I'm getting used to blogging and writing to thank to all the great information on this forum. How much would you start with to monetize your travel writing? I've been investigating PPC campaigns, and I may be ready to take the plunge. Any advice would be appreciated.
How much would you start with to monetize your travel writing?
(6 posts) (4 voices)
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I'd start with $5.00 a day or $10 a month; choose an amount that is comfortable for you! Make sure you select the right keywords for your website. Run two ads against each other for two weeks or one month to see how well they perform. Delete the ad that is not performing well and create another one. There's some testing involved. When you find the ads that work for your website it will be smooth sailing.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Martha are you currently earning revenue from your site OR your mailing list? If not, then I would advise against a PPC campaign.
The only reason anyone should PAY to get more traffic to their website is IF that traffic is consistently converting to revenue, either directly via any ads or products you sell on your site, or indirectly through your mailing list.
You'll want to carefully look at all of your analytic reports to determine what percentage of your site traffic is converting EITHER to a sale or to a sign up to your list. Then calculate what you earn ON AVERAGE from each site visitor or mailing list subscriber.
Armed with that earnings data you can decide how much you can afford to spend to get more traffic.
If you're not earning anything yet, then you're just spending money with no offset - so I would strongly encourage you to work on the free ways to increase site traffic first. Get more aggressive with your SEO, link building, and social networking.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I will have to agree with Trisha on this one. I recently (about one month from this post date) began my travel website (Tourfolio.com) and after running a few previous websites before this one, I'd strongly advise against using a PPC campaign. While I must admit that I never used them, I personally feel the the best way to build relevant traffic to your website would be to get real aggressive with SEO and link building.
After re-reading your original post, I'm not positive if you meant adding advertisements (e.g., Adsense, Commission Junction, Amazon Affiliates, etc...). If you meant this instead advertising your own site, I would say take the plunge and begin as soon as possible. The only advice I would give is try to blend the advertisements with your blog. If you place a bunch of Google Adsense ads all over your blog it could turn potential readers away from your website. Just don't get discouraged with the rather low amounts of money you might make from these ads. It really is all about increasing your traffic and once this happens, you will hopefully be able to receive a somewhat larger check.
I hope that helps!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Martha56
MemberThanks for the advice. I've been hearing so much about PPC campaigns that I thought I'd try it. After reading these comments, I think I will forgo it.
I don't have a mailing list. Someone told me about Constant Contact and that it's supposed to be really easy to use. I don't know a whole lot about HTML coding and want something that's super easy to use.
I think I can handle signing up with Commission Junction and sites like them. I'm "dipping my toes in the water" so to speak. I won't plaster my ads with sites because I think it looks tacky. I prefer crisp and clean websites.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Martha,
I concur that you may want to begin with affiliate marketing (CJ, LinkShare, Google Performics) before jumping into PPC marketing. Many people claim to make millions of dollars and they do show you their "checks" to prove how much they made, but you may want to stick with good ol' fashioned link building. Join forums, comment on other blogs, and be active in groups.
Build a following and consider a monthly or quarterly newsletter. Take a look at Constant Contact. It's very, very user friendly. They do not offer a "pop-up" box that will "pop-up" when visitors come to your website. The box usually reads something like this, "...Welcome to Travel Website! Sign up for our newsletter and gain insight into the travel industry." You could also have a "pop-up" box to promte a FREE eBook you may be giving away. Constant Contact may offer a "pop-up" box in the future.
Hope this helped...
Posted 2 years ago #
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