20 ms·

That is not the least bit true. No website wants to generate revenue from 100% of their visitors, that is horribly un-optimized. The resources it takes to provi

by soared 10y ago

That is not the least bit true. No website wants to generate revenue from 100% of their visitors, that is horribly un-optimized. The resources it takes to provide a couple pageviews for one person is less than a penny, and those pageviews have value outside of ad clicks. There are a million benefits from high traffic, even if that traffic doesn't click ads. I'm not going to list them, they are dead obvious.

effie 10y ago
Could you mention just a few such benefits? I think you're right - the readers always pay with their attention if not with their money - but genuinely curious about others.
- soared 10y ago
  My bad, should've just listed some. Potential revenue is the main one. With existing traffic you just have to convert it to revenue by selling it (ads) or selling to it (ecommerce). But brand awareness and engagement are valuable in themselves because users get to know the brand and recognize them as an authroity in the niche. I'm thinking of an REI blog as an example. Blog readers aren't directly making REI money, but REI spends tons of money on blogs/pics/etc. They are building the brand, generating views, and establishing themselves so traffic comes back and reads more. Its then easier to convert existing semi-related (blog) traffic into purchasers then it would be to get all new traffic.
Silhouette 10y ago
I'm not going to list them, they are dead obvious. It's going to be difficult to have any interesting discussion, then, because it's not at all obvious to me what benefits high traffic has for a typical commercial site if that traffic isn't generating revenue or providing something else of value. Obviously if the purpose of your site isn't to make money then things are different, but given that we're explicitly talking about models for revenue generation here, I think it's reasonable to assume commercial websites that are intended to be profit-making.
- soared 10y ago
  Yeah my bad. I'll take REI.com for example. If 99% of their traffic goes to the blog and doesn't purchase anything, they are very happy with that. Even with 0 purchases those eyeballs are potential customers that are very aware of the brand, what it does, and they actively visit the site. This is potential revenue, and now the problem is: How do we convert readers into purchasers? Which is a much simpler question than: How do we drive more traffic? So I think its easier to take existing traffic and profit off of it by selling it (ads) or selling to it. Those are easier options than first getting the traffic, then taking those steps.
  - Silhouette 10y ago
    So I think its easier to take existing traffic and profit off of it by selling it (ads) or selling to it. That may be true, but if we assume for the sake of discussion that ad blockers are effective and visitors using them won't generate revenue that way, that only leaves selling to those people in one way or another. If you're running some sort of e-commerce site, that's fine, though I'm guessing we're talking about quite different kinds of commercial site in this case. There probably aren't a lot of e-commerce sites that also use major ad networks in conjunction with their content marketing as a significant source of revenue. Likewise if you have some sort of referral scheme available, you can essentially replace ads with some form of product placement that is less likely to be blocked and let someone else do the actual selling. But what about purely informational sites, or something like a review site that wants to be seen to be impartial and therefore doesn't want to use direct affiliate marketing links for products under review?

by soared 10y ago

effie 10y ago

Could you mention just a few such benefits? I think you're right - the readers always pay with their attention if not with their money - but genuinely curious about others.

soared 10y ago
My bad, should've just listed some. Potential revenue is the main one. With existing traffic you just have to convert it to revenue by selling it (ads) or selling to it (ecommerce). But brand awareness and engagement are valuable in themselves because users get to know the brand and recognize them as an authroity in the niche. I'm thinking of an REI blog as an example. Blog readers aren't directly making REI money, but REI spends tons of money on blogs/pics/etc. They are building the brand, generating views, and establishing themselves so traffic comes back and reads more. Its then easier to convert existing semi-related (blog) traffic into purchasers then it would be to get all new traffic.

Silhouette 10y ago

I'm not going to list them, they are dead obvious. It's going to be difficult to have any interesting discussion, then, because it's not at all obvious to me what benefits high traffic has for a typical commercial site if that traffic isn't generating revenue or providing something else of value. Obviously if the purpose of your site isn't to make money then things are different, but given that we're explicitly talking about models for revenue generation here, I think it's reasonable to assume commercial websites that are intended to be profit-making.

soared 10y ago
Yeah my bad. I'll take REI.com for example. If 99% of their traffic goes to the blog and doesn't purchase anything, they are very happy with that. Even with 0 purchases those eyeballs are potential customers that are very aware of the brand, what it does, and they actively visit the site. This is potential revenue, and now the problem is: How do we convert readers into purchasers? Which is a much simpler question than: How do we drive more traffic? So I think its easier to take existing traffic and profit off of it by selling it (ads) or selling to it. Those are easier options than first getting the traffic, then taking those steps.
- Silhouette 10y ago
  So I think its easier to take existing traffic and profit off of it by selling it (ads) or selling to it. That may be true, but if we assume for the sake of discussion that ad blockers are effective and visitors using them won't generate revenue that way, that only leaves selling to those people in one way or another. If you're running some sort of e-commerce site, that's fine, though I'm guessing we're talking about quite different kinds of commercial site in this case. There probably aren't a lot of e-commerce sites that also use major ad networks in conjunction with their content marketing as a significant source of revenue. Likewise if you have some sort of referral scheme available, you can essentially replace ads with some form of product placement that is less likely to be blocked and let someone else do the actual selling. But what about purely informational sites, or something like a review site that wants to be seen to be impartial and therefore doesn't want to use direct affiliate marketing links for products under review?