I have decided to get a goal of 100 ways to get over a 10% CTR (without the images next to ads technique). I thought we could use this thread as an idea of how to accomplish this. I'll start with a few examples, then hopefully other members can contribute in their replies: List of Ideas: 1. Aside from the "Home" button link, try limiting the amount of links on the page. Make it so that the visitor has the option to either click the Adsense Ad or else click the browser's back button. 2. Keep the page very short (height length, not much scrolling). Everything above the fold. 3. Include a large 336x280 Adsense block in the top left of the page (below the main header of the website). 4. KISS (keep it simple stupid). Keep the site simple (white background, no unnecessary images) as to not distract from the adsense ads. 5. Use a 725x15 Link Unit as a navigation bar just below the header. 6. Use the vertical Link Units within your left side panels. 7. Adsense Colors: Blending with the overall color scheme of the website. 8. Create a 336/280 Adsense block in the left corner or down the center of the page. Add 2 additional adsense style links below this Adsense block to give the impression of a column of informaitonal links, rather than ads. (Example: http://www.layoutcookbook.com/rectangular/index.php) As you can see, the top 4 are ads, but the bottom two links are Adsense Style links that link to other websites that I own. 9. Include a Google Search box in the top right corner of the page in the Header. True, the revenue from these searches can be minimal, but every cent counts and it does help to make the site look more complete. 10. Two 336x280 next too each other will give you decent 10 - 20% (Submitted by Pokercards). 11. Two 250X250 squares above main content (Submitted by jacobbannier). 12. No visible borders around your ad blocks (in most cases). 13. Place a 336x280 ad block at the bottom of a long page. This way when the user finishes reading the article, they are more inclined to click the ads. (Just make sure no other navigation links are down there or they might click those instead). Anyone have any other suggestions for increasing CTR over 10%, feel free to reply to this thread and share.
Not recommended at all. Yuu should have other nevigational links on the page! If this is the case how about a blank page with absolutely no content exatra to the ads?
Tutorials, articles, news sites, photos, flash games, etc. Let's take a Flash Games website for example. Why display the flash game, but then have 20 other links to other flash games on the same page. Instead, the user can hit the "Home" key and return to the main page where they can access any of those other 20 games. The same concept applies to tutorials and articles. Hit the "Home" key to return to the main front page site. On the Front Page of the site, feel free to list out all the links to the contents of your site as you please, but as for the individual pages, I think it's wise to keep the links down to a minimum. My point is to not give so many other choices to click besides the Adsense ad. This is not to say that the individual page doesn't have valuable content. It just means that this individual page has valuable content with limited links. The "Home" key is the navigational requirement that meets the requirements of Google's TOS on being able to navigate the site.
I am wondering if those things won't actually get you smart-priced, because the users will be kind of tricked in clicking the ads , and not be interested in the product the advertisers promote. Any opinions on that ?
If you knew how much time it took for me to make those 500 and some odd thumbnails, you wouldn't say it was a MFY site.
I don't think anything in that list tricks anyone into clicking anything. All the points on that list are pretty legit.
I agree Mong. Help out the list and we all benefit! I understand keeping a traffic generating secret due to it later becoming exploited, but CTR secrets are pretty harmless. We all win when we use them. So tell me the 50% CTR secret DAMMIT!!!
I think you're missing the point. Just share what has helped you to increase your CTR so we can all benefit from it. Eventually, if enough people brainstorm ideas and throw them out there, it could probably go over 100 ideas. I think you'd have to admit that a thread like this with tips and hints is much more useful than a "Hey, I just earned my first $1000" thread.
Well, personally I would not want so many ads on my site that it scares away my visitors. getting a 10% CTR may sound great, but I'd rather have my site-visitor-numbers go up and earn more money that way. I agree that there should not be too much navigation, but limiting it to 'home' will mean visitors leave your site too early. I want them seeing how much else I have that may interest them. I try to limit the amount of navigation on article pages to about 7 links, though on some pages I only have three (depending on how many relevant navigation-type links I have).
KH7...I definitely agree, however, I'm not saying to implement all 100 ideas from the list on one site. That would be chaos. What I mean is having a list of 100 or more ideas for making 10% CTR would be useful when putting together your site. Pick and choose from the list those ideas that work with your page.