I have around 0.5% ctr on this site: http://tinyurl.com/ctdls3 I read that 3% is a good target but I'm way off. I would love to have 2-3%. What am I doing so wrong? Site receives about 850 Absolute Unique Visitors a day.
you would bettere check your ad placements, check the stats and find out which ad size has better ctr
Do some keyword research and see if the keywords your tutorials are suited for are even worth bothering. If they are, put 468x60 (or whatever the size is, I keep forgetting) naturally in the text and substitute the title bar for an adsense text link. Also, on the tutorial pages' sidebar, make room on top for an adsense link box. That should do it. TomG. PS - If I were you, I would make the tutorials downloadable pdfs and embed affiliate links and also plug your services in them.
I just added the "blue nav" looking link block and also the link block in the right column. I also bumped over the 336x250 ad 70 pixels to line it up more with the text of the tutorial icon. What would u try? Maybe ditch the tutorial icon and category text altogether and let the ads bump up to the tutorial title?
Those edits are good. Now also try this: Get rid of the category text and hive icon. You can try putting the banner size 468x60 or whatever up top right after the title, and once more at the end of the tutorial. After trying this for a while try moving the top banner down a couple of paragraphs. After all this, once you figure out which is better, consider getting a 160x600 skyscraper block in there and see if that does the trick. Again, edit, test, edit, test, edit, test. You've already done enough changes to stop and see if you are going in the right direction. TomG.
Ok, I removed the tutorial icon and allowed the main ad block to move up closer to the title. I left the "Added" & "Views" but condensed it to 1 line. I'll leave it like this for a day or two and see if ctr improves. I like the skyscraper idea and I'll give the 468x60 ad a try as well. Do you think the 468 x 60 ad should go on top of the 336x250 ad or replace it?
Once you've made some moves, test your ad placements for at least 48 hours before changing them. I've found some whacky click through stats depending on the time of day and realized that I got a bunch of people clicking through after school hours. Remember that sometimes Google reports stats on a delay, and you don't want to blow through the perfect ad placements because you were impatient.
Thanks Val, I'll let it be for at least 48 hours before making further adjustments. So far though the changes seem positive. I've already received a typical "good" day of clicks and there is another 8 hours to go. Oddly enough my bottom ad has increased the most today and I only nudged it over 10px to the right. Also have a couple clicks on the all new ad spots. I'll report back in a few days.
I don't know if its just me but for some reason my attention keeps getting focused to the right of the page. Try putting one vertical banner on the right side and see if your CTR goes up.
alaas, that sounds good. I'm going to see how the little link box does for a few days but I doubt it will perform well. Tom also thought a skyscraper be a good idea. I'll test the 160x600 there. Think it should be image only or text? I'll have to remove my middle ad blocks to keep it to 3 since all tutorials have 1 ad block on top, 1 on bottom and another in the middle if it is particularly long. Middle block is worst performer anyway.