Having a helluva time getting my website to be profitable, can anyone help me?

Don't want to jump to conclusions - but any chance what you are running is one of those "streaming" sites showing movies that haven't been paid for or approved?

How is it you got 40k visitors on the weekend Star Wars was released? What makes your site interesting to those visitors?

I could be totally wrong so that's why I'm asking. I can see why you lost Adsense - but you've lost other ads, too - have huge traffic and no income...it makes no sense.

Why keep a site that is losing money? If you can get that level of traffic - why can't you monetize the site? I can't get it to add up.

I reckon you should investigate other means of revenue such as Amazon, eBay etc with creating highly relevant banners to each of your posts...

Imagine placing an awesome banner highlighting Star Wars memorabilia on that post which got you 40K visitors or a list of relevant items at the end of the post..

I reckon a good amount would of clicked on it and even if they didn't make a purchase they may have bought something else bringing you some affiliate earnings...

Build an opt in mailing list for discount movie tickets, early access to content, and special offers.

Email all content to your list 24 - 48 hours before it posts to your site, and make sure the special offers are enticing. As you build your list of dedicated movie goers, you'll build some income.

They key is to somehow find discounted tickets or special offers with a commission.

You can also sell movie related items through affiliate links. Things like toys, figurines, etc.

Just FYI, if you decide to no longer support the site, you should sell it on Flippa or elsewhere instead of just shutting it down. Somebody out there will pay you for an established site with traffic, even with no earnings.

You say your site got 40k visits for the starwars movie, what was the bounce rate, just because they show up does not mean they stay. And, If your visitors are movie fans, then why not promote dvd's from amazon. You had 40000 thousand people interested in the Star Wars movie, so maybe you could have listed all the other star wars dvd's and made some sales.

al

Why don't you try some kind of content locker - you have 40,000 people who all want to know what's after the credits on star wars - charge them 50c to find out.

If you only get a 5% conversion rate that's 2000 x 50c = $1000

If they're all desperate to find out and you get a 25% conversion rate that's a lot more.

THEN after they've paid a measly 50c to find out make them some other offers for DVDs or whatever.

And if this works you can send me my cut of your new riches.

Why not sell videos of the movies you are previewing when they come out. Example when Star wars is done in the theaters send your viewers to a site that sells the movie and get a cut of the commission.

You could start a subscribers list saying you will let everyone know the first day the movies are for sale to the public. You could also think about selling box sets of star wars from the past.

There has to be a place you could hook up with that sells videos and has an affiliate program you could join. With that many visitors some of them have to want to buy older movies.

Would you mind giving read only access to your google analytics? there may be some clues in there to help understand what is happening with your traffic. I'd be interested in taking a peak.

What keywords are people typing into google to find you?

Are your visitors mostly mobile or surfing via home computer?

I didn't know that people actually google to see if there is a scene after credits. You learn something new every day.

Keyword (what they are after):

I think that they want to know if there is an extra scene after the credits like Fast and Furious or Marvel does.

What kind of people do this anyway?

They want to know before hand if they should sit an extra 5 or 10 minutes after the film to see something extra. To me that's crazy. But I guess there is a whole bunch of people doing stuff like that nowadays.

These types of people are 'planners'.

And planners are 'efficient'.

They are the wham, bam and thank you ma'm types of folks.

In and out.

Mobile Browsers:

I noticed that you don't have a sidebar on your webpages. A side bar is a great way to 'sell stuff' WITHOUT taking away from the value in your content.

However in mobile browsers, your sidebar content will appear towards the bottom of the webpage and if they are the 'wham bam' type of folks like Kay said above, they won't be around long enough to see the sidebar.

Structured Sites:

Your site has your main content that takes up most of the face of your webpage. When ever I build a site, I control how my visitor will navigate through my content. This is important.

You want to give them what they came for but give it to them in a way that it 'serves' you.

However, they are the 'in and out' type and will most likely 'bounce' if they don't get their info fast enough.

Calls To Action:

This is the part where we tell them what we want them to do. If you have given them value, it's more personalized and people can be easily 'guided'.

Most of my visitors are mobile so I have to tell them what to do or else I wouldn't get any leads or sales.

Conclusion:

Your audience most likely is very interested in movies. Someone else who has the experience of how to structure a website like yours properly can buy it from you and move things around and 'cash in'.

I still think there is a way to monetize this site but that will be a challenge especially if you don't have the time.

You have 40k+ visitors and made $10 on advertising?

wut.