Advertising is an integral part of the internet.
As a content creator and website owner, I fully understand why advertising is necessary. After all, it is how I make a living.
I do believe, however, that most websites today are integrating advertising into their websites all wrong.
Whether they are bombarding visitors with advertisements and pop up messages or constantly making requests to sign up, website owners are placing advertising first and content second. This greatly hurts user-experience.
Whilst I did previously display banner advertisements on this blog, I always wanted my articles to be the primary focus.
This is why I have taken a different approach to advertising to many other websites online.
Blog Post Updates
In 2017, I published an article entitled “I Do Not Want Your Email Address” to explain why I was stopping my newsletter and no longer asking people to sign up to an email marketing list.
My new subscription setup is simpler.
By entering your email address into the subscribe box, you will receive an email whenever I publish a new blog post on this website. These emails have no marketing, no offers, no spam and no BS.
The subscription is managed by WordPress.com and you can subscribe and unsubscribe at any time.
I have no desire to email you for anything else. Even if I wanted to, I could not do it, as WordPress.com does not offer this functionality.
The way I see it, if you like my content, you will return.
Those who want to be updated about new articles can follow me on Twitter or Facebook or receive email updates.
The decision is yours.
Goodbye Banners
Two years after closing my email newsletter, I made the decision to remove banner ads from this website.
Whilst I did lose money by doing this, I believe I improved this blog significantly by removing distracting banner ads and making the user-experience better.
Without doubt, it was the right decision.
Transparent Advertising
To help support my efforts on this blog, I use affiliate marketing.
Therefore, when I mention a product or service I use, I will sometimes link to the website using a referral link. This does not cost readers anything, but if you do choose to buy something, I will get a small commission for referring you.
Most readers are happy with this approach and use it as a thank you for helping them through tutorials and reviews, but I am happy for readers to search for websites directly. The choice is yours.
On this website, I also offer transparent review options for companies. They pay a flat fee for a review to cover me for the time and energy I spend researching and testing their product or service for a review.
I believe this is a fair approach to advertising as:
- It compensates me for the time it takes to review products
- It allows me to remove banner ads and other invasive advertising methods
- Companies can assess my website and decide whether a review gives them value
Please contact me if you have any questions about any of this.
Thanks for reading.
Kevin