Quadrupled my CTR thanks to DP members.

How about some fashion images?

Whats the URL?

 

http://www.fashion-forums.com Thanks!

 

I would do a pic of a necklace, shoes, some makeup and maybe a hairstyle. Clip-artish pics would look good on that site. Should be easy to find some freebies.

 

Any one got any suggestions? Im rubbish at this

 

Try these:

 

huntz

Did you know you can get some good images for peanuts from the stock photo sites? I use istockphoto and canstockphoto. You´ll find photos, diggy art, clipart etc and downloads are about a dollar...

 

Ok, Ive implemented the changes, what do yous guys think? Will my ctr increase? http://www.fashion-forums.com

 

That will work I guess, but I was thinking something more cartoonish to go with the theme of your site. Like these http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=Clipart/Fashion

 

Anyone got any opinions?

 

Yea i see what your saying, the images may take the focus away from the ads but the cartoons may complement them. Im not sure, anyone got any opinions?

 

I commented a bit earlier in this thread, about the importance of using
crazy images. Instead of pictures of fashion (uhh), try using rediculous
pictures. Instead of a picture of a necklace, try a picture of a dog with
his own jacket. That whole "Paris Hilton" - "look at my clothed dog" type
concept. From my experience, people are prepared to click advertisements
that are supported by whacky images. The more crazy, the better IMHO.

What about men in drag? Perhaps distasteful, but some women love this
sort of stuff, and perhaps they will click your advertisements to see more.

Oh, and just for the record, last night - I emailed Google, and asked them
to take a look at one of my websites. I specifically used images that had
very little to do with my advertisements. In fact, the reason I was sending
them an email, was to insure that I did not accidentally invoke or promote
a user to click on my advertisements, based squarly on the fact that they
were pretty crazy images (designed to attract attention etc). Anyway, to
cut a long story short, they wrote back and said the following:

"I have confirmed that your site does not violate any of the new Terms and Conditions. We appreciate you ensuring that your site remains in good standing with the program."

Which is great news. So I think that paves the way for super attention
grabbing images, that suck the attention of your visitors. If in doubt, try
using boring pictures for a week, and then replacing them with more edgy
pics. The difference is noticable.

 

I agree, great post! I call them "Curious" images. Althought I just started using these methods, I try to keep the images relevant to the ads being displayed, but I agree totally with your post.

SWORD

 

Hello Critters and all!!

That is a very good Idea. Thank you for that.

Now I put it into my Photshop Portal at the bottom, please be so kind and have a look:

Is there everythink ok?

Also I had the Idea not only to put poor pictures, I have putted there pictures with the complete Url to my Partnerprogramm. Do you also think it is a good Idea or not??

(Sorry my english is bad)
Please Answer. Thank you

Greetings from Germany
Wally

 

Hhhmm... is it my computer acting up again. Sorry huntz, I don't see any images/cartoon anywhere in your forum..

 

I found this thread through Google when doing a search for "Increasing CTR"...just want to say thanks. I applied the images above the leaderboard and my CTR went from .8% to 3.3%

Thanks for the tip, Critters! You rule!

-Chop

 

Good Job. Be careful on posting your CTR. Against "G" rules.

 

I lurked here for a while and finally implemented the rotating images adjacent to a 120x600 skyscraper. CTR jumped by 6X! But as I suspected it was temporary, and is steadily dropping. Although it hasn't dropped back down to what it was before it is clear that repeat visitors now know there isn't anything new over there, just the same old ads.

Are others experiencing something similar, a big initial jump in CTR followed by a gradual decline?

 

it all depends on ur visitors, if u have a forum for egzample, ur pageview/unique visits ratio is very high then the result is what you said, however if your site is one of those 1 time visit - get info u need and never return, then ctr remains up there

 

UPDATE FROM CRITTERS ON ADDING IMAGES TO YOUR ADS

Hi people, good to see this has taken off, and I think I am right in saying it is one of the largest and most viewed threads in the adSesne sub-forum? Anyways... some more research has been done and here it is for your viewing pleasure:

Putting images next to ads that are NOT relevant to your sites content will only produce short term gains. Smart pricing will kick in and reduce the value of the ads.

Only place images next to ads that you know are matching what the visitor is on your site for (ads for cameras on a camera review site) and that the images match the ads (photos of cameras next to camera ads)

An image of an iPod above an ad for a camera will result in a click for you but will not result in a sale or many page hits for the advertiser.This will lower the value of the ads on your site.

Not to panic though:
1) Google is very good at matching the ads to the content of your pages
2) If you know the ads that are showing you can put in relevant images
3) If the value (CPM) of your ads goes down, this should be counter-acted by the increased CTR. if it is not remove the images.

Another factor as mentioned by av1 is that if you have a high % of returning visitors ANY changes you make to your ads will only result in a short term increase in CTR as return visitors become "blind" to the new ad layout or format. So another top-tip would be to keep changing your ad locations + formats and use image rotations scripts.

I am doing some more research into this and other changes and will we writing it up as a "blog like" paper which I will link too from DP when it is done.

Keep posting your increases in CTR (as % increases or multiples, never post actual CTR figures) or any other things you have thought about or found out using this method.

 

Is this a fact that the click value is based on the advertiser's page hit?