MoneySavingExpert.com - How Many Hits Would It Get Me?

[ivebeenstiffed]

Hi,

Has anyone seen any stats on how many hits a website could get if it was featured by Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert.com on his Radio 2 slot?

I have had an email from them saying that they are thinking about featuring my website in his email and radio 2 broadcast.

Obviously my fear is whether my server platform can cope with the number of hits this could bring me....

Ive spoken to my hosting company and they have said that as I have load balancing in place it should be able to cope with 50k hits at least with no problems. But, obviously, they are not willing to guarentee this....

So, anyone seen any traffic stats on what a radio broadcast could bring?

Tricky question I know but I need to decide what to do...

AND

Does anyone know of a website that can "load test" my website?

Thanks

Trev

[natashacs]

Hi - I doubt it would be 50k hits - not all in one go. By way of comparison, I went on BBC Breakfast sofa and as a result, got about 1000 hits that day, and that steadily decreased day by day over the following week or so. Not everyone will log on that very minute.

[GRDCredit]

You will have more hits if it goes on to the weekly email which gets sent out to 3.7 million people!! Even if only 1% click on to your site that is one hell of a lot of hits!

[ivebeenstiffed]

I havent been able to confirm as yet but i think they were talking about the weekly email primarily and then possibly the radio as well....

Trev

[Alicatt]

One of my sites was mentioned (with a link) in an article on Money Saving Expert several years ago and it STILL brings lots of traffic - on average 250 clicks per month.

I would think the email and a permanent link will be worth more in the long run although radio exposure is always good!

Hope it works well for you.

[ivebeenstiffed]

I have just found a load testing company called AlertSite.

I signed up for a trial account to see what it does.

For a load test of 100 simultaneous users for 10 minutes they want $360.

Cheaper than hiring real people i suppose :D

Trev

[DanHarrison]

I've heard good things about http://loadimpact.com/

If you appear in the weekly email, then you probably will see significant traffic in bursts. My best advice is to stay in constant conversation with your host to help deal with it, but you're already doing that.

Also, consider setting up some caching or built-in time delay. e.g. 10 to 30 seconds to help spread the server load.

Is it regarding your website http://www.taxiroute.co.uk/ ? - if so, then I can see why they want to feature it!!

Dan

[ivebeenstiffed]

I've heard good things about http://loadimpact.com/

Thanks Dan,

LoadImpact is bloody excellent. Their basic test is good and the upgrade paths seem reasonably priced as well.

In defence of AlertSite, their offering is more in depth, even though more expensive. LoadImpact is just testing the response of my homepage but AlertSite allows the upload of a script that mimics an actual user going right through the taxi calculation process. This tests the database and the mapping software a lot harder.

Oh well, you pays your money and takes your choice i spoze.

But THANKS for the info.... very much appreciated.

Trev

[sm1]

Personally if I were you I'd do whatever it takes to get it to work, this promotion could be the difference between an average business and a great business!

[iQDesk]

First of all,best of luck with this.
May I ask what you business is about and how you got them interested in listing your website?
I would be interested in getting my business on their emails as it is completely free of charge and aimed at saving people lots of money.

[ivebeenstiffed]

Woohoo!

Just been contacted by a lady at moneysavingexpert.com and they have confirmed they are going to feature my website initially in their discussion forum! Then possibly in the weekly newsletter!

The lady spent about 40 mins on the phone to me gathering information on how it works, what it does and who I am. So they seem to be serious!

I thought they had forgotten about me but it looks like these things take time to happen

Wish me luck boys and girls!

Trev

[fisicx]

Best of luck. Might be worth making sure it's working properly though - I keep getting error messages because it can't find my address!

[sm1]

Well done, would love to hear the results after :)

Cheers