Sports Site Case Study: From 0 to $300 with MultiTag
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Sport is, without a doubt, a top vertical in terms of the ability to attract enormous traffic in no time.
It’s all about the excitement sports brings, about competitiveness that’s in human nature, but also about fans and loyalty we are all prone to. Finally, it’s about simply being up to date since sports are either appetizers or the main course of almost every social gathering.
So starting a sports news site is definitely not a bad idea. But it can be super tough. The competition is fierce, and managing to create a rise of any kind in this field is a commendable achievement.
Today, we are bringing you a new case study we found through the Monetization Promo initiative. Remember this promo Monetag started?
And we are about to showcase how, with the help of our platform, one relatively small sports website elevated its revenue, or to be more precise, how it finally started monetizing its audience.
About African sports website
| Traffic type: Web traffic |
| Website content: Sports news |
| Monetization formats: MultiTag, Popunder |
| GEOs: Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya, US, UK, and South Africa |
| Revenue: $300+ |
The star of this case study is a young sports website that focuses on news and analysis of sporting events intended for all sports enthusiasts.
They make sure their audience is well-informed on all categories they included, and the sports they are mainly focused on are football (number one), basketball, rugby, tennis, and athletics.
The majority of the site’s traffic comes from Nigeria, with Zimbabwe, the United States, the United Kingdom, Kenya, and South Africa being their other top traffic sources.
And, the website receives an average of 50.000 monthly visits.
Note: According to Semrush, the most visited sports website in February 2023 had more than 600 million visits. So our client managing to go from 0 profit to $300 fast with only 50.000 visits is a really big deal.
Now, let’s analyze this Montag client’s traffic statistics and provide recommendations on how to increase your CPM, reduce bounce rate and attract high-quality traffic.
Bear in mind that this here will be a case study per se, but also a learning lesson publisher is ready to provide to all those among you who are struggling with sports news site monetization.
MultiTag – their No1 choice
Sports websites require ad formats that can target a broad audience – this one’s a given.
So the client went for MultiTag since it seemed like a logical and easy solution. And it turned out it was a winning move.
For young websites like this one, trying different ad formats and failing to accomplish optimal results can be quite expensive. So letting MultiTag’s AI algorithm pick the most suitable and most profitable ad format for each site user is a smart thing to do.
The result: With MultiTag ad zones being highly-effective, the site slowly started to build up and monetize its traffic.
The site’s total CPM rate is pretty good at this point – $0.83, and its revenue has been steadily increasing. According to our client, this is thanks to two things – MultiTag ad zones and the optimization of ad placement.
MultiTag will automatically choose the most suitable, and the most profitable ad format for a specific website. Its algorithm is designed to provide high CPM for publishers by making sure the site’s audience is getting the most relevant ads.
Also, it is important to mention that Popunder shows the best CPM rates – right now it’s $3.56. Because of that, the publisher decided to add Onclick ad format to the site additionally, separately from the MultiTag on some pages.
Popunder – their second best
The website also relied on Popunder (Onclick) as its most suitable monetization ad format. There are four main reasons for that, as they explained:
#1 High visibility – Popunders are ads displayed in the new browser tab, which automatically increases their visibility to readers.
“This is especially important for sports websites where users may be more likely to have multiple tabs open or be multitasking while browsing,”
#2 Non-intrusive – Onclick ads don’t interrupt the user’s experience and are only displayed when the user chooses to click on a specific part of the website page.
The publisher really appreciates this:
“Onclick ads are way less intrusive than any other forms of advertising”.
#3 Engagement potential – Because Popunders are displayed behind the main browser window, chances are the user will engage with the ad once he finishes with the current browsing session.
“This can result in higher CTRs and a greater number of conversions for advertisers,”
CPM in focus: How to make it better
For our client, it’s all about impressions and CPMs, so here are the recommendations they made to make these reference points better, based on their own experience:
Optimize the website’s content for search engines to improve its ranking and attract organic traffic.
- Improve user engagement
Encourage users to interact with the website by adding features such as comments, social sharing buttons, and live chats.
- Optimize ad placement
Test different ad placements to find the ones that work best for your audience.
Decrease bounce rate: Few guidelines
Every website owner has a dream – to make the bounce rate go down. We all know why, now, let’s see what our client suggests to make it happen:
1. Improve website speed: Optimize website speed to reduce loading time and improve UX.
2. Simplify navigation: Make it easy for users to find the information they need by making website navigation easier and simpler.
3. Add internal links: Internal links leading to related content will encourage users to explore more of the website.
4. Enhance website design: Finally, it’s all about the looks. Use a clean and user-friendly design that makes it a pleasant experience for users to spend time and navigate through your website.
Conclusion
Monetizing a sports website necessitates three things: effective ad formats, targeted traffic, and strategic ad placement.
Our client’s successful monetization strategy was based on combining MultiTag ad zones with Popunder, and the results that came with them generating revenue, demonstrate the value of the approach.
The client said:
“To maximize revenue potential, website owners must work on attracting high-quality traffic and keeping users engaged. Additionally, they must consider the website’s audience and use the best ad formats that suit them.”
The conclusion is this – by following the recommended strategies and continuously monitoring ad performance, website owners can increase their revenue potential and remain relevant in a highly competitive world of sports websites.
If you have any comments or thoughts on the subject please feel free to share them with us. Also, we are waiting for you to tell us about your successful monetization story.
