hi, i help run a forum - it gets about 10k-15k page impressions a day. it's currently only running adsense. however, clickthroughs are pathetic - about 2-3 clickthroughs a day. i'm thinking of switching to programs that pay by impressions instead of clickthroughs. any advice, comments or suggestions?
i have forums with FAR above average clickthrough but that is thanks to the particular forum software i selected precisely to optimize for adsense you may have a look at the SEO of your forum software and assure that EACH post / answer is optmized instead of per thread ... and of course you have to assure that on the forum you have more than small talk - real content posts give better / more interesting G ads and hence more interest by visitors
I run a similar sized forum, and find that AdSense performs well for me, I have to say. However, I have started using some CPM programs to fill up unsold inventory and found that I can make a small amount using this method, as well. Give some CPM stuff a try, and review after two weeks or so... if you're not making much at present, what do ya have to lose? Rob
rob, would you mind sharing what cpm program you are using? a link to the cpm program site would be nice...
Have a forum myself that gets about 10k impressions per day and was getting the same kind of numbers with adsense. Switched over to a fastclick/burstmedia CPM campaign and earn about 5 times what I was earning before. Forums are pathetic earners in general and mine isn't any exception, but sometimes you can do better than a CPC program by using one that gets you a eCPM of 0.30-0.50. Adsense should give you an eCPM number to compare, so compare and perhaps try to get with a CPM network.
Fastclick.net's publishers agreement says it can not be used in forums: "Fastclick Code shall not be used on Websites that contain forums, discussion boards, chat rooms, or any content area that is open to public updates without regulation." -- Derek
That's a really low CTR. Forums ARE usually quite low on CTR, but I doubt if it should be this low. If you post your URL, we could have a look and perhaps suggest things you could do to better the CTR. Sometimes, all it takes is a change in the ads' colour or positioning to improve the CTR drastically. And, in your case there is heaps of scope for improvement.
Not meaning to hijack the thread, but does anyone know the best place that offers a 468x60 CPM, not eCPM banner? The pays the most, ideally. I'm currently with AzoogleAds (BlueTime) and am getting an average CPM of $0.23. Not bad considering I get 80,000 impressions a day, but very little clickthrus.
i've been to the azoogleads and burst media websites and am still a little uncertain if they allow forums for their cpm programs. anyone know? besides the 2, any other cpm programs that allow forums to join? thanks!
I agree that your click through is extremely low. My forums get about a 0.5 or 0.6% click through rate which is 5 or 6 clicks per 1,000 impressions. Placement is a huge issue.
10k-15k page impressions would be good to earn from impression. Adsense could earn you by impressions with just one unique visitors. i better recommend you use adsense banner to earn.
CPM: CPM pricing was actively promoted by the big portals such as Yahoo and AOL. It was a great revenue generator for them that had the added bonus of being largely risk free. That is, the advertiser did all the creative work and made the payments while the only thing the portals had to do was display the ad as often as they could until the advertiser's budget was exhausted. It's this one-sided nature of the CPM model that has pushed advertisers to seek an alternative that can offer them some sort of guarantee of performance. CPC: That is cost per click CPC sits in the middle of the online pricing spectrum. It involves risk from the advertiser's side in that they pay for every click on their ad. This forces them to make sure that the ad is relevant to what is being offered so that a click has a good chance of turning in to an action. At the same time, the publisher takes on the responsibility of displaying the ad in appropriate places so that it will receive clicks. No clicks, no revenue. It's a very simple formula for both sides.