Any tips for improving CTR?

My website, www.playedonline.com is getting decent traffic with fairly poor CTR. Does anyone have any tips for improving the CTR on the main page and game pages?

 

Change the Background color to the same white as your other areas. Change your links to the same color as your other links, and change your text to the same color as your other text. Make it look like content on your site. Other wise your users get ad-blind (the effect where they ignore any flashy or different color space). I know I was searching for it, and I totally ignored that spot. The placement is fairly good, you're in the medium hot zone.

Try that for a week, and see what happens. Let us know.
Mike

 

Thanks for the tips. I changed it - is that what you meant?

 

Exactly, now I think it'll be more likely to get clicked on.
You might change it from Sponsored Links to HOT Links!
Something like that. Just my suggestions, others might disagree. But it looks alot better. Let's see if your CTR goes up today.

 

I only get about 2K impressions a day so it will take at least a week to gather status for a meaningful comparsion. It actually might be impossible to compare because my traffic composition is changing rapidly.

I will keep you posted never the less... Thank you for the advice.

 

Hi korzon,

At the risk of stepping on anyone's toes, and technically speaking, labeling AdSense blocks with anything other than "sponsored links" or "advertisements" is a violation of the AdSense ToS (see below). So you may want to reconsider using the "Hot Links" label, or at least check with AdSense Support before you use it. Other than that, your AdSense is now well integrated and positioned, so I would expect that you'll see an improved CTR.

Sam

From AdSense ToS:

"What is an invalid click?

Invalid clicks are clicks generated through prohibited methods. These prohibited methods include but are not limited to: repeated manual clicks, or the use of robots, automated clicking tools, or other deceptive software.

Please note that clicking on your own ads for any reason is prohibited, to avoid potential inflation of advertiser costs. All clicks must be generated as the result of a user clicking on the ads. We therefore require that Web pages do not include incentives of any kind for users to click on ads. This includes encouraging users to click on the ads or to visit the advertisers' sites as well as labeling the ads with text other than "sponsored links" or "advertisements.""

 

Thank you for the comments. I've changed it back to "sponsored links". I'll let it sit for a week now.

 

Whoops sorry about that. I didn't mean to lead you astray. I've never operated a gaming site and never used anything other than "Advertisers" for my GoogAds. I guess I need to review the TOS' again. Thanks Korzon.
Mike

 

Thanks WebFreedom for pointing that out
Anyway no worries, you meant well.

Back to the matters at hand, my CTR today is three times higher than the average over the last two weeks. Let's see if it stays up.

 

Well it's official. CTR is up X2.5 since the changes

Some of it is higher quality traffic, but that can only account for maybe 30-40% increase and not 250%

Thanks a lot guys, I owe a couple of folks a couple of beers...

 

Awesome! Glad to help out our fellow DPer, just remember, you get out of DP what you put it.
Cheers!
::COUGH:: I like Killian's Irish Red ::COUGH COUGH::

Mike

 

Great to hear! And, for the record, I'm a Sam Adams guy...

Just playin' - any help I've given you is miniscule compared to the help I've received.

Sam