A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a very inspirational story.  Scrooge is a man who knows his business.  He operates it at full optimization.  Every aspect of the business is calculated and profits are maximized.  All that is required is one piece of coal – so all he gives is one piece of coal.  Even the merriment of those around him does not distract from his purpose.  To run a highly profitable business.  Scrooge would be a wealthy webmaster.

If you are trying to make money from a website then you need to think about what is best for the website.  What will bring in the most money.  Your website’s purpose is not to make the world a better place or to help you find the meaning of life.  It’s purpose is to bring in the most amount of money possible. That is it. 

OK, so we have established the purpose of your website.  Now what?  How do you make the most amount of money possible?

Guessing What is Best For The Website

Currently this website makes around $2 dollars a day.  Could it make more?  Yes it can.  The chances that this website is fully optimized is very low.  The website was designed based on what I thought was best.  Not a really scientific method.  Put the ads here, the content there, the header should say this – hopefully that will work.  Unfortunately, at the beginning that is all you can do.  Just guess.  But Scrooge did not become rich by guessing how much coal to give away.  He knew exactly how much Cratchit needed to survive through Christmas.

To find out what makes the most money you need to perform tests on your website.  Tests that will tell you what works and what works better. 

A-B Test

A-B testing is one method to test what makes more money on your website.  You make two pages with  slight variations and then see which one makes the most money.  For example, on one page you put the text ads on the left and on another page you put the text ads on the right.  Run one page for a week and then run the other page for a week.  Compare the results and keep the page with the best returns.

The important aspect of this test is that the content must be the same for both pages.  You are not testing the content.  Your results would be useless if your changed the content.  The content is the product.  You are just changing the packaging.  Test what packaging sells the most content.

Change the location of ads, type of ad, location of the content, the size of the header, the text of the header.  What works better a banner ad or a text ad, a large font bolded header with short text or a small font  but descriptive header text?  ‘THIS IS A GREAT POST!’  or ‘This is a great post because I wrote it’.

Running A Test In Parallel

When performing an experiment it is important to keep the amount of variables that could effect your results to a minimum.  Isolate what you are testing.  Ensure what you are testing is only effected by factors you control.

The normal method of doing a webpage optimization test is to run a page for a week.  Record the results.  Change the page.  Then run the new page for a week.  This method has a major flaw.  It is run in two different times.  There are too many external factors that could effect the results.

The problem is that between the two weeks you receive different types of traffic.  For example, during the first week your website might rise up in reddit.com and you get lots of visitors from reddit.  These are completely different types of visitors then the ones you get the second week in which you make a great post on a niche related forum.  The first week was anybody and everybody, the second week were niche related visitors.  Two different type of visitors.  This situation makes your test completely useless.

What you need to do is run the two pages at the same time.  So that the test is not effected by the type of traffic.  Each page is viewed by the same type of traffic.  You need to run the two pages at the same time.

How to Run A-B Test in Parallel

I created PHP code to run A-B tests in parallel.  Here is what I do:

1. Pick a page on website that I want to test. Lets say tinytim.php.
2. Make an copy of it. Now I have two identical pages.
3. Rename the original page to tinytim_1.php and the copy to tinytim_2.php.
4. I make a small change to tinytim_2.php. Ensuring that the pages have different ads or create specific ad channels for each page, so that you I have a way of measuring the results.
5. Create a new third PHP page. Call it tinytim.php.
6. Paste this code into it:


<?php
srand(time());
$random = (rand()%2);
if ($random==0){
    include('tinytim_1.php');
}else{
    include('tinytim_2.php');
}
?>


How It Works

When the tinytim.php is requested the PHP code randomly picks one the the two pages to display.  There is a 50% chance that  tinytim_1.php will be displayed and a 50% chance that  tinytim_2.php will be displayed.  The PHP code will pick one of the pages and then copy the page to the tinytim.php page.

The visitor does not notice anything different.  As far as they are concerned they are viewing the tinytim.php page.

After a week of running this I compare the results of the different ads.  Which one made more money.

With this method you are certain that your tests is not effected by different types of traffic.  Each of the two pages has an equal chance of being called at any given time.  On a given day if there are a hundred visitors then 50 of them will be presented with tinytim_1.php and 50 will be presented with tinytim_2.php.  The daily variations in  types of traffic does not effect the test results.  Any A-B website test method that is not in parallel – I say ba humbug.

There is a HOW TO in the Post, What YOU Should Do

When I started creating the website I gave myself a full week to create the initial content. The goal was 15 pages.   The procedure was simple.  Wake up early in the morning. Do research.  Stare at a blank page of OpenOffice Writer and then begin writing.

What emerged was 15 hogpog pages.  They are all about ‘Starting a Website’.  The standard stuff:

• Registering a Domain Name
• Getting a Web Host Service
• Making Money with Ads
• Making Money with Affiliates
• …and so on

They are placed on a page called ‘Information’.  Here is what it looks like:

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Unfortunately, the page is all wrong.  It does not target a specific audience.

Who Visits The Site:

Three types of  Internet users:

1. Do not care about creating a website
2. Have a website and want to see if they can get tips to make theirs better
3. Want to create a website and make money online but do not know how to start

Type 1 – Do Not Visit Website

Most Internet users are type 1.  They are spectators.  They use the Internet for information and entertainment.  They are not interested in creating a website or making money online.  Even though these are the most abundant users on the Internet they do not visit my site.  They are not lured by the question, ‘How This Website Makes Money’.  Most of them will never visit my site.  So I do not care about them.

Because of the way I market the website, most of the visitors are type 2 and 3.

Type 2 – Visit Website, I Have Nothing To Teach Them

Visitor type 2 want to know how the website is doing so that they can compare their stats with mine.  Then either laugh at me, think I am fudging the numbers, or possibly get inspired.  Since my website is new and I know very little about making money online, they know more then I do.  I cannot help them.

Type 3 – Visit Website, Lots of Them, I can Teach Them

Visitor type number 3 is the one that concerns me most.  They are ones I can help.  I know how to create a website.  The proof is the site itself.  I have something to offer them – to teach how to create a money making website.

They are the most abundant.  There is a Type 3 visitor born every minute – it is so easy to become one.  You are type 1 and then you realize that ‘Hey I could do this…I could make money online.’  Every type 1 has the potential to become a type 3.  They aspire to be a webmaster but just do not know how.  Where to start?  What is a domain name?  How much can be made?  These are questions I know the answers to. 

Lots of them and looking for information.  Here I am, ready to help.  Just need to make sure that they realize that I can help.

Fixing The Information Page

The problem with my current ‘Information’ page is that it does not focus on the type 3 visitor.  Visitor Bob is looking at the information page and is unsure if it is relevant.  If Bob is type 2 then he will click on a few pages and say to himself, “I know all this stuff.  Bye”.  If Bob is type 3 then he looks at the page and says to himself, “Domain names? Affiliates?  What is that?  I want to create a website…does this page teach me how?  Probably not.  Bye.”

The information page needs to be revamped.  It needs to clearly target type 3.  The visitor that needs the most help.  The visitor I can help the most.

The first step will be to change the name.  Instead of ‘Information’ it will be renamed to ‘Learn How’.  This is so obvious.  The website is called how this website makes money.  It should have a ‘Learn How’ page.

Then the links will be renamed to specifically target type 3.  Sections like, ‘How to create a website for beginners’, ‘What beginners need to know’, and ‘How beginners can make make money online’.

By making these changes a target audience will be served.  That should increase traffic.  That should increase revenue.

Working For Peanuts

All that remains is to make the changes.  I expect it will take about 5 hours to make all the changes.  So far I have worked 241 hours and made $93.15 which means that I make $0.39 per hour.   $0.39 multiplied by 5 hours is $1.95.  For now my motivation must be to help those who seek help, not to make money.

About Traffic, Visitors, Promotion, Actual Stats From The Website Used, What YOU Should Do

Can Jesus help me make money?  I am a little rusty with my recollection of Jesus stories, but I think I remember the gist of a few of them.  There is the one about how He came across a man who had been sleeping in a cave for days.  The man refused to talk to anybody, eat, or even breath.  Jesus miraculously convinced him that he better get up and return to work otherwise he will not be invited to the office Christmas party.  And there is the inspiring story of Jesus informing a couple of down on their luck fisherman, that the real money is in the ‘personal self help’ industry.  These two fisherman went on to become leaders in the field.

My problem is traffic.  It has stayed steady around 50 visitors a day for a couple of weeks.  I post to forums and make comments on other blogs.  This gets traffic, but always around 50 visitors.  I cannot seems to get anymore. I read on other websites that they receive thousands of visitors a day.  How do they do this?  Jesus help me.

Actually I have an inkling of what the problem is.  This site gets no traffic from search engines.  Last month only 11 visitors found the site via Google.  All the rest were through forums, and bloggers checking who left a comment on their blog.  I need more search traffic. How to increase traffic from search engines?

Writing Posts For Google Or For People

This Sunday morning while everybody was at church I was doing research about increasing search traffic. I found plenty of articles which argue that to get lots of traffic you need to write for Google, not for people.

There are two ways to write a post.  First one is to write for people.  Make it interesting.  Offer some advise.  Make the reader feel special.  Reading your post the visitor will feel good about themselves and they will think you are a great person.  They will keep coming back for more and they will tell their friends.  That’s great.

Writing Posts for Google

The second type is to write the post for Google.  Google is a machine.  It does not know what words mean.  You can not make Google smile or feel good.  Google takes the words on your post and creates statistics.  What words are used, how often are they used, what words are used the title, what words are bold.

By using certain words in your website and by using them in a specific way, you can get Google to place your website at the beginning of search results.  If your website is at the top of Google searches then you will get more traffic.  More traffic is more money.

Your website does not need to be interesting.  It does not need to make readers happy.  It simply needs traffic.  Google brings you traffic.  Once the traffic arrives visitors will have a look around; and find the material repetitive and useless.  Then quickly becoming bored, they click an ad just to get away from your site.  Jesus hallelujah.

How To Get Search Traffic

The trick is to create a website in a very competitive niche.  Which means a niche that lots of people search for.  A good example is “money”.  Every month 30,000,000 searches are done for the term money.   If you can got to the top of search results for money you can consider yourself a millionaire.  But most likely you will not get to the top of search results with that word alone.  No matter how well your content is geared towards making Google happy.  There is too much competition.

So what you need to do is combine the very competitive keyword with another keyword.  A word with less searches and therefore not as competitive.  For example , “Jesus”.  The term “Money Jesus” is searched 6,600 times.  Now you have a chance of getting to the top of search results for “Money Jesus”.  How?  Make Google think your post is perfect for people looking up the term “Money Jesus”.

Google with rank you higher in searches if you:

• Have the keywords in your title.
• The first sentence has your keywords
• You do not use the keyword too much. Google will think that you are making the post simply to please Google. There is lots of debate about what is ‘too much’. So to be safe do not use keywords ‘too much’.
• The last sentence contains your keywords.

These are the tips that I have been able to gather on the Internet.  Are they true?  Do they work?  Who knows.  This is simply what a lot people think that Google likes.  Of course, Google does not reveal what it likes.  If it did, then there would be a lot of crappy posts  on page 1 of search results.  The only way to find out if its true is to try.

Traffic vs. Morality

Something about creating a website specifically for Google just does not feel biblical.  It feels wrong.  True, I need traffic and will do almost anything for it.  But writing posts simply to trick Google into sending me traffic -  that is not right. I have to ask myself, is that something Jesus would do to make money?

About Traffic, Visitors, Promotion, Optimistic and Motivational, There is a HOW TO in the Post, What YOU Should Do

I am not a social butterfly. I do not enjoy going to house warming parties and commenting on the beautiful red rug. I do not care that my friend’s Facebook status is “Gone to store for apples.”

I had a Facebook account, but after a few months stopped using it. Too much information about things I do not care about. Why do people spend so much time exchanging the minutia of everyday events. Should I care that my friend went to British Columbia for a vacation and that he saw a moose. Should I look at his 22 pictures of the moose eating grass and be entertained? I do not understand it.

Now there is Twitter. Exchange even smaller bits of information. It is so easy to do that you will get details like, “feeling hungry, thinking of eating a carrot”. All day you can watch these little bits of unfiltered information scrolling across your screen. When I first heard about it, I thought that it was a ridiculous idea. Nobody will use it.

Not only are people reading these little packets of non-info. They also enjoy writing them. Lots of them. “I found a dime under the bed today”. Before I started this website all these social networks did not concern me. They are a success – great – but does not concern me.

But now it looks like I need to use them. On every blog about increasing traffic you read about how vital the social networks are to traffic. Sign up to as many social sites as you can and start building your network.

That scares me a little. I do not want to turn into a micro information junky. Spending hours exchanging small talk with 200 network friends. Small talking to 5 people at a cocktail party scares me. “How’s the weather?”, “Good” “Hows work?”, “Good”. Repeat 5 times. And now with Twitter I would have to do that 200 times a day.

Social Networks are Great For Traffic

Social Networks are good because you can send information through them very quickly. It is a very simple principle:

You know something (1 person knows)
You tell two of your friends (3 people know)
Each of them tells two of their friends (10 people know)
Each of them tell two of their friends (18 people know)

As this continues through the network more and more people know at a faster and faster rate. Simply by telling two of your friends you can get the information to hundreds of people in very little time. It just depends how big the network is and how willing your friends are to tell their friends. You tell them that you won the lottery and in no time all your friends will know.

The other advantage is that your friends do not have the same friends as you do. So your friends might tell somebody that you do not even know. Now suddenly it is in a network that you did not even know existed. People you do not know are receiving your information.

Networking sounds great. A great way to get traffic. It is. But I am not going to do it.

The First Step Is The Most Important

The most important step in the social network is the first one. Tell two of your friends. That gets the ball rolling. After that they tell their friends and on it goes.

The question is: why should I spend my time doing that first step? Other people will do it for me. If the website is interesting, if people want to pass it on to their friends then they will. I would have to start my social network from scratch. I would have to login everyday and chat with my network. Reading all the banter, and writing banter. Day in and day out. Lots of time wasted.

Let Other People Do the Social Networking

Instead of me doing it, there are people out there already with huge social networks. They enjoy exchanging information. If one of the people visit the website and finds it interesting then they will pass it on.

Currently I have 50 visitors a day. I am guessing that lots of them use Facebook and Twitter. At least some of them will find the website interesting and pass it on. Start the network process. Why should I spend my time starting the process when there are so many others that enjoy doing it and have much larger networks then I could ever have.

My small contribution to the increase in traffic via social network would be small compared to the abilities of my visitors. I would just be one out of many. My contribution small compared to the whole. Not worth the effort. I will focus on the website. Adding and improving content. Let the social butterflies with their establish networks do the marketing. They want to do it.

Of course, if my traffic does not increase, then I will register onto Twitter and tell my friends that “I just got back from the store. I am so happy. The apples where on sale.”

About Traffic, Visitors, Promotion, So You Want To Be A Webmaster...Get in my Head, What YOU Expect vs Reality, What YOU Should Do

When you first start a website.  Do not monetize.  Do not put up any ads.  First get a steady traffic base and then put up ads.

That is the recommendation that you will hear often.  I heard it too.  But I did not do it that way.  From day one there have been ads on the website. 

Like B.F. Skinner’s piano playing pigeons, I need to be constantly rewarded to perform a task.  The pigeons learned to play a toy piano by being given a treat when they hit the correct key.  I make updates to the website when an ad is clicked.

For me to create the website, post on forums, answer emails, for months without gain would be very difficult.  Make an update to website, get a treat.  Make a another update, get another treat.  This is the way I operate.  Like a pigeon.

So I put three ad zones on the website on day one.  Graphic banner on the left, unit ad on the top, and text ad on the right.  The website has been up for 26 days with 517 visitors.  Here are the earnings results for the different ad zones:

• Left Banner Ad: $5.38
• Top Unit Ad: $2.50
• Right Text Ad: $15.83

You can see the text ad on the right is the clear winner.  The unit ad on  the top is far behind.  Time to get rid of it.

Too Many Ads Increases Bounce

Not only does it not make any money, it also makes the site look cluttered.  The home page looks messy  – smothered by ads.  This is a major turn off for a lot of visitors.  They think to themselves, “This guy is only concerned with making money.”  I am.  But the visitors should not know that.

The clutter of ads on the website might explain the high bounce rate.  Currently 50% of the visitors land on my homepage and without looking at any other pages they leave.  They come in, look at the mess, and leave.

So, I will remove the unit ad.  This will:

• Make the site look cleaner
• Decrease the bounce rate
• Increase revenue

How will removing an ad increase revenue?  By removing the ad, the page will be less cluttered.  The visitor will be more willing to look at the other pages instead of leaving.

More Page Views By Reducing Bounce

Lets guess that had the unit ad not been there from the beginning, the bounce rate would be 10% lower as a result.  10% of all my visitors would not have bounced off the site, instead they looked at more pages. 

• Total visitors is 517
• 10% of 517 is 51 visitors
• Average page views per visitor is 2.83

Therefore instead of these 51 visitor just seeing 1 page and bouncing off, they would see   2.83 pages.  51 * 2.83 =  147 pages.  Now all we have to do is subtract the 51 pages that the bouncers already saw and we have 96 additional page views.  96 more page views by reducing the bounce rate by 10%.

How Does That Translate Into Earnings?

• Total Page Views: 1445
• Total Revenue Ads (minus Unit Ad): $21.20
• Revenue/Page View: $0.0146

So we multiply 96 additional pages by $0.0146 and we have $1.40.  Because of that unit ad I lost $1.40 of revenue.  Does not sound like much until you consider that it represents a 6.6% of my total revenue.  Reduce the number of ads and increase revenue by 6.6%.

Today I removed the unit ad.  In a future post we will see whether the bounce rate has decreased and revenue/pageview increased.   It will.

About Revenue, Earnings, Money, What YOU Expect vs Reality, What YOU Should Do