isn’t a bad deal at all.

For more details and to place an order for our blog commenting service, please visit this page.

Google TOS allows a maximum of 3 Adsense ad units on a single page.  If you simply paste your ad code into your index.php file of your Wordpress template, Adsense will show up on your first three posts.

You may want two Adsense ads to appear before your first two posts and one in the sidebar as on this site, Rantstoriches.com.

Here’s a simple workaround to accomplish just that:

1. Open index.php in a text editor.

2. Look for the following code:

<?php if (have_posts()) : ?>

3. Immediately before this line, insert the following code:

<?php
$postinc = 1;
$adsense1 = 1;
$adsense2 = 2;
?>

4.  Then look for the following in index.php:

<?php the_content(‘<br />Read the rest of this entry &raquo;’); ?>

5. Immediately before this line, insert the following:

<?php if ($postinc == $adsense1) {
echo ‘
YOUR ADSENSE CODE HERE
<br>
‘;
} ?>

<?php if ($postinc == $adsense2) {
echo ‘
YOUR ADSENSE CODE HERE
<br>
‘;
} ?>
<?php $postinc++; ?>

6. Finally, open sidebar.php in a text editor and insert your Adsense code in the desired location.

Additionally, you’ll want to repeat Steps 1-5 for archive.php.

That’s it!

Web directories should be a part of your link building strategy. In addition to driving traffic to your site through direct referrals, web directories provide one-way links to your site, increasing your search engine rankings.

But manually submitting to hundreds of directories can be a slow, tedious process.  To make life a little easier, I recommend using a software program that automatically fills out the submission forms for you, so that you don’t waste too much time copying and pasting your site information.

The following $7 software will do just that.  Link Directory Submitter comes preloaded with over 2,700 web directories, automates much of the form filling, and lets you submit to up to 10 directories at a time. Here are some benefits the software:

• Increase your link popularity.
• Get more traffic by gaining a higher position in search engines, such as Google, Yahoo! and MSN.
• Save time and money.
• Comes preloaded with 2700+ quality directories.
• Provides one-way static links to your site.
• Submit as many sites as you like.
• Display Google PR of every directory.
• Update directory list by simply clicking the Update Directory Button from within the software.
• The Link Title, Site Description and Keywords are rotated with each submission to a directory, allowing you to get listed by multiple keywords.
• Import and Export website profiles.
• Assign a custom color to each directory in the submitter.  This allows a color coding system to keep track of submissions.
• Export and email a submission history reports.

Ever wanted to find out which Twitter users you follow are not following you?  Here is a handy tool to do just that:

http://friendorfollow.com

To drop a user from the results, right-click on his or her icon to open their profile in a separate browser tab.  There you can unfollow that user.

Let’s face it: sex sells.

This is a truism that is as old as human civilization itself (you know what they say about the world’s oldest profession).

Everyday companies ranging from Coca Cola to Godaddy.com to Penthouse use sexual imagery– in varying degrees of explicitness– to help sell their products and services.

There is a solid psychological basis BEHIND the effectiveness of sex in advertising.  Advertisers realize that consumers respond not only to reason and logic, but also to feelings, emotions, and various impulses. By appealing to both the decision-making apparatuses that lie between people’s eyes and those between their thighs, they’re able to cover all fronts (even BACKS, too).

The BOTTOM line is, whether subtly or overtly, sex sells. As a blogger you can use sex to attract visitors to your site in various ways, including incorporating sexual imagery into your ad banners, website graphics, and even your post texts.

BUTT…it’s important not to get carried away. Moderation is key.  Knowing where to draw the line is what separates the more reputable companies like Coca Cola and Dove from those who peddle straight-up porn.

If you’re going to use sex to attract attention, think of more subtle and tasteful ways to do it. If you go overboard, you risk offending and alienating your readers, in which case you’re not being too ASStute….but ASSinine.

I’ve already showed you how to create your own targeted Entrecard “drop list” on your Firefox browser as a better alternative to using those quick drop lists that have become very popular among EC users.

Here is an even more compelling reason to avoid some of those “quick drop” sites:
VIRUSES!!!

With those “quick drop” lists you don’t get to specify which sites pop up on your browser. Not surprisingly some of them contain viruses, pop-ups, and other unwanted intrusions. These sites aren’t supposed to be Entrecard members, and the quick drop list owners aren’t always quick to remove them from their sites.

If you’re an active Entrecard user, you might have noticed that a significant percentage of your Entrecard traffic comes from blogs on which you dropped your card.

Participating in drop clubs is one way to get lots of ECs quickly, but none of the drop clubs I’ve come across organize sites by category.

Why is it important to group sites into categories?

You might want to drop your card on only those sites that are related to yours, so that those bloggers who return the favor by visiting your blog are more likely to be genuinely interested in your content.

Here is an easy way to create your own EC “drop list” on your Firefox browser:

1. Go to Entrecard.com and search for blogs that are related to yours.  You might search for the most popular blogs within your niche.

2. Visit each blog from the search results and look for the EC widget on each site.

3. Bookmark sites that load relatively fast and display EC widgets at prominent page locations. You’ll want to place the bookmarked sites into separate folders, each containing no more 10 or 20 sites (or 5 for slow internet connections).  You might name your folders Entrecard1, Entrecard2, Entrecard3, and so on. If you put 10 sites in each folder, you’ll end up with 30 or more folders containing only sites that are related to yours.

4. Once you’ve bookmarked your favorite sites, click on “Bookmark” on your Firefox browser menu. Next move your mouse cursor to the Entrecard folder containing the sites you want to visit (e.g. Entrecard1) and right-click on the folder to bring up the pop-up menu.  Then click on “Open All in Tabs” to open all sites within that folder on your Firefox browser.  Now you can drop your custom targeted “drop list”.

You’ll want to update your bookmarks regularly, adding relevant blogs and removing those that load too slowly or bury their EC widgets within clutters of ads or in hard-to-find locations.

I now accept ads on Rantstoriches.com.

Place a 100 x 100 banner ad on Rants to Riches for just $10 a month.  We accept a maximum of 9 sponsor ads on the 100 x 100 ad block on the right column.

Why advertise with us?

• At least 50% of ad revenues go back into promoting this site
• Reach a quality readership of webmasters, internet marketers, and business professionals
• Banner ads appear in prominent location on every page of the site
• Advertising rates will increase with our site’s traffic– purchase a multi-month ad run to lock in low rates

Please read the Advertising Section to place your ad today.