I recently checked out a new paid linking system from tnx.net that is interesting. I stumbled across it after reading this thread on “free text links” on the Digital Point forums. Here’s my rambling overview of the new kid in the market TNX…

Webmasters

It is all run server side so the links are maintenance free. Depending on how have your site setup if could be easy or impossible to use it. It requires the addition of server side code in the form of Perl or php. They also have asp and aspx code available on an experimental basis. If you are not somewhat familiar with programming web applications then this might up being to technical for you.

Adding your sites is very easy and follows the usual process. You add a description, url and all the usual yada yad.. no suprises there. The sites are all manually reviewed and take up to 3 days to be accepted. The code needs to be installed prior the review, no big suprises there either.

Once your sites are added you can review the links that are added to your site. You can deny individual links or completely deny specific sites permanently. Having that level of control is reassuring. If you are managing a lot of sites though or offers it could be challenging. At the end of the day you’ll need to trust the network to screen their advertisers.

Payment System

The payment system is interesting in that you use and earn “points” selling and buying links. They also have an affiliate program that you can use to earn points. You can use the points to purchase links, sell them to another user, or sell them back to TNX for cash. The cash value of the points is adjusted set by the company. I didn’t see a policy on what the valuation of the points was or how often they were adjusted so I’m a little concerned about that. They do offer a money back guarantee so that makes me feel a bit better.

Advertisers

Advertising with the network looks extremely promising. I have always hated how some networks make you hunt for sites. Setting up a campaign is very simple. You select the category, the region and then screen those by page rank and number of backlinks reported by yahoo. The number of English language websites was limited but it seems like they are just now reaching out to the English market. I like this screening method, its blind so there is a lot of trust involved but its specific enough to be useful.

After that you select the anchor text you would like to use and the address. They have a very slick tool that helps produce good anchor text from keyword lists. Then you select the number of links you want to buy and complete your order which gets reviewed.

All and all I found it interesting enough to try for purchasing links.

Filed under: Misc — Scott @ January 6, 2008 2:37 am

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