Publisher FAQs

Let us answer any questions you have. If the information below doesn't answer your questions call us at 1-877-4-Link-Ex or contact us.

How can LinkExperts help me as a publisher?
What makes ads from LinkExperts special?
Does LinkExperts conflict with contextual or other forms of online advertising?
Does LinkExperts conflict with my company's ad sales team?
Can my business become a LinkExperts publisher?
Can I advertise with LinkExperts while also earning revenue as a publisher?
Does LinkExperts guarantee to have advertisers relevant to my content?
Does displaying LinkExperts links alongside my content affect my own search engine rankings?
What makes LinkExperts an optimal solution connecting my readers to relevant products and services?
Do links placed by LinkExperts include a NoFollow attribute?
How soon after I sign-up will I begin generating revenue?
Where on my page are links from LinkExperts displayed?
How do I get paid and what is pricing based upon?
What is the commitment when working with LinkExperts?
What am I responsible for in terms of technical setup and management?
What can I do on my website to make it more valuable to LinkExperts advertisers?
How Can I Submit My Site For Review?

How can LinkExperts help me as a publisher?
LinkExperts provides predictable, non-performance-based revenue for publishers wanting to supplement online content with links to other high-quality, relevant websites. We differ from traditional contextual programs in that the publisher maintains complete editorial control over which companies appear alongside their content. The end result is a consistent source of supplemental advertising revenue without compromising editorial values or reader satisfaction.

What makes ads from LinkExperts special?
Every LinkExperts ad is search-friendly, meaning that it works behind the scenes to positively impact your rankings in search engines like Google and Yahoo. The link acts as a signal to search engines, helping strengthen your position as a provider of products or services relevant to the content of the page the link appears on.

For example, a site with content about coffee makers, which then links to a manufacturer of coffee makers, helps reinforce and confirm that the manufacturer's site is indeed about coffee makers. This association is taken into account when search engine users look for providers of coffee makers - the manufacturer's site is now more likely to appear.

Does LinkExperts conflict with contextual or other forms of online advertising?
No. LinkExperts is 100% harmonious with contextual and most other online advertising programs, assuming they do not interfere with the overall quality of your site. Excessive pop-ups, cloned versions of directories, obtrusive or uncontrollable video or sound, or irrelevant display ads are examples of such techniques we'd find unacceptable in our program.

Does LinkExperts conflict with my company's ad sales team?
No. Advertiser spend with LinkExperts is budgeted for search marketing purposes whereas your ad sales team is targeting rich media and display ad budgets. In fact, some publishers use our links as leads for their ad sales team. We're always happy to make introductions between partners to drive further success of their businesses.

Can my business become a LinkExperts publisher?
We evaluate each publisher from a variety of angles before working with them. Specific rejection criteria include:

• Businesses operating websites that contain, promote, or link directly to certain types of content. This includes but is not limited to: adult content, illegal drugs, gambling or any other content that is illegal, promotes illegal activity or infringes on the legal rights of others.
• Age of site.
• Websites focused on marketing and/or selling products or services versus monetizing content.
• Websites in languages other than English.
• Deceptive techniques targeted at fooling users or increasing search engine rankings.
• Excessive duplication of content.
• Low quality, infrequently updated, poorly organized or unoriginal content.
• Websites hosted on a sub-domain of a domain they themselves do not own.
• Disproportionate advertising-to-content ratios.
• Low levels of authority or recognition across target audiences.
• Excessive outbound link associations to topically irrelevant websites.

The ideal LinkExperts publisher is one that:

• Offers high-quality, industry-focused, and regularly updated content.
• Organizes its website into topically centric categories and has a sitemap.
• Is an industry authority as measured by audience metrics and inbound link authority.
• Invests in search engine optimization, including clear navigation and use of title and header tags appropriately.

If you fulfill the above requirements and are interested in knowing more about our service, please Submit Your Website for Review.

Can I advertise with LinkExperts while also earning revenue as a publisher?
No. We limit our advertiser program to companies 100% focused on providing high-quality products and services. Our publishers, on the other hand, provide valuable content that is then monetized by online advertising. Any overlap between publishers and advertisers would conflict with these guidelines.

Does LinkExperts guarantee to have advertisers relevant to my content?
No. As with any economy, LinkExperts sometimes suffers from imbalances in supply and demand. However, this does not mean our quality guidelines and dedication to relevance no longer apply. We temporarily redirect resources towards identifying suitable advertiser candidates and begin processes for review and acceptance into the program.

Does displaying LinkExperts links alongside my content affect my own search engine rankings?
It depends. Some published search algorithms evaluate outbound links when determining where a site fits in terms of relevancy and authority. Working with LinkExperts as a publisher will strengthen your position as a topical hub, which may lead to strengthened topical relevance. In most cases, however, rankings are unaffected by our links.

More important than affecting ranking is ensuring that you only link to trustworthy sites. We review every advertiser site for evidence of questionable activity. This includes an analysis of their website, inbound and outbound links, number of indexed pages, other sites they own, current rankings and audience metrics. We then repeat the analysis using historical trend data accumulated over the past two years. Only sites showing no measurable signs of spam are accepted into our program.

What makes LinkExperts an optimal solution connecting my readers to relevant products and services?
Here are the facts so you can make an informed decision on your own:

1. We work one-on-one with advertisers to select publishers with relevant content and intersecting target audiences. Each link can be rejected with a
   single veto from the advertiser, publisher, or our internal quality team. Ongoing periodic review ensures relevancy is not affected by content updates or
   other site changes.

2. Each advertiser and publisher we work with is initially screened and proactively monitored for any evidence of active involvement in:
   
   1. Operating websites that contain, promote, or link directly to certain types of content. This includes but is not limited to adult content, illegal
      drugs, gambling, or any other content that is illegal, promotes illegal activity, or infringes on the legal rights of others.

   2. Operating MFA (Made For Ads) and LCPC (Low Cost Per Click) sites.
   3. Deceptive techniques. This includes content manipulation, hidden link pages, association with link farms, cloaking or other conditional redirects,
      phishing, hosting of malware, reciprocal link schemes, or anything else you wouldn't want your mother to know about.

   Our relationships with businesses found using the above techniques are immediately suspended to allow time for a deeper investigation into suspected activity. If confirmed, such relationships are terminated. There is no process for re-inclusion.

3. Our community of publishers is limited to businesses whose primary objective is the development of industry-specific content. Companies involved in selling products or services are not admitted into our publisher program.
4. Our advertisers are limited to businesses whose primary objectives are offering products and services. Affiliate marketers and lead generation companies must demonstrate extended value beyond the products and services they promote before becoming a LinkExperts advertiser.

Advertisers are limited to only optimizing terms for which their site already appears in organic search results. This provides third-party subjectivity as to whether the advertiser is truly relevant to the particular term.

Do links placed by LinkExperts include a NoFollow attribute?
No. Google led efforts to introduce the NoFollow attribute to ensure spammers get no benefit from abusing public areas like blog comments, trackbacks, and referrer lists. Their reasoning was that any link created by a webpage's user should not have the same value as a link created by a webpage's author.

LinkExperts is 100% in agreement and supports this approach.

Our links, however, are fundamentally different than those targeted by NoFollow. Publishers have the ability to reject any links found to not complement their content or add value to their target audience. We feel this solution is favorable to all parties involved versus tagging unapproved links with NoFollow and still having them appear alongside content.

How soon after I sign-up will I begin generating revenue?
While it depends on demand levels, most publishers see activity within the first 60 days of acceptance. We'll work with you early in the enrollment process to educate you on existing demand, historical trends and how soon you can expect income. Detailed forecasts will be provided and maintained to assist in planning expansions of available inventory.

Where on my page are links from LinkExperts displayed?
It's up to you. We work with you to identify pages acceptable for use within our program and potential positioning options. We consider design constraints, inventory reserved for existing online advertising programs and our supported ad layouts. Pricing takes into account the position's proximity to the content and header of the page.

How do I get paid and what is pricing based upon?
We work with you to develop pricing plans for each page of your site eligible for use within our program. Pricing takes into account the quality of content, audience metrics, authority, ad placement and demand levels. Pricing for unused inventory may fluctuate over time, whereas existing links are always billed at the rate used when originally placed.

Publishers are paid at the beginning of each calendar month based upon the last month's activity. Payment is made by check in US Dollars.

What is the commitment when working with LinkExperts?
Publishers are required to commit inventory in one-year increments to help position our sales force to structure long-term agreements with advertisers.

What am I responsible for in terms of technical setup and management?
We have designed our ad serving technology around quick and efficient publisher setup. Approved publishers are provided setup instructions as well as technical support if needed. Initial setup also includes customizing the ad unit to conform to your existing color schemes and font selections.Ongoing management as a publisher is limited to approving new links and developing great content - that's it!

What can I do on my website to make it more valuable to LinkExperts advertisers?
The easiest way to grow your LinkExperts revenue is to keep producing high-quality, industry-focused content. The quality of content is a primary driver of your revenue potential and the value you pass on to advertisers.

The next step is to strengthen your site's presence in major search engines via on-site optimization. We frequently assist our publishers and help them understand the basics of how site structure, keyword targeting, URL formatting and page layout can contribute to greater search engine visibility. Such services are provided in the spirit of partnership with no cost to the publisher.

How can I submit my site for review?
Please Submit Your Website for Review. A representative from LinkExperts will notify you within 72 hours of the status of your request. Given the level of analysis required, reviews of publisher sites may take up to ten business days.