Capitalizing on a spike of traffic?

September 24, 2004 11:06 AM

If I suddenly posted something on my website that I knew would get a ton of traffic, what would be the best way to, literally, capitalize on that traffic? If lightning struck, who would I call/partner with to make sure I got the maximum $$ possible out of all those eyeballs? Assume "selling out to the Man" would not be a concern, and further assume I would have very little time to arrange whatever the answer is. Also, assume the new higher traffic would be short-lived, a few weeks at most.
posted by luser to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

tough one with no details
posted by subpixel at 11:17 AM on September 24, 2004

If you're posting something bandwidth intensive, like a video, good luck making more money than you'll be paying for the traffic.

Easiest and quickest, but not particularly profitable, would be to set up a Google Adwords program.
posted by davebug at 12:54 PM on September 24, 2004

Google adwords. Amazon referrals to related products (remember, even if they don't buy what you link to, if they buy anything at all you get a cut -- once a guy followed a link from my blog and bought a swank digital camera in the same session; I made a nice commission from that). Some credit cards pay nice commissions; you might Google for those and throw up a banner ad or two.
posted by kindall at 1:41 PM on September 24, 2004

The Amazon Associates program can pay well if you can convince people to click through and buy a product.
posted by falconred at 1:41 PM on September 24, 2004

Zombie Reagan used Google Adsense to earn $300/day while the meme was in full-force. (Make sure the site doesn't violate Google's guidelines, though.)
posted by waxpancake at 2:19 PM on September 24, 2004

I'm with davebug. Don't spend any money trying to make money. You're going to come out a loser on this if you're merely offering up something which can be right-clicked to the desktop. If you're streaming something, your hosting bills will kill you. If it's a game or a flash novelty, unless you're fricking brilliant, you won't make a cent over hosting costs and lunch. Any ads on the page will get a click-through rate of 0.01 percent or less. If you have some text-based hotness, then your text ad click-throughs will be higher, but still small. If you've got a full, cool site, like Zombie Reagan, then you might have something with lasting dollar power. And I'm not sure about waxpancake's $300 number; a line at the bottom of the Zombie Reagan site says, "Between June 9th and 22nd, 2004, Bush-ZombieReagan.com raised over $300." That's not $300 a day, unless it went up later. Also, the Adsense ads there are very well integrated: they don't look much like ads. Smart.

The cynic and skeptic within me are fighting over who gets to say first, "That ain't so great" at whatever you think is so hot that your traffic will asplode.
posted by Mo Nickels at 2:32 PM on September 24, 2004

Will advertisers pay for something that is so short-lived?

Maybe.

As subpixel stated, need details (you don't need to give your gameplan away, but just the nature of the site).
posted by SpaceCadet at 5:45 PM on September 24, 2004

If I suddenly posted something on my website that I knew would get a ton of traffic, what would be the best way to, literally, capitalize on that traffic?

Charge for access?
posted by shepd at 12:16 AM on September 25, 2004

You'd need to already be a member as it takes a little while to sign up, but Commission Junction and ClickBank are good options. You can choose products or services that match your meme, put the links on your site, and then get referral $$$, cuts of profits, and so on.

CJ is particularly good for pushing Web hosting if people visiting your site are likely to want to buy Web hosting. Some providers will pay you up to about $80 for each signup you pass their way.

Also, if your site/meme is relevant.. adult ads. To be honest, there's probably more money in promoting hosting though! Adult schemes can have good recurring payouts though.
posted by wackybrit at 12:03 PM on September 25, 2004