The $3000 per month Google Adsense Project... - Page 2

jordanmcclements · #51 (**permalink**) 10-22-2007, 06:07 AM

I have left it too late yet again this year to add a proper snow/xmas section to my web site.

The main reason I dont have one is because we have VERY mild weather here during the winter. If we do get snow then it is rarely more than an inch and it rarely lies for more than 2 minutes...

(So I would need to get photos off other people rather than use my own..)

Martinscholes · #52 (**permalink**) 10-23-2007, 08:46 AM

Could you run a competition for readers photos of snowy scenes from the past?

jordanmcclements · #53 (**permalink**) 10-23-2007, 08:48 AM

I am currently running a 'photos on a theme' contest in which I specifically mention 'snow' as a possible category for submission...

So far I have had loads of entries.

None of them are snow.

90% of them are how shall we say... slightly below average....

cw1865 · #54 (**permalink**) 10-26-2007, 09:31 PM

Why do you think your earnings were down in October? Is your overall traffic down?

Don't worry, on the site that I am building, I now have a whole shopping two pages! I did finally put up at least a decent logo. Total earnings to date: $0 less minor expenses, I'm in the red!

"Can I have some money now?" Homer Simpson

Martinscholes · #55 (**permalink**) 10-27-2007, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jordanmcclements

I am currently running a 'photos on a theme' contest in which I specifically mention 'snow' as a possible category for submission...

So far I have had loads of entries.

None of them are snow.

90% of them are how shall we say... slightly below average....

I have some snow photos, but they are on my computer at work. Would you like to see them? I can send them on Monday or Tuesday.

jordanmcclements · #56 (**permalink**) 10-29-2007, 05:57 AM

Re snow - I think I may have 'xmas' photos sorted out now (hopefully)....

Re earnings - mmmm - I think I may have been 'smart priced' or something - traffic is up slightly but earnings are down massively....

Peter (IMC) · #57 (**permalink**) 10-29-2007, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Re earnings - mmmm - I think I may have been 'smart priced' or something - traffic is up slightly but earnings are down massively....

What went down?

If your site remained the same it's not site related. But if your CTR went down it could be a change in the SERPS, meaning you're receiving different types of visitors now. Also could be a seasonal thing.

If your CPC went down, there are 2 possibilities.

1) Google adjusted your CPC for quality reasons.
2) It's the low season for the advertisers that show up in your ad blocks.

You can check seasonality by getting keywords from the ads that show up in your ad blocks and check them in Google Trends.

jordanmcclements · #58 (**permalink**) 10-29-2007, 10:26 AM

Peter,

CPC is down by approx 50%. Other stats are very similar to what they were.

I agree with you, but I have no idea if it is 1) or 2) yet.

I have decided to remove all affiliate links and all google link units to see if it makes any difference (these did not make a huge amount of money anyway)...

Peter (IMC) · #59 (**permalink**) 10-29-2007, 03:23 PM

I think you won't see much difference. This is simply an adjustment because of some factors that we can't really determine. But common sense may tell that it has to do with the number of conversions the advertisers have.

cw1865 · #60 (**permalink**) 10-29-2007, 03:48 PM

That's very true, if you look in the almanac, you'll see that a company like GM is spending 4-5 billion on advertising on sales of $160-$170 billion. So if you're taking in $1000 per month, you should be accounting for some serious sales.

I actually just opened an adwords account for a new site that I am promoting and google now gives the option of turning off content on the google network (which is an option that I chose). I'm not sure if this is effecting you because I'm not sure if this is a new development (I haven't done adwords for years now)

jordanmcclements · #61 (**permalink**) 10-29-2007, 04:26 PM

Yes - mostly factors outside my control - but I did read about one site that found removing their link units made a difference to CPC - but even leaving this aside - I have FAR too many link units / adverts all over the place - so I needed to remove them to improve the user experience anyway..

And, the option to not show your ads on the content network has been around for a long time now, and I always turn it off for any Adwords stuff I do for anyone....

jordanmcclements · #62 (**permalink**) 11-01-2007, 06:09 AM

Looks like the honeymoon period is over!

Earnings for October have plummeted to $668...

kgun · #63 (**permalink**) 11-01-2007, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jordanmcclements

Yes - mostly factors outside my control - but I did read about one site that found removing their link units made a difference to CPC - but even leaving this aside - I have FAR too many link units / adverts all over the place - so I needed to remove them to improve the user experience anyway..

It is about

Understanding your content.
Understanding your client's needs.
Presentation. Example you can make a linkbase separated from content and pull links from that linkbase depending on context. Semantic linking is a huge topic and fully understood by very few. These are new technologies, but you can make applications that handles it by using a good Schema and applying XSLT to an XML /XHTML document and or combining that with server scripting, so the application degrades gracefully (content negotiation).

cw1865 · #64 (**permalink**) 11-06-2007, 06:20 PM

Well, $668 is still better than $0. I'm not sure how you make a living, but assuming this is a part-time jig/hobby, that is okay. I launched mine at Leather-Directory.com | Your ultimate source for trade leads in the internattional leather industry and right now its really a very raw website. I'm just throwing stuff up there and hoping to make it large enough so that it starts to get some traffic, but right now that is a LONG way off. Perhaps you should consider grabbing a different domain name, grabbing different keywords with different content to 'diversify' so that if one goes down, the other goes up?

jordanmcclements · #65 (**permalink**) 11-07-2007, 05:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kgun

It is about

Understanding your content.
Understanding your client's needs.
Presentation. Example you can make a linkbase separated from content and pull links from that linkbase depending on context. Semantic linking is a huge topic and fully understood by very few. These are new technologies, but you can make applications that handles it by using a good Schema and applying XSLT to an XML /XHTML document and or combining that with server scripting, so the application degrades gracefully (content negotiation).

Whao - sounds complicated!

jordanmcclements · #66 (**permalink**) 11-07-2007, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cw1865

Well, $668 is still better than $0. I'm not sure how you make a living, but assuming this is a part-time jig/hobby, that is okay. I launched mine at Leather-Directory.com | Your ultimate source for trade leads in the internattional leather industry and right now its really a very raw website. I'm just throwing stuff up there and hoping to make it large enough so that it starts to get some traffic, but right now that is a LONG way off. Perhaps you should consider grabbing a different domain name, grabbing different keywords with different content to 'diversify' so that if one goes down, the other goes up?

Yeah - it is just a part time jig at present.

But it definitely has potential like you say if I put more effort into it and set up more domains etc etc......

Anyway, good luck with the Leather!

Arctic Fox · #67 (**permalink**) 11-16-2007, 05:39 PM

I've been working on my own little tests - trying to see if I can make just $100 month (I'm not greedy... for now).

So far I'm up to $4.19 for today (Nov. 16th); $15.21 for the past seven days (Nov. 10-16).

To compare: $.56 (Nov. 9th); $3.54 (Nov. 3-9).

And this day is not officially over until 1:am!

*you can stop laughing now...*

jordanmcclements · #68 (**permalink**) 11-19-2007, 04:04 AM

I was making about 20 cents a day for a long time!