How to give the users what they want and still get click throughs?

Hi,

-I Bought a neglected site making $5-$8/ month from Goo.
-Only made minor improvements in placement, and added high CTR Adsense text links.
-Now my CTR has improved to 5.5%-9%, and I'm ready to give the visitors more of what they are searching for. If I do this, they won't need to click on my Adsense anymore.

The situation I'm in is exactly why (as an end-user) I don't really even like Adsense one bit. Any advice, please, on mantaining 7% CTR, while offering a 'prouder, more valuable site'?

Thank you,
MGH

 

You have to find a balancing point to where your making money and giving your visitors what they are looking for.
Go for max revenue stick ads all over the place or scale back and make the site more user friendly.
Your the boss it's up to you to decide.

 

I would give the users what they want. Chances are, they'll become repeat visitors and you'll win in the long run.

 

I really agree with both of you, for most sites, but this one (I'll spare you the details) is a bit different. Is ~7% CTR way above average? (ePCPM avg ~$10.20). Compared to sites I started myself, the % is very good.

What is generally considered an above average CTR?

Thanks again.

 

Me too. And if it's bothering them that much you can use other website revenue services.

Thank You

 

The chances are, when you provide people with what they want, its never enough and people want more info hence the clicks.

 

In my experience, there are three kinds of pages with Adsense:

1) Pages that give visitors everything they want so that they have no desire to click on ads (see this article). An example would be a page that offers the best solution to some problem. Once the visitor has the solution, he has no desire or need to click ads.

2) Pages that provide good quality content but leave the visitor with a desire for additional or different information about the same topic. An example would be a page about "weight loss techniques." Since there are certainly many more techniques than could be discussed in a single article, visitors would be inclined to click ads that promise even more techniques.

3) Pages that completely fail to deliver what the visitor was seeking. These visitors may click on ads to try again to get the information they want. Many MFA sites fall into this category.

 

In my opinion, just give what your visitors want. If they already get what they want, they will still click on your ads if it is relevant. People won't be happy with just information from one source. Just give it a try and see if your earnings increase or decrease - then decide.

 

You might want to use the following guidelines I've posted on SEO for Adsense. By making your ads more relevant to your content you users get exposed to better ads which should probably increase your CTR rates.

Hope this helps

Ohad

 

I'm glad to get the good advice, thank you all.

 

You can give people what they want and still get a good CTR.
Not only can your content be useful to a visitor, but the ads actually enhance their experience as well, by giving them extra or related information, therefore making adsense PART of the user experience rather than being seperate from it.

 

Longroad,
Your point is very accurate.
If the adsense show relevant content, then they can actually be considered part of your content

 

I think thats the whole purpose of adsense, anyway.

 

Give them what they want, and place a large square at the end of your articles, where they will go if they want even more. Works for me.

 

Exactly what I was going to say. Websurfers are voracious, and after reading an article they'll either cast about for something else to look at, or hit the Back button.

 

usually the worst a site is, the higher CTR it gets, scrapped sites probably have a high CTR around 25-30%

 

IMO, the 'nice' advice (from several people) is decent and reminds me of "the way the web should be".

...but, 'rehash' is right too. Adsense often does not help make the Net better for end users.

Back to the bright side, we can make high quality content sites, and eventually the traffic and money will come. My site with a 7.5%+ average CTR is slowly being improved.

Edit: No one answered, is 7.5% a way above average CTR?
What is considered good??

Thanks

 

Low quality web sites were around a long time before Adsense. It's possible that Adsense contributes to the number of low quality sites, but it's not the only reason.

As to your 7.5% CTR, this poll shows that you are way above average.

 

I just now saw your answer, thanks.