| Passion, AdSense and Monetizing Content |
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Written by John "Zeke" Brumage March 13, 2006
As the silicon life form we call Google and see in our logs as googlebot grows and learns, the means by which it judges, er, RANKS content will evolve to measure the passion and creativity of web pages... The new ability of small websites to be monetized strictly by traffic has created a totally new business model / financial model for creative individuals.
My BikiniBreak brand started out because the only spare hard drive space was on the server. The potential of the site came to my attention when the server (in those days a $3000 P-90) started freezing. An examination of the logs showed the problem to be traffic. In the years since, the site never monetized in any reliable way. Nobody wanted a BikiniBreak coffe mug or T-shirt for $20. Only a few hundred clicked the DONATE button and put in a penny or a dollar.
Then, last summer, a friend said, try Google AdSense. The results were instant. Every visitor to my site is like a pull on a slot machine. Some are near misses... some are a cherry and a few pennies comes out. Sometimes it's the jackpot, there are rumors of $78 clicks. Just like in a casino, over the long haul, the return per visitor is not only predictable, but should track inflation. I trust Google for my retirement more than I trust Social Security. I feel that owners of small commercial sites as well as artistic sites can benefit by putting their passion into their websites.
Google will know. As SEOs, helping the site owner find their passion will help build a foundation for better search ranking in the future. As site owners, if you don't have a passion, why are you spending your life on it?
John "zeke" Brumage
disco legend zeke <----just google it
Written by Brad Waller March 15, 2006
Zeke,
I fully agree that AdSense can really help sites like yours that are
having trouble making money. We use it as well as many others. But
you are leaving a lot on the table with your site as it is. You should
spend some time researching AdSense to see what works best. I think you
could change your site layout and integrate the ads better and
substantially improve your earnings from AdSense without doing anything
against their rules.
That said, you are still letting Google set your maximum revenue,
and you are putting all your eggs in one basket. You should diversify
and see what other ads (contextual, affiliate, and even network) can do
for you. It can be a lot of work to test and swap out creatives
(unless you have a management service or program), but the rewards can
be worth it. Also, you should try to sell the space yourself. Set
your rates to be 2x to 5x what you get a day from AdSense and if you
make a few sales you are ahead. You really have nothing to lose.
Brad Waller
adjungle.com
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