A look at my Tech blog site - Inc. Screenshots - Why is it not making money?

8 replies
Hi there,

Around 1 month ago I started work on creating a new blog targeting particular product new which is not out yet. The product has one 'main' competitor but won't be released for a while yet.

I did some backlinking and now am averaging around 20 visits a day from various organic searches. Maximum in one day has been ~60 visits.

I have Adsense in all the generic places and an amazon banner which I created in the header, next to the title/tagline. I also have a lightbox opt in form.

Having only recently added the form I have one opt in from 20 visits

I have had NO Adsense clicks, literally, zero. Nor do I have any Amazon sales (I didn't expect many at the moment really).

I think it may be important to add that this layout + design I am using has only been live for one day (18 visits so far). Though the old one was not terribly dissimilar, we all know it's sometimes the case that small changes make a big difference.

My longer term plan with the site is to gain a good amount of opt ins so I can offer the product to them when it is released, as well as accessories over the lifetime of their subscription.

I have to say, I didn't expect many Adsense clicks as I guess techy people are more savvy with their clicks.

Anyway, Do you think it's a problem with my design? Here are some screenshots:

General layout ('Content' section is a lot longer in reality - sometimes includes youtube videos):



Opt-in (Lightbox on every visit):



Thanks!
#blog #making #money #screenshots #site #tech
  • Profile picture of the author GeorgR.
    simply not enough visitors imho.

    You also say you are "targeting a particular product". So..if people searching FOR THE PARTICULAR PRODUCT are coming to the blog...why should they want to click an Adsense ad which is not about that product?
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  • Profile picture of the author Charles Amith
    Since you're using SEO, it depends on what your competition is. Some product keywords/model numbers are easy to rank...but sometimes it's extremely hard. If a company released a product called "Lose Weight Fast", you wouldn't be able to rank easily compared to a product with a unique name.

    For starters, look at your competition for your primary keyword (without quotes) in Google and how many backlinks those pages have. That will give you a better idea of what you're up against.
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  • Profile picture of the author chilidawg
    I agree with the previous posters. 20 visits a day is not enough to glean any information from.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Faber
    Amazon doesn't pay until the product ships, so even if you've gotten pre-orders, you'd have gotten no money from them yet. ALso I;ve found, and I think others have too, that Amazon banners don't conver very well.

    I've always had better luck with text links rather than banners on Amazon, and almost every other affiliate program as well. Just write an article with a pre-sell (not too strong, you don;t want to seem like you're shilling for the product) and then lust have a link with something like "Read more actual customer reviews at Amazon.com here" or something like that.
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  • Profile picture of the author joetann
    Thanks for the replies!

    Since changing the template, I've seen a brilliant improvement! (small sample size maybe..)

    Yesterday I had 60 visits, and now half way through today I'm on pace for 60+.

    I had an 85p adsense click yesterday, and 4 optins between today and yesterday.

    As the general consensus is I'm not getting enough traffic (re: 20 visits per day), what is an acceptable amount? What sort of click rate would you expect from a tech orientated blog with ads in the positions I have them?

    Thanks
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    • Profile picture of the author Barry Unruh
      Originally Posted by joetann View Post

      As the general consensus is I'm not getting enough traffic (re: 20 visits per day), what is an acceptable amount?
      An acceptable amount = the number you need to make the money you want.

      It is kind of like asking "what is an acceptable amount of money to make?"
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      • Profile picture of the author joetann
        Originally Posted by Barry Unruh View Post

        An acceptable amount = the number you need to make the money you want.

        It is kind of like asking "what is an acceptable amount of money to make?"
        Yeh apologies for that dumb question. I often think to myself what you just told me, when I see people ask it!

        What sort of traffic is a good considered to be a sample size to which you can work from with some confidence? I come from a poker background so realize the importance of sample sizes and variance, just wondering if there are figures that float around.
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