Personal Finance Advice

Looks great! Did Nate do the design? I also agree content is more important, but I think people sometimes place more trust in a professionally designed site.

Nope, this was a wordpress template. Jeff and I did the header image though!

Looks very nice!

I love the changes. That other theme was too comon and simple. It looks much more professional now.

I do have a question. I noticed that you have taken down the google adsense ads which I think is great. Is this permanent or are you still in the process of incorporating them into the new design?

If I can give my opinion, leave them off. So many blogs, and especially personal finance blogs, have become nothing more than adsense posters and half the time there are more ads on the page than there is content.

I know that they make the sites money and the bloggers are cashing in on their hard work, but it would be nice to visit at least one where they weren’t blaring in my face on every page.

If you are going to place them up, please do it like you did last time with minimal ads up and not above, below and around every post. That is one of the reasons (along with the good information) that I frequent here.

We have decided to take off Google Adsense for the foreseeable future.

I like the new changes. One suggestion: please make the header link to your homepage – it’s a lot easier than having to find “home.”

Looks great! – of course I had no complaints before.

Looks nice, guys.

However, the bug that I mailed you about previously has returned. When you type the secret verification word into the input field and hit TAB to begin typing the message, it jumps up to the Search box at the top.

As for the AdSense, I don’t care either way. You’ve got a right to get something in return for taking the time to write all this stuff, as it certainly does not write itself! It’s amazing to me how many people get indignant over the AdSense placements and expect loads of quality posts for free. It takes lots of time for each post and they get pissy because you want to make a nickel or two for your efforts.

Thanks Mike, fixed.

Looks great, guys!

ya’ll should consider the adbrite network instead of adsense.
http://www.adbrite.com/
it’s non-obtrusive, and you can set your own price for ads. I think that you should be compensated for your work on the blog. Adsense, however, might not be the best solution.. I never found anything I was interested in clicking on, but I did anyway just to help you guys out.

Nice! Missed a couple days and came back to a beutiful new design! I love it.

wow looks nice and clean. sweeeet.

I like the new layout!

Any motivation you want to share for removing the AdSense?

Any motivation you want to share for removing the AdSense?

I’m not sure how this will sound to someone looking in from the outside, but the decision was made for the integrity of my own writing. Being familiar with the way adsense works and having multiple sites, I’m familiar with what subjects I can write about that will increase the income this site generates. Although I don’t believe that I ever wrote toward earning money, I found myself stopping and thinking from time to time when I had two good ideas which one I should do first and how that would effect the site’s earnings.

I simply felt it was time to step back and remember the joy of writing and doing whatever seemed to appeal to me. Adsense was only bringing in a couple of hundred dollars a month because we had not optimized it well on the old style site, so it wasn’t near as hard of a decision as it might appear from the outside.

I think we may consider adding them again months down the road as long as the writing remains a fun activity and I know there is no question that I am writing exactly what I want to write.