Comparing/Reviewing products was just an example... the point I wanted to make is that when a web surfer reads content, articles, reviews that are not blatantly promoting one particular product, they tend to open up a little more than viewing an ad.

As you well know, nowadays every thing is flooded with advertising, so people generally respond less to advertisement and more to content. Of course, they will have to trust your opinion first before they act on your recommendation... but trust is developed when they feel that you are providing good, honest, unbiased content.

That does not mean that advertising regularly is dead, I am sure it still works. Especially if it is targeted. For example, if you have ads relevant to PHP on your site, people may still click and buy even though your content was directly promoting the ad.

webdev, I hope I do not confuse your plans... I am still new at web marketing and I am still trying to figure what works. The most important lesson that I have learned so far is that I want, from my website or blog, to be a credible source of information and have a reader/customer base... Having understood this, I feel that the one thing I need to focus on to become successful in the long run is to create good content about a specific niche, and this is precisely why I subscribed to SBI.

I still do PPC campaigns, advertise for offers (such as the Blockbuster link you are referring to), etc... but the clicks/conversions of PPC offers stop once I stop bidding on keywords.

My goal is long term success!

I hope this helps.

Sherif

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