Reducing Traffic Acquisition Costs using Destination Sites

Traffic acquisition costs are probably one of the highest direct costs for online businesses. Anything that you can do to reduce traffic acquisition costs must, almost by definition, be a good thing - but there's a right and a wrong way to do it.


Like the hotel industry, the web is split into two kinds of page - destination and everything else. Budget hotels that people use whilst traveling offer a very different experience to so-called destination hotels, which have to give customers more than just a bed for the night.


Likewise, destination sites are places people go to for something, unlike 99% of the other random search results which are just places people find themselves almost by accident.


Look at your own mental bookmark list. The chances are that you have a favorite site for social networking, video sharing, even email. There's also a good chance that these don't need to be in your browser bookmark list. You know the URLs by heart.


Now, I'm not suggesting for a moment that you try to become a destination site. That's part of the misconception that people have about the web - everyone wants to be the next big thing, the next mental bookmark, but very few people reach that status.


Mostly, we're all part of the 99% of pages that people visit on their way somewhere else. And that's okay, because it's what makes the web tick.


However, despite the fact that Google AdSense is available on many of these destination sites, and despite the fact that you might be paying for prominence on them, what happens when traffic acquisition costs outstrip the earning power of the target site.


We're in a world wide recession, after all, and people are cutting back spending in the so-called power niches of health, money and sex. Never mind hobbies, dating, and suchlike.


However, the power of the destination sites can still be harnessed by offering content in return for traffic, thereby significantly reducing direct traffic acquisition costs.


Right now, for example, there's a WSO (Warrior Special Offer) that uses the power of YouTube to drive traffic. It's called the Royal Affiliates Banker, and seems to be a process, coupled with some software which purports to drive traffic to a web site with only 15 minutes of real work.


(Disclaimer - that link makes me no money. Zero. I have NO affiliation with the product, and am just citing it here as an example.)


If the Royal Affiliates Banker works, it could significantly reduce traffic acquisition costs, and boost profits. And, it's likely that a very similar process can be applied to other destination sites - it's all about giving potential customers valuable content, and a reason to click through to the target site.


Just like a promotional blog, but potentially with much more power, and certainly a lot more fun to put together!