Need Tips for Monetizing a Website

[wchan07]

Hi All,

I am new to adsense and web advertising in general. I am currently being averaged out by Google Adsense smart pricing. I think that I have topped out my earnings and am looking for Adsense alternatives. Can anyone suggest any?

I have a site about that is celebrity themed. I get a decent amount of traffic but earn less than $20 a day.

I was thinking about trying commission based ads but not sure if it is a good idea. I am finding that ppl who search for celebrity info may not necessarily be in the mood to buy stuff like their movie DVDs. Should i try anyway? For example if people are coming to ready about Angelina Jolie News, would it make sense to put up ads for her movies like "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" or would that be a dud?

Also is there anyone with SHOPPING.COM experience? are they any good? Is it hard to get in?

[Erku]

What is decent Amount Traffic?

[leadegroot]

Alternative suggestion - how about affiliate ads for subscriptions to celebrity gossip magazines? (I assume one of them must have an aff scheme?)
(This thread may be in the wrong forum, as its discussing what to do other than adsense)

[Beagle]

I have one celebrity-related site and find that it's possible to sell DVDs and soundtracks, if I keep an eye on what's coming out when and have it available fast and visibly. I make at least half of my DVD sales through pre-orders before the DVDs are even released. After that initial rush is over, I keep some links around for latecomers, but sell very few. Because of this, my sales on that particular site obviously aren't very steady.

The site concentrates on one celebrity, so tends to draw "hard core" fans who don't have to think about whether they want to buy one of his movies. I don't get browsers. If you deal with general celebrity news, you may have a completely different type of customer.

[wchan07]

These are good suggestions.

I am getting about 4,000 unique visitors a day. But I am not sure if this will be stable. I used to get 1500 a day but for some reason google is making it spike. So for now 1500-4000 unique visitors a day.

I am trying to advertise clickbank products, MP3 and Movie downloads in particular and am already see abysmal conversion ratios.

Actually my theme is celebrity movies and wallpapers.

So Beagle, do you direct sell DVDs or do it through an affiliate program?

A better question is, do you all think i should settle for $15 a day with 4,000 visitors?

[Beagle]

I sell DVDs through Amazon - the main reason probably being that I sell books, games, and other stuff through them on other sites, so it just makes things simpler. Also, they do tend to start taking pre-orders before most other sellers, which I've found to be very important.

From reading this forum, I think most affiliate sellers would agree with my results that the more specific a link is the better. The Amazon "recommended product" ads (by keyword) have done absolutely nothing. The only option that sells, at least for me, is direct links to specific products.

If you can find a way to make a steady income stream, I don't think you'd need to "settle" for what you're getting. My problem with that particular site is figuring out how to get sales between the rushes. Although it gets some good runs, if I averaged out all the days, it would be taking in less than your site is, so I'm not much help there.

[edited by: Beagle at 6:37 pm (utc) on Nov. 15, 2006]

[wchan07]

BEAGLE, have you heard of shopping.com? They do comparison shopping and are PPC I think. I've heard they have a great a API that can blend into your site.

Basically, if you create a link to "Superman Returns" DVD they'll return a list of links from various vendors like amazon, ebay, best buy etc with their various prices. Not sure if you would be interested in that or if it can help your site.

Not sure if you want to look into that to help your revenues. I may give them a call soon too.

[gamiziuk]

Have you tried Chitika ads yet? They are compatible to use with Adsense.

[Beagle]

There've been some threads here on shopping.com, etc., but mostly from the POV of people who are trying to attract customers to their ecommerce sites and end up having to compete with the big companies you listed. I'm not sure how they work as an affiliate opportunity - do they supply you with a feed of the best prices for an individual item, and then you get a commission when someone buys something from any of the listed merchants?

I can see how it could work really well for sites that are more broadly based. On the site I'm talking about here, it's pretty safe to say that it wouldn't increase sales; it would just spread out the sales among more merchants. Of course, without actually testing it, I can't say that for sure. I can count on visitors to buy a new DVD when it comes out, without needing to add more merchants. What I need is a way to convince them to buy more than just a DVD a few times a year, without it seeming like a "hard sell" (which would be anathema in this particular niche). It would be in those added products where something like shopping.com might at least provide something new for them to look at (if I could just figure out which added products would sell!).

It's an interesting idea. These conversations always get me thinking about things I hadn't thought of before.

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ETA: wchan, I just reread your post and saw that you said shopping.com might be PPC, which would be a whole different issue. I wouldn't want to have PPC for items I know I can sell and get a commission on. But for other items it could be something to look at.

[edited by: Beagle at 11:29 pm (utc) on Nov. 16, 2006]