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So, how did you do on the test?

What this video really demonstrates is how we tend to not pay attention to secondary matters when our attention is focused on one main subject.

Online advertising has been increasingly treated as a ‘secondary matter’ that has to vie with specific content to grab users’ attention. Flashy banners, pop-ups that block content, sponsored links, such as AdSense; all try to guess what the user is searching for, all vying for space and attention with the content of your web site.

It is inevitable that, just like in the video, these ‘secondary objects’ will be overlooked by the majority of people, or that, in those cases where they do manage to grab attention, they tear the focus away from what’s truly drawing the user: content. (If you had been paying attention to the “moonwalking bear” you probably would have missed the number of passes!)

Due to this inevitability, and due to the driving need for increased publishing, publishers are forced to join the fray for mass audiences, and thus are born the black-hat SEOs (Search Engine Optimatization). The black-hat SEO is the art of directing a maximum flow and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines by applying algorithmic manipulation techniques in ranking of search results for targeted keywords (especially on Google).

But hang on. If I’m a publisher why on Earth would I associate my web site with advertising material that vies for my user’s attention? Moreover, why would I use SEO techniques that bring users who are not really interested in what I have to say to my web site? It is a vicious cycle: a drive for bigger traffic equals black-hat SEOs, which equal less influence of content over users, which in turn ignites a new drive to attract an increasingly larger user traffic to your web site.

We at boo-box believe that the publisher shouldn’t be pushed into this vicious cycle. On the contrary, you should captivate a loyal following by creating innovative content and investing in attracting those people who are truly interested in what you are publishing (and not in the most frequently typed Google keyword).

The respect you garner from your followers for the quality of your content can and should be rewarded. Your endorsement maximizes product and service recommendations and each time the user finds a good recommendation or review, a positive cycle is strengthened: good content equals greater respectability, good recommendations in turn equal better financial results, which generate a greater interest in publishing good content.

A number of publishers have been achieving success and getting better financial results using boo-box without having to fight for that extra traffic. In a recent event, Paulo Henrique from GraveHeart and Lucia Freitas from Ladybug both declared they increased their revenue by more than 100% in some affiliate programs without having changed a single thing, just by adding boo-box links to their content. We gathered statements from other users that attest to having tripled or even multiplied by 10 their gains using boo-box while maintaining (or even reducing) the number of hits on their web sites.

By using boo-box you will be taking the advertisement on your web site from a ‘secondary object’ to being an integral part of its content; after all, these are products and services you are recommending to your users!

p.s.: This is a substantial topic to cover, so be on the lookout for new posts on the effects of the loss of relevance to advertisers.