Creating an authority website with Mobile traffic (9)
Hello and Happy new year. New year = new resolution = instant action!
So I've been thinking on an idea that might work and I'll document it here. Mobile traffic is probably the traffic source I'll try the most this year (last year was Facebook and SEO), and since I'm a mobile phones/gadgets fan, I've always thought (NAH, but at least for the last 1-2 years) of building an authority website about gadgets and phones.
I've done this before, back in 2006 with a DIY PC website that grew a lot and still has thousands of visits per day. The main idea was to do tutorials and reviews about PC components. At the end, we had like 50 brands on board (big brands like Intel, NVIDIA, Alienware, etc) sending us samples and paying for banners. Enough said, that took me 6 years, and I didn't see results the first 1-1.5 years.
Since I'm a lot into the smartphone ecosystem I thought I could build an authority, or at least a big niche site for reviews (phones and apps), tutorials, hacks, etc.
The main advantage here is that with mobile traffic, we're already getting targeted traffic. That means, if I wanted to build a website about the Samsung galaxy S4, I could target ads to only those running in that phone. There are plenty of ways to monetize the website after that which I could touch later, but the idea is to build the initial readers base from mobile instead of starting from scratch.
My idea (you can destroy it of course) is to send the traffic to a landing page offering something for free, and get them subscribed to a newsletter so they receive it every time a new post is published.
What do you think about it? Has anyone tried to build a readership or a website for the long run with paid traffic instead of selling directly?
Here's an example of how it could work:
- Create Ads with different angles: battery problems, virus, best apps, free games, etc
- Target them to an specific smartphone niche (e.g. iphone, galaxy, whatever)
- Redirect them to a (mobile responsive) landing page for email subscription
- Build initial readership of at least 5k subscribers
- Monetize later with apps, affiliate programs, selling accessories (amazon, mobile nations, etc) or simple Adsense Ads, etc. Or in the worst case scenario, sell it.
Let me know what do you think about it or if you have any ideas. I've got some money to make the whole test and see if it's worth it, and I'd document everything in the middle to try and get the best results.
I'd be tempted to build this one with organic traffic first, and spend money on great content. That way you're building a longer-lasting traffic source that will hopefully keep feeding you leads for years to come.
Also, remember that readers may not be reading the article on the phone they own - I know I frequently Google on my desktop for articles about apps for my phone.
However, sounds like a very interesting idea in general, and I'm looking forward to seeing how you get on!
Its a unique concept, my fear is that people on there phones don't browse for too long. Are there any other authority mobile only sites?
Originally Posted by caurmen
Organic traffic is what i've been doing for the last 8 years. Takes some time and patience.
I, however, think that starting with a little advantage helps a lot not to get bored in the process. I did this with Facebook before, and it worked wonderful. Since my first post I was getting hundreds of comments and interactions, which also helps to get social media proof and subscribers.
When I did this with Facebook I had a solid user-base of 1k readers in 1 week, which otherwise could have taken me many months (if not a year).
I have in consideration that readers many times read on their laptops/desktops, but that wouldn't be a problem, they can still read reviews, download apps directly to their phones (iOS or Android at least) and do everything else with feed readers or social networks.
I guess I'm going with it. I'll use unique angles to try to attract more readers based on my experience with different phones (last year i had iphone 4, iphone 4s, nexus 4, galaxy s4, iphone 5s, note 3, moto x, lg g2). I know the main advantages and disadvantages of each one
Originally Posted by stackman
There are 2 ways I can use mobile traffic to start as an advantage:
1. Reader's base related to a unique phone/brand. Most big websites here are related to everything with Android, or everything about Apple, which sometimes get's them too spread.
2. Traffic (even paid) still helps get comments and social proof, which boosts SEO too. And I can do good SEO on my own too. This also means I can start a great website in other languages (Spanish) and there's almost no competition there, but it would be more difficult to monetize too.
EDIT: MOST STUPID QUESTION EVER: Where do I upload my avatar? Every forum's panel seems to be different nowadays
For mobile Ads, 320x50 is the best banner size or shall I test 728x90/300x250?
Also, while creating a campaign, is it better to get traffic from banners on apps or from websites?
Sounds good! You've clearly thought about your strategy, and I agree that the motivational boost of starting with traffic and subscribers is huge.
Originally Posted by servandosilva
There is no "best" size. The most popular size is 320x50. 300x250 will get you more iPad traffic, if you see value in that.
Also apps and websites there is no better, some apps are awesome some are terrible, the same goes with websites.
Originally Posted by Mr Green
I'll have to try both. Already preparing some banners to start the campaign this week.
Just a quick heads up here.
I already bought the domain and prepared a few articles. I'm creating the landing pages today and the banners so I can start the campaign.
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