I have to make some major site changes, migrating my site from a static one to a dynamic one, and more importantly breaking up some quite large pages into smaller ones to improve usability. For example, on the old site there are some pages where one has to scroll 5-10 browser windows, so some pagination is necessary so the user only has to scroll approx 2x. The worry I have though is that doing this will increase overall page views, while decreasing CTR - since visitors who are not likely to click on ads in the first place are now going to be looking at more pages. So, this leads me to a question: if your CTR goes down, do your earnings also necessarily go down? (I mean, I would still (theoretically) likely be getting the same amount of clicks as I did before, the only difference is that they will be measured against a larger backdrop of page/ad impressions.) Or, stating the question another way, does a lower CTR dilute earnings simply by decreasing eCPM?
Whoa. You're making this way too complicated. Your earnings are related to the absolute number of clicks, regardless of CTR. If you break up your site into more pages, and those additional pages show the same ads as the original page, yes, your CTR would go down, but the absolute number of clicks would stay the same. Actually, the ads probably wouldn't be exactly the same as the original page, which would increase chances of getting additional clicks (and more revenue), even though CTR might still stay relatively low. Of course, your objective with the additional pages would be to increase CTR as well.
In my experience my sites with higher CTR get higher CPC (same with variations in day; CTR+ = CPC+) But I'm not sure if this is just because the advertisers who are willing to pay more are the ones who know how to write a good ad or what.
CTR and earnings per click are not exactly realted. The cpc is based on the value of the ads generated by the keywords in the content. Sure, if you break the pages up you will get more pages and have more ads shown on differing keywords.
I took a single page on a site, and turned it into 43 small pages. That change happened 25th or so of Jan Impressions since then are: 3,201 clicks: 18 CTR: 0.56% eCPM: US$0.94 Earings: US$3.01 Prior to that in Jan (1-24th) impressions: 299 Clicks: 4 CTR: 1.34% eCPM: US$0.98 Earnings: US$0.29 So with that 1 page, I've found that splitting it up I've actually increased the CTR and earnings.
Thats really good! Did you make any changes to the amount of adblocks? So, its really safe to say that a lower CTR will not result in lower overall earnings, as long as you are still getting the same amount of clicks on the same ads?
If you have a lower CTR, but more pageviews, it evens out. So 100 pageviews at 1% CTR is 1 click. 1000 pageviews at 0.1% CTR is 1 click.
Think of it this way. You are allowed 3 ad blocks and 1 link unit on each page with adsense. If you have a long page, then the likelihood is that few if any of those ads are visible when the user is in the midst of the document. If you reduce the document size by making more pages, then the user is likely to be nearer something that can pay you, (if that is your goal). Obviously you don't want to make it appear all adverty, as that will put the users off. In my case I had a list of items and their attributes, I split the long list into individual pages. It actually makes sense to the users for the data to appear like this. For that page it was a natural division. The CTR maybe lower, but the users get more chances to click an ad, can find the specific content they want easier, and it's better for the search engines. Win win win.
what probably happened there is that adsense regarded the 43 pages as "new" content, which pretty much always guarantees you a higher epc... it can take months for "new" content to get enough traffic to level out, and then adsense can change the way that they do things. along with that, since you are only making comparisons for 3-week periods, there isn't enough data to predict a trend based on more or less pages. one interesting point is that the ecpm is nearly identical for both tests, which indicates that they both made the same amount of $$$, based on the traffic they received. i would say that scrolling 5-10 browser windows is excessive, but so is creating a page with only one small paragraph of content, and bunch of ad blocks... you need a happy medium somewhere in between.
Its like About.com. It can be very disruptive. Having 2 small paragraphs and then having to click on to 3 or 4 other pages. How is it possible to turn a single page into 43?