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So how do you do it? Through quantcast? Or manual daily or weekly polls for the members.

 

I am a big fan of Daily polls for the members. It gives you better understanding in a direct and more correct approach in my opinion.

 

I am looking forward to the forum owners answers. Also if you dont, then how do you plan on getting this data?

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I don't gather any kind of demographic data on my visitors. I would say that it's out of respect for their privacy but I'd be lying: it's because I've never bothered. Partly, this is because I don't care who they are - I know they all have ONE thing in common (which is why they're on the site). Everything else is irrelevant, since I'm not trying to sell them anything.

 

That's a pretty naïve approach to running a successful website, I know, but it's how I see things: I'm not there to sell them anything; I'm purely there to help - in my case - freelance writers with their freelancing. With that as the core assumption, no demographic really matters to me other than "are they a writer?"

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The only thing that matters to me is country of origin and how they found my site, both of which can be found in google analytics and google webmaster tools. Aside from what they provide, I'm honestly not too interested in much more.

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Google Analytics is sufficient for me, too. Like others, I really don't keep up with too many of the demographics really. Sometimes it's interesting, but rarely does the information get put to any real use, it seems.

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But I think having Age and Other similar data is good too. They are best to research while advertising. For e.g., you can't advertise about a get muscles product ad on your website if it has a majority of women. And google tracks more than you know. They show us limited information, that's all. I am not really asking for specific data but statistical data, which we can rely on. Try Quantcast with any given website and you will see the amount of data that is available.

 

And I am sure, most of you plan to monetize it. But I find it a bit contradictory if you don't know your users. Marketing in my opinion is all about the conversion and happy customers. If the demographic data isn't right then you are just losing money. As they say that most big corporation lose 50% of their advertising revenue because they don't know the demographics. That is the reason why zip submits and surveys are here.

 

Please note that I am not opposing your view, so please take this in a discussion like manner. I would like to hear your argument on this topic too.

 

Thanks

Godric

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And I am sure, most of you plan to monetize it. But I find it a bit contradictory if you don't know your users. Marketing in my opinion is all about the conversion and happy customers. If the demographic data isn't right then you are just losing money. As they say that most big corporation lose 50% of their advertising revenue because they don't know the demographics. That is the reason why zip submits and surveys are here.

 

That depends very much on how you monetise your site(s). If you're just using AdSense, you cater to your intended demographic by the use of keywords and the other, standard SEO techniques. You're more interested in what people want to find than who they are, where they are or how old they are.

 

But if you're monetising through affiliate programs or more direct sales, your demographics are your lifeline. In that case it really is vital to understand your visitors, your target market and all the other stuff.

 

Personally, as I mentioned above, the only statistic that matters to me is "Do they want to be a freelance writer?" - if they do, they're in the right place. They can be black, white, green, old, young, male, female, transsexual, from anywhere in the world... it doesn't matter because the fundamentals of the freelance writing job are pretty much the same everywhere. Of course, this is a very particular setup: if you're setting up real estate sites, for example, it's a MILLION times more important to understand your market because real estate is very different in different parts of the world... or even the same country!

 

There's also something to be said for producing whatever you want and letting your demographic find you. If you're true to your original vision, there's no need to analyse the demographic data (though I'll bet if you did, it'd hold some major surprises).

 

And just to finish, a super URL for you that I had on my bookmarks: http://www.incomediary.com/google-analytics-for-bloggers

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But I think having Age and Other similar data is good too.

 

If I wanted age, I would run a poll for people to fill out. Been there, lied about my age in profiles too many times and know many other people who do, too, so if I were to run a program to tell me vistors' ages from outside sources somehow, then I'm not sure how reliable that data would be really.

 

For e.g., you can't advertise about a get muscles product ad on your website if it has a majority of women. And google tracks more than you know.

 

If that's your thinking, I think you're cutting out a bigger audience than you realize. No, not all women are muscle builders of course or have any interest in it, but they -are- big time shoppers. They are huge influencers, too. They may buy it for their husbands, their best friends, or even just mention it to a female friend when she says her husband is starting to work out again but wants more muscle.... They talk. A lot. Don't cut out an entire demographic simply because you don't think they're your biggest audience.

 

And I don't mean specifically 'you' either, but rather, even when ad agencies put up that sort of restriction or a site owner denies various ads because they don't think they're appropriate for their site without really knowing their audience anyway.

 

As they say that most big corporation lose 50% of their advertising revenue because they don't know the demographics.

 

Who is "they?" I don't disagree. I do think a lot of corporations are missing out on advertising opportunities because they're not paying attention to who their audiences are. I'm just curious if you have a source for that particular statistic.

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  • 2 weeks later...

If I wanted age, I would run a poll for people to fill out. Been there, lied about my age in profiles too many times and know many other people who do, too, so if I were to run a program to tell me vistors' ages from outside sources somehow, then I'm not sure how reliable that data would be really.

 

 

 

If that's your thinking, I think you're cutting out a bigger audience than you realize. No, not all women are muscle builders of course or have any interest in it, but they -are- big time shoppers. They are huge influencers, too. They may buy it for their husbands, their best friends, or even just mention it to a female friend when she says her husband is starting to work out again but wants more muscle.... They talk. A lot. Don't cut out an entire demographic simply because you don't think they're your biggest audience.

 

And I don't mean specifically 'you' either, but rather, even when ad agencies put up that sort of restriction or a site owner denies various ads because they don't think they're appropriate for their site without really knowing their audience anyway.

 

 

 

Who is "they?" I don't disagree. I do think a lot of corporations are missing out on advertising opportunities because they're not paying attention to who their audiences are. I'm just curious if you have a source for that particular statistic.

 

Sorry about the way to late reply. My deepest apologies. I have turned off the email notifications.

 

As per your last question, I read it somewhere on a newspaper. It was a Case study based on 50+ companies.

 

And I do agree with you on the second point that we are losing money, but now-a-days advertisers want ultra targeted visitors. The way the advertising works for them is different than the publishers. For publishers its cpc and keeping it high. But for advertisers its EPC. And getting them high is really tough. And if we wanted people talking about us then we could have done Brand advertising and free giveaways, but we are looking to sell products.

 

I hope you understand my point. Looking forward to your arguments.

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