Business at Home Income Blog

Posts Tagged ‘targeted traffic’

Do you know what your blog is worth?  Is it worth zero, or could you be sitting on a goldmine (present or future)?  Let’s explore what’s your blog worth.

Do You Have a Focus?

Does your blog have a focus, or are your posts all over the place?  Assuming you aren’t a public figure or celebrity, a scattered approach to blogging makes it tough to find targeted traffic.

Targeted traffic is more than just desirable — it’s the life of a profitable blog.  Without focused traffic, you’re going to find it hard to sell anything, much less build equity in your blog.

If you’re not too far along in your blogging, you can probably get back on track — when you have more posts, the “off-focus” ones will be a smaller concern.

On the other hand, if you’ve been blogging for awhile, your posts are numerous, focus is scattered and your traffic is low…you might be better off starting a new blog.

Traffic, Traffic, Traffic!

Well, make that targeted traffic, which is what raises the value of a blog.  Whether you are building a blog to build your business or have the idea of selling it, targeted traffic is the only way to really make money blogging.

But what the heck is targeted traffic?  In general, it’s traffic that arrives at your site via search engines, and can also be extended to include traffic arriving from articles you’ve written.

As nice as it is, targeted traffic isn’t about things like a Digg front page posting that drives enormous amounts for a day or two.  That’s fleeting and not part of the traffic flow you want.

What about other social networks, like Twitter and StumbleUpon?  If you’re getting some steady traffic from them and they view more than 1 page, I’d consider that targeted.  What I would not consider targeted is a huge spike from either one — unless you got repeat traffic because if it.  (Example:  if a lot of Stumbler’s bookmarked you and came back.)

What’s Your Blog Worth?

Ultimately its monetary value lies in the amount and consistency of targeted traffic, along with the focus (“niche”) you’ve selected.  For example, a Google 1st page blog on goldfish (even if there is a lot of targeted traffic) won’t have the same monetary value as a high traffic blog about affiliate programs.  Different niches, different monetization possibilities.

The only exception to the above would be a blog that has a highly sought-after domain name (example, florida.com).  Even if the blog had virtually no traffic, the value is in the name itself.  But these days, it’s really hard to come across those kinds of names.

So what’s your blog worth?  Nothing until you build it up, unless you’ve got a desirable domain name.  But with time, your blog can bring you profits, whether through affiliate sales, brick-and-mortar sales or selling the blog itself!

Yes, you can make money using AdSense on your blog or website.  It’s one of the easiest ways to make money blogging, and can be extremely lucrative.  But while AdSense works well for most niches, it’s not for everyone.

Let’s take a look at how AdSense works and if it’s right for your site.

What is the AdSense Affiliate Program?

AdSense is a program that automatically displays relevant ads on your blog.  These are from advertisers who have products or services for sale, that people looking at your site may be interested in.

Whenever a person is on your site and clicks on one of the ads, you get paid a sum of money.  Sometimes it’s a penny or two; sometimes it’s several dollars; the sum depends on the keywords used.

How Does AdSense Work?

When you are accepted into the Google AdSense affiliate program, you’ll receive the information you need to include the ads on your blog posts.  You can either enter the information (in the form of javascript) by hand, or automatically using a WordPress plugin.

(I use the All in One AdSense and YPN plugin, which is free.)

You can choose from several different kinds and formats for the ads you display on your site.

How Does AdSense Pay You?

Google pays once a month, and you must reach the payment threshold of $100.  If you don’t reach $100, the amount will roll over until the following month(s) until you do reach at least $100.

If you’re in the United States, you can have your payment direct deposited into your bank account.  Otherwise, you can use the default (a check).

Why Use AdSense?

It’s probably the easiest way to make money online.  With just a little bit of code (or even easier, with a plugin), you can set it and forget it.

But It’s Not for Everyone

Easy it may be, but AdSense still isn’t for everyone — here’s why.

In order to make money, you need targeted traffic to your site.  While you can make money on just 10 page views a day, a steady income generally needs at least 100 page views a day.  And obviously, the more traffic the better.

The other thing you need is a niche that has plenty of ads for the niche.  For example, if your niche is organic goldfish food, you may not find many (any?) advertisers willing to post ads.  If there aren’t any ads showing, you can’t make money.

Other variables include your CTR (Click Thru Rate) and the ad costs.  Ads can pay anything from pennies to dollars per click, and the amount depends on how much advertisers are willing to spend.   Here’s where I talk more about what is CTR and why it’s important.

Targeted Traffic, Plenty of Ads?

If your blog gets of targeted traffic and there are plenty of ads for your keywords, then you may want to consider making AdSense part of your profitable blogging strategy.  Just remember that unless you have at least 100 page views a day, though, your earnings may be a bit erratic.  However, as your traffic builds, so will your AdSense income!

If this sounds like it’s for you, here’s where you can sign up for AdSense (for free).