Website requirements for pay-per-impression programs

relates to requirements BESIDES website traffic

[pranavc]

Hi All,
I am a rather amateur webmaster. I run a website for an internet music radio station. I have been trying to enroll my website into pay-per-impression programs. Well, so far, I have only applied to one. I looked at the traffic requirements for my website in order to qualify for membership in the pay-per-impression program. The requirements were more in terms of pageviews and unique visitors. Nothing else was mentioned. Yet, my website got turned down. I was given no specific reason.

Hence, I was wondering if there any basic requirements my website needs to fulfill before I bother trying to apply for a pay-per-impression program. I am at a point where I do need to start monetizing my website. Yet, I am afraid to resubmit my website before understanding what the "best practices" ahead of time. Any insights or input with regard to this question of mine would be helpful. Thank you in advance.

Regards,

Pranav

[LifeinAsia]

Some may look at how long the site has been live. They may look at 3rd party traffic reporting resources (e.g., Alexa) to get an idea of if you are inflating your traffic. They may look at home many other sites are linking to your site. They may look at how many of your site's pages are indexed in Google.

None of these are hard and fast "requirements" but may be looked at by program managers before accepting sites.

Have you contacted the program to ask why you were rejected? If they give you a specific reason, that more than anything anyone else may guess, will tell you what you want to know.

[pranavc]

Hi LifeinAsia,
Thank you so much for your prompt response. My website has been alive for about 3 years. Actually, close to three and a half years. I looked at my website details off Alexa. Unfortunately, it does not capture much data on my website besides the following:

a. Most users are between the age of 18-24
b. Almost all users access this website from home.
c. I have 35 websites that link to my website.

As far as getting my pages indexed in google, is there something special I have to do to get that done. Forgive my ignorance but almost all of my pages show up in google when I run a search for my internet radio station's website. I actually did ask the program why I was rejected and they gave me no specific reasons. I kept trying to follow up and never got any response. It almost made it seem like the doors had been shut pretty tight on me. Would the fact that I had google ads on my website be a detractor? I know that sounds silly but I am just trying to think aloud. Any input would be great. Thank you once again for acknowledging my post.

Regards,

Pranav

[LifeinAsia]

If they don't even have the courtesy to respond to you to let you know why they rejected you, I would take that at a (negative) indication of how their program is run overall. You're probably better off without them.

Try applying to another program. All they can do is say no (and you can always apply again later). I can't see anything negative from what you posted.

[pranavc]

Hi LifeinAsia,
Thank you once again for your prompt response to my message. Well, their message
had something vague like "it doesn't meet our requirements" - despite the traffic requirement being
the only concrete requirement on their website. So you don't think the fact that Alexa did not have
enough on my website or the few inlinks as being a dealbreaker? Is there probably a layout of the
pages that does NOT lend itself to banner ads? I do not think that is the case but then again, I
cannot be truly objective about my own website. I just want to make sure that the next time I
apply (which is hopefully soon!), I am better equipped to deal with the evaluation process of my
website. Thanks once again for acknowledging my post.

Regards,

Pranav

[LifeinAsia]

I'd write back again and ask what additional requirements they are looking for. Point out that your site exceeds their listed traffic requirements. (You never know- some bozo who wasn't paying attention may have quickly scanned your application, got confused about the numbers, and mistakenly rejected it.

[pranavc]

Hi LifeinAsia,
Quite possible. I will try writing again and find out what they are looking for. Thank you once again for your help.

Regards,

Pranav

[londrum]

traffic isnt always enough, though. you have to be able to convert that traffic into sales. there is no point an advertiser paying you money if no one ever buys anything.

imagine if your site was all about cars. and it reviewed all the latest cars coming out. car advertisers would look at that and think there's some potential there, because they know that everybody who looks at their ad will already be interested in cars.

but what are your users interested in? you've got an internet radio station. people come to listen to songs, and have it playing in the background, maybe minimised in their toolbar. as soon as they've started playing the music they probably don't even look at the ads. and even if they do, the chances of them being interested in what it's selling is pretty slim. that's what the advertiser will be thinking. that's probably why they've turned you down.

[pranavc]

Hi londrum,
Thank you for your input. Your train of thought is absolutely correct and makes sense. The website also has a pop music blog component, video component, and one page devoted to our weekly top 20 which is driven solely by listeners' ratings of individual tracks being played on the station. Does that still disqualify me? Please do let me know since I like where you are going with your train of thought.

Regards,

Pranav

[londrum]

if it was me i would look at other internet radio stations and look at the URLs of their ads, to see where they get their's from. if you apply to those you might have more luck.

you should look at selling MP3s as well. you have to link them to the actual songs though, so people can buy the track that they're listening to.

[pranavc]

Hey londrum...I actually am an itunes affiliate and hence link tracks to the the iTunes USA database for purchases. I really like your idea of looking at where other internet radio stations are getting their advertisers from. I appreciate you taking the time to share your wisdom with an amateur like me!

[StoutFiles]

You've tried AdSense already? AdSense is still one of the best, and the companies that beat it in terms of $ expect A LOT of unique traffic to be allowed in.

[pranavc]

I have tried adsense but the payout is despicably low. I still have not received my first cheque from google since I am not close to the $100 minimum for a cheque to be issued. I did read some guidelines/criteria for ad networks and I have attached the link below:

[younggogetter.com...]