Monetizing a PC Site

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tilraen

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Hi,
I have a blog that's based on computers but I'm having a lot of trouble monetizing it.

The site gets about 50-90 visitors per day. Currently I have adsense on there, and it is only making around 20 cents a day. I think this might be more due to ad blindness in computer savvy users rather than ad placement.

I am new to internet marketing and am currently interested in other ways to monetize this blog so any help or advice on how to do this would be great.

Cheers
 
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tilraen said:
Hi,
I have a blog that's based on computers but I'm having a lot of trouble monetizing it.
Click to expand...

Are you writing/obtaining quality content, which is updated on a very regular basis? What are you doing to boost traffic? Are you promoting any affiliate links on the site closely related to your niche? Drop a link to the site and we might be able to provide more specific suggestions. After you have been a member here a bit longer we can talk about a few other methods of increasing the $$$ your site brings in.
 
delmages said:
Are you writing/obtaining quality content, which is updated on a very regular basis? What are you doing to boost traffic?
Click to expand...
The quality of articles is good, but I could (and will be) updating it more. Currently its only a post-ping-socially bookmark to get traffic.

delmages said:
Are you promoting any affiliate links on the site closely related to your niche? Drop a link to the site and we might be able to provide more specific suggestions.
Click to expand...
No just adsense. I'm new to this and haven't really got experience with affiliate products. Also I'm a bit lost on the best way to do this. A review post or a banner instead of where I've got an adsense banner or what?

by the way the site is w3.hometheatrepcguide.com


delmages said:
After you have been a member here a bit longer we can talk about a few other methods of increasing the $$$ your site brings in.
Click to expand...
hmm you don't help new members? Thats ok, I plan on becoming a helpful member and posting some downloads, so perhaps when I'm more active ...
 
delmages said:
After you have been a member here a bit longer we can talk about a few other methods of increasing the $$$ your site brings in.
Click to expand...

Yeah what's up with that? If I could help I would, but right now I'm working with some other ideas to make money, although eventually I want to get a network of websites going.
 
tilraen said:
hmm you don't help new members? Thats ok, I plan on becoming a helpful member and posting some downloads, so perhaps when I'm more active ...
Click to expand...

I did not mean to suggest that we do not help new members here. I was eluding to the fact that once you have a certain level of posts, other areas of the forum become available. Sorry about the confusion.
 
The niche you have chosen appears to be relatively unique. To begin with, I would suggest spying on any competition you have to see what kind of affiliates they are promoting. Secondly, you need to get rid of some of that adsense code. It detracts from the content of your site. Replace the adsense code on the left with an affiliate link that complements your niche (become an affiliate for a company that sells ht computers and add their banner). Also, it looks like you might be pretty tech savvy. Why not create a youtube video demonstrating how to create or pointing out the benefits of an htpc. At the end of the video, brand it with a link to your site in an effort to boost traffic.
 
Yep I second that suggeston about the AS on the left. Also, put your big 300 square slap bang in the middle at the top, to replace your current first item. It's crude, it's rude but it works!
 
delmages said:
I did not mean to suggest that we do not help new members here. I was eluding to the fact that once you have a certain level of posts, other areas of the forum become available. Sorry about the confusion.
Click to expand...

oh sorry I didn't realize that... (I've actually been reading these forums for a while, just soaking up all the great information available)

Yeh I know it's a unique niche. I'm new to this and figured I should start by writing about something I know.

Thanks for the suggestions. The banner instead of the left adsense sounds good - Do most affiliate stores provide their own banners? Also you were saying the adsense detracts from the content, should I be cutting it down more?

I was also thinking of adding like an ebay store or something, I'm not really sure if this is good idea?

Youtube video sounds good for traffic. I feel a bit uncomfortable with the idea of me on video but I suppose it's something I should start getting used to.
 
you don't need to be in the video, but that does seem to help.

Some people make a powerpoint pres. & just narrate over the top of it for there vid & capture it with cam*tasia or something.

People like looking at someone as it makes a connection i guess.

How long have you had the blog?
 
Now that I have had some time to sleep...here are a few more ideas for you.

1)Write an ebook detailing how to build the perfect htpc. Add a text link or banner promoting your ebook. Set it up through paypal, ejunkie, etc. This is often better than promoting an affiliate link because you get to keep all the profits instead of just a cut. Depending on the length and quality of the ebook, set a reasonable price point and you should have no problems making sales.

2)Ad your site link to any social networking sites you belong too. You could also make a banner for your site and plop it on your myspace, facebook, etc.

3)Get a little spammy with your link at some of the social network sites, other blogs, newsgroups, etc. Make sure you hide behind a proxy when doing this. (Search the forums here for the specifics on how to implement this technique. Pay particular attention to posts by 'apekillape'.)
 
tilraen said:
Hi,
I have a blog that's based on computers but I'm having a lot of trouble monetizing it.

The site gets about 50-90 visitors per day. Currently I have adsense on there, and it is only making around 20 cents a day. I think this might be more due to ad blindness in computer savvy users rather than ad placement.

I am new to internet marketing and am currently interested in other ways to monetize this blog so any help or advice on how to do this would be great.

Cheers
Click to expand...

If you want to go blackhat and you have users who are willing to subscribe, you could do Incentive masking. Not sure what tools I'd link you to but you'd want to come up with a hidden frame containing the affiliate offer. Something like zero prices does, with a properly positioned frame.
Code: 
http://zeroprices.net/

Basically, mess with CSS to position your iframe so that only the email area and submit button are visible.

Be careful, you get caught by whatever network you work with and your probably kicked out. This is one of those things your going to want to use an anonymous corporation for if you care the slightest about getting banned from affiliate networks.

By the way, your video card article kind of turns me off seeing as your talking about cheap hardware. I personally run a ATI Radeon HD 4850 and I find it doesn't preform as well as I'd like. I'd have it in crossfire but I'm on an intel/nVidia chipset Mobo so I can't. Really, if you want PC enthusiasts you should look more around SLI Duoing the 280GTX cards from nVidia since they seem to be the most popular.
 
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jammie said:
How long have you had the blog?
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About 3 months or so ...

delmages said:
1)Write an ebook detailing how to build the perfect htpc ... set a reasonable price point and you should have no problems making sales.
Click to expand...

hmm I like the idea but do you really think there would be much of a market for this? (I suppose I could try it and if I don't make many sales use the content on the site later...)

delmages said:
3)Get a little spammy with your link at some of the social network sites, other blogs, newsgroups, etc. Make sure you hide behind a proxy when doing this. (Search the forums here for the specifics on how to implement this technique. Pay particular attention to posts by 'apekillape'.)
Click to expand...

I do this at social networking sites but not really at blogs or newsgroups. how spammy do you mean that I need to hide behind a proxy?

MattDunbar said:
If you want to go blackhat and you have users who are willing to subscribe, you could do Incentive masking.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion but I don't really feel comfortable going that blackhat on this site.

MattDunbar said:
By the way, your video card article kind of turns me off seeing as your talking about cheap hardware. I personally run a ATI Radeon HD 4850 and I find it doesn't preform as well as I'd like. I'd have it in crossfire but I'm on an intel/nVidia chipset Mobo so I can't. Really, if you want PC enthusiasts you should look more around SLI Duoing the 280GTX cards from nVidia since they seem to be the most popular.
Click to expand...

Thanks for taking the time to read some of my articles :) The graphics cards I suggest are aimed at pure HTPCs, i.e. no gaming, so they don't need to be superpowerful, and we are more concerned with noise, heat and size. I suppose I should make more suggestions on there for PC enthusiasts who are also looking to use their HTPC for gaming etc.
 
tilraen said:
Thanks for the suggestion but I don't really feel comfortable going that blackhat on this site.
Click to expand...

Ok...if you don't want to go BH with this site, you wouldn't want to implement my suggestion of serious link spamming. Another idea for drawing traffic would be to write an article about your niche and submit it to associated content (a site that pays you for original content like articles, guides, how-to's, etc.). Make the article reader friendly and give a generalized explaination of the ins and outs of htpc's. At the end of the article, cite your blog as a reference.
 
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Add an adsense searchbox and have it say "PC Hardware search" or whatever you want.
 
recommend products and deep link to them
 
EPN, oh and the oh so dirty cookie stuffing, read the cookie stuffing forum for more on that, of course, once you get access.
 
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