Need advice: 4 year old site getting 2,000+ unique visitors daily, but only making $1

[Niru]

Hi there, I have a 4 year old site that is presently getting 2,000+ unique visitors daily on autopilot, but I am only making less than a dollar a day, and on some days $1-$2

Link is Learn how to C Walk - PimpMyWalk.com

I also have a forum on the site with 32,000+ members, and ~100 active or more users online at any one time: PimpMyWalk (Powered by Invision Power Board)

It teaches people how to cwalk, a popular "dance" worldwide, but mainly in the US. The number of daily unique visitors has been pretty steady these past few years without much work on my part.

I have currently monetized the site with Adsense, which brings in about just under a dollar a day, or $1-$2 on some days. I just want to be able to make enough to not have to worry about the VPS (hosting) anymore, which costs about $76.50 per month. Adsense currently only brings in $50-$60, and even if I do manage to earn enough, adsense payment is pretty slow (NET-30) and the payment threshold is pretty high - $150 AUD for me. Not sure how much that is in USD.

Other things I've tried:

- Selling banner ads on the site/trying to find advertisers. No luck

- CPA. No luck. Got $1 leads here and there, but nothing compared to what I am earning with adsense now.

- Selling Clickbank products. No luck, only ever made a sale for a "hip hop instrumentals" product once in a 3 or 4 month period.

Things I do not want to try:

- Popups: I don't want to annoy my users with popups though, or restricting access to the content/tutorials using programs like CPA Lead.

- Selling the site: Some people have suggested selling the site, but I do not want to sell the site. This is the only site that has been with me this long, and it has sentimental value to me. I also personally cwalk myself and upload videos on YouTube from time to time to help promote the site, and I've also met some good friends from my site.

Any advice?

Does anyone have any advice for me?

What would you recommend for my situation? I also have another site that teaches a different dance, which gets about 400 unique visitors a day. Have monetized the site with adsense, but only earn about 10 cents every other day, lol.

 

[and5rey]

I would advise you to use a different template - something "more" Adsense-ready - better Adsense position could bring you more clicks.

And maybe you could try earning from your forum too. You could launch premium memberships and offer advantages to the premium users of your forum.

 

[Datalife]

Try changing your ad color. Maybe red is a more noticeable color. I hardly noticed your ads, and I'm sure it's the case with other visitors.

 

[CamMK27]

That video on the site is awesome. I wish I could do that lol...

Anyway a few things I noticed.. Your Logo is too big I think.. Make it smaller and move it to the left side where most websites have it. Then where the Logo is right now You can put adsense ads or any affiliate banners so the first thing people will see is those banners and adsense ads, it will increase the click throughs..and or will probably increase revenue through affiliate program..

Second Change the colors of the site to something nicer and brighter.. Like use a combination of blue and red or whatever else is better combination, this way You can also change the color on adsense to match the site.. It will def increase the clickthrough rate...

Since there is a forum you can def figure out what people are searching for or talking about then try to find affiliate programs related to those topics and that will bring in some revenues as well.

Start a premium membership on the forum with like 9.95 a month with some added incentives the premium members will get.. even 1 % of the members join the premium membership it will bring in over $3200 in revenues... Or You can have a 6 months membership for $39.95 so that is about $80/person per year.. And like I said even if 1%-2% will join it can be significant revenues.

Bring the " join our forum" on the right side top of the site so it is more prominent for more people to join the forums which can eventually increase your membership and as well as convert more people into premium members....

Oh also don't forget the privacy policy which I didn't see on the site.. Make sure you do have it as it is required according to adsense rules.

If you are a pimpwalker then I would say write an ebook ( with videos) on the topic and offer it for free to premium members which will intice more members to join the premium membership of course along with a few more perks that go with it.

I think if you applied some of this, it can def bring in some more revenues. I hope this helps.

Good Luck and Go out Pimp Your Pocket Now lol

 

[dowser]

If you are an expert (or at least somewhat know the subject) - why don't you create your own product - e-book, video instructions, etc. and make big part of your front page into the sales page? That's what I would do :o)

 

[sellturnkey]

You need to create exclusive forum for paid user only.

 

[budhi1976]

Have you consider to put some CPM/EPM adblock? considering you get 2000 UV/day, you'll make a handsome amount of cash from it, IMHO

 

[vWiz]

I have been to this site countless times. I would first like to thank you for developing this site this site is my fav for keeping up with the culture.

I know this sounds like a shot in the dark, but have you tried maybe contacting business to sponsor your site or possibly sponsor the dancers?

Best of luck and I hope you dont have to shut down the site.

 

[Ray]

The first thing i noticed when i entered your site is that the ads dont match or in any way relate to your content.. that may be one of your issues.. The placement seems fine.

Atleast your turning a profit, $1x30=30x12=$360. Most people dont have sites that generate any income at all..

-Ray

 

[Markster]

You should add (urban clothing) and (rap music) to your adsense channels if you already havnt.

 

[Jeffdeg45]

Why don't you promote mp3's on your website, or add some dancing books from Amazon. Just some ideas, with getting that much traffic, there is lots of possible profit, just keep trying new things. Budhi is right though, CPM ad blocks would be a sure route to take, meanwhile, be trying other things.

 

[N-A]

I'd have to agree with Jeffdeg45, join a program like LinkShare with iTunes and promote individual MP3s. I don't know if you would have much luck selling singles, but it may work out.

 

[NetOctave]

You have a great site. Visitors not clicking any ads could also be a good indication that your visitors are staying in your site. If they are just sticking to your site without clicking any ads, then don't worry about adsense.

But if you think your visitors are leaving you without clicking the ads, then try optimize the ads. One issue could be that there are less advertisers for c-walking. And when Adsense auto places the ads based on your site content, it shows irrelevant ads, which is less interesting for someone to click.

While searching the text on your front page, there is not a single text that matches "dance" or "music" on the front page. Since your site is dance and music related, it might help to rewrite the front page. Re-write your site contents slightly so that it brings more ads (related to music, dance etc) that your visitors might find interesting to click.

Secondly, experiment with the ad placing. Try left/ right sidebars, footer, header etc. You never know which one works the best.

BTW, thanks for the great video...

 

[sasa001]

Try changing your ad color. Maybe red is a more noticeable color. I hardly noticed your ads, and I'm sure it's the case with other visitors.

i agree
let ads be red or orange color