Benchmarks for total EPMV (not just display ads)?

[motocross123]

All the EPMV benchmark info I've seen is for display ads only. I'm wondering if there's any data on a general range of what total EPMV's are possible/ average for a content site after including affiliate income, direct sales of products, email capture etc. I know it depends a ton on niche, your keywords etc but I'd really like to know how much is possible to squeeze out of a single visitor from a highly optimized site. It seems to me that increasing EPMV is less talked about compared with just increasing traffic as a path to revenue growth.

 

[Ryuzaki]

I know it depends a ton on niche, your keywords etc but...

As you've noted, it's impossible to answer this question. It's like "How long is a piece of string?" Which piece?

I agree that conversion rate optimization is just as good as increasing traffic. I've gotten some good mileage out of it.

I've got a content site that does $25 RPMs in Q1 and $50 RPMs in Q4 on pageviews, higher on sessions, sliding upwards in between and falling off a cliff after December. Another content site that does $45 RPMs in Q1 and $65 RPMs in Q4. Hopefully that can give you some context. Both are similar in quality and layout. The difference is the niche. Display ads and affiliate commissions only. For content sites in non-YMYL niches, I think these are solid numbers. On average I think most do worst based on the discussions I see out there.

The #'s could be higher but I delete the dozen "can we place a guest post on your site" emails per day per site. Could easily milk them due to the high DR scores but I'd rather not. I don't filter through them either. Every single one goes straight to the trash. Apple could be asking for a sponsored post and I wouldn't know.

 

[shafferb1]

Very hard question to answer, but a couple of clues that may help answer:
1. You can use the keyword values a href (for example). They would give an indication of what an advertiser would pay. So, if you have a page about blue widgets and ahrefs says $1, then that would be the maximum that you would earn if optimized perfectly. However, that should be taken with a large pinch of salt as it is making big assumptions.
2. I have found that the difference between having just a couple of ads and many on a page doesn't make a lot of difference revenue-wise. Definitely not proportional anyway. So, try and estimate the extra income that you could make from methods other than ads and then just add that to your current ad earnings.