The Curse of Successful Traffic Projects
Right now, two of my websites are experiencing growing pains. Portland Bars is exploding, and I can’t program enough features to keep up with it. The problem is, I figuring out how to monetize. I hadn’t really planned on generating this much traffic, nor what I would do when I got it.
Additionally, my Redding Real Estate page is getting hammered. Based on agent submission, I’ve figured that 20% of my traffic is other agents who are just trying to see what their ranking is. The other 75-80% is hungry for information though. Based on my click tracking, I’ve noticed that they rapidly click back to my page, then click on another link.
One problem is that many of the agents are using template/turnkey sites that come with stock content. The surfers are not getting the information they need. They want to search for home listings, see some photos, and prices. Ordinarily I rant against excessive graphics, but photos truly are valuable. In this case, this is what the are looking for.
I’ve found that Adsense is not performing as well as I hoped vs. the type of traffic I am recieving. Then I realized why: My traffic is coming from search engines, and had ignored the very same PPC ads that were origininally displayed. They want listings.
Now to monetize, now to monetize. I’ve been contacting larger local agencies and trying to work out a Pay Per Click deal, where the first have of the page is overtaken by an MLS form, that is posted through a tracking script. Argh. This came so quick, I wasn’t expecting it.