The Increase in Web Traffic and Money Making of My Precciouusss Blog
But yeah that’s right, I feel like Gollum when I’m dealing with this blog. It’s my Precciouusss! (but don’t) Keep Away! I put in long hours, I never sleep, I’m always thinking about it, I’ve got tons of backed up non-blog work, and I’m pretty sure I just lost a woman over it. But hey, I’m bloggin’ baby! This post is about what I’ve been doing get traffic or make money while online. I’m writing one of these MMO pieces, NOT because everybody else is doing it, but (and this is a really big but) somebody actually asked me for my input. ME! So here is some of the stuff I’ve been doing the last couple of months to increase traffic, and what I’ve done to increase Adsense earnings . I get little questions here and there, mostly in the comments section, and the occasional email asking me to clarify something-all pretty standard I expect. So I was surprised to get a flat out “how do I?” type email. I sent an email with the few little tips and told him I’d do it as a blog post too “to share the wealth.” So he got part 1 and you’re getting part 2 and some point I’ll tie it all together.
For me, this blog is just a way to practice writing as I get ready to shoot my big super hero movie in the next year. I’m trying to do multiple scripts. (By the way for those of you curious about showbiz stuff, ALWAYS have more than one script ready). So the blog is a side project of a side project. As the web traffic increased, I started looking for ways to get even more blog traffic. And I slowly learned that people were treating blogs as a business and making money. The blog is also about me experimenting with different tool, software, money options, and then I’ll move what I learn into “niche sites.” So the first thing I’m going to do is show you some money.
For me it’s about quality traffic over quantity
OK. So as you can see I’m starting my presentation off with a display of wealth! Now a lot of people would be embarrassed to show those kind of Adsense numbers off, and some people would be proud to have that much. The important thing here is; the amount doesn’t really matter . The reason I’m showing you this modest amount is so you can see the growth. In March I basically multiplied the revenue amount by ten. The irony is that the traffic didn’t increase by much because I had a crazy amount of blog traffic in February due to my Half Tree Half Man post. So what is the lesson? Targeted traffic is vital for making money , Lots of people talk to me about getting “more” traffic. My own MOTHER, has been talking to me about news reports she hears where people are getting “millions of hits.” And I have to tell her those YouTube dudes aren’t making any money on it, so you know, big deal. With about 500 people a day for the last three months I was able to first multiple the blog Adsense income by 10 , and it looks like I’ll double the March income in April. But I do a lot of experimenting and testing . Below you can see a dip in the numbers for one of my test.
So I’ve only been at this for a while, but it seems to me that making money online with a blog is about getting people to your posts pages and not your “homepage.” That’s why I changed my front page to reflect my content and not just the 5 most recent posts. Ughh, I’m tired as hell and this going to get sloppy. I’m gonna break this post into a two-parter at least.
And Now, a Word From our Sponsor!
The Software I use to Make Money Online.
This blog makes me a few dollars, but it’s not one of my serious money sites. My money sites are set up in a completely different way. This blog is my 1st one and covers issues that are interesting to me personally. No research, no planning and not that much promotion. On the other hand, with my money blogs not one line of code is touched until I know EXACTLY what I’m doing. I’ve researched and tested first.
But the big story here is that I use software. And on top of that, it’s software I bought. So here’s the story on that; my 100$ a day (and growing) income CAN be done manually-no software. There are also free software tools out there, but let me give you a comparison model; I’m a single guy with no kids and for years I washed my clothes at home in the tub. For one guy without that many clothes it was fine. But in any scenario, other than that, it’s NOT a wise use of time or money. So paid software is like a washing machine in the house. Free tools are like trekking to the laundromat with quarters, the crowds and the gas usage. And no software is a tub full of clothes!
Now, the deal about making money is understanding and using Long Tail theory (lots of people use the buzz word “niches” but it’s essentially the same thing). And the way I use Long Tail to make money is through Adsense, eBay stores and affiliate sales. There are probably many ways to make money online, but after months of experimenting and testing those 3 methods are what I found to be a) things I could do b) have no ceiling on income-sky’s the limit c) not have to depend on other people approving me to take action and d) generate the most money with the least amount of costs (money or time). So here’s my junk I advise looking into them, to see if they’re right for you too. I wouldn’t offer them to you if I didn’t believe in them AND use them.
So I use 4 tools (well now it's more than that and Bookmarking Demon 4 is my secret weapon). I start with SEO Elite. EVERYBODY with a blog or website should be using this if they want traffic; for website research. The second is Microsoft free plugin/add-in for Excel called Ad-Intelligence or Keyword Elite. Ad-Intelligence was buggy (but updated June 09, so it might be better, but you need to have an account with Microsoft Adcenter. Keyword Elite works without any trouble] these are for keyword research. The third is BANS for eBay, and a companion tool that REALLY cuts site creation time with BANS called Niche Store Writer. It’s a way to make an eBay store cleanly and fast. BUT if you’re willing to spend a little time and you like Wordpress, you can turn Wordpress into an eBay store with phpBay. I use that one too, and it takes a little more work but all those theme choices are nice. Just keep in mind; making sites is not where you should be spending your time. Researching keywords, choosing a product, getting targeted traffic and site promotion is where you should put in the time. So you definitely want to shave off hours and hours of tedious tasks. And the thing about DOING tedious tasks is you make mistakes, “oh man I forgot to put in this code or those keywords” and stuff like that. The software speeds up the process and maintains the integrity of your work. I also will tell you that I started with HyperVRE for Adsense, but listen very closely; you need to learn the ins and outs of Adsense before you try this software. If you can make $10 a day with an Adsense site then maybe you’re ready-otherwise think twice, and then think a THIRD time. Download the free copy just to play with it and read the manuals, those are very helpful. But I cannot recommend you buy and try to build sites if you can’t already make money with Adsense already. LASTLY, I use Article Submitter, like all the other tools you can look for alternatives on Google, but for the price and the automation this one is the winner. There are submission services but I’m not ready for one yet. BUT this tool is TIRESOME the first couple of uses while you get registered at all the sites. Plan on a day of watching over it while it does its thing. After that it's smooth sailing and you NEED articles out there.
So to recap; you can do it for free. If all you have or want is one site you don’t need to go the software route. Or you can look for free alternative tools. Also if you’re going to buy of you don’t NEED to buy it all at once! Choose a path and learn it. Many of these also have multiple uses; SEO, Keyword and Article work for whatever kind of site you’re making.
THE TOOLS
NEXT TOOL
NEXT TOOL
NEXT TOOL
NEXT TOOL is the Ebay store maker
NEXT TOOL-These numbers from HyperVRE look great but it takes a LOT of experience to see these kind of results
NEXT TOOL helps with the BANS tool
LAST TOOL This one is my secret weapon. To understand why it's so powerful you should look over their page yourself.
Related posts:
- Join RSSHugger and Maybe You Can Generate Some Blog Traffic
- The Truth About Making Money Online. My Jump From $3 a Month to Over $100 a Day
- Oh I’m Still Here. I Was Out Picking Fights About Making Money Online
- Making Money Online. The Remix
- The Techniques and Software I Use to Make Money While Online
Y’know what I admire most about your monetized blog? You’ve done it without sponsored posting. Wish I was that smart…Thanks for breaking this down. Really appreciate it!
Thank you very much Kathy. This is just the Adsense stuff (there are a few other things going on), but the Adsense is a gauge I use to refine-I’ll probably say more in “part 2.”
Dave, I don’t understand adsense, which is probably why i don’t have it on my blog, how many visitors do you need to make some serious money at it? Also, I don’t understand how you have only 500 visitors a day with your low alexa rank (well, its lower than mine). I don’t understand, there is a movie site that has an alexa rank around 100,000, and they have 8,000 unique visitors a day. How much of your traffic is search engine driven if you don’t mind me asking?
Hi,
Take care, Robin
Thank you very much for getting your free $25. I really appreciate your comments & your visits to my bog. The entrecard drops are nice also. I enjoy reading your blog, it is interesting. I like the way you express yourself. Keep up the great work!
Hi Robin. I see you making a big effort over there to give people resources, so I’m all for that kind of effort. I appreciate you coming by here visiting.
And Ria. The tough thing about the internet is communication can sometimes extract the warmth and kindness that we normally hear in people’s voices. So I’m assuming good things from your questions up there.
But can I get you to read through these 2 recent pieces to see if they answer your questions?
http://welcomebackrosenthal.com/1-free-tool-and-1-cheap-tool-to-make-money-online-the-dave-rosenthal-way/
http://welcomebackrosenthal.com/i-jumped-over-1-million-websites-in-14-days-the-case-for-alexa/
And let me see if I can answer some of the other stuff.
1)making serious money. I’d need to know how you define “serious.” You see what I’m doing over here. Give me a figure. But let’s say you have one 50$ a month site, make 10 of those and that’s 500$ a month.
2) My alexa; please read that page. But that seems about fair doesn’t it? 500 visitors 700,000 and 8000 visitors 100.000. But I got kinda lost on the other part other question; you think I get too much traffic for the alexa number or too little traffic for the alexa number?
3) Search engine traffic is usually about 50 percent or more., depending on what I’m doing on any given week.
And if anything didn’t get answered, just clarify what I missed and I’ll try again.
You could’ve given me a plug, considering it was I who asked you for the advice.
Seriously though, I do appreciate you helping me out… made a lot of sense and you had a lot of good advice.
BTW: My firefox had a problem with leaving you a comment, so I jumped over to IE… not sure if it’s just me or chronic, but I wanted to let you know.
Hi Collin,
I didn’t want to pull you out to center stage, in case it might have made you uncomfortable. But ladies and gentlemen, Collin is the person who emailed me regarding this topic. And for “part 2″ of this piece I’ll add in the specifics from the emails.
And you might be right about these comments. Half of my response to Ria disappeared. So, now I need to go and re-write it! So here we go RIA PART 2, attach to above comment.
I Jumped Over 1 Million Websites in 14 days. The Case for Alexa
And let me see if I can answer some of the other stuff.
1)making serious money. I’d need to know how you define “serious.” You see what I’m doing over here. Give me a figure. But let’s say you have one 50$ a month site, make 10 of those and that’s 500$ a month.
2) My alexa; please read that page. But that seems about fair doesn’t it? 500 visitors 700,000 and 8000 visitors 100.000. But I got kinda lost on the other part other question; you think I get too much traffic for the alexa number or too little traffic for the alexa number?
3) Search engine traffic is usually about 50 percent or more., depending on what I’m doing on any given week.
And if anything didn’t get answered, just clarify what I missed and I’ll try again.
That makes me feel better. Thank you.
Collin
(posting from IE again)
Oh…there is so much for me to learn. Just when I think I might put Adsense on my blog…I get intimidated with charts.
Hi Grandy
It’s good to hear from you. And please don’t be put off by the information. SEO and web presence growth are a one step at a time operation for ALL of us. Nobody knows it all, we just pick up a little a day. Your blog is your project, nobody (hopefully) is holding a gun to your head saying blog faster!
So be cool, I’m trying to get my mom going over at TheMailBoxDepot. So we’re just taking it easy.
These charts and stuff are just evidence of amount. No different than reading the gas gauge in your car to see how much gas you’ve got, or looking at the thermostat in your house to see what the temperature is
Since you use Blogger, they have a very easy Adsense adding tool (once you get your Adsene account) in the “layout” area. It’s in the “add a page element.” Start making some money!
This is good.
Hi TK
Thank you. I don’t think people realize I just gave them one of the biggest internet secrets to making money out there. I need to do part 2 so people can see my latest results.
Great work…. my blog growth has been much slower. I only just added Adsense to my main blog as never had any luck with it previously. However, I realise it was my fault and am nor concentrating on using Adsense on niche sites too.
Your an inspiration.
One thing I realized about Adsense, very quickly, is that you need a niche with a high cost per click to make any money. I have a site gettinga round 5 clicks a day and only earning me about 40cents.
Thank you Forest
Yeah you’re right. I optimized and squeezed as much as I could out of this blog-about $2 a day, and then I started building other sites on different topics (with more valuable keywords) and that’s pretty much how Adsense, eBay sales and affiliate programs work.
Nice work Dave. I like how you write without any smoke and mirrors. Your intentions for blogging, your ideas, your opinions, your thoughts – they all come from a place that’s very transparent.
Like I say on my own blog – say it like only you can and say it in a way that makes the same message by others seems lacking.
Half your luck and keep it up.