My two most profitable (from adsense) sites are, IMO, the accidental successes. One I didn't expect any revenue from it (I mainly put it up for fun and as a dedication site) and the other I expected to get revenue from a different source. Its interesting how things like this turn out.
Site #1 - A "fan site" for a game show on a very popular morning radio show. I didn't expect to take off like it did but they mentioned it once on the radio and even though that gave me a boost, over the long run traffic has been slowly increasing. As the game got more intense (it usually lasts 20-30 weeks) traffic increased (I started the game halfway though the last round). I expected traffic to stop since the game was won a few weeks ago and it takes them a month or two to get the new game started but I decided to keep up with the show and blog about it. Traffic hasn't slowed. If anything, it's picked up.
Site #2 - My friend's site (with the books). He sends me articles on a regular basis and I have to do some "washing" and I get them up. Too bad this guy has a 56K connection where he lives and is a complete novice with internet related subjects - I think he is a natural with
SEO in the way he writes. Traffic is also slowly creeping up with his site. About a month ago I changed the site from plain old HTML / PHP coding to a WP backed site and since then traffic has taken off (in conjunction with getting the domain HisName.com).
Both sites are Wordpress backed sites with templates. Neither have their ads "hidden" - they are prominently displayed (my friend's site also says that they are ads fed in by Google and he is not affiliated with them). they are also frequently updated. This proves to me that Google does look for recently updated sites and WP is set up well for
SEO and spiders to crawl though the site.
The sites made $8 and $3 respectively last month. I know, most people are laughing over this but considering that they are relatively new (one is less than 2 months old, the other is 6 months old but wasn't monetized until last month). As time goes on and as the pages grow, the revenue will grow.
So, I've decided that it is time to slow down on the game playing (Civ III is so addictive) and start working on other sites with similar strategies. Wordpress with a good theme, put up some good content and ads, and then keep them frequently updated. Quite often when I get home in the evening I realy do not want to work on these sites but I think I am going to have to force myself to do this and update them. One is my reverse hijakcing site (which is bringing in no revenue) and the other is a site that is a broader view of my friend's site (but I will not let them compete with each other and I'll even promtoe his books on that site).
For all of you out there frustrated with making no money with sites, it is possible to make money, just don't expect it to happen over night. Work hard, study more, and don't procratinate (I wish I didn't last year!). I just had my most profittable month with Adsense ($25 - again, this is nothing to most people but I'm sure there was a time you were happy to see this). Find a niche and fill it well. Read, read, read, learn, and read some more. Once you think you "got" it al, just go back and start over from the beginning.
Linear Mode
