There’s a headline that gets anyone’s attention.
WebMasterWorld actually has a blog post [http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum89/12751.htmwebmasterworld.net]That claim comes from markus007, who is a forum member. These are just a few of his initial suggestions that I believe bear repeating.
1. Get a database of IP’s so you know where your traffic is coming from. Create channels for each country. You might see traffic from the US with a CPM at $5.00, but traffic from Canada can be as low as 20 cents. Use the hint option to give different suggestions based on IP. ie if your page is about 401k plans, that won’t get you anything outside of the USA.
2. Sites that bring you repeat visitors must be created. SEO is not the way to go if you are a fool. You could make 30 million+ a year by creating a free jobs website. If you get big, you can even earn more. A club listings website, online religious services and other freebies could all make you big bucks. Find established markets, offer your service free of charge and then support it with AdSense.
3. Allow your customers to create content. Reviewers have written reviews about nightclubs, resorts and golf courses. Build your site around your users and make them part of your site, don’t build your site for consumption.
4. Avoid entering markets that have a lot competition, such as those that are monetized via AdSense. Offer a service for free or create your own content market to undercut the paid content market.
5. You want your website to be easy to navigate. Your site must load quickly, have only 2 or 3 ads, and no other pictures than your logo. Your user should not be confused. They need to get what they are looking for and it must load quickly.
6. If people don’t talk about your market on forums, you have a chance to make some money.
These are just a few of the interesting bits from the thread, which spans over 25 pages.
Conversion is step number 2, traffic is the first step, and then psychology is #3.
This one is my favorite because it follows what I’ve been preaching for many years.
impression -> conversion -> action
In summary, the site allows users to access free services, which are often paid elsewhere. It is quick, easy and tailored to them, along with lots of user feedback.
This seems to confirm the often quoted #1 Google’s advice:
1. Concentrate on the user, and everything else will follow.
It was well stated.
Markus once again
It was easy to forget about monetization. My main focus is to grow my daily visitor count. [Emphasis added] If i don’t increase my users/pageviews by 10% a month there is something wrong. Your site will not grow if you spend all of your attention on making money.
The current advertising trends mean that it’s best to plan for the long-term. Google has rich media ads that would raise my CPM by $4+. Other ad platforms track the user’s intentions. A random website may show car ads if you visited it after you have searched Google for a vehicle. In 5-10 years the internet may be as profitable as the offline. This is the right time to grab as much traffic and as many people as possible.
The beauty about what i’ve done is that my site constantly grows 10% a month, and I build long term value and actually help millions of people and my time spent working on the site stays at about a hour a day.
You can read it all. It’s long but interesting.