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Site traffic typically peaks every year around the holidays (December, January, when folks have more free time), then falls & consolidates before the next up-surge begins .. to new highs. This has been the pattern year in, year out. Traffic was never a major concern, but rather a fun metric to watch grow. Now that it affect$ revenue however, I've become more traffic-conscious, and admit to thinking of ways it can be maximized (new for me). Seems the next up-surge has begun. Yesterday logged the largest revenue numbers since the holidays, and today's numbers appear headed past those of yesterday. Update: yeah, we are well past yesterday's numbers. And more hours remain for the day. ••• today's entry continued ••• Another traffic-factor is that the most recent product released by Symantec which contains a copy of Norton Ghost (hard drive back-up software) is called Norton Save & Restore. (It contains & uses Norton Ghost but the new title doesn't reference Ghost .. like all other versions have.) Since I added a blurb in the Ghost guide to address the relationship between Ghost & Norton Save & Restore, traffic to the Ghost guide has been climbing steadily, as has its click-thru-rate. Another consideration along these lines - since I "blended" the ads, as recommended by experts in this area - is that at least one person (Harvey) has mentioned clicking on an ad, thinking it was really a link I had put there myself (& personally recommended). This generates mixed feelings. On one hand, more clicks *do* generate more revenue (which is good). On the other, tho, since I have no control over *which* ads get displayed (only over their shape & color-scheme) ... ... am I being deceptive? .. since I made the ads look so much like the rest of my site (i.e. "blended"). I figured this type of confusion was bound to happen, which is why I originally began by sporting ads with a slightly different shade (like these). I mean, integrity counts for something, right? I have always tried hard to shoot straight with readers (which is easier to do sans the corrupting influences of capitalism). Or maybe I'm making much ado about nothing... The experts who I've been working with, regarding ways to maximize site revenue, insist I did things right, saying: "The strategy you're following of first developing great content, then monetizing the traffic this content generates is absolutely the best way to go." |
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