As an online publisher, there is a tendency to associate higher income with higher traffic. Many publishers get obsessed with higher traffic and spend enormous resources to drive traffic to their websites. Almost all search engine optimization (SEO) firms essentially try to convince you that traffic creates value. (Related article: Growing traffic without paying a SEO firm)
In building the online media properties in the eCreativa network, we have learned that while more traffic is not necessarily bad, the kind of hysteria that drives some publishers to grow traffic may be a waste of valuable resources. In our experience, quality of traffic is more important than quantity at least when your goal is to generate revenue (which should be the case if you are a business and not a hobbyist). Let us review some case studies in our network to illustrate the point:
Vioxx/Celebrex/Bextra recall: This publication was launched when Vioxx (a pain relief drug used by arthritis patients that was recalled by Merck after it was disclosed that tens of thousands of people were dead) was recalled and several studies highlighted that its competitors Celebrex and Bextra were likely to be recalled as well. This is a niche publication targeted at those people who want to keep up to date on what is happening with these drugs. Advertisers
are plentiful, ranging all the way from attorneys to those selling alternate pain relief treatments. While this section may receive visitors in just hundreds a day, the CPM is very high not only because the advertising is high value but also that the visitors are looking for solution to a problem. These are not just casual surfers who get on the Net to find something interesting to look at. (Related article: Content management success story)
Social Security Privatization: This is another publication that is just weeks old at this time. Our hypothesis is that this will attract visitors who are truly interested in learning more about privatization and how it will affect their retirement planning. While privatization of Social Security will affect every American living today and the future generations, we expect that only a handful of these really like to research the topic and use that knowledge in their personal finance regimen. While it is too early to comment how successful this will be in the long run, the results so far have been very encouraging. (Related article: Secret to success)
Latinas: This is the English section of our Spanish publication Lindisima that is narrowly focused on those Spanish-speaking women who are truly committed to a better lifestyle that included natural personal care products, spiritual approach to life, and a playful attitude. The Latinas section talks to those Hispanics in the United States who are inspired and intrigued by their Latin roots but still want to lead a mainstream life. Not a huge traffic website but extremely profitable.
Management Consultant: This is probably the lowest traffic property in our network but has among the highest CPM. It attracts senior level business leaders who want a totally new perspective on economic and business developments. We know that the day it attracts a thousand visitors will be a big day, but that is not what we are working on. We are more focused on attracting the right kind of audience. We know that it is easy to bring thousands of visitors if you build a work-at-home business website but the CPM in that segment is pathetic. We want to target the reader who is more interested in supply chain management, enterprise resource planning, or communication management system.
So what does it mean?
- Do not obsess over quantity. Look at the revenue rather than traffic or rank. You are not a business if you do not have revenue no matter how much traffic you have. This point has been proven after the collapse of the bubble. No investor cares any more how many eyeballs you attract if it does not translate into revenue.
- Quality can make all the difference when it comes to revenue. If you attract the right kind of visitors, you will see results very quickly. While you might be tempted to think that out of all the people that you attract some will be the kind of visitors you really want. Our experience shows otherwise. If you focus all your energy into attracting the right kind of audience, the results will be better and achieved faster.
- Do your research. Study current events and see how they will create new needs for information. You will have to connect the dots yourself. And then just go ahead and do it.
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