Looking for Monetisation ideas for this site

[whathits]

Hi all, just wanted to get some ideas from some more experienced peers in how I can monetise this site:

http://bit.ly/1Bxf1t4

It is currently ranking strongly, I've only thrown up a simple site and pre-made theme with some custom content. It has a heap of potential however I'm undecided on which direction to take it with the limited amount of resources I currently have.

Tripadvisor affiliate that I have running isn't set up well, just thrown in there for now. It makes a tiny bit but there must be some better options! I'm leaning towards a tour/business directory.

Any suggestions appreciated!
Cheers,
chris

 

[helloworld]

Hi all, just wanted to get some ideas from some more experienced peers in how I can monetise this site:

http://bit.ly/1Bxf1t4

It is currently ranking strongly, I've only thrown up a simple site and pre-made theme with some custom content. It has a heap of potential however I'm undecided on which direction to take it with the limited amount of resources I currently have.

Tripadvisor affiliate that I have running isn't set up well, just thrown in there for now. It makes a tiny bit but there must be some better options! I'm leaning towards a tour/business directory.

Any suggestions appreciated!
Cheers,
chris

This is quite an easy one. You have some really nice rankings. You need to find the local tourism suppliers and sell their packages. For most you will be able to ask for $70 per lead which I know a melbourne operator is paying a site for similar deal.

Being on the sunshine coast I'd expect the opportunities to be endless.

 

[whathits]

Thanks helloworld, in regards to the Melbourne operator you know, what is considered a lead? A booking enquiry?

That's a pretty decent CPL, sounds like it is definitely worth taking the time to contact local tourism suppliers compared to going with an affiliate program like Viator.

 

[helloworld]

I just had a look at the site and it appears he has now integrated a booking system. So I presume users are actually landing on the site the booking is made and then farmed off to the vendor.

I am not sure how it works exactly as I know the vendor and he has a separate booking system with a 3rd party.

Also, just looked at his prices. There is very little margain in it for the vendor so you might want to start low first and get some traction.

Good luck. Keen to hear how it goes.

 

[DamianLondon]

I've been trialing a couple of affiliate programs in the travel sector:

- Hotelscombined (hotels)
- dohop (flights, rental cars)
- DGM (various, including travel insurance)

Made a few bucks thus far, but again, just trial process at the moment.

 

[petermeadit]

What about the obvious paid ads. But also allow people to pay to be featured?

 

[Offtap]

What about the obvious paid ads. But also allow people to pay to be featured?

+1 this - I would have thought that would be where the real money was.

 

[whathits]

Thanks guys,

petermeadit - this was along the lines of what I was thinking. Converting the site into a business directory for food, tours and so on.

I think ultimately this is what I'll do, can anyone suggest similar sites on a small/niche scale for other destinations that do this? I'm hesitant to build a traditional style directory because I question how useful these are for users.

 

[James]

Business/ Travel directory can be a hard one, guys we share an office with at the moment one a big one in a market. People usually do not want to pay for listings.

Best advice -

1. Direct ad sales to end users.
2. Hotelscombined affiliate is alright.
3. work out leads based on a specific deal, $70CPL is high we deal with some markets 30 CPL range.

Call a few operators in the space and see what the are currently doing to drive leads offer them ad sales that way.

 

[matthewheyes]

@whathits - I would suggest taking a look at your site urgently. There seems to be something wrong with your wp-config file. It's currently prompting for a clean WordPress install. Hope you've got a backup :S

 

[whathits]

Thanks Matthew for the heads up! I'm working to restore it now.

How annoying.