Jan | 24 | 2009

Is Pay Per Post Worth It?

Posted by Jimmy as Monetization Features, Opinion

I have written about pay per post in the past and I am not talking only about the platform going by that name – I am referring to the practice in general. My opinion has not really changed, I still think that it is alright to engage in pay per post practices as long as you are clear about it and you let your readers know which posts are sponsored.

These days, though, it seems as if the pay per post realm is not doing so well. I have not kept it a secret that I am using some of these platforms for my personal blogs and lately, I have not been getting much work from them. One big reason is the fact that my PageRank went down several steps several times. The funny thing is that the only reason I could find for the decline in PageRank is the fact that I was (and am) doing paid posts.

So this question cropped up in my mind – is pay per post still worth it?

I have to say that as time passes by, it seems to me that it just might not be worth it. For one, the more paid posts you put up in your blog, the spammier it tends to look. This can, of course, be avoided by creative writing and inserting of keywords and links. Still, too many of these posts – and you need lots to make a considerable amount of money – is never good.

Another reason is the PageRank issue. You want PageRank, of course, but you can’t get it if you do paid posts – at least, if Google finds out. And you can’t get enough assignments if you have no or low PageRank. It’s the chicken and the egg.

If you are relying largely on paid posts for income from your blog, it might be time to rethink things. I am.

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Comments (5)

5 Responses

  1. Nancy McCord

    26|Jan|2009

    I have never accepted money for my product and software reviews and I do not intend to change.

    I strive to keep my credibility as a go-to-resource with my readers and clients for honest, down to earth practical reviews. I feel that when you are paid you lose this edge.

    Just my two cents for today.

  2. Jimmy

    29|Jan|2009

    Thanks for the input, Nancy. Totally understood.

  3. brad clardy

    07|Feb|2009

    I have tried pay per post and have found that most people want to trade out products in exchange for a review. I think this an acceptable alternative, but when a person puts alot of time and effort into reseach and write a post for pay, I don’t think that takes away from a writers credibility. If that was the case then we should abolish all newspapers and magazines.

  4. Jerry

    13|Mar|2009

    I keep asking myself the same questions from the opposite angle – Does paid posting worth advertiser’s money?

    I see bloggers charging $20 – $50 for some crap writing in their socall ‘high PR’ blog – seriously, what kind of benefits do I get from such a paid post? Poorly written blogpost will not drive traffics to my websites; and paid posts are normally buried deep in achieve real soon after it’s published.

    Jimmy, perhaps you can write another article on the same topic but different perceptive?

  5. Tammara

    27|May|2009

    Hi Jimmy,
    I’m chuckling at your comment, “It’s the chicken and the egg.” in regards to PayPerPost – lol – perfect analogy! Like many other bloggers I too lost my page rank on all my blogs from writing for PayPerPost. Even though I was extremely selective to ensure the ads were related to my blogging niche, that of course did not matter to the big G search engine! :(

    It’s a long process to regain page rank. It was a hard way to learn the lesson about passing page rank for money. Wasn’t worth it when I consider how much time and energy it will take to rebuild my blogs pr. I’m surprised PayPerPost didn’t get a bad rap from more bloggers not disclosing to them the potential consequences of writing posts for advertisers. Thanks for letting me comment. :)

  


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