Publisher requirements - August 2020

Table of content:

• Important changes in the presentation of the portals
• Requirements for the portals (from August 2020)
• Verification of publisher portals - 2020
• Substantive assessment (0-10 points) - method of counting
• Technical assessment (0-10 points) - method of counting
• How to send a Google Analytics report correctly - instructions

Important changes in the presentation of the portals

On the one hand, advertisers expect cheap websites with the possibility of publication, on the other, we have many demanding customers who expect effective ways to narrow the list only to popular, reliable, opinion-forming and attractive portals. Therefore, in recent weeks, WhitePress® has undergone several changes that promote high-quality websites. Below we describe the three most important changes.

1. Division of portals into lower and higher quality websites

We have divided the portals into two groups: lower and higher quality. At the same time, still, every website, i.e. of lower quality, must meet the basic quality conditions and these are:

• web traffic does not exceed 1000 UU/month (on average in the last 3 months, data from Google Analytics or another reliable source),
• organic traffic index according to Ahrefs <100
• no LES systems (links exchange systems  or clear links positioning), the page must be visible (indexed) in the search engine Google, the publisher did not have a history of problems with the placement of articles in the past,
• the minimum substantive evaluation of the editorial team is 2,
• the minimum technical evaluation of the editorial office is 2,
• the publisher does not violate the WhitePress® Terms and Conditions for Publishers.

Higher quality websites meet more demanding conditions, in addition to the basic ones, also below:

• web traffic exceeds 1000 UU/month (on average in the last 3 months, data from Google Analytics or another reliable source),
• organic traffic index according to Ahrefs ≥100, with a manual check by the editorial office if it is real or fake,
• the site has real contact details (phone number and/or correspondence address of the editorial office), the
• minimum substantive rating of the editorial team is 5, the 
• the minimum technical rating of the service is 4.

The exact description of the requirements can be found further in the article.

Each advertiser while browsing websites can narrow down the list to lower or higher quality portals. In addition, in the list view, the portal address is in red - only, if it is a service with higher quality.

 Searching for high-quality portals

A way of indicating a lower and higher quality portal on the list for the advertise

2. Information about the date the statistics were last updated and a warning if their source is not reliable.

Some publishers have been cooperating with us for many years. About 3 years ago, we verified all sites and in most cases, we were able to update the traffic (UU/month). Much has changed since then, so our goal for the nearest future is to update this data. However, it may take several months.

In order for the advertiser to have reliable information on each and every website, we publish the date of the last statistics update. If the data provided is not (in our opinion) reliable, we provide this information.

A message with statistics updated date

Message when statistics are out of date or uncertain

3. We check whether websites owners do not improve visibility in the analytical tools like Ahrefs/Semrush/ Majestic, etc.

As it turns out, some publishers’ portals build their visibility in analytical tools (Semrush, Majestic, Ahrefs) based on creating subpages that rank into popular but not clickable phrases. Most often these are phrases that deviate from the theme of the website itself and apply to e.g. login pages to banks or university websites. Such a website "lands" 7-8 positions below these phrases while visibility algorithms are cheated. During the verification of the websites, we will check this manually and in such cases, these services will be marked as "lower quality".

Requirements for portals (from August 2020)

We have introduced the concepts of lower and higher quality portals and at the request of customers, we change the requirements for portals. These requirements will be verified when adding new services and in the "Verification 2020" process, which starts in August 2020. Below there are the exact criteria for evaluating portals.

Higher quality portals:

• web traffic exceeds 1000 UU/month (on average in the last 3 months, data from Google Analytics or another reliable source),
• organic traffic index according to Ahrefs ≥100 (we verify that the index is not manipulated),
• no LES systems (links exchange systems  or clear positioning links), the 
• page must be visible in the Google search engine,
• the publisher did not have a bad history of problems with articles placement in the past,
• the publisher does not violate the WhitePress® Terms and Conditions for publishers,
• the website provides contact information (phone and/or mailing address of editorial office),
• the editorial office minimum substantive rating is 5,
• minimum technical rating of 4.

Lower quality portals:

• web traffic doesn’t exceed 1000 UU/month (on average in the last 3 months, data from Google Analytics or another reliable source),
• organic traffic index according to Ahrefs <100
• no LES systems (links exchange systems  or clear positioning links), 
• the page must be visible (indexed) in the search engine of Google, the publisher did not have a history of problems with the placement of articles in the past,
• the minimum substantive evaluation of the editorial team is 2,
• the minimum technical evaluation of the editorial office is 2,
• the publisher does not violate the WhitePress® Terms and Conditions for Publishers.

Verification of publisher portals - 2020

We have been re-verifying all active portals since August 2020 that descriptions and/or offers had been updated before 2019. This process may take up to several months (carried out by two editors). We would like to ask publishers to take quick action to our requests and questions.

Elements that will be subject to verification:

• website traffic, however, until we get current statistics from the publisher, we will mark this parameter as unreliable or outdated,
• substantive assessment (explanation below),
• technical assessment (explanation below),
• description, category, tags at the site,
• whether the portal is of lower or higher quality,
• whether there is no manipulation of visibility indicators according to Ahrefs, the service offer.

Substantive assessment (0-10 points) - calculation method

Assessment of the number of editorial content (0-3 component points)

Goal: We assess if mainly advertising (linking) articles are made available on the website, or if the portal's editorial team also creates its own content.

Assessment method: The last 10 articles are subjected to verification. Additionally, the number of articles that have been assessed as editorial is checked.

Scoring:

• +3 points - minimum 8 editorials,
• +2 points - minimum 7 editorials,
• +1 point - minimum 5 editorials,
• +0 points - the portal contains less than 5 editorials in the last 10 published articles.

Content validity rating (0-3 component points)

Goal: We assess if the website is updated frequently.

Assessment method: The last 10 articles are subjected to verification. In addition, the number of articles that have been assessed as editorial is checked.

Scoring:

• +3 points - the last editorial content is not older than 1 business day,
• +2 points - the last editorial content is not older than 3 business days,
• +1 point - the last editorial content is not older than 10 business days,
• +0 points - Last editorial content is older than 10 business days.

User activity - comments (0-2 component points)

Goal: We assess if the website has active users.

Grading method: 10 random articles are verified and the number of articles that have been commented is checked.

Scoring:

• +2 points - in random 10 articles at least 5 are commented,
• +1 point - in random 10 articles at least 1 is commented,
• +0 points - in random 10 articles none have been commented.

Contact with the editors of the website (0-2 component points)

Goal: We assess if the website is anonymous or has editorial contact details.

Grading method: Checking if the editorial contact details can be found on the website.

Scoring:

• +2 points - on the site you can easily find the phone and address (physical) of the editor,
• +1 point - on the page you can easily find the phone OR address (physical) of the editor,
• +0 points - on the page there is neither phone nor address (physical) editorial.

The substantive and technical assessment is carried out by the WhitePress editorial team on the day the verification has commenced of the given portal. At the request of the publisher or any advertiser, this can be retried.

Technical assessment (0-10 points) -counting method

W3C- code validator (0-1) points

Goal: Verifying the correctness of the portal code using a universal indicator. Reaching this goal is easy for a company that cares about its service. 

Assessment method: The random selected subpage is tested in the W3C validator (https://validator.w3.org/)

Scoring:

• +1 point - page passed the test,
• +0 points - page failed.

Speed ​​test - sending and generating subpages (0-1) points

Goal: Verifying the speed of displaying the home page and random 4 subpages by the server. The test is not very demanding, however, it allows you to select portals that have a problem with the speed of the server or the code of the website.

Evaluation method: 7 measurements of upload time are made (including 3 main pages and one for 4 random subpages).

Score:

• +1 point - average time up to and including 1 second,
• +0 points - average time exceeds 1 second.

Page Speed ​​Insights - the speed of operation (on mobile devices) (0-3 points)

Goal: Verifying the adaptation of the website to users of mobile devices in terms of the speed of the website.

Assessment method: A random subpage of the portal or home page is tested in the tool: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/

Scoring:

• +3 points - score within range 76-100,
• +2 points - score within range 51-75,
• +1 point - score within range 26-50,
• +0 points - score within range 0-25.

Page Speed ​​Insights - for computers (0-3 points)

Goal: Verifying the adaptation of the website to desktop and laptop users in terms of speed, website operation and user convenience.

Assessment method: A random subpage of the portal or home page is checked in the tool: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/ ("Computer" section).

Score:

• +3 points - score within range 76-100,
• +2 points - score within range 51-75,
• +1 point - score within range 26-50,
• +0 points - score within range 0-25.

Google test - compatibility with mobile devices (0-2 points)

Goal: To verify the adaptation of the website to mobile devices.

Evaluation method: A random subpage of the portal or home page is checked in the tool: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/.

Scoring:

• +2 points - the website is 100% compatible,
• +1 point - the website has a mobile version (or is responsive), but it is not 100% compatible,
• +0 points - the website does not have a mobile version and is not responsive.

Summary of technical and substantive evaluation scores

How to send a report from Google Analytics correctly - instructions

1. You must have implemented the GA code on the page. Installing GA is the simplest (and free) solution if you want to analyze website traffic. More: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6086097.
2. We log in to Google Analytics (at: https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin/signinchooser).
3. We choose the portal.

4. We go to the tab Recipients> Overview

5. Then in the upper right corner of the screen, we set the desired date range (data from the last 3 months) and click the Share button

6. Finally, complete the short form and click Submit.
   
   
   
   At this stage, it is important to set Frequency to "once" and file type as PDF. Such a file can be attached in the appropriate place in the platform or sent by e-mail to the following address: office@whitepress.net. In the email, please enter: "Please update the statistics for the portal: www.mydomain.com."
   
   

7. Our editorial team will update the statistics you sent within one business day.