How i went from 1.4% CTR to 6% CTR With Adsense

So i went from 1.4% Adsense CTR (over a 6 months avg), to about a 6% CTR with 2 changes on adsense. These aren't earth shattering techniques or anything but it's optimization i failed to do and left some big money on the table by doing so.

I found someone talking about this on another forum, so i tried it myself, but i added my own technique while optimizing as well. Ive seen this 2nd technique many times and know it works from affiliate sites I've ran in the past (just never tried with adsense).

Optimization1:
- Use image ads! (the guy on the forum talking got an email on his Adsense account stating using Image ads will increase CTR). Just like him, i'd think its the usual run of the mill email from google, not providing anything important. He made the changes to image ads though, and said his CTR went from 5% (steady for years) to 9-10%. I tried the same and got even a larger increase.
*Make sure you try image&text ads and just image ads. See which performs best and definitely report back here!

Optimization2:
- Place two 300x250 ads side by side directly above the main content

*I did both optimization techniques at the same time so i don't know which had a bigger influence

Here's 2 of my blogs i did this to.
1. Is my main webmaster blog stackthatmoney
2. Is my other site i rather not mention

I did this change completely to website #2 because it's a stable site and has a lot more traffic then stackthatmoney. I've done it to a couple pages on stackthatmoney and i'm seeing very similar results.





The argument of eye pleasing design VS profitable optimization
- This is really just a personal preference. Usually better optimization will look less aesthetically pleasing. This is the dilemma i have with stackthatmoney. I'm trying to keep a very nice look to the site, but it's hard to do when i place two 300x250 ads directly in the center of the content.

Overall the adjustment greatly increased my CTR and daily income. I'll probably be changing it over permanently on both sites soon.

If you do these changes report back here so we can get a good case study going and see everyones new stats whether they're good or bad!

 

i think the 2nd site has ads below title .... . do you have only 2 ads on that page ... and are they only image ads ?


thanks

since you are a pro , can you give me an idea where should i post the ads on this type of wordpress forum page :

http://www.iphone4jailbreak.org/forum/iphone-4-springboard-crashing.html

thanks

 

I'm using exactly the same placement with 2 350x250 since 2007, I know my CTR was great in 2007-2008, but later it is only around 1%.
But I know the reason of a low CTR is because this niche visitors are phobic or simply stupid and they tend to avoid visiting ads.

 

It's all about to change the placements every few weeks.

 

They're image + text ads, but seem to show image ads 60% of the time.

As for your iphone site, your position is good. Try changing them to only image ads, see if you get a lot of PSA ads, if you do go back to text + image.

Also you can try removing the line below the ads, or placing the 2 300x250's in between your title for that first post and the content.

Also they're you've got to consider ad blindness. Maybe for you you should try switching it up, only because you've had the banners in the same spot for so long.

 

shall i keep the "sponsored links " or "advertisements" text above the ads . will high ctr cause any problem


thanks for previous reply

 

More bad advice...

Most image ads have lower CPC, because they require a skilled designer to make.

You put the ads in place of content. That means the reader will never bother reading your site. You are advocating "make stupid content you don't care about to show to people, spam lots of backlinks to your site, get some traffic, get some ad clicks..."

This isn't a noble way of running an online business. It's selfish, and greedy. Why not teach people how to deliver value? Write content that people tell others about? That people want to come back to over and over again because it contains information they can learn from? Why not grow your site, instead of giving advice to people to do this temporary bs?

Then you wonder why the experience of looking for information can be so messed up when you try finding something online. It's because you teach the newbies who have absolutely no experience with this, that this is the right way of doing it. They go out and make more shitty sites, then come back here to complain why their AdSense account was disabled. What's the point? I guess that's people's 15 seconds of fame.

Who on this forum can say: I made a great website people love visiting? Not many, but in fact, these are more fun to make, and are more rewarding. Not just in AdSense terms, but in how you feel about your contribution. Otherwise you get a lot of people who dont know anything about a subject post shitty articles online... this is exactly the type of thing Google writes algorithms for filtering out.

 

From everything I've read, I thought that text ads perform better. Thus, I've kept a mix of text and image ads for all my ad blocks.

Also, I even removed one of my higher paying ad positions because I felt it detracted from my affiliate sales - and it definitely made the screen more cluttered and gave the user a worse browsing experience.

 

BTW, I started reading your site StackThatMoney.com, and it's quite interesting - I will be spending more time on it. Keep up the good work.

 

I have also read many posts that suggest text ads are better, and upon testing my CTR seems better than with image ads. I actually got that e-mail from G as well to try image ads and may just test some more on a site or two. As far as ad placement, as far as much research on this and even G notes this that in content works best.
You are having good luck with this and others may not so its best to test and test away. just my 2 cents.

 

I have tried the two blocks side by side as it is mentioned by Thread Starter....

It didn't work out... atleast for me.....

My assumption is that, people easily by pass the two ads and move to content.... its not a good thought to fill the entire screen with two blocks of ads........... Just my thought...

 

Use the AdSense "heat map" to see the best ad placements - as determined by G.

 

If you make a useful website, with many followers. Your readers won't mind you advertising at all. Especially quality ads from Adsense which usually display ads related to your content. If you don't optimize your site your leaving money on the table. Add up all the money you've left on the table your whole life and you will have lost a LOT of money!

 

This isn't true, CPC on images is lower because the bidding on Googles "Display Network" is separate from the search network which is more popular.

Regardless including the cost of having an ad designed into the "CPC" is inaccurate to say the least.
Besides that, you don't need a professional designer. You can make the ad yourself using free software, or even use the templates provided by the Display Network!

 

Also it doesn't matter if the CPC is lower on image ads! A CTR increase that DOUBLES or triples will make you a lot more money then getting paid higher clicks with a lower CTR.

 

my 2 cents that should add another 2-4% for the OP

I noticed on your blog that links display in red on your site, and regular text is black - Try changing the adsense ad to show BLUE links with plain black text for the body - i did this based also on a thread i read here on DP and it improved my CTR from 2% to 5%

try it out and you'll love the outcome.

 

Doesn't google decide which performs better if you use image/text ad combination. In other words, when create your ad, I was told to select Image/Text and google will determine which performs best and display it more often.

 

you must be careful to insert ads near from titles and embeded videos. It can cause invalid clicks and you can be banned from google. I had my account banned and im trying to get it back from google. Just be careful guys. You can loose everything you got.

 

You do realize that a CTR of 6% is quite dangerous and puts your AdSense account at risk of being banned?

You should always look to keep your CTR at below 5%, if you get more than that your AdSense account automatically gets put into Google's moderation queue for payment.

 

That's not true, sorry.