Making 3 Cents Per Click on Map Niche

[realtek]

How is making 0.03 per click going to pay off? My site is about maps, so the Adsense ads are about maps. But when I buy "maps" with Adwords for another map business I have, I have to meet a minimum of $3-5!

I have traffic to my site, but at this rate I will never buy a Ferrari with cash!

[Habtom]

Let me do the math for you.

The cheapest Ferrari I believe is about USD 200k. At the rate of 0.03 USD/Click you need to make a total of at least 6,666,667 clicks which comes down to 555,555 clicks a month.

Considering the CTR you might have, you need to figure out how many visitors you need for all the clicks to actually happen.

I wonder if that many number of map searches even get done in a month.

[potentialgeek]

I once made enough through Adsense to get a Ferrari F430 with cash off $0.03 per click average, but I didn't target maps. (Don't ask what b/c I really don't need more competition.)

You need a ton of traffic before you can get something that leaves it in the rearview mirror.

p/g

[nrep]

Why are you using adsense on a site about maps, and also buying adwords on maps? Can you not come up with your own ad system to showcase whatever it is you need adwords for?

[zett]

Highly depends on the Ferrari. First, does it need to be a NEW Ferrari? Second, does it have to be a real car? I mean, there are plenty of excellent toy cars (scale 1:43) that are about $25. Just put one of them on your desk as motivational aid. Lemme see... $25/$0.03 = 833 clicks = 27 clicks per day. Sounds achievable.

[realtek]

True, this is a niche market, but since I know about it, and am passionate about it, I thought to focus on a map related site.

If not Adsense, what? I have a few Commission Junction ads and they get 1% CTR, but I have yet to see how CJ profits.

All this time and energy for what? I really think I should jump boat into a larger market, as Habtom implied.

Thanks all for the quick and useful posts.

zett: lol. F430 1:1 is the goal.

[sem4u]

What type of maps do you have on your site? You may want to sell advertising directly to maps/gps companies?

[realtek]

Ak! I make beautiful wall maps are give them away for free. So my users download them for free.

The pitch is to attract enough people looking for maps and if they don't find what they are looking for, I have affiliate ads for map companies.
I am still gaging the effectiveness of affiliate ads.

But I heard so much about Adsense and am stunned at how low earnings are from it.

My issue is that I have a new site, so Google is placing low-bid publisher ads on my site. Maybe in a few years the PPC will be higher.

I am new at this, no doubt. :)

[farmboy]

I make beautiful wall maps are give them away for free. So my users download them for free.

Have you checked around to see how many of those maps are now available on other sites, meaning people don't need to visit your site to get them?

Creating unique content of any type isn't enough on the web, you have to constantly fight to maintain your intellectual property. Someone else may be using your maps alongside AdSense and working towards their own Ferrari.

FarmBoy

[realtek]

I do fight to protect my intellectual property. And the maps I provide can not be found free as I normally charge 300-800 USD to make them per order. The idea is to provide 'good enough' maps and up-sell better products with affiliate ads.

[Demaestro]

Realtek... just make sure you aren't using Ferrari red in any of your maps cause they have exclusive rights to a shade of red and they protect their intellectual property too and using that red without permission will cost more then that car you want ;)

[realtek]

Ferrari red doesn't work too well on maps IMHO. Better on the car.
So are ppl saying you CAN'T get rich with niche sites?
I thought that was all the rage.

And kudos to the thread title changer! much better

[LifeinAsia]

You CAN get rich with niche sites. But that doesn't mean you WILL get rich with a niche site or that ALL niche sites can help you get rich.

In this particular niche, I can only think of a couple of major Internet sites focusing on selling maps, which leads me to believe that there may not be a lot of money in this particular niche. Given the wide availability of Internet-based maps (MapQuest, Expedia, Google Maps, etc.) and the proliferation of GPS devices, my guess is that buying maps in a niche that is on the decline.

That's just my opinion, and I can certainly be wrong. But I know I haven't bought a map in 3+ years, and that was for a Thomas Guide covering 2 counties, and I have used it all of 2 or 3 times since then.

[Receptional Andy]

So are ppl saying you CAN'T get rich with niche sites?

Simple logic: you're a niche site, so you need niche advertisers.

[realtek]

Right. So Adsense fills my text adverts with map ads (niche) but these are $0.03-7. So maybe I should look at other ad programs or commission junction publishers.

Also, the site is 1 month old, so getting more pagerank will likely kick Adsense into putting high-priced ads on the site.

[leadegroot]

getting more pagerank will likely kick Adsense into putting high-priced ads on the site

the price of the ad put on your site is not related to your page rank.
Google will put the best ad on your site it can find.
I would suggest that when you look in adwords and see the price is $3 - 5 or more, its because as an adwords publisher you are not meeting their quality guidelines and/or don't have enough history to bring your prices down.
The larger companies you are actually seeing advertise on your site have been in the game awhile and have their ad price all the way down.

I always feel sorry (well, until I see my daily total ;)) for a new advertiser on my site who doesn't know the game well yet and who has tripled or more my ECPM :(
I feel doubly sorry for the ones who keep it up for awhile, apparently unaware that their competition is paying much, much less.
I had one once who was using a stats program that published their traffic publically (ouch!), so I was rudely watching the trafic surges she was getting when she had a campaign active with adwords.
Eventually, she closed the site.
I felt so sorry for her, but thats what happens to amateurs :(

[sem4u]

I doubt that ads for maps will pay much really. That is probably just the reality of the niche. Also, companies may bid lower amounts on the content network, compared to search.

[realtek]

thanks for the input sem4u. appreciate it.

[nomis5]

Realtek,

If maps are your passion,do not give up yet. There may be other map sites out there making money Adsense which are authored by webmasters who have no passion for the subject, if you persist you will win out in the long run, your interest in the subject will pay off. But it may well take a year or so.

Without diluting your passion for maps, look to diversify. To me (ignorant I am of maps), a map is a map. But to others there must be hundreds of different aspects to the subject. Admittedly from a totally map-ignorant perspective, but are there not associated areas you can write about to get you through the initial low income stage?

Antique maps, comparison of various map producing companies, the inks used, the paper used, the printing processes, the history of maps, their use in the middle ages to discover the New World (Columbus etc), the satelite technology used in Google Maps and the like, etc etc.

Absolutely, don't give up, it's your passion and that will definitely pay off in the long term. Follow your instincts. You will never become a billionaire that way but over time you will earn a very good, honest living doing something you enjoy.

[realtek]

Thanks a bunch nomis5 for the encouragement and ideas!
Entrepreneurs should follow their instincts, I always have and though I have a long history of small projects (more than I want to count or remember) it is imperative to press on.

Patience and perseverance are important for turning an idea into something real on the web.

[realtek]

Excellent ideas, thank you!
Right now I am starting with Commission Junction map vendors - my maps are 80% as good as what you would pay hundreds of dollars for from a map vendor, so the idea is that some ppl will opt to no use my map but decide to buy the better map from my affiliates.

Time will tell. :)

[MikeNoLastName]

Think about WHY your visitors are looking for a map? Might it be because they are planning on visiting that location away from home soon? Quite possibly. If so then you may want to put each location map on a separate page, with some additional keyword loaded discussion about nearby cities or major landmarks portrayed on the map, etc. in order to get Adsense to display ads for local attractions or tours, etc. i.e. don't make 'MAPS' the ONLY text on your page, but keep any additional text on target and pertinent to the map subject.
I think the OTHER, more interesting, point of this original thread is WHY does he have to PAY $3-5 per click on Adwords when clicks FROM his site only pay 1/100 that?

[edited by: MikeNoLastName at 1:48 am (utc) on April 1, 2008]

[onlineleben]

And the maps I provide can not be found free as I normally charge 300-800 USD to make them per order

Skip adsendse, as you are leading potential customers away from your site. As far as I understand, you have your own product. You just have to sell 364 of your custom made maps to get the funds for your Ferrari.
Steps to go there are:
Increasing the conversion rate of your site
create your own affiliate program