10 Adsense Tips for Maximum Click Through Rates.

10 Adsense Tips for Maximum Click Through Rates.

by Christos Varsamis
2005-09-09 00:00:00

1) You should make your Adsense ads look as a part of your web page.
They shouldn't look like an Ad. People are negative to advertising. They search the internet for content not ads. Especially Banners have a less of 0,5% response. Their days are over. Imagine if you have an Adsense ad looking like the typical Banner with different colors. It will not be profitable.

2) Text ads are better than image ads.
Like before, people are more responsive to text than images. In a way it is considered as a part of the online document and is more clickable.

3) No Border ads.
One of the best tricks is to erase the borders of Adsense ads and make them again having the same color with your website's background.

4) No other advertisements.
The first reason is to be legitimate according to Google's Rules and the second more practical reason is that you do not want to distract your visitor's attention and go somewhere else without clicking your Adsense ads.

5) Placement.
Even if you have the best Ad, people will not respond if they don't see it instantly. The best place to see the ad is the top of your web page and the next is aside your document's text. Visitors will click it more frequently since it will look like your text.

6) Traffic.
Try to use legitimate ways of traffic. Some people use Google Adwords and other Pay per Click search engines. The problem here is to search very carefully for the right niche and keywords in order to make your campaigns profitable. Other ways is link popularity techniques like link exchange directories, software or even mass blog submission techniques. Don't use link farms and classifieds for that, because search engine's algorithms are extremely clever and they will ban your listings.

7) Do not rely on one website.
Yes you can make money with one website but try to make as more as possible.


8) Relevant content is King.
Articles are one of the best tactics to create huge websites that will be crawled by search engine's robots. Don't forget search engines exist to provide relevant content at first. One excellent resource to automate your article directory procedure is www.articleequalizer.com .You can create an article database in minutes which otherwise is time consuming and it would take you a week!

9) Use site maps.
Google's site maps visit your site and crawl it much sooner that any other submission process. More information is here: http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps (http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps)

10) Relevant ads.
It's one of the most important factors for Adsense success. If the internet user can't find relevant ad in your page he or she won't click the ad. Would you act differently? So it's critical to create relevant resource for your web page. In order to do that, you must do the following steps.

First the file must be saved with the appropriate name for example: Golf-Secrets.html if your article is about golf. So the webpage will be:
www.yoursitesname.com/Golf-Secrets.html

Second thing you must change is your title tag. For example:
<Title>Golf-Secrets article </title>

Third is the heading. The first sentence must have this heading:
12 Golf secrets

Source: Site Reference (http://www.site-reference.com/Marketing/9550/index.html)

2,4,6,7, 9 have absolutely nothing todo with CTR.

2,4,6,7, 9 have absolutely nothing todo with CTR.

Ok, now that you have positioned yourself as an expert, how about a reason for your disagreement?

1) You should make your Adsense ads look as a part of your web page.
They shouldn't look like an Ad. People are negative to advertising. They search the internet for content not ads. Especially Banners have a less of 0,5% response. Their days are over. Imagine if you have an Adsense ad looking like the typical Banner with different colors. It will not be profitable.My viewpoint (http://sarahk.pcpropertymanager.com/blog/dodgy-adsense-ads/179/) on this is that users don't like to be tricked. Ads should not be disguised as content. It's confusing and misleading.

My best CTR comes on my property investment directory (http://www.pcpropertymanager.com/wsnlinks/) where my adsense ads are 100% generic - but they work because people come looking for something so are happy for whatever help they get in finding a relevant website.

My worst CTR comes on content pages because people come to read, and comment, not to discover further links and to click away quickly.

In the context of vb webmasters you have a problem where the natural format of any forum makes it difficult to integrate ads into the content without their being a clear difference.

Excellent advice there Joey, thanks for this.

Here's a question for ya about Google AdSense.

I am working on a mod for placement of Google Adsense 'inside' the 2nd post in a thread and inside the last but one post in a thread.

In your opinion, would these be favourable locations for such ads?

You can not put an adsense ad under a dated header. If the positioning is after the first post and in a box like a post, you have to make sure that the box is not dated.

It's a popular position.

Ok, now that you have positioned yourself as an expert, how about a reason for your disagreement?

Examine this statement...

7) Do not rely on one website.
Yes you can make money with one website but try to make as more as possible.

Assuming I have a CTR of 1% on site xyz.com. How does starting a new site called abc.com, raise your CTR on site xyz.com? Obviously, having two sites instead of one, will improve your overall earnings, but has no affect on CTR. Good enough? If you want some sane advice instead of the usual banter, then check out the Besting Adwords blog. Have a good day. :wave:

... and the others?

You're not creating such a good first impression randymorin, indicative of your inexperience or immaturity perhaps. Why oh why do people have something to prove on forums eh...? we're all here to help each other... not to see who has the most/best/worst/useful/useless information.

Examine this statement...

7) Do not rely on one website.
Yes you can make money with one website but try to make as more as possible.

Assuming I have a CTR of 1% on site xyz.com. How does starting a new site called abc.com, raise your CTR on site xyz.com? Obviously, having two sites instead of one, will improve your overall earnings, but has no affect on CTR. Good enough? If you want some sane advice instead of the usual banter, then check out the Besting Adwords blog. Have a good day. :wave:

Well your overall CTR is what's important. Think of it as a shotgun effect. The more ya have out there, the more likely you can get a hit. It's just common sense IMO.

The more pages you have adsense on, the more likely a click. Think of your adsense account relative to to all your properties, not one site.

Beside, IIRC, those tips are from google. Has google failed at anything lately? Would it not behoove us to take thier advice?

If you have on hobby site and are trying to pay your hosting bill, so be it. But some of us are in the advertising business.

Well your overall CTR is what's important. Think of it as a shotgun effect. The more ya have out there, the more likely you can get a hit. It's just common sense IMO.

The more pages you have adsense on, the more likely a click. Think of your adsense account relative to to all your properties, not one site.

It's no wonder people struggle to the money with Adsense. Your common sense is simply wrong.

... and the others?

You're not creating such a good first impression randymorin, indicative of your inexperience or immaturity perhaps. Why oh why do people have something to prove on forums eh...? we're all here to help each other... not to see who has the most/best/worst/useful/useless information.

Good old flamage. Thanks appreciated.

Good old flamage. Thanks appreciated.Do I have a point though? Why do you seem to have something to prove... I have no issue with you, sheesh, I don't even know you. I am sure you do actually have knoweldge and experience, use it for everyone's benefit without having anything to prove. I'd welcome anyone who has something positive and helpful to say. So far I haven't seen this from you.

Apologies if my post offended you, I didn't mean it to... but come on, help us all out, no-one has the biggest/best/worst etc. - we're all here to help each other.

It's no wonder people struggle to the money with Adsense. Your common sense is simply wrong.


Hmmm - How much do you make a month on adsense? I dont struggle, do you?


I have sites with a 1% CTR and sites with a 25% CTR --- A forum site, such as this one, has a low CTR usually, under 2%. A content site can have a much higher CTR. When you blend all my sites together I have about a 4% CTR - but thats low because I own 4 forums and they have alot of page impressions, with low number of clicks. Your overall CTR can go up if you own a variety of sites. Also, some sites are more seasonal then others. A Christmas site for example will usually be slow in August, and a Tax site will be busier the first part of the year. So having a variety of sites will also help against seasonal changes.

And Musicman is right, your not making a good first impression. But it's ok. Try to learn and ask questions instead of challenge others.

Hmmm - How much do you make a month on adsense? I dont struggle, do you?

According to Feedster, I have the #1 Adwords/Adsense related blog on the Web? Am I struggling? Tell me?

From the bad advice given in this forum, I'm pretty certain most of the supposed experts here are faking it.

Do I have a point though? Why do you seem to have something to prove... I have no issue with you, sheesh, I don't even know you. I am sure you do actually have knoweldge and experience, use it for everyone's benefit without having anything to prove. I'd welcome anyone who has something positive and helpful to say. So far I haven't seen this from you.

Apologies if my post offended you, I didn't mean it to... but come on, help us all out, no-one has the biggest/best/worst etc. - we're all here to help each other.

No, I have nothing to prove and you didn't offend me. I'm just telling you that this thread is bad advice.

I feel abit like the only one not laughing at a joke. Randy you seem to have some beef against this forum.

As a normal member of the forum I'm out in the cold and have no idea what's going on. I agree with the points made in your first post on this thread and since you don't use a signature and haven't added the feed from your blog I don't know what site is yours to verify at feedster.

So, what's going on?

I feel abit like the only one not laughing at a joke. Randy you seem to have some beef against this forum.

As a normal member of the forum I'm out in the cold and have no idea what's going on. I agree with the points made in your first post on this thread and since you don't use a signature and haven't added the feed from your blog I don't know what site is yours to verify at feedster.

So, what's going on?Not sure either Sarah.... but there is this.. http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=randymorin

I know it's a cultural thing but Randy is not a name for a nice boy who looks like this

http://www.livejournal.com/userpic/14351310/2939197

I agree with the points made in your first post on this thread and since you don't use a signature and haven't added the feed from your blog I don't know what site is yours to verify at feedster.

So, what's going on?

Sorry, I didn't want to SPAM the list with my blog URL. But, to prove my identity I will.

http://www.kbcafe.com/adwords/

I have nothing against this forum. I saw this thread on a search for "adsense tips". I said to myself, "Wait this is not correct". I created an account and said as much. For justifying that, a forum member called me immature. At that point, I felt compelled to read more to confirm my suspicion. The advice generally given in this forum is not good. That's my opinion. You don't have to believe me. Sorry! :(

OK, let's try to resolve this one... pleeeease....

Maybe we are all equal here of misreading each others intent in our posts. When using forums it is always difficult to interpret the specific manner of a post; the intended body language, any subtle inflections in grammar/tone that were meant. Maybe I did this too with your 1st post in this thread - but I already apologised for that.

Let's start again shall we... we perhaps got off to a bad start, but put that behind and let's move on positively... then... a win-win situation ensues instead of the lose-lose situation we have now.

Watcha say...?:)

PS: feel free to post your URL in our showcase catageory... Ok.. it says Showcase your Forum, but let's not be too pedantic eh ;)

sounds like a plan

sounds like a planExcellent... progress... I luv it!!! :) Thanks.

I have seen so called experts come and go. Mostly go. I think anyone that says something is bad avice and can't give a justification other then to say his dick is bigger is a troll.

Any advice that increases revenue is good advice.

Had you said this advice is bad and it should read that you can increase CTR by doing this, not that, I may respect you.

But I just looked at your bolg that you claim to be informative and all it is is a flame job of a post with no justification. Great content? I beg to differ.

Mostly go. I think anyone that says something is bad avice and can't give a justification other then to say his dick is bigger is a troll.

Obviously the offer of peace wasn't geniune. Also, Joey specifically asked me for credentials and I provided them. Anyhow, when I was 18, I would've joined in on the immature flamage. But at 36, I just say bye-bye. :wave:

Just before you go Randy, can you take a look at your site using Firefox, some of the links seem out of alignment...

Obviously the offer of peace wasn't geniune. Also, Joey specifically asked me for credentials and I provided them. Anyhow, when I was 18, I would've joined in on the immature flamage. But at 36, I just say bye-bye. :wave:

Like I said, you have nothing to offer. No big deal.

I find it ironic you call me asking you to justify your position flaming. You have said the info is wrong, yet cannot offer better.

Worse yet, you posted a flame at your blog that the info here was wrong and didn't even tell your readers why. Even funnier is your pages don't render in all browsers. You are an authority? On what?

Nuff said. Buh bye!

2,4,6,7, 9 have absolutely nothing todo with CTR.


2: Studies by Google show people are more likely to click on a text ad rather then an image ad - also a test and will give you several ads for the user to chosse from, where the image ad will only give you one;

4: If you have another ad, that isnt an adsense ad - people may click that ad instead of the adsense ad - so by having only adsense ads, your CTR will be higher because people are only choosing the adsense ads;

6: To be precise, more traffic wont necessarily mean a higher CTR, but will mean more clicks overall and more money in your pocket. Also, if you have a low traffic site, your CTR will fluctuate quite a bit day to day - and the CTR will stabilize as your traffic becomes higher and more stable;

7: If you have several websites the CTR between them will stabilize and average between them. This is another one that wont really mean more CTR but more clicks and money in your pocket.

9: This will likely increase your CTR because you will get more targeted traffic since Google will index more of your pages more efficiently, and the people coming to your site will come from related searches, meaning your ads will mbe more targeted.

To be fair - some of these have more to do with getting more clicks and profits instead of more CTR. CTR is the % of clicks to Pageviews. If your page is viewed 100 times, and you get 10 clicks, then your CTR is 10% If you increase traffic to 200 pageviews a day, and maintain that 10% CTR - you will have 20 clicks in a day, and approximately twice the income.

So while you are correct that some of these are not PURELY about increasing CTR - they are all about increasing your adsense income. None of them are "bad advice" and all will help the site owner make more money.

THe best thing I can tell any site owner is to increase traffic. This will increase everything, but ultimately its dollars that you deposit into the bank.


~

So while you are correct that some of these are not PURELY about increasing CTR

:wave:

Take one sentence out of context - It doesnt really make your point. So - after 10 posts - what have you contributed? - Its no wonder Noppid lost his patience with you already.

Just curious, what kind of money do any of you really make with these ads? I have always been anti spam and see the ads as an invasion and really I have good sponsors for my forums and never intended my forums to be for profit. So don't take this the wrong way but lets say for a 10k member site that does 500gb of bandwidth a month what kind of adsense profit do you see?

Max

you shouldnt be using 500gb of bandwidth for starters. 200 at the MOST, more like 150gb is reasonable. Check to make sure your gzip compression is on.

Aside from that, it would depend on the topic. Some topics make alot more then others. It also depends on how prone your users are to clicking the ads.

All that said - its not unrealistic to think you would make $3k a month or so. Again, there are so many variables its so hard to say.

The bandwidth may not even be relevant, I promote large files and high quality images. I am on a contract for 1000 gb a month so pushing half of that really doesn't make any difference.

So your telling me you make 3k a month of any of your forums then or your saying that it is possible to make 3k a month?

Thanks

Max

IM not telling you what I make - im telling you what would be reasonable to expect for your forum. But there are alot of variables involved that can skew that number.

If your forum has topics that are, for example, primarily financial related, like mortgages, the ads that'll be displayed for that then to pay more per click then say ads for pets.

How much your members are prone to clik also makes a difference.

Try it - put a 468x60 in the top of your showthread and see what happens.

Thanks but I'll pass right now. I see so many going to the adsense that I was just wondering if they were really making anything at it or just paying some of the bills. I really haven't seen anyone say exactly what they made, non of my business probably but I still find it hard to believe that those clicks pay that much. I am very lucky as I said that my sponsors are very good, it doesn't hurt either that both of my forums are about relatively expensive bikes so members tend to be more affluent and have deeper pockets to help with support.

The terms of Google adsense prohibits disclosure of what one makes so it is difficult to state this publicly Max. For me, I run a 6k member, 330,000 post forum and I make more than enough to cover my hosting costs... a fair bit more. It helps pay for licenses and some development costs.

That help?

Thanks theMusicMan, that was what I was looking for and what I really thought it produced. I know the ability is there to do very well but the reality isn't always the same as the ability.

Thanks.

I need to employ the likes of Joey really as I am sure this amount could be significantly increased. I am somewhat inexperienced when it comes to SEO and adsense placement for best returns... I keep promising myself...:)

Me? What did I do now? :D


Besides, im taking about adsense when I have yahoo running here... :)

Yup - I can't run that on my site as I believe YPN is for US residents only.... shame as I feel it would be beneficial to me to try that instead of adsense.

Oh and yes... I would pay you to do some work for me if I could get something out of it... which I am sure there is opportunity to obtain.