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PR4 Hotel site monetize Dilemma!

by donnan
18 replies
Hi warriors,

I am looking for all the lateral thinkers out there. Who knows if it's that good it could be worth some $$$ for you.

Let me explain.

I have a PR4 hotel website that dominates Google page 1 for premium search terms and has done so for 12+ years.

I want to monetize it in a different way. Making money from hotels has passed, they hate paying out.

Google gets 90,500 search requests a month for it's keywords that lists in on google first page. My site receives over 115,000 page views from these searches each month average.

How can I monetize this in a totally different way.

Suggestions have been made to sell, banner ads, backlinks, even someone suggested create subdomains of specialty niche's.

What are your thoughts?
#dilemma #hotel #monetize #pr4 #site
  • Profile picture of the author ripsnorta2
    Those hotels may now be doing their own Adwords advertising. Have you considered putting Adsense on the site?
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    • Profile picture of the author DPWeb
      I think selling private banner ads or doing whole post/page reviews of a hotel would be more profitable. There is probably an expedia or travel affiliate program you can get going with.

      For banner ads, if you are getting a lot of traffic you can charge like $3/1000 page views over the span of 6 months. Make sure to work out a contract so you don't get cheated.
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    • Profile picture of the author donnan
      Originally Posted by ripsnorta2 View Post

      Those hotels may now be doing their own Adwords advertising. Have you considered putting Adsense on the site?
      The big hotel chains don't mind paying for Adwords. You can see their ads on the right side of the search pages.

      Even though I could probably earn a few dollars from it. I thought that might be a last resort.

      I wonder how creating sub-domains would go just for Adwords in area's related to Travel, eg; car rental, tours, chaufers, limo's, airlines, conference rooms, wedding parties, flight, travel insurance, holidays, luggage. But then I suppose I would need to create a mini site for each sub-domain. Is there anywhere you can get mini sites for travel related area's?
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  • Profile picture of the author J Bold
    I would use a hotel booking affiliate program that could give me private branding so when people book hotels using that affiliate program it looks like they are still on my site.

    Oh wait, that's what I do already.
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    • Profile picture of the author donnan
      Originally Posted by redicelander View Post

      I would use a hotel booking affiliate program that could give me private branding so when people book hotels using that affiliate program it looks like they are still on my site.

      Oh wait, that's what I do already.
      That's what I do already with this site! hehehehe....

      Guess who is making all the money? I only get a small percentage.
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      • Profile picture of the author J Bold
        Originally Posted by donnan View Post

        That's what I do already with this site! hehehehe....

        Guess who is making all the money? I only get a small percentage.
        You're just using the wrong affiliate program, then. Plenty to chose from, out there.
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  • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
    Hmm, so switch gears, do reviews, sell top reviews! Think about possibilities that could be done offline!
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  • Profile picture of the author Andrew Barton
    You could do localization and create sub domains for different locations and then sell the "Top 5" spots for each location. It's like selling ad space only you can (potentially) make more from it.

    Another option is to create/sell downloadable "travel guides" or Iphone tourist apps.
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    • Profile picture of the author donnan
      Originally Posted by Andrew Barton View Post

      You could do localization and create sub domains for different locations and then sell the "Top 5" spots for each location. It's like selling ad space only you can (potentially) make more from it.

      Another option is to create/sell downloadable "travel guides" or Iphone tourist apps.
      Thanks for you response Andrew. Your second suggestion sounds interesting. How would I achieve this and are you interested in being part of this perhaps?
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  • Profile picture of the author GeorgR.
    "extended stay" is one of the HIGHEST paying keywords for adwords ever. Go look it up, your jaw will drop! Maybe you can use this to your advantage? (I am talking about $150+ PER CLICK...)
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  • Profile picture of the author donnan
    Really? "extended stay".

    I know "sydney hotel" gets 450,000 search requests each month, and this is very significant, but I never thought "extended stay" would be common term used.

    Sorry to sound a bit naive George, but I don't fully understand how $150+ per click works. Would you mind elaborating for me. How does one find that sort of information?
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  • Profile picture of the author BloggingPro
    I would turn it into a directory (if its not already one). Then I would compile some stats on my traffic and most importantly the visitors. How old are they? How much money do they make per year? How often do they travel and need a hotel? You get the idea.

    Then take all of that information and make a nice, professional looking report. Then start contacting hotels. Offline or online, just contact them. Present your site as a great place for hotels to reach their market in an affordable way. Bring up PPC costs as a way to prove your point.

    Charge them for a directory spot in their locale (if your site is split up that way). Then upsell them to a "Featured Listing" that would appear above all the hotels. Make it pricey and make sure there are only two/three of them. When those fill up, upsell them on rotation advertising site-wide.

    I would charge a yearly rate and would impress upon the hotels that when people came to visit the site they were ready to book! That coupled with demographic research mentioned earlier should easily be enough to sell some listings.
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    • Profile picture of the author donnan
      Originally Posted by BloggingPro View Post

      I would turn it into a directory (if its not already one). Then I would compile some stats on my traffic and most importantly the visitors. How old are they? How much money do they make per year? How often do they travel and need a hotel? You get the idea.

      Then take all of that information and make a nice, professional looking report. Then start contacting hotels. Offline or online, just contact them. Present your site as a great place for hotels to reach their market in an affordable way. Bring up PPC costs as a way to prove your point.

      Charge them for a directory spot in their locale (if your site is split up that way). Then upsell them to a "Featured Listing" that would appear above all the hotels. Make it pricey and make sure there are only two/three of them. When those fill up, upsell them on rotation advertising site-wide.

      I would charge a yearly rate and would impress upon the hotels that when people came to visit the site they were ready to book! That coupled with demographic research mentioned earlier should easily be enough to sell some listings.
      You have just described what I do on this site now!

      I have never been any good at the marketing side of things and that is where I have let this site down.

      I do currently have an idea of leasing sub domains from the main domain I have some premium search terms making the site a google first pager. So I think this will convert with the right marketing copy.

      Maybe checking out Andrews suggestion above may be the answer.

      Thanks for replying to this thread.
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      • Profile picture of the author BloggingPro
        Originally Posted by donnan View Post

        You have just described what I do on this site now!
        LOL I used to run a site for my local area and I had a hotel "directory," which is probably why I hit the nail right on the head.

        I would really encourage you to push forward with that because if I could get $1000 per listing in my small little area (albeit with a huge National Park tourist attraction) then I don't see why you couldn't do the same. I didn't even have this site ranked!

        You have the site ranked, and with a badass report (demographics are key) you could easily be selling directory listings left and right! As always just my $.02...
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        • Profile picture of the author donnan
          Originally Posted by BloggingPro View Post

          LOL I used to run a site for my local area and I had a hotel "directory," which is probably why I hit the nail right on the head.

          I would really encourage you to push forward with that because if I could get $1000 per listing in my small little area (albeit with a huge National Park tourist attraction) then I don't see why you couldn't do the same. I didn't even have this site ranked!

          You have the site ranked, and with a badass report (demographics are key) you could easily be selling directory listings left and right! As always just my $.02...
          Maybe you are interested in working with me on it?
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          • Profile picture of the author BloggingPro
            Originally Posted by donnan View Post

            Maybe you are interested in working with me on it?
            I wish. I just took on the challenge of creating a news site, so I'm quite the busy bee right now.
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  • Profile picture of the author Floyd Fisher
    Hotel's may hate paying out, but how about legitimate (read: non mlm) travel agencies?

    Or, you could become a legitimate travel agent, then get access to sabre, and do the bookings yourself.

    Or, you could rack your brains and figure out other things travelers who use hotels need (like transportation and or luggage just as examples).
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  • Profile picture of the author TPFLegionaire
    Hi,

    I second the idea of turning it into a directory.
    Please check Chris Rempel's blog , pay particular attention to his MAKO product (not affiliate link)
    Disclaimer: I am a custumer and own the MAKO script , PM me if you need more details.

    In the interest of fairness, I found this thread discussing directory scripts elsewhere on the forum.

    Best of success
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