Where Is The Traffic?

So I created a website. But where is the traffic to generate money. I am the only visitor to my site until I do something to attract internet traffic.

You may find many advertisements offering you a pre-built website that can make you a millionaire. You will scroll down miles and miles to see the testimonials of many millionaires !! Beware..! Don't fall into such scams. OK.. We cannot say it a scam. But it is not as easy to make money from a website as they say. To make millions and millions out of a website you need trillions and trillions of visitors to your site. And that is not easy. In fact, you may not even get a single visitor just by creating a website. It requires time and lot of hardwork.

Now I have a website and I need visitors. Cheapest way is to post about the website on various web directories and forums. The other option is paid advertisement to generate a sure traffic. But will it make money or you lose? Lets see. I am advertising on AdWords for a small amount (to start with, just 2.5 dollars a day). We will have a revenue analysis shortly.

Why AdSense, And Why Not Yahoo! Publisher Network?

Recently there is a confusion among AdSense publishers on shifting to Yahoo! Publisher Network (YPN). There are also rumours that earnings from YPN is better than AdSense, which must be true on per click basis, but doubtful on the gross earnings, as personally I doubt on the Click-Through-Rate (CTR) with YPN. The reason for a better revenue per click with YPN is that it requires the advertiser to spend a minumum of US$ 0.1 per click. But Google AdWords allows a minimum of upto US$ 0.01 per click. So if you get a click on a YPN ad., chances are that you get a better share than with AdSense.

For the same reason of higher minimum spend per click for advertisers with Yahoo! Publisher Network, chances are that only advertisers from those category having high value keywords will go with YPN. Most of the advertisers with low value keywords will be happy with Google AdWords. This turns out to a huge ad. inventory with AdSense compared to YPN, and thus more ad. varieties to AdSense publishers. High value keywords also imply that the Click-Through-Rates (CTR) are less for the ads. (that is why their value is high).

So, here are the chances. YPN delivers high value ads, but chances of getting clicks may be less. AdSense delivers a mix of high value and low value ads with a better CTR.

There was a time when we could use AdSense and YPN in the same website (but in different pages). But recently Google banned that also. So I had to choose, either AdSense or YPN. Not together.

Why I chose AdSense?

1. Variety of ads. (huge ad. inventory). Visitors will always have something new to click.


2. Possibly better CTR.

Why not Yahoo! Publisher Network?

1. Less ad. inventory.


2. Possibly lower CTR.


3. Ad. presentation is not that attractive as compared to AdSense. Truncated text, not-so-good font etc.

These reasonings are as per the state of these Ad. Networks as on July 2008. At this time, YPN is in beta stage. Things may change in time and above statements may become invalid.

You may have a different opinion. Please share it in the comments section.