Demographics 101
By Pat R.
Markets get flooded, that's a given. As a webmaster, you have to always avoid the proverbial flood water by making sure your sites are connected to as many revenue streams as possible. If the market shifts, you need to be ready for the changes. Your statistics are your compass. Where is your traffic coming from? Are most of your visitors hitting your pages due to link trades with other sites, or are you pulling the majority of them from search engines? What about the visitors from foreign countries, have you thought about them? How about conversions? Are some sponsors perfoming better than others? Have you ever wondered why that might be? These are just a few of the many self-analytical questions one should ask before the new sponsorship hunt begins.
In the mainstream corporate world, demographics lie at the heart of every transaction. As a webmaster in the online industry, the same rules apply. You're looking for not only ways to increase your income, but also for new revenue streams altogether. Demographics mean everything; if you are able to figure out specifically who your visitors are, success will come that much quicker. So how do you find out the demographics of your traffic? Detailed stats usually help, but not everyone can afford those. There's a much simpler way to find the answers, and the largest companies in the world still do it today: surveys and polling. If you've got forums integrated into your site, that's a plus since it's much more informal to create your polls from there. If your visitors are required to register on your site, simply add a few new fields into the register form like "Age". Knowing the age range alone of your viewers will speak wonders for your results. If you're pushing a "Funny Videos" niche on 60-90 year old males, there's a problem there.
Age however isn't the only characteristic one should be looking at, as there are many others. The origin, or location of your traffic is equally important. If you've got traffic coming from foreign countries but aren't targeting them with your ads, that's a major problem. Even if your foreign traffic is a small number, it's still an untouched revenue stream that you could be tapping. Geo-IP ads have been out for a few years now, and they've become so popular in the adult industry that they're becoming a bit saturated. Nevertheless, if you're looking for a quick new revenue stream, geo-IP ads are the way to go. Have you jumped on the new technology yet? Webmasters that are ahead of the game and know their traffic have a leg up on everyone else; they know not only what converts, but also what will convert when new sponsors arrive.
So you've figured out your traffic, the demographics, and you're ready to seek out new sponsors. Now that you know who your viewers are, a lot of questions can be answered about your current sponsors. How are they converting? Why are some sponsors converting better than others? Have you thought of testing out other sponsors within the same market? Don't be afraid to try different programs within a sponsor, because you might be making a lot more in a pay per signup program rather than a pay per free signup program. Sure you might lose a little money during the testing phase, but in the long run it's well worth the price.
Figuring out your traffic is the first step. It may take a little hard work and money to find the answers, but once you do you'll be well on your way to discovering new revenue streams in no time. The second step is keeping up demographically with new traffic streams as your site continues to grow. The third and final step is simply a matter of deciding what you want to do with all this extra cash.
By Pat R.
Markets get flooded, that's a given. As a webmaster, you have to always avoid the proverbial flood water by making sure your sites are connected to as many revenue streams as possible. If the market shifts, you need to be ready for the changes. Your statistics are your compass. Where is your traffic coming from? Are most of your visitors hitting your pages due to link trades with other sites, or are you pulling the majority of them from search engines? What about the visitors from foreign countries, have you thought about them? How about conversions? Are some sponsors perfoming better than others? Have you ever wondered why that might be? These are just a few of the many self-analytical questions one should ask before the new sponsorship hunt begins.
In the mainstream corporate world, demographics lie at the heart of every transaction. As a webmaster in the online industry, the same rules apply. You're looking for not only ways to increase your income, but also for new revenue streams altogether. Demographics mean everything; if you are able to figure out specifically who your visitors are, success will come that much quicker. So how do you find out the demographics of your traffic? Detailed stats usually help, but not everyone can afford those. There's a much simpler way to find the answers, and the largest companies in the world still do it today: surveys and polling. If you've got forums integrated into your site, that's a plus since it's much more informal to create your polls from there. If your visitors are required to register on your site, simply add a few new fields into the register form like "Age". Knowing the age range alone of your viewers will speak wonders for your results. If you're pushing a "Funny Videos" niche on 60-90 year old males, there's a problem there.
Age however isn't the only characteristic one should be looking at, as there are many others. The origin, or location of your traffic is equally important. If you've got traffic coming from foreign countries but aren't targeting them with your ads, that's a major problem. Even if your foreign traffic is a small number, it's still an untouched revenue stream that you could be tapping. Geo-IP ads have been out for a few years now, and they've become so popular in the adult industry that they're becoming a bit saturated. Nevertheless, if you're looking for a quick new revenue stream, geo-IP ads are the way to go. Have you jumped on the new technology yet? Webmasters that are ahead of the game and know their traffic have a leg up on everyone else; they know not only what converts, but also what will convert when new sponsors arrive.
So you've figured out your traffic, the demographics, and you're ready to seek out new sponsors. Now that you know who your viewers are, a lot of questions can be answered about your current sponsors. How are they converting? Why are some sponsors converting better than others? Have you thought of testing out other sponsors within the same market? Don't be afraid to try different programs within a sponsor, because you might be making a lot more in a pay per signup program rather than a pay per free signup program. Sure you might lose a little money during the testing phase, but in the long run it's well worth the price.
Figuring out your traffic is the first step. It may take a little hard work and money to find the answers, but once you do you'll be well on your way to discovering new revenue streams in no time. The second step is keeping up demographically with new traffic streams as your site continues to grow. The third and final step is simply a matter of deciding what you want to do with all this extra cash.