Website marketing

[Aleksander]

Hi all!
I have been planning for a long time to make a website for the latest news.
Actually it will have technology, games and a lot of other stuff.
What should i do to make it notorious? I mean some help without spending money.
Normally if it gets notorious i will spend money for publicity and ads.

Earning money using google ads, or other add-on things on the website are greatly irritating,
at least for me. So the suggestion would be for other things, to make it to the public.

Miscellaneous: I never click ads

[Jizzler]

Create controversy.

Many years ago I hosted the flash game Kaboom where you play the part of a suicide bomber trying to blow up as many people as possible. In one month I served it up over a million times and topped 600GB in total uploads.

[W1zzard]

the first years dont expect to make any money. see it as a hobby and any hobby costs money.

making a website like this not only requires the backend work but also tons of work writing articles. I never liked to write news (unlike reviews). So in the early TPU days news was a big problem. Having a passion for writing is important, don't expect people to magically appear to help you.

There are no secret ways to grow a tech-site. Do a good job, do a better job than everybody else, which at very least means tons of work/hours.

To make money, go study harder or get a regular job.

I found this whole hardware stuff a wonderful personal challenge and learning experience. Over the years responsibilities have moved more and more from content creation to business and people management.

[W1zzard]

Originally Posted by Jizzler

Create controversy.

Many years ago I hosted the flash game Kaboom where you play the part of a suicide bomber trying to blow up as many people as possible. In one month I served it up over a million times and topped 600GB in total uploads.

+1 on that, if you want to run any internet business, think outside of the box. be sensational, evil, politically incorrect. that drives traffic nowadays. dont forget your roots and stay professional though

[Aleksander]

Thanks for very inspiring ideas. I actually have run website for others and they were a total ruin, being with 0 cash for months. They are still ruined, because they didnt work more for their website(actually they didnt pay anymore) believing they will become millionaires. So it was normal to be ruined when you think about the money. I personally was talking, not to earn money as i posted before about the google ads, but ways to make people know about the website (without any cost)
Actually it will be hard work and most difficult question would be to make it international, for all the world, or just for my country?
It is fun to write about games, to make reviews for hardware and games and i have 2 other friends which will work for free to build it up.
The website is of 0 interest when it comes to money, cuz i truly hate ads. I just want people to come in and look at all kind of stuff about games. A website like IGN, but much better
IGN for me, is extremely heavy, i dont really like heavy websites. Techpowerup is very simple as a design, but very heavy too. (difference between ign)
I would even like to put website reviews. I really like this idea.
I think the heaver the website, the worse it will get. Just like facebook.

[gvblake22]

Controversy is definitely one way to get known. A less abrasive approach would be to just focus on creating content that can be posted or linked to from as many other sites as possible. Blog posts, news articles, Twitter updates, product reviews, polls/surveys, editorial/opinion pieces, special offers/deals. Diversifying like that allows you to post your content on social media sites, sister sites (sites that share a similar subject, sorry for the alliteration), and maybe even local or national news sites (depending on what your specific subject matter is). All that helps to improve your search engine optimization (SEO) too, which will also increase your traffic and awareness.

[3870x2]

Originally Posted by W1zzard

+1 on that, if you want to run any internet business, think outside of the box. be sensational, evil, politically incorrect. that drives traffic nowadays. dont forget your roots and stay professional though

I think this guy has some experience with tech sites, but It escapes me as to why...

[Kreij]

You just need to have something people want.
TPU has top-notch software, great reviews and excellent forums.

If you have something people want, they "will" come to the site. Just don't expect miracles overnight.

[ZenZimZaliben]

You either need to be a niche or better content and offerings then the key players in that sector. Niche is usually the way to go as competing with top sites from the start with zero budget is very unlikely. Do a competitive analysis and figure out where your competitors are missing out on content, and that is where you strike.

[qubit]

So, AD wants to run a website like TPU and make lots of money? Simple!

Unplug W1zz and plug in AD - instant money!!!

Sorry, just messin' with ya.

[Kreij]

Originally Posted by ZenZimZaliben

You either need to be a niche or better content and offerings then the key players in that sector.

You don't have to be niche, but you will need to be different in order to stand out in the crowd.
This was the problem we had with GamesPowerUp. It was a good site, had good gaming news and the forums were fairly active (mostly TPU'ers though), but we could not come up with a really good idea on how to make it different than the other 2.641 million gaming websites already in existance.

You can compete with the major players (or at least try), but given that they have teams of writers and content people you would be spending every waking moment trying to keep up and you would get burnt out in a very short time. Even if you had a dozen people working on your site, you still would be up against companies with an inside track into the industry. Not an insurmountable task, but not easy.

Also remember that you want a site that incorporates something that YOU love to do, otherwise you will have little interest in participating in your own site after awhile.

Just some thoughts.

[W1zzard]

Originally Posted by qubit

Unplug W1zz and plug in AD - instant money!!!

Sorry, just messin' with ya.

wait, what. money? cool. i want some. kthxbye

[Aleksander]

A website like techpowerup is a real waste of time for me.
The competition is already hold by major sites.
Even if i made a site like this, i would leave the work on the first week.
I don't like writting about hardware that much.
I like software and websites reviews.

I was thinking something like IGN but much more special and unique.
Adding other ingredients like programming and other stuff, that will make a website i really want.
Personally i hate heavy websites, because they rely on the work of others, not on a unique person.

I would like game reviews, programs and websites.
Having unique content and unique website design is a key to success.
So far i have already thought about the website and it is going to be awesome.
I didnt want to rush to make it, because that would be silly.
In the mean time i study a lot and develop an idea.
The website doesn't have to be made for money.

All money i would search for would be for a living at maximum 60$ a month.
It is going to be a very hard work and i don't really like linking with social networks like facebook and such.

I expect that after a year the website will get its own people.
As a marketing starter, i personally hate all kinds of ads.
In the first 6 months no ads will be added no matter what people offer.

Even i don't get any offer after 6 months the goal is of a total 130$ the first year.
I really hope to achieve that though i don't know how much effort would it take.
Also, all kind of ads will be with photos, no flash at all.

All kind of offers will be strongly advised not to use flash.

These are my 2 cents, or grandzzz
I don't know if it will be easy. What do you think?

@qubit
LoLzzz

[Aleksander]

I dont know what you think as i could be in a bit of a hurry!
Any additional ideas?
Thanks.