In need of advice... how to increase traffic/monetize.

Hey guys,

I own Seekopia.com. While the posts and members have been increasing, it's definitely not growing at the rate I want it to

I've been thinking of adding some unique feature but to be honest, I can't really think of one that will do the trick. I've already spent so much time and money on this project and unfortunately, I'm still seeing hardly any money... (I'm still far from breaking even!)

I do know that there are several blogging platforms but I want to see if you have any advice on how to improve it / get more traffic / monetize it.

If not, I might have to sell the whole thing... I can't keep paying marketing + dedicated hosting month after month with no returns!

Thank you for your time,
Marc

 

the thing about membership sites is there r too many .. too many that offer the same thing..

in ur case if i checked right it the social network for bloggers..
the bad side is ur not the first one.. so naturally ur not the best one... hence ur not getting good traffic.. because ppl have alternatives that are bigger and more famous...

you catch the hint.. get it known otherwise u get no traffic..
offer something good for free .. that is a vital tactic to get registrations.. its the same way opt -ins work..

now 2 things can happen from there..

if u do offer sumthing good for free and get loads of sign ups .. those people might just be signing up for the 'free product or service'
but at the same time this increases the value of ur website and the domain.. hence it gets easier to get genuine sign-ups..

if ur spending money on marketing... without a marketing plan no doubt ur not making anything...

u need to make it known what u offer and others dont.. what is it about seekopia that not many websites offer.. that is the aim.. to convey this message to the public...

i helped this company a few months back who were running a blog host.. but because of lack of traffic they were wanting to sell it..

due to client privacy i cant say the same... but our aim changed from trying to get traffic to hosting a few blogs that would generate traffic.. if those blogs would generate traffic your website would..

i hope u understand what i mean... instead of wasting money on marketing tactics that dont work.. u shud try and get a few blogs running on ur website that would get traffic.. either search engines or whatever..
if the blogs are worth reading ull start getting sign ups..

hope it helps

 

the problem is people nowadays hate making accounts and logging in ... but ya, also, what the other person said, too many websites like that ... it has to have something original to attract traffic

 

i was thinking... maybe a "rate my blog post" feature... where a random post is shown and users rate it positively or negatively and based on that it will go up or down on the homepage... or not.

 

I suggest you to promote your site through PPC advertising.

 

I am, I currently use Facebook Ads...

 

yeh thats a good idea aswell. take the dig out of digg..

however i dont agree with the ppc idea.. ur start-up cost shud be minimum.. once u see there is a slow increase then u advertise..

unless u do ppc and offer sumthing ppl cant live without.. (not litterally - but internet terminology) then ppc works..

advertising a more or less empty blog host lets say when there r options of wordpress and blogger doesnt really work.. theres a reason no ones been able to come to the same height as the two..


iv got another idea.. link seekopia profiles to other bigger social network profiles facebook myspace - that means they can sign up as facebook users.. thats how alot of other sites do.. then have these peoples blogs available on their other social network profiles aswell.. do u know what i mean?

 

u have to use social marketing sites like digg, propeller, twitter.com etc . it will work because i got lot of traffic by using this mean .

 

Oh well let's see...it is a social network for bloggers..so your primary job should have been in promoting it to bloggers..

I am a blogger, and I am pretty active here on DP., and never got to know about Seekopia..So, I can say tht you did not promote your site well enough...You don't need to spam, but you should somehow get the word out..Write to bloggers who write about blogging asking them for a site review., ensure that new content that is updated in the social network is still indexed by Google so you can get new visitors, etc.

 

Wrong. Promote where you have your target audience for everlasting traffic. Bloggers dont come to Digg and propeller. Some are here on DP, and others are on sites like MyBlogLog, and other blogging related blogs...Promote your site through these channels

 

Yeah, I was planning on doing that. Asking for site reviews...

However, it there a feature that you think could make a huge difference? As a blogger, what feature would you love to see that doesn't exist?

 

Promote your site to bloggers and Internet Marketiners. Allow folks to blatantly sell their products/services as posts. let it be known that you can market your products on this sites. For the folks who are gonna say you'll just get spammers, spammers suck, etc. Those are usually the worst spammers or should I say the est spammers becuase thjey make their spam look legit.

One more point, That's how squidoo got started, they prett much let you post what ever you wanted. Not everyone has the testicular fortitude to do that. So, let any one and every one (maybe not adult stuff or hate stuff) post their articles and they won't get deleted.

After you start to get the traffic you are looking for, then you can advertise links on your site. Just my 2 cents

 

I see what you mean jjjust. Actually, this is the issue I was having. Many people were adding posts to promote everything... products/services etc. And some of it seemed like spam. The thing is I do not want it to end up becoming a spam-filled website... But I do see your point... This is indeed what it happening now. I never actually thought of all the promotional posts I'm getting as beneficial but I see what you mean.

So you suggest I promote it to internet marketers? Wouldn't it end up like an article website (www.articlecity.com etc...)?

 

First off, your site is boring. There are very little interesting subjects there.

And even if you do have a piece there that is interesting, put it on your homepage for them to read.

Don't make them click on a link to read it all.

Your homepage is your salesman, sort of speak. He should not stop talking!

How many visitors have you received and how many sign-ups have you had so far?

If a board or blog isn't appealing, like JohnChow's and Shoemoney's, not only do most people do not keep going back to boards and blogs, it is very hard to get them to come in the first place.

The fact is, most of the internet users just aren't interested.

Look at many of the popular or somewhat popular sites out ther that get hundreds of thousands on up to over a million monthly visitors, yet less than 1% sign up, and, keep coming back.

That's just the way it is.

So, on something like this, you can expect very low sign ups, or, for that matter, repeat visitors.

You need A LOT of visitors coming in to get that low percentage of repeat readers!

Study the successful blogs, like, ProBloger, ShoeMoney and JohnChow.com.

Did you know that they all advertised?


The next thing is...your ads could also be the problem. If they are worded wrong, you will get more curiosity seekers.

Exactly.

I love how noobs say they get "a lot of traffic." What, a few here and there, along with a high bounce rate? *rolls eyes*

 

Most Internet Marketers have blogs. SO the would promote their posts using your site. We are always looking for more links.

 

Ah I see... You're right. So in that case... should I slightly reword the introduction? And let everyone know they can promote their websites/products etc. Maybe I can add an authors box and let them add their own links?

 

That might work. I am just throwing htings out to you, so how about have ing people pay a subscription to get more links. how they get more links? Maybe include their links at the bottom of each post. do it randomly of course. something like that...

 

I see what you mean.. Thanks a lot. From your point of view, if I did have to do a subscription fee, how much would you be willing to pay? Say, one link per post is free. Anymore requires a premium account...

 

What I meant was allow anyone to pay a premium. What that premium does and allow them to enter in their url & anchor text links. Then you randomly place their links in other posts. Post from the Free Subscribers.... This way you still get the spammers, no problem, but the spammers help out with more links for the premium subscribers. You might want to try & start at about 14.95 - 19.95 a month.

 

I see, that's a good idea. And you'd randomly place the links.. at the bottom of each post? I like your idea - Thanks. I was really struggling to find out how I could improve it... I don't want to bother you or waste your time, but if you have any ideas, I'd love to have chat