First big website

trying to, at least, not loose any money!

[tata668]

Hi there,

I'm currently working on a web application, that will be ready this summer. I think I have a really good idea that will bring lot of traffic.

I won't say exactly what my project is but you can have a good idea of the project by thinking of Flickr. I don't deal with pictures but my project also allow users to register, to add some content and to share it.

I'll probably have to use a dedicated server. I've only used shared hosting in the past so this is new for me. Dedicated server are way more expensive than shared hosting and I, at least, don't want to loose money. I would even like to do some!

I don't think asking the users to pay for their account is a good idea in my case, so I'll have to use some advertising.

What should I use for this kind of "not specific product related website"? The content written by the users can be about anything, as in a general bulletin board. I know this is probably not the best way to make money, I doubt my users will click a link that will lead to a purchase. The strong point of my website will only be the big traffic it will, I hope, generated.

Is there a way to make money from advertising on a website, without those ads necessarily leading to purchase (you call those affiliate marketing, right?)? Let's say Slashdot or even webmasterworld: do they make some good money in your opinion?

Thanks!

[ska_demon]

Some merchants still do some pay per impression advertising but the payouts per 1000 impressions is pretty low. I think there are still some pay per click programs running but they are few and far between. And anyway, I think there are enough of those smiley ads out there now.

Maybe someone else knows of some decent PPI/PPC type networks or programs.

Ska

[FourDegreez]

When the user signs up for their account, you could put a few questions as part of the form and then do some rudimentary ad targetting based off that. I'll be honest though, general, unfocused traffic doesn't convert well, so you'll need a lot of it. In my experience, doing some targetting does help. Good thing you have a dedicated server, now all you need is lots of traffic. If you can get that, you will make decent money. Experiment with different affiliates, ad formats, and placements to try and maximize revenue.

[tata668]

Thanks...

I think I'll first try AdSense and see how it works.

I may then try to do more targetting if that doesn't generate enough money... My fear is to be unable to cover my hosting fees!