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View Full Version : how many hits a day



greenoak
12-22-2008, 05:24 PM
how much traffic on a blog should you have before you consider an affiliate program?
i get about 50 hits a day....and very few outclicks,,, not even go to the neat places i post about or have in my topic links....maybe they are a bunch of visual people and dont like to explore....i dont know..
.i did put a link to here for business readers..

i never heard of affiliate programs before reading ittybiz....
..and i sure agree with her wonderful example of not wanting competitors on your site, as in duh, mc donalds doesnt show you a wendys menu.....i wouldnt want anything on there that sold what i sell...
im thinking im way too small to mess with it...are there other benefits? .any overview for me?
thanks...

Business Attorney
12-22-2008, 06:17 PM
Affiliate marketing really depends on a lot of things. I think from what she said in the IttyBiz video, that blogger gets her clicks (and sales) from things she actually promotes in her blogs, not from passive ads or links in a sidebar. Are you willing to do that? That may change the flavor of your blog.

As for affiliates, I don't think there is an across-the-board minimum before it becomes worth your while. I have some "fun" websites that I have put various affiliate links on. Some work, some don't. Since I am not in those for the money, I don't really care, but it's fun to get a check every now and then for $25.

I also put a bunch of Amazon links on my LLC site, just to see if I could get anything from that site besides the satisfaction of getting emails from people thanking me for taking the time to create and maintain it. The Amazon ads are for specific books that I would think would appeal to people reading about LLCs. This month, there have been over 40,000 ad impressions on the site, with only 66 clicks, 3 sales and earnings of a grand total of $1.69. Hardly worth the time (though I have had better months than that). It's a good thing I enjoy creating the site, because I certainly wouldn't be doing it for the Amazon checks (if and when I ever hit the minimum and actually get a payment from them).

Watchdog
12-22-2008, 07:17 PM
I use amazon on one of my sites and it's been pretty much worthless. I did it as a test run on selling tools - now I don't know if the guest are not buying tools or not buying from amazon... go figure :)

We do very well with adsense :)

vangogh
12-22-2008, 08:23 PM
Like David said it really depends on a number of factors. If I had to guess I would say you probably need more traffic than you're currently getting, but let me elaborate.

First when you say 'hits' do you literally mean the web statistic hits? I ask because hits are not a meaningful statistic. A hit is recorded any time a request is made of the server. Your html file is a hit. If that html file calls external css or javascript files each of those records a hit as well. Any image on your page is also a request and therefore recorded as a hit.

If you have a web page with 10 images on it and one person visits it equals 11 hits. One for the page and 10 for the images.

Look at visits and unique visitors to get a better sense of how much traffic your site is getting.

Now as far as making money through affiliate sales think of what needs to happen before you make money. Someone needs to visit your page with the link to the affiliate. That person needs to click the link and then actually buy the product. In some cases the affiliate might pay for the lead instead of a sale, but generally the person will need to take some kind of action on the other site.

You can't control what happens on the other site. You can however choose to promote affiliates who you think can convert a visitor into a buyer.

To increase your earnings you can get more people to visit your site and you can get more visitors to click on the link. How many visitors do you need also depends on how much you get paid for each sale. If the product is high end you might do well with just a few sales each month. If you're only going to make a couple of dollars per sale you need a lot more people to click and buy to make it worth the effort.

I see two ways people get visitors and clicks. One is to build a site around a product or several products. Your copy wouldn't actively try to sell the product, but rather put people in the frame of mind to buy it. Say your product is a roll top desk. You might write a page about how F. Scott Fitzgerald always wrote at a roll top desk (I have no idea if he really did). You might then try to attract traffic through search engines from people looking to know more about F. Scott Fitzgerald because they admire him and want to write more like him. They read how roll top desks inspired him and it puts them in the frame of mind to want one too. And since you happen to have an image of a roll top desk on your page that links to the affiliate a number of them will click it.

A second way is to build up a loyal following of subscribers. These people come back time and again in part because they trust you and the information you give them. If one day you recommended a product to them there's a good chance a number of your loyal readers will check it out as they trust you and value your advice. Naturally the products you recommend better be good, because the trust you've earned over time could easily be lost with even one bad recommendation.

Again how much you earn depends on a number of factors. If you have thousands of subscribers odds are a few % of them will check out anything you recommend. If your site pulls in a lot of search traffic you can redirect that traffic through your affiliate link by putting visitors in the frame of mind to want to buy.

What you might try doing is look for some affiliate products you can honestly recommend and when you write something about the topic where a mention of the affiliate product makes sense you can add a link. An easy example is Amazon books. No matter what you're talking about someone has probably written a book about it and Amazon probably carries it.

On your blog you might do better though to get people to your main site and into your store. I can't know for certain, but I would think you'll make more through one sale at your store than you will through one affiliate sale. You could also look into taking some of the items in your store and selling them online.

greenoak
12-22-2008, 10:25 PM
thanks....i kind of figured it wasnt right at my hit level...hits meaning individual visitors....i was hoping there was something past the teeny amounts you would get from amazon sales...i didnt want to miss something you all knew about and i didnt...lol...

and i dont have anything for sale on the web....so im not really too motivated to get tons more hits.... i enjoy it and have some loyal readers...and nice feedback....and its brought in quite a bit of money, indirectly...
so local and organic and keyed to the store is fine....if i wanted to be on the ittybiz path to a fabulous money making ebook i would probably look at it differently...
thaks for the nice overview...
ann

orion_joel
12-22-2008, 11:00 PM
Ann, one key point i think you need to really consider is that there is a difference between your blog and ittybiz. Your blog from my impressions has a focus on promoting you business and products that you are getting into your business. While the blog for ittybiz, that blog is her business.

As such i think you need to look at affiliate marketing slightly differently. For ittybiz, she creates a product or two (maybe more) and sells these on the site, but then she also uses complimentary affiliate marketing to complement her own product sales. Now i do totally think that you could do the same things, probably initially using Amazon, and adding related books, to do with antiques and other similar areas. However you need to do it in a subtle way so as not to distract from the main point of your blog which i am assuming is to generate business for your store.

So while you could easily add additional affiliate programs, just be careful that you are not distracting from your primary goal and sending potential customers from your blog to someone else, site to buy something that may have bought from you.

vangogh
12-22-2008, 11:26 PM
Glad to help Ann. A few more points.

Why not get bring more visitors to the blog. You say you're making some money from it indirectly. More traffic would probably lead to more money indirectly or not. There's no reason why you can't have the blog help promote the store even if you don't want to sell online.

Making money through affiliate marketing is the same as anything else. It's still a business you have to work at. Definitely more than just placing a few links on your site and making millions.

Joel is right though. There's no reason why you can't give it a try. See if you can find some affiliate programs that fit with your blog. The products should be related to something you write about, but they don't have to go to competitors. Then whenever you write a post where it would be natural to mention and link to the product go ahead and add the affiliate link. A few people may click and buy and you never know. It could end up turning into some extra money each month. Just know that the more you put into it the more you can get back.

greenoak
12-23-2008, 03:50 PM
sounds kind of good...and i am going to check a little more..about everyplace i have gone has brought some good back to me....
i hear you joel......im guessing, the kind of time ittybiz probably puts into her site is the kind of time my store demands..40 to 50 hrs a week.....so even tho im learniing a little about the blog and internet all the time...it is just a small sideline ....my main thing has to be the store....and its not itty...it is a big handful with a whole lot going on.........
but im so respectful of the web....and want to get more and more out of it...getting a customer from 1000 miles away who spends 4 or 5000 $$$$ gets my attention for sure....and i know my site and blog have made that happen a few times this year........