Do you think there comes a point when you have done all you can for your website and hit a "ceiling"? In terms of SEO and SEM you maybe do all your "regular" things like: talk in forums etc and spread the gospel of your link; use web position gold; buy adwords etc etc... and you get around 10-15 dollars per day from your site... Do you think this may just be the optimal scenario for many people? And at that point it's time to focus your attention on building a new site...
If you believe in the site then you shouldn't give up, it's all about getting that big break, the big link.
I feel that to some extent that is true. If you look at the SERPs currently due to "Must Rank" the playing field for many keyword terms is down to 9 spaces. Add in either Edu Gov Wiki Ebay Amazon or About always having a front page spot sometimes 2 eh??? Then the playing field is down to 8. Another thing that comes into play is "catch up" its hard as hell to catch up and pass a 1997, 98 authority site especially if it has even a remote understanding of SEO methods. That being said I don't think sites ever reach perfection, seems things can always be improved when viewed through a different set of eyes than your own.
Keep building the site, adding useful content and spread the word on that. I have not yet come across a subject where new content is impossible to create. It does take work and inspiration though. So if a subject doesn't inspire you right now, go ahead and create that new site - but keep up on that first topic... Inspiration can only hit if you think about that subject regularly and keep up with 'what's hot' in the forums (for instance). [edited] Wikipedia isn't a problem, if you can get (and keep) a link there. Which goes right back to: create good content.[/edited]
If your site has 100 pages making $15.00/day then 200 pages should make about $30.00/day. There is no ceiling if you keep adding content.
Still, adding good content based on what your visitors are looking for, research into areas which pay most and promoting your site - should combined help get your income up.
While original content level is the single most important factor, it is not the only one. How many and of what quality are the incoming links to your site? This will obviously increase traffic and slowly increase your ranking on the searhc engines. With a few hundred pages you should be able to generate links for different sections of your site. Remember while doing this as well, try not to get all of your incoming links to your home page. Try to get some of your link partners to link to pages inside the site, to help generate more traffic for those specific areas.
And if you did lose interest completely, then all is practically lost. You must be interested in the topics you are writing about to be able to continue and persevere.
just remember once you have done all you think you can do for your site, try marketting a new key word, thus drawing a new target audience.
I don't think you can hit a ceiling because you can always try and attract more traffic and add more content, etc. Even if there was a ceiling, why would it be $15 (I know its an example)? We know that quite a few people have said in other threads that they earn hundreds a day from one site, some even earn thousands (sorry to use PlentyOffFish as an example).
Youtube potentially reached a ceiling. That is after it ranked the 9th site on the whole of the internet. So yes, I guess there is. But for your niche? Dont give up on it, the broadband revolution is only just starting. (seriously, this year, i was on dial up 10 years, till i was finally able to get DSL, and i live in a 1st world country). Pierce
There is no limit to what you can do online. All things are possible. You have to stay focused, and have a good reson for doing what you are doing. Try to be better than the comp.
Certain types of sites, namely niche product related sites can absolutely reach a ceiling especially if they receive most of their traffic from search engines. At some point search traffic will level off or even start to go down for a given niche if the niche isn't growing. For example, lets say that you rank well for 2007 Honda Accord. There untimately will be a finite number of searches per month for the keyword phrase as well an eventual decline in searches when the 2008 Honda Accord becomes available.
There is always something to build and improve. And some day out from nowhere your site is gona skyrocket for an unknown reason to humans! lol