Since day one on the boards I have stuck to Content is King. It rules what the surfer does. Since day one, a lot of people have said traffic is king as if it appears magically. You know I'm the only one with a magic join button.
Back in the day, we had TGPs, the top ones were the ones with the best content, they retained traffic because of surfers choosing to stay. Ratios on traffic from a TGP were anything from 1 in 50 to 1 -500. A TGP page with good content got the 1-50. Some cost more in B/W than the sales made.
But these stats are misleading. The real conversion rate was the number of people who saw the page to the number who paid to join. This could be 1 in 500 or nothing in whatever. Because the content wasn't good enough.
Maybe 1,000 saw the page and thought it was shit, or jerked off and went back to the TV. Whatever maybe as many or more than 99.01% weren't buying because of the content.
Now we're in a situation where people can buy ad space and not convert 1-5,000. Not because they haven't got the traffic. It's because after looking at the content, they're buying. How many saw the ad and didn't bother to click?
With a sponsors clip on a Tube, the aim must be to convert the viewer into a buyer. Are Sponsors getting a cut of the traffic sales?
Clicks to the site ratios may be 1-300. The real ratios are the number who saw the clip and could be bothered to click. If that's 1 in 100. 99% got off for free on the content and 99.3% couldn't be asked to pay for the porn after seeing the tour, which should be the best the site has to offer.
Even shit content is better than a blank page, that can get a million clicks an hour and still no sales.
A great site can buy traffic and make money. Stars have been made by free content and gone on to make a fortune. The motto of you build it and they will come is right. The problem is if you have shit content no one stays, comments, likes or tells their friends.