Hey, I just got done (well, almost done) redesigning my Cajun site. I did it to make it look better. I was very shocked to find out that it also had a really big effect on my ctr. So far, the ctr has jumped from about 2% to over 6%! To see the old design look at Mardi Gras Schedule. To see the new design look at Mardi Gras. I decided to go with the standard link blue in the ads. I know that this color works better than any other, in most situations. I also went with two vertical towers. One on the left and one on the right. The one on the left always works better for me. I may end up getting rid of the right one if it doesn't do too well, just to cut down on the number of ads. I also went with a large box in the bottom of each page. I decided to go with the bottom rather than in the middle of the page with a smaller box. I just hate pages that blend the content with the ads in this way. I also decided to go with no horizontal links. I may add those if I get rid of the right tower. I dunno. Anyhow, I was really surprised to see this big of a rise. I guess playing around with your site really is worth it.
Yea! changing ad placements sometimes work great. Keep playing around with the ad placement from time to time
Nice! Good work! I've seen quite a few sites with similar placement as the first site and this really proves that cleaner and not trying to hide them is more effective.
Nice, I like the ad at the bottom, I don't know about other people but alot of times I scroll all the way down before I even start really reading a site.
Thanks. Much cleaner huh? Yes, I actually think the ads add content to this site. People come to it to look for ideas/ products about my subject. The ads give them what they want. I will be paying a lot more attention to this from now on. Yes, and it was VERY unexpected. Thank you very much. I love the one on the bottom too. It almost has as good of a ctr as the vertical on the left. I also scan to the bottom of pages. Thank you!!
Now you have got the right BG color for ads Nice work and for the CTR I will suggest that you keep experimenting until you find the spots that convert well for your site / niche
The new design is a huge improvement over the old one. It could be having a effect on your CTR just by keeping people on your site longer and reducing your bounce rate.
an essential part of improved CTR may be less with the new ad placement or ad formats but rather as a direct result from moving away from BLACK site to a normal bright/friendly color site. there is a reason why the world's largest and most successful sites such as G, Y, MSN etc NEVER have black or dark bg colors.
I know. Freaky huh? lol Same here. The ads do pop out huh? lolol Yes, thanks to you and another friend, I figured out the color. lol Will keep playing with her until she pumps out the pennies. :O) Thank you. BIG improvement huh? Thank you very much! Yes, I am keeping up with the bounce rate. It has helped with that too, but not as much as the ctr. :O) lol No worries. It was bad. That was my first play with Dreamweaver. I am NO computer guru 4 sure. I was thinking the same thing. The placement of the ads may mean nothing. The background color of the site may be 100% of it huh? Good point! :O)
You could have a point there. The new site is definitely friendlier and I found myself reading about Mardi Gras when I only intended to take a quick glance. Nice content by the way, that's another thing people tend to neglect and then wonder why their site isn't going anywhere.
He did have a good point. That really makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the nice compliment. I write all of my silly posts from scratch.
If you look at my blog ( signature link ) - somewhat comparable in look to your site ( banner on top, etc ) then you may see one of the absolute best layout I ever have with a ctr normally in 2 digits ... the important factor is BETWEEN the 2 ad units as well as in the ad color scheme being clearly different from any text to make all ads stay out of content and to strictly avoid accidental clicks or clicks out of confusion. I have adapted that very ad layout AND color scheme across my site and ctr is site wide near 2 digits during global economic crises and in 2 digits in good times. may be you give it a try for a few thousand pageviews ... BTW I strictly adhere to the 3 published "most successful ad formats" according to G adsense help pages. CTR is one factor eCPM another factor both combined = $ flow with a or without !