My First Arbitrage Attempt

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scott

scott

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Oct 3, 2006
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www.gator-ventures.com
Well thanks to the posts here at WF I've finally gotten off my ass and have popped my arbitrage cherry! So with that here's a little info on my first go:
  • I used a .info domain that I registered about 6 months ago that relates to my target niche and it only previously had a splog on the front end.
  • My template is similar to what chrislingle used in the great "arbi test" thread with a header containing my target kw, then my adsense block on the left with a picture nearby and some scraped content on the left. No scrolling allowed. Text is black and the Google links are the standard default blue.
  • According to the Google Adwords tool, my target kw's Est Avg CPC range from $5.86 and down
  • According to the Overture KW Selector Tool, my top target KW had 13584 searches in Sept.
  • According to 7Search KW Suggestion, my top target KW had 2044 searches in October.
So, with that I plugged in 10 kw's related to my target niche, including the top searched kw. I placed a max $.06 bid to put me in 1st thru 3rd for all kw's on 7search, but that only put me in 5th for 2 of them on the Affiliate Network.

Anyways, total for yesterday: 3 clicks via 7search costing me $.18, netting 2 Adsense clicks for $.17, so a loss of $.01. Not sure why I didn't get more for the Adsense clicks, but we'll see what the next few days bring in.
 


You don't need to share your URL. Lots of people will just copy your niche. If you want to share your layout, make another page with nonsense text using the same template and share that.

You need to target a higher-traffic keyword. 2044 on 7Search is very low for arbitrage. Those numbers are misleading if you take them literally. Look for at least 15000 and preferably over 50000.
 
Thanks Setec. I was thinking I needed higher numbers from 7Search, but it's the topic I chose first and figured since I am just getting my feet wet might as well see what happens with it. Yeah, I won't share the url but really, my layout is very similar to chrislingle's in that 47 page thread. Maybe I'll post it a sample later.

So far today...0 clicks from 7Search.
 
scott - there is no point trying to learn this with just any old niche! you have to pick the best ones you can find from day 1. if you only made $.17 on 2 clicks look at the ads on your page, don't click the ads but go to the urls given, are the sites that are showing up crap? block them! make sure your text directly targets ads for your niche! I would say you understand enough of arbitrage to start building a bunch of sites, it is far better to test 10 to 20 niches when starting than just 1. this will give you a better understanding of what the business model is going to be
 
Thanks for the tips. I am expanding my niche base, and am trying to get one or two built up per day for testing. My problem is there are so many great niches that seem so saturated, and finding the right ones with with a high 7Search count that have low bids seems almost impossible. But I am digging deeper and finding one or two here and there, and hopefully I will find my own little gold mine.

As for my text targeting the niche, I'm pretty certain I have that down and the ads showing are indeed directly related to the niche.

Also, what is the point of being in the Top 5 in 7Search with say a $.06 max bid when it doesn't even register you in the Top 5 on the affiliate network, especially when the search numbers returned are from the affiliate network?
 
so you scrape the content for your site? is it auto or manual(copy and pasting)?
 
We need to make some type of list tallying up the overall amount spent, the overall amount earned, and the net profit of everyone who has learned ppc arbitrage here on WF and maybe the numbers will get more people into it.
 
Actually doing shitty right now...

ROI has been fickle up and down the first days, now it is just down...

Sadly, this is not because of google or somesuch, but actual CTR getting lower!

Blargh... I'll update my templates. (and the pic in my sig, sadly)

::emp::
 
Mason - For scraped content I do it manually since these are built one at a time. Now as for bulk rssgm sites it is automatic, but that's altogether differnet.

Jon - Keeping a WF tally would be great. It's actually many of the posts here and the results being posted that finally got me to go for it rather than sitting back and saying I need to learn it someday.
 
Well sadly I have to say I may be scrapping the first few target markets. Other than the little traffic they have generated from 7Search I am -$.13 overall. I've paid for 18 clicks and 5 clicked the Adsense, so I don't think the template is bad and still can't understand how why the payouts are pennies instead of dimes, quarters or dollars. Oh well, still not bad considering I've read of much worse and I'm still learning this shit.

The only thing I'm pondering is reworking the content and ad copy on the 1 site that has generated the most clicks and go from there. The sites that have gotten no clicks will be withdrawn from the program.

Test, test, test...
 
Yeah, yeah, I'm still trying to find better niches, so unless you're willing to share some gold mines then ...

BTW, picked one late last night and got burned today!

475 clicks from 7Search costing $23.57, 240 Adsense clicks for a total of $13.08 for a net loss of $10.49! OUCH!

Obviously the topic is hot but I'm getting shit for click payment, even though the selected KW's according to Google adwords are worth so much more than the whopping $.05 per click I received!

The only postives is my CTR was pretty nice, so I know the template format is working, and even though I am not even in the Top 5 on the Affiliate Network for ANY of my KW's I chose for this niche I still got a lot of traffic!
 
Adsense Loser said:
$10is hardly a loss

WHy not target a niche that pay more?
Click to expand...

Uh, I thought I was based on Google Adwords KW selection. I apparently was wrong....or I am totally missing something in the process.

So correct me if I am wrong. If the niche I am targeting say has an average KW cost of $3 with adwords I can expect to get paid about a third of that per click then, yes?

I only have one 300x250 ad block on my template to try an get the highest paying ads. I'm sure some of the ads shown will not be the highest and might even pay out the minimum's , but all the ads paying minimum? At least, that is what this test has shown.

So what am I missing???
 
First of all, the AdWords KW selection doesn't show content bids, it shows main search bids. Thus, it is not always a good indicator of how much people are spending on the content network. Also, your site might not be targeting the right keyword specifically. If you are targeting a generic keyword the specific keyword that AdSense targets might be a lot cheaper. Last, but not least if there are a lot of MFA's in your niche already then they may have already driven down click value on the content network. Just a thought, but I'd say try a different niche or a different keyword in that niche.
 
A good way to figure out how much you will make per click is to put something like .50 in the google keywords tool - if the ad placement is 4-6 or higher. Look for a high concentration of 4-6 placements for your word (I wish I had a program that did the std deviation of payouts...) - this way you know that people are paying more for the top spots and you should at least get a decent return if you aren't paying too much in 7search..
 
Blackbeard, yeah I moved away from that niche.

Reefer420, thanks for the tips.

I've found a few niches that are paying me about 5:1 daily on my spends from 7Search, so I am on the right track with my analysis. For instance one niche I'm paying $.05 per click, I'm averaging 14 clicks per day with a return of $3.70. Just have to find more goldmines like that one. But for me that takes a little more time and effort since I have many other obligations that need tended to.

niche.gif


But then again, what do I know, I'm just a fucking retarded noob that needs to leave the forum...or so I'm told!
 
congrats scott. That looks like a good start. I can feel your pain with "other obligations."
 
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