Forum Moderators: martinibuster
I'm not complaining, because I appreciate the money and I know many publishers make less. But I wonder about publishers who make more and do AdSense full time. How do they do it? I don't come close to making enough money to quit my day job. Do these superpublishers have multiple sites, each earning $500/month? (I have other sites but the total earnings for them is under $500/month combined.) Or do they have sites with a broader appeal than my pharmaceutical information site and do these broader sites make huge money? I figured I would tackle a niche, and have been successful within that niche, but it's really not all that much money. Maybe pursuing a niche is not a good idea.
I run a number of sites and have come to realize that a few of the small ones will never grow simply because the market is not there. It's a small niche and that's all there is to it. What do I do? Build another site. There comes a point when you have too many sites though, I'm there now. You may want to consider starting another site if as you say it will never grow much larger. Or, look at other ways to monetize it...
Edit: I reread your post. Two of my larger sites that make pretty good money have a broader appeal. The smaller ones are niche areas and are pretty much "stuck". Yeah, perhaps try a site with a broader appeal.
[edited by: Swanny007 at 6:55 pm (utc) on Dec. 1, 2007]
Who is bidding?
So who are the bidders? Are they manufacturers or affiliates? Quite possibly it's affiliates. What do you estimate is the profit margin of affiliates? This is going to play a supporting role in determining how much clicks pay.
General profit margin
Some products have thin profit margins, so you're going to find less satisfying payouts. Check it out on CJ. The worst scenario is low traffic coupled with low profit margins.
Competition
High competition is good. Really high competition is better. :) As an affiliate, I like new niches or underserved niches.
Keyword Trends
You can go to Google Trends and see how some markets didn't really exist a few years ago, but as certain keyword phrases gained awareness in the minds of consumers you can see the upward trend. Some phrases have downward trends as consumers move on to new products or fads. Anticipating keywords is a good niche to play, and that includes slang and names of products or services.
I'm not an affiliate expert, there are others here who know a lot more than I do. However, I do dabble in it and it's a positive learning experience that can help you better understand the AdSense side of it.
[edited by: martinibuster at 8:02 pm (utc) on Dec. 1, 2007]
How does that work? Time for an employee or forget about them for the time being and pull whatever maintenance resources were required Never know what will be worth something to someone later on.
(And I'm talking about sites not domains)
you can go to Google Trends and see how some markets didn't really exist a few years ago, but as certain keyword phrases gained awareness in the minds of consumers you can see the upward trend. Some phrases have downward trends as consumers move on to new products or fads. Anticipating keywords is a good niche to play, and that includes slang and names of products or services.
I've thought it rewarding to see a hobby/fun site take off ( relatively :) without trying at it.
[edited by: Western at 10:34 pm (utc) on Dec. 1, 2007]
I've thought it rewarding to see a hobby/fun site take off...
It's satisfying to be in tune with the cultural zeitgeist and be rewarded for it at the same time. :)
killing with AdSense sites about prescription drugs, mesothelioma, debt consolidation, credit cards, and other alleged "money" topics
Rather meaningless if this is true:
My most successful AdSense site places on the first page of SERPs for all 4 major engines, and has done so for over a year. This is for a search on my target keyword, which is the brand name of a prescription drug.
