There are websites out there that have the potential to bring you and your business more traffic. And more traffic means more revenue. That’s a positive, and if you find the right places to advertise you’ll see growth for your own business.
More often than not though, many travel blogs are not going to bring you additional business. Fact of the matter is, your web presence might already garner more interest than the travel blog you’re thinking about advertising on.
Several years ago while I still operated my studio in Prescott, AZ, a travel blogger came into the gallery looking to add us as a sponsor on his travel website. Something didn’t seem quite right to me, and I personally passed on the proposition. My business partner however thought it sounded like an interesting idea for the gallery and went for it.
Several hundred dollars later, and many weeks after the blogger’s visit we got to see the video. Under 3 minutes long, shaky, poor video quality, poor audio quality, and shoddy editing. Bottom line? My business partner got taken for a ride.
My personal travel blog. Currently ranked #32 globally by Technorati for their Travel Blog category
Educate yourself about your own web presence
When the blogger came into the gallery I did a quick search on him and his website. I already tracked my own web statistics and rankings, and quickly found that he should be advertising on my site, not me on his site. My personal travel blog has a lot of daily traffic, his had none. My Google and Alexa Rankings were well above his. Bottom line, I had way more traffic than he did, so why would I give him my money?
If you’re looking to advertise on somebody else’s website here are a few tips.
- Ask to see their daily traffic averages. If they’re serious they’ll be able to produce them.
- Have them SHOW you their Google Analytics. If they’re actually serious about their web presence they’ve got an analytics account.
- Ask to see average referral links. How many times a day do their readers follow a link to an external site or advertiser.
- Do a little digging. You can easily search Google Rankings, Alexa Rankings, Technorati Rankings (a blog ranking service).
- Check out your own numbers vs the site you want to advertise on. If your numbers are better, it’s a no sale!
- Look at the other site sponsors. Better yet, contact them to see if they’re getting results.
In the end, for a small business owner with a website looking for more traffic and customers, you actually have to get a little educated.
The final wrap on the story for my former business partner’s investment with the travel blogger? The video was posted on YouTube well over 1 year ago. It has had a total of 73 views in that year. That’s an average of about 6 views per month being sent by the travel blogger. Hundreds of dollars out the window for an advertisement that basically reaches no one.
To see an active travel / RV Living blog stop by my personal site, The Airstream Chronicles Continued.