Site Design: Building for the User

Returning visitors may have noticed a few changes at OnlineMarketing.net. Most notably, the adsense ads are GONE.

OnlineMarketing.net originally used a fixed-width, 3 column layout built for 1024x768. The 3 column design allowed for the placement of adsense & some related affiliate banners. However, there were some issues.

First, some users, even those with large screens still run their browsers at 800x600. This created the dreaded horizontal scroll bar.

As importantly, while the adsense ads were somewhat targeted to the site's niche, often the ads that Google provided were for spammy get rich quick eBooks & similarly questionable products/services. The result was that Adsense integration did not provide a service to the visitors & probably chased away some who, otherwise, may have stayed & found something useful.

Adsense can be a powerful monetization tool, however it does not always add value to your site from a visitors perspective... and might harm your credibility. A better monetization route might be carefully selected affiliate links or, carefully selected "fixed advertising" (banners, etc), ... or in some cases, no monetization at all. Just build it for the user. Not all of your sites need to make big money. Some sites can exist simply to share information or discuss ideas. What a concept.

To encourage dialogue, posts have been opened up to (moderated) comments from unregistered users. We reserve the right to edit content, links, offensive language, or to disallow posts entirely. You know the drill.

One stated goal of OnlineMarketing.net is to return something of value to the Online Marketing community. These changes should be a step in the right direction.