Over The Moon 254
We pin EVERY feature link and Most Clicked Link. To have a chance to be featured and leave a comment in our comment section. Please include your link number or post title to make our list of features. Each of our hostesses choose their own features so be sure to visit them. We will return your comment as we visit those posts! So come on in, be one of the first to link up, and remember to go Over the Moon with us!
Did you miss last weeks Over The Moon? You can find it at Over The Moon 253
Hey everybody!!! I created a new Facebook group named Homemade Everything. You can find it through search or by clicking Homemade Everything. Please come by and check it out join the group and leave a post! I wanted to extend the reach of all our blogger friends and OTM guests.
My hope is that when you leave a link here at the party you will click on this link and add your post to Facebook too. The link will always be the start of my news section here on Over The Moon.
Come party with us! Catapult your content Over The Moon! @marilyn_lesniak @EclecticRedBarn
Now for the news around here.
I have been working hard all week to update ALL my posts to include more than 400 words. Thank goodness recipes aren’t required to have over 1000 words to rank high.
I decided I was going to give ads a try on my blog.
This decision was bittersweet.
On one hand I love my clean looking and fast site. I have not had ads on my blog in the 7 years I have been publishing recipes.
I don’t want ads to overtake my content or be added inside my recipe cards.
That said, I have finally hit that point where we are on a fixed income and I want this blog to pay for itself.
I do want any ads though to be something readers actually want to see and not just a filler for cash.
Thanks to all of you I had 2 recipes go viral this last month. And what an eye opener!
Please keep me in your thoughts. Accepted or not I will be ok with the decision.
I would really like to know how you all are handling this decision of ads?
Do you run them? What ad company do you use? Has it been worth the new experience to your readers?
I hope you all are now in the festive spirit.
I have seen so many talented bloggers showing off their work.
It just amazes me how diverse a group bloggers are.
Even though this is your busiest time of year you are also visiting other blogs to share in their excitement.
I can’t say enough how wonderful this time of year is for blogging.
Please stay safe all of you. And keep smiling because people do love you and care about you.
Blessings from my home to yours!! Hugz.
Now On To The Party!
Let’s meet your Hostesses!
Take a look at my wonderful Features from last week!
Christmas Cabinet by Pennys Treasures
7 Holiday Mistakes That Steal Joy by Taming Frenzy
How to Transform a Colorful Card into a Gift Card Holder by Nutz About Stamping
Chicken Corn Chowder by Chasing My Life
And here are your Most Clicked Choices from last week!
DIY Bed Spring Windmill Christmas Tree Topper by Teediddlydee
Congratulations to all the featured bloggers! Please visit all the hosts to see each of their feature picks!
Adding your link to the Over the Moon Link Party indicates that you agree that all of the hosts of this party have your permission to display your link with your name, URL, and image. All links will lead back to the URL you use for the link. When we share your link, it provides a backlink for SEO as well as additional traffic to your blog.
I would love for you to visit all my weekly parties. Over The Moon opens on Sundays at 6:00 pm EST.
Come and get inspired!
For an explanation of how Linkup Parties benefit both Hosts and Guests read Why Choose Linkup Parties?
Good Luck with the ads. I am not an ad person but I feel by all means go for it. I am at 173, 174 and 175. Thanks for hosting and I hope that you have a wonderful week.
Thanks Patrick for giving your opinion. It means a lot to me that the experience for the user isn’t compromised. If you see anything annoying please let me know!! Thx for sharing ro day. Stay safe and enjoy your week!
Another great party! Thanks for hosting and have a great week.
Thanks for sharing Helen! Stay safe and have a great week!
Hi, Marylin; I do not mind ads as long as they are not pop-ups; I use the WordPress ads just at the end of my posts, and I occasionally include Amazon links to products relevant to the topic, using them as a visual aid for ingredients, utensils, etc. Thank you for hosting another great party; I am sharing #157 Vegan Mexican Style Stuffing and Gravy. Have an awesome week!
Thank you Irene. Your blog is one I enjoy reading. I easily see what I came for! And I hate popups. Even for newsletter. Some can be hard to dismiss ass well. Thx for sharing each week. Stay safe!
Thank you for hosting the party. We were with Google Adsense until we were able to get accepted by Mediavine. We are very happy with Mediavine and feel that they are very good to work with. We are excited that you have applied with them and wish you the best in getting accepted. We think that they would be a good fit for you. They allow you some control over the ads that are displayed. We don’t have popups on our site, as we feel that they are very intrusive. We are anticipating installing the Mediavine Trellis theme framework and are going to need to change our host. We know that we need to do this anyway because our site is relatively slow. Our links this week are: #152, #153, & #154. Can’t wait to hear if you are accepted!
Thank you Amy. I am glad to hear about your MediaVine experience! Hosting only accounts about 5-10% for your speed. It is just the server box and server software that helps. But it is important for security and customer service. They dont specialize in WP though and many are no longer helping with that. There are many issues for speed inside your blog and history. Make sure you really vetted Trellis. How you run your blog, plugins, and compatibility with themes are going to matter. I can’t say more as I don’t know your back end. But don’t pick a host based on recommendations of users. For the same reasons I mentioned above. It is never apples to apples and they don’t know the tech associated with it.
Thx for sharing and enjoy your week!
Hi Marilyn, now that it’s December I pulled out an old holiday post I hope you enjoy.
I use the WordAds program on WordPress. It doesn’t pay much but I don’t have to do anything except create content. It’s based on traffic, so I suppose it has potential.
That sounds interesting Aletha. I need to pay attention to your ads. They are subtle enough I didnt even notice any difference while reading your posts. I look forward as always to visiting this week.
Have a safe week!
Look at all the yumminess and creativity shared in this link up I think everyone out did themselves. Candy cane vodka…yes, please. The gingerbread recipes. The chowder. Pinning with great abandon.
I love all the recipes and DIY at this time of year. I am humbled by all the talent out there!! Thx for shring and enjoy your week!
Thanks for hosting the party, Marilyn. I used Adsense for a while, but it really didn’t seem worth it. At least not for the amount of traffic I had. I don’t think I qualify for Mediavine, at least not yet. I do have some affiliate ads. I don’t mind seeing ads on blogs at all, unless they are so threaded throughout the posts that I can’t really read the posts well! A few subtle ads don’t bother me, and I actually like seeing the links after the posts that show the products the blogger used.
Thank you Pam for your thoughts. mediavine raised it limits to 50k sessions. So it is tightening up. I hope this all goes well. Thanks for sharing. Enjoy your week!
Hey Marilyn,
Good luck with the ads! I have ads on a few of my posts, but I haven’t jumped all in yet for my site. I go back and forth. I think it will be a good thing for your site! I’m at #135 and #136 this week. Thanks as always for hosting. Between linking up, your sincere words each week, and your visits to our sites, you’re creating community here, and I appreciate it! Have a great week.
Marielle
Thank you so much Marielle for the kind words. I really believe that blogging well is about community as well as content. I am humbled. Thanks for sharing each week and enjoy your week.
Thanks for hosting! I brought by some Parmesan Roasted Acorn Squash. Hope you enjoy. 🙂
You are welcome CJ!! Thank you for brining the squash to the party. We love squash in my home. Enjoy your day!
I started with Adsense, and had them for a while, then I finally reached a number of sessions high enough to apply for Mediavine, and it has been a game changer! Before I got ads, I also didn’t want them to ruin the makers experience, but after I went with it, I noticed it was not invasive like I thought it was going to be. You can also go into your settings, and mark off which categories of ads you don’t want to show on your blog, and mention keywords of what your blog is about so that ads are tailored more to that.
I also highly recommend getting involved in some programs that you can ad affiliate links to your posts, and even sell printer friendly recipe cards/PDFs of all the recipes you have available for free on your blog on platforms like Etsy. I always note on my listings that my crochet patterns are available to view for free on my blog, but the fee for the printer friendly option is put in place to replace the lose in views when the maker no longer needs to return to the site to view it (because they now have their own copy). For recipes, I especially think eBooks would do well.
I love your ideas!!! And I am glad they are working. I tried an ebook a few years back but no downloads. But my views weren’t that high.
I had applied to MediaVine last year in December when I had reached 27k sessions. They told me my posts were too short to put in ads. When I first started blogging in 2013 there was no amount for minimum words for recipes. So I had at the most 200 words. Some below 100. I have over 700 posts now. About 525 have been fixed. I am running about 130k sessions now as this is my busy season. The minimum went up to 50k in June. So I applied again the day after Thanksgiving. I don’t know if they will knock me out because of those I have left to fix. I have been rewriting about 5 a day right now bringing me to that 175. It takes so long! I have about 200 articles included in the 700 between tips and Monday meal plans and those are over 1000 words. I guess we will see.
I will look at your other suggestions. Thanks so much!!! Say a prayer. The suspense is killing me. LOL.
Hey Marilyn, I’m at 140, 141, 142 this week. I’ll be interested to see how your ads go. I haven’t tried, but it would be helpful! I notice all my travel posts have really taken a hit in these corona times.
Thank Lisa. Be sure to let me know if they are annoying! I want it to stay fast and “readable”. I love your blog. Keep it up!! Put a spin on the travel if you need to. Make readers WANT to be there when they can. Hugz. Thanks for sharing each week and enjoy today!
Hi, Marilyn. Thank you for hosting, I’ve posted 111-113. Loving all the great recipes and ideas I see here, hugs, Sandi
Thank you so much Sandra for saying that!! It means so much since you never know what is working or not. I do appreciate you! Thanks for sharing each week and enjoy today!
Dear Marilyn. I honestly enjoy your posts and site without the ads, but can understand living on a fixed income, and blogging is a lot of work! And, you are so diligent. I’m an ad-free blogger, and have dropped maybe 30% of the blogs I used to visit because of ads which slow my computer down to an absolute crawl. People who use hand held devices manage to escape much of the ads unless they are in between the posts photos–the side panels are absent on smaller devices.. Amazon sellers—or picks, whatever you want to call it…seem to begin constructing their posts simply to have the ads.
Personally I never click on ads anywhere—as then I’m tracked, if I do shop I make sure it is the actual secure site or I change my browser to anonymous browsing to avoid spam mail, etc. This is getting more and more difficult to keep the YUK out of my emails.
Ads…It’s kinda like selling your soul to the devil, unless you set parameters that you can live with. Last blog I removed from my list, took over 8 minutes to load all the ads—the ads were 150% more than the photos in her post. You will have to find what works for you and still retains your readership, it is a balance. And, I do miss some of my favorite bloggers—that I have left by the wayside. HUGS, and I’m sure you will work it out, Sandi
Thank you Sandra. I feel the same. I wont be an affiliate for anyone. And no Amazon or more than 3 “see these posts” of mine AFTER the recipe. I also will keep the blog to fast loading. No flashing, scrolling, popups, or takes over the entire page. It will be my terms or nothing. I know some ad companies control the placement the first week but I want control after that. Let me know if it gets annoying. And I mean that. My readers come first. I dont work this hard for the ad companies to benefit. Thanks for sharing each week and enjoy today!
Marilyn, I was looking at some of your delicious looking recipes and decided I want to come live at your house. I’m at #s 104-107.
Thanks Donna. That is so nice to say. I will cook and you can talk religion. My sone is a minister that just started in a new church. Thanks for sharing each week and enjoy today!
hi Marilyn, as long as the ads don’t pop up all over the place they’re ok, but I will admit I’ve stopped reading blogs that have an abundance…I understand the need to monetize, but not if the ads sacrifice the content…Thanks for the party, my entries are #100, 103
My point exactly Jenna! I have too stopped some blogs. And the thing is… less ads always means more $$. Poeple come and stay longer. And the ad appears on the screen longer while they read. Let me know if mine gets annoying. Thanks for sharing each week and enjoy today!
Nice to see Tee’s sweet farmhouse tree topper made the most clicked this week! Linking up this week at 101 & 102. Have a great week, Marilyn!
Thank you Marie for saying that. I saw she was most clicked in a bunch of parties. I like to see consistency. She worked hard on that topper. And her tree was lovely! Thanks for sharing each week and enjoy today!
thanks for the party. I’m #93, #94, and #95 this week. As for ads, I hate them. Especially the pop up ones or the video ads. some blogs are almost impossible to read because there are so many ads. But do what you need to do to help support your family.
Thank you Amy for your opinion. I also hate popups and video and flashing ads. I heard the first 30 days you follow the ad company placement and after that you can change. But they say I can control those other things from the start. Let me know if it gets annoying. I will try something different. Thanks for sharing each week and enjoy today!
I’m happy to hear that you’re including ads on your blog. There is no shame in it. Newspapers and magazines have done it forever.
Thank you Kristie! I get upset over the littlest things. I need to get over that. LOL. Thanks for sharing each week and enjoy today!
I added adds to my blog through Google’s ad sense program and while I don’t always see the sense in what ads they show I don’t think they affect my readers much at all (at least I hope they don’t!). I don’t usually mind ads on the blogs I read just as long as I don’t have to shut a million windows when ad after ad pops up. Best of luck monetizing your blog! Linking up as #80-82 this week.
Thank you Joanne for your journey with ads. They do not interfere with my reading your blog at all. My only problem is opening your party this last month. Everything else works well. I can follow your post links and open anything else. I just cant see the party or leave you a comment. I will figure it out. I miss adding there! Thanks for sharing each week and enjoy today!
I had the same problem with her site, let me know if you figure it out. Email me if I need to do something. Because I love visiting her site and thought it was something with my computer! lol
thanks!
Melissa | Little Frugal Homestead
I haven’t found anything in 3 parties. Which really frustrating because I am a coder. I can go in with a link to click, but going in to the home page nada on parties. I see she gets comments and I can get in through a cohost. So it isnt universal in any way. Sorry to hear, but glad, it isnt just me. I will keep trying!!
Happy Monday, lovely features. Thanks for hosting 🙂
You are welcome Claire!! It is always fun to see you post. Thanks for sharing each week and enjoy today!
Hi Marilyn, Thanks so much for featuring my Windmill Tree Topper! You really made my day! As for the ads, I just enrolled in Media Vine and so far I’m happy with them. I have too many of them right now, but my husband is not working due to an injury so we needed the money now or I have to quit blogging and get another job. my opinion on this is this: People are getting my hard work and ideas for free so if they have to sort through some ads (even if there are a little too many for awhile) I really have no choice. I need to start helping with our income. It’s expensive to run a blog, not even considering the hours we put into them! Good luck with your decision!
Hugs,
Tee @ Teediddlydee
P.S. I forgot to mention that I linked up # 74 DIY Rustic Christmas Santa Mailbox and # 75 DIY Farmhouse Christmas Mason Jars. 🙂
I have a million Mason Jars! Now that is a great project for me and my 12 year old granddaughter! We are a three generation family so it will be easy to do. Thanks for sharing each week and enjoy today!
You are welcome for the feature Tee. Congrats again. I love your blog and am sure I will be there often. How long did it take Mediavine to approve you? I sent back the agreement to Google ad partners last Friday. I do need to support my blog now. It is getting more expensive. I am glad you like MediaVine. And the hours we put in! I am going to make a cookbook and put it on Amazon. We will see how that goes. But I am also thinking of starting a part on my blog for stuff like that also. A membership thing. So I need to learn all that too! Thanks for sharing each week and enjoy today!
Hi Marilyn! The cookbook thing sounds like a great idea! It took Mediavine almost exactly a month from the time I sent my application in, until they finished looking over my site to see if I was a good fit. Then they contacted me and it only took about a week and a half after I was approved to get everything set up.
Hope that helps and good luck!
Hugs,
Tee
Thanks Tiffany!!! Good to know. Have a great week.
Hi Marilyn
I’m #65 on the link-up this week.–a post about a wonderful library in a beautiful area in Colorado that is becoming a reality and the dream of two very dedicated book buyers.
I do have ads from BlogHer — also know as SheKnows. I’ve had them for ages and when I lived in NYC they often used my blog to pay me for sponsored posts. That has not happened much since I moved to Colorado–I guess I now fewer viewer demographics. The ad revenue isn’t too high as I don’t have many monthly views beyond around 20,000, but I’m happy with whatever I make and I don.t feel their ads are too obtrusive. I think Adsense or Mediavine are the real moneymakers of blogging but I never looked into them or their requirements. I wish you luck in being accepted!
Thank you Pat. I like SheHer. I need to visit my profile there! It has been a long time. I hope I get your feedback once I get things going. I love your blog and have no trouble seeing what I came for. Thanks for sharing each week and enjoy today!
The question of how to do ads is difficult. Personally, I started having ads because I needed to generate enough revenue to pay for the web hosting and domain name. My philosophy was and is that I don’t want the ads to interfere with my readers’ experience. I know I don’t like going to sites where there are tons of popups, video ads that slow the page, ads after every paragraph, etc. Thus, I avoid these things.
Tonight I shared a post about a DIY tree skirt (#11) and a recipe for Vanilla Buttermilk Spice Waffles (#12).
Thanks so much for hosting, Marilyn!
Thanks Shannon. I agree with everything you said and hope after the 30 days they control all that I can find the solution. I HATE popups and videos. And also those scrolling and flashing ads! I also dont want non family friendly ads. LOL. That is a lot of wants. I love your blog and have no problems with it in any way. Thanks for sharing each week and enjoy today!
Marilyn,
I personally have no desire to run ads on my blogs…I am not out to make money as my blogs are more of a personal journal for myself and for my family and friends…When I am gone, it will be something that they can have that was mine….. But I do understand why some people need to run ads…..After just retiring, I do not want to feel like I have a job again and I have heard from a few people that you have to post at certain times and often and what is the 400 word thing? I really don’t want to be dictated to as far as what I do on my blogs….Good luck on your decision , you have to do what is right for you….Either way, I will still visit your blog.
My Link Ups are #47, 48 and 49 for this week!!
Thanks so much for hosting each week…It is really appreciated….Stay safe, healthy and happy!!
Hugs,
Debbie
Thanks Debbie for your thoughts. I am glad you dont run ads. They would interrupt the flow of your photos. I just need to add a bit to the family. My disability runs out this month. But like you my social security will kick in. It is a balancing game. I know Social Security has a limit on what you can earn? I need to check. I get you about the legacy. I am hoping that my kids and granddaughter will appreciate my recipes. Thanks for sharing each week and enjoy today!
I love popping in here for the party. I always find such inspiring ideas and recipes. And I really appreciate the feature of my Chicken Corn Chowder. Thank you for hosting. This week I brought PORK TENDERLOIN WITH GREEN BEANS & ROASTED PEARS, VINEGAR CHICKEN and CHICKEN NEW ORLEANS. I hope you have a FANTASTIC week.
You are so welcome Tamy. Congrats again! I know my family will enjoy this recipe. Thanks for sharing each week and enjoy today!
I’ve always struggled with the ads decision as well. I used to have Google adsense and now I have SheMedia. My site has definitely slowed down and I have a call into them to see what they can do to speed it up. I’ve heard they can do lazy load, etc. Blogs are a lot of work so I think it’s totally acceptable to make some income from them. Anyway, good luck with your decision. Thanks also for hosting each week. I’m numbers 38, 39 and 41.
Shelley
There are some other things you can do in your plugins and files to speed up. I hope they get it done for you! Thx for the info on your ad experience. If I get them keep me posted on what you think. Thanks for sharing each week and enjoy today!
Hi Marilyn! Best of luck with the ads, they are a necessary evil for some. I do not have the traffic to qualify, but maybe one day. Thanks for the 400 word tip, I will keep it in mind. I am at #36 & 37. thanks and have a great week!
With recipes it is impossible to keep an audience trying for that 600-1220 word setting. Have a jump to recipe button with that many words just makes them want to use it! But it is good to get them to engage also. A balancing act that is different each time. You will be there when you stop looking. Thx for sharing and enjoy your week!
Congrats on your recipes going viral! That is amazing. I like to use ads and I’m fine with whatever you decide is best for you! I am #24 sharing Holiday Crafts. Hope you have a nice week.
Thank you Julie for the best wishes. And I am glad to hear your opinion about ads. I am so conflicted! I appreciate you sharing each week. Have a great week ahead!
Thanks for another wonderful party and please let me know when you get into Mediavine 🙂 Hugs friend.
Hi Marilyn!
I have avoided ads as well. I hate them when they aren’t relevant to the blog. I totally get it though and I have actually been thinking about it myself. It would be great to have the blog support itself.
Great news about your 2 recipes going viral! That is awesome! I have a couple that come up on a first page Google search and I was thrilled to see that.
Well, I am #’s 19 & 20 this week: Creamy Tomato Soup and Happenings on the Homestead #94.
Take care and have a wonderful week!
Melissa | Little Frugal Homestead
Thank for your opinion on the ads Melissa. Getting on the first page of Google is exciting! Congrats! It takes time but it totally pays off. I will see about the ads. I heard they decide how many, what type and where they show for the first 30 days. Then after that you can regulate it. I am so nervous! Thanks for sharing and enjoy your week.
I run ads, I think through thrifty… It hasn’t yet helped me out, but, it doesn’t seem to bother my followers.
My spots are #8, #9 and #10 this week.
Plus I started the link party! So far it’s running smoothly:)
Have a good one,
RR
I am glad to hear Rachelle. Companies can be so different. And the rates can be too! Fingers crossed and we will see. I went to the party and sent you a message! It all looked great! Thanks for sharing and enjoy your week.