Should Affiliate Marketers Avoid Wordpress.com?
Wordpress has become one of the largest blog platforms. Wordpress.org allows bloggers to download Wordpress and use it at their hosting account. Wordpress.com is the service that allows bloggers to create blogs and have Wordpress.com host them. Is Wordpress.com affiliate marketer friendly?
I began blogging with three blogs hosted by Wordpress.com. I have used many blogging platforms and found Wordpress to offer a large number of features, while being user friendly. One of my first blogs was Bruce's Money Rants. While Bruce's Money Rants is still available, it currently is in its second incarnation. My first blog was squelched by Wordpress.com.
I started looking for a hosted Wordpress solution. Wordpress.com was built by the same people who worked on the Wordpress software (WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org, n.d). Wordpress.com offered many inviting features including:
1. Built on the Wordpress software that I already liked
2. Wordpress.com advertised the availability of over 70 templates
3. Ability to add widgets and plug ins
4. Daily stats can be tracked easily
5. Having a blog that was "xxxx.wordpress.com"
The relationship started out well. I signed up three blogs "emergencymgmt.wordpress.com", "lifeofreedom.wordpress.com", and "brucesmoneyrants.wordpress.com". I focused on brucesmoneyrants.wordpress.com. I began looking for an appropriate template. When I went to the available templates, I found approximate a dozen templates. Access to the 70 plus templates requires payment. Not a problem, there were many free templates available online. I went and found one I really liked, only to find out that you cannot upload external templates. No problem, they had one I liked.
I started adding widgets to my blog. Wordpress.com did not allow me to upload my own template but Wordpress.com could be personalized through the widgets, right? Not at all, Wordpress.com offers a few widgets but is limited on the widgets that you can add. Wordpress.com also does not allow any javascript in their widgets. Wordpress.com's rules about java script greatly reduced my ability to monetize. Java script is required to run ads from Google Adsense and Amazon.com.
I was able to insert HTML into widgets. This allowed me to place small banner ads in the blog's sidebars. Not as lucrative as Google Adsense or Amazon may be but it was something. This type of advertising does require you to manually change the code to show a different ad. I was not completely turned off. Wordpress after all is a great blogging platform.
I reached a point where I was happy with my blog's look. It was not perfect but was the best I could reach without paying Wordpress.com extra money. I was not trying to get something for free. I was more than happy to pay for Wordpress.com's extra services. I just wanted the blog to be self sustaining. I began posting links in different blog directories and posting everyday. Within a week, I was seeing some results. My Wordpress.com blog had a high day of 12 unique visitors and was already indexed in Google.com. I was pretty pleased.
My posts focused on resources to help readers make money. I only wrote about things that I had found useful or resources that were helping me (i.e. e-books, Zac Johnson.com, etc.). I included reviews of products or courses that had helped me.
I was expanding my knowledge while providing information to assist reader's in their own business. My next move was to register with blog directories. I found a website that listed 50 high profile blog directories. I spent many hours posting to these directories.
Doomsday soon came. I signed up with a internet marketing course called Blogging for Dollars. In my view, this course offered some very useful tips. I believed readers would find it helpful. I wrote a review post about my experience and posted it.
I woke up Thursday morning and checked my blog's stats. The blog was gone. My screen now stated that "This blog has been archived or suspended for a violation of our Terms of Service". I was still able to sign in to my account and view my emergencymgmgt.wordpress.com blog. I also could still view stats for my World's Dumbest Criminals blog that was not hosted with Wordpress.com but used their statistics widget.
I did not write anything bad. Every time I quoted someone else, I stated the author, site I quoted, and linked to the source. I reviewed Wordpress.com's Terms of Service. Of course, Wordpress.com's Terms of Service is a couple of pages long. I was looking for restrictions that could be relevant to the posts I had made. Here are the ones I found:
1. "the downloading, copying and use of the Content will not infringe the proprietary rights, including but not limited to the copyright, patent, trademark or trade secret rights, of any third party"
2. "you have fully complied with any third-party licenses relating to the Content, and have done all things necessary to successfully pass through to end users any required terms"
3. "the Content is not spam, is not machine- or randomly-generated, and does not contain unethical or unwanted commercial content designed to drive traffic to third party sites or boost the search engine rankings of third party sites, or to further unlawful acts (such as phishing) or mislead recipients as to the source of the material (such as spoofing)"
4. "your blog is not named in a manner that misleads your readers into thinking that you are another person or company. For example, your blogs URL or name is not the name of a person other than yourself or company other than your own"
The previous four bullet points are quotes from Wordpress.com's Terms of Service. The only potential issue I saw was my posting about products that people might find useful because I had included affiliate links, however, even this was a manner of point of view. I had recommended products but only because I had purchased them and found them useful. I had offered to provide proof that I used the product and had offered links to similar products that I was not an affiliate for.
I believe there are two sides to every story. I sent Wordpress.com's support an e-mail asking for an explanation of how I violated Wordpress.com's Terms of Service. I did not request nor expect the decision to be reversed. After all, it is their site. They have the right to refuse service to anyone. I respect their rights. I just wanted to know why and maybe offer an explanation. After sending the ad, I had to go to work. I recieve my e-mail on my Blackberry and waited for a response.
As of that evening, I had not received a response. I checked my spam filter. I tried to login to my other two blogs. Wordpress.com would not even let me login. Well, there was my answer. Do not offer any explanation, just shut the whole account off. Again, it is their business and they are free to do as they wish. But, is this really good business.
For all budding affiliate marketers, be leery of hosting a blog at Wordpress.com. If you do not want to make any money, only impart information to the internet then Wordpress.com hosting is for you. Affiliate marketers, I would suggest sticking with downloading the Wordpress blogging platform to your own web hosting. i am happy to discuss this situation with anyone. You can find me at Bruce's Money Rants.
I began blogging with three blogs hosted by Wordpress.com. I have used many blogging platforms and found Wordpress to offer a large number of features, while being user friendly. One of my first blogs was Bruce's Money Rants. While Bruce's Money Rants is still available, it currently is in its second incarnation. My first blog was squelched by Wordpress.com.
I started looking for a hosted Wordpress solution. Wordpress.com was built by the same people who worked on the Wordpress software (WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org, n.d). Wordpress.com offered many inviting features including:
1. Built on the Wordpress software that I already liked
2. Wordpress.com advertised the availability of over 70 templates
3. Ability to add widgets and plug ins
4. Daily stats can be tracked easily
5. Having a blog that was "xxxx.wordpress.com"
The relationship started out well. I signed up three blogs "emergencymgmt.wordpress.com", "lifeofreedom.wordpress.com", and "brucesmoneyrants.wordpress.com". I focused on brucesmoneyrants.wordpress.com. I began looking for an appropriate template. When I went to the available templates, I found approximate a dozen templates. Access to the 70 plus templates requires payment. Not a problem, there were many free templates available online. I went and found one I really liked, only to find out that you cannot upload external templates. No problem, they had one I liked.
I started adding widgets to my blog. Wordpress.com did not allow me to upload my own template but Wordpress.com could be personalized through the widgets, right? Not at all, Wordpress.com offers a few widgets but is limited on the widgets that you can add. Wordpress.com also does not allow any javascript in their widgets. Wordpress.com's rules about java script greatly reduced my ability to monetize. Java script is required to run ads from Google Adsense and Amazon.com.
I was able to insert HTML into widgets. This allowed me to place small banner ads in the blog's sidebars. Not as lucrative as Google Adsense or Amazon may be but it was something. This type of advertising does require you to manually change the code to show a different ad. I was not completely turned off. Wordpress after all is a great blogging platform.
I reached a point where I was happy with my blog's look. It was not perfect but was the best I could reach without paying Wordpress.com extra money. I was not trying to get something for free. I was more than happy to pay for Wordpress.com's extra services. I just wanted the blog to be self sustaining. I began posting links in different blog directories and posting everyday. Within a week, I was seeing some results. My Wordpress.com blog had a high day of 12 unique visitors and was already indexed in Google.com. I was pretty pleased.
My posts focused on resources to help readers make money. I only wrote about things that I had found useful or resources that were helping me (i.e. e-books, Zac Johnson.com, etc.). I included reviews of products or courses that had helped me.
I was expanding my knowledge while providing information to assist reader's in their own business. My next move was to register with blog directories. I found a website that listed 50 high profile blog directories. I spent many hours posting to these directories.
Doomsday soon came. I signed up with a internet marketing course called Blogging for Dollars. In my view, this course offered some very useful tips. I believed readers would find it helpful. I wrote a review post about my experience and posted it.
I woke up Thursday morning and checked my blog's stats. The blog was gone. My screen now stated that "This blog has been archived or suspended for a violation of our Terms of Service". I was still able to sign in to my account and view my emergencymgmgt.wordpress.com blog. I also could still view stats for my World's Dumbest Criminals blog that was not hosted with Wordpress.com but used their statistics widget.
I did not write anything bad. Every time I quoted someone else, I stated the author, site I quoted, and linked to the source. I reviewed Wordpress.com's Terms of Service. Of course, Wordpress.com's Terms of Service is a couple of pages long. I was looking for restrictions that could be relevant to the posts I had made. Here are the ones I found:
1. "the downloading, copying and use of the Content will not infringe the proprietary rights, including but not limited to the copyright, patent, trademark or trade secret rights, of any third party"
2. "you have fully complied with any third-party licenses relating to the Content, and have done all things necessary to successfully pass through to end users any required terms"
3. "the Content is not spam, is not machine- or randomly-generated, and does not contain unethical or unwanted commercial content designed to drive traffic to third party sites or boost the search engine rankings of third party sites, or to further unlawful acts (such as phishing) or mislead recipients as to the source of the material (such as spoofing)"
4. "your blog is not named in a manner that misleads your readers into thinking that you are another person or company. For example, your blogs URL or name is not the name of a person other than yourself or company other than your own"
The previous four bullet points are quotes from Wordpress.com's Terms of Service. The only potential issue I saw was my posting about products that people might find useful because I had included affiliate links, however, even this was a manner of point of view. I had recommended products but only because I had purchased them and found them useful. I had offered to provide proof that I used the product and had offered links to similar products that I was not an affiliate for.
I believe there are two sides to every story. I sent Wordpress.com's support an e-mail asking for an explanation of how I violated Wordpress.com's Terms of Service. I did not request nor expect the decision to be reversed. After all, it is their site. They have the right to refuse service to anyone. I respect their rights. I just wanted to know why and maybe offer an explanation. After sending the ad, I had to go to work. I recieve my e-mail on my Blackberry and waited for a response.
As of that evening, I had not received a response. I checked my spam filter. I tried to login to my other two blogs. Wordpress.com would not even let me login. Well, there was my answer. Do not offer any explanation, just shut the whole account off. Again, it is their business and they are free to do as they wish. But, is this really good business.
For all budding affiliate marketers, be leery of hosting a blog at Wordpress.com. If you do not want to make any money, only impart information to the internet then Wordpress.com hosting is for you. Affiliate marketers, I would suggest sticking with downloading the Wordpress blogging platform to your own web hosting. i am happy to discuss this situation with anyone. You can find me at Bruce's Money Rants.
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