[ZachH]

I just launched a site called [spam URL removed] it is a free service that estimates the number of visitors any site has.

When I launched the site I put it into a couple of forums for reviews in order to get some feedback. This was very helpful and I got tons of feedback. I made a lot of changes some of them right away and other changes were a bit more low priority.

One the low priority changes was changing the look of my Adsense ads. I’ve had several posts saying that the ads looked bad, because the ads were not in the same colors as the rest of the site. The ads were default Google Adsense colors.

Making sure that the Google Ads are an integrated part of your site and look like the rest of the site is not revolutionary news. It is an old Google Adsense tip and you might have heard the tip before, but I think this is interesting because this is an example of the exact result that a minor change like this can do. I have nothing to hide so I’ll give you the exact numbers of the effect of this very small change.

The numbers are based on 4 days before the change and 4 days after the change. Here are the numbers:

Before:
Pageviews 882
Clicks: 1
Click through rate: 0.11%

After:
Pageviews 1125
Clicks: 8
Click through rate: 0.70%

The numbers are not huge because the site was just launched, but I think they are large enough. This was amazing to me. A minor change like this increased my earnings 7 times – pretty wild.

I hope you can learn something from this, I certainly did. Let me hear your comments or if you have similar stories. It would also be interesting to hear if 0.70% is high or low compared to others.

Regards,

-Zach Highknee
[spam sig removed]

[Adam Ward]

You have NO IDEA .........
SHE will come and YOU are so......

[ZachH]

I'm sorry Adam Ward but I'm not sure I understand your post...

[Snib]

Interesting site Zach, but the numbers I tried were pretty high. One site reported 10,000 when I know it's more like 2500.

- Scott

[infoTim]

I have seen double-digit CTR on targeted content pages, so it looks like you have some room for growth at that level. :) But you've got the right idea...it's easy to make an adjustment and wait a few days and compare.

[stephfoster]

Lots of room for improvement, I suspect. Don't reveal your CTR - you aren't supposed to do that, according to Google's TOS.

[martyogelvie]

duh..

Estimated number of visitors for www.cowboycards.com
4,912 visitors per day

don't I wish....

[KGP]

by the way the same post exactly the same post is published on at least 4 forums i know off....couldnt you at least try to change the content of each post......

[Vincyheat]

by the way the same post exactly the same post is published on at least 4 forums i know off....couldnt you at least try to change the content of each post......
Well he is spreading the gospel of [removed copy of spam url of first post].... :nerd:

[enginez]

Zach,

Try averaging the Google links with and without "www". For my site I get 3,000 with the www, and 20,000 without, whereas the reality is somewhere near the middle. This is due to Google only showing backlinks for my domain without the "www".

[Jenstar]

Clickthrough rate: 0.70%

I wouldn't be trusting AdSense advice from someone with only a 0.70% CTR. You really should be aiming for at least 10-30% CTR.

I’ve had several posts saying that the ads looked bad, because the ads were not in the same colors as the rest of the site. The ads were default Google Adsense colors.

If you are only at 0.70%, there is either something horribly wrong with your placement/colors or you have a rabid anti-advertising audience. Judging from your comment, yours is definitely placement and colors. NO ONE should be using the out-of-the-box AdSense colors.... EVER.

[Donuts]

by the way the same post exactly the same post is published on at least 4 forums i know off....couldnt you at least try to change the content of each post......

Searched Google for "Zach Highknee".
Make that 13 forums we know of.

[Donuts]

Well he is spreading the gospel of [removed copy of url from first post].... :nerd:

He's spreading something, but it ain't gospel.

[Snib]

I wouldn't be trusting AdSense advice from someone with only a 0.70% CTR. You really should be aiming for at least 10-30% CTR.


Jen,

I've never even come close to a CTR as high as even 10%. Seems like it'd be a waste of traffic to send that many visitors away to AdSense. Just my opinion.

- Scott

[Jenstar]

Seems like it'd be a waste of traffic to send that many visitors away to AdSense.

I optimize AdSense so people can get as high a CTR as possible (yes, legitimately, I don't do anything that runs amuck of the AdSense policies or terms, or the Google webmaster guidelines).

I do tell people, however, if they are concerned about losing traffic through AdSense that they shouldn't be running AdSense at all. Or if they insist on running AdSense, place it in an extremely low CTR position (such as the footer).

[Kellie aka Ms. B]

Come on guys...please don't copy spammers links in your posts. It makes for so much editing. ;) The link is what they are wanting after all.

[Donuts]

You have NO IDEA .........
SHE will come and YOU are so......

This makes sense now. Sounded so metaphysical earlier. Crap, I should have been more grounded - it was obvious - dagnabbit - I missed it.

[infoTim]

I've never even come close to a CTR as high as even 10%.

Really focused content pages can get that level without too much effort, with proper colors, sizes, and placement.

An interesting thing I had always suspected though, and was finally able to confirm, is that AS can be very parasitic to affiliate pages. Here's a cheap experiment...take out a content-network AdWords ad for some interesting set of keywords and drop it to a landing page on your site. Let it run for a day. Check your logs...the source page that the ad ran on is in the referral field and there's a good scattering of affiliate pages in there, if your experience is anything like mine.

- Tim

[jackson992]

I only get 3-4% on a good day. I can't see it ever going as high as double figures.

[infoTim]

Maybe I should sell my own e-book. :-)

[Vinny O'Hare]

10% lol why set the bar so low. if you cant get 10 you are not trying hard enough.

[stephfoster]

10+% CTR is definitely possible, and probably a good target for content pages. If you're selling something on a given page, I can certainly see not wanting that high a CTR.

[chetf]

10+% CTR is definitely possible, and probably a good target for content pages. If you're selling something on a given page, I can certainly see not wanting that high a CTR.

If you don't want them to click on google ads, then don't put them on those pages. Why would you put them on the page and then hope no one clicks?

Chet

[Leader]

AS can be very parasitic to affiliate pages. Here's a cheap experiment...take out a content-network AdWords ad for some interesting set of keywords and drop it to a landing page on your site. Let it run for a day. Check your logs...the source page that the ad ran on is in the referral field and there's a good scattering of affiliate pages in there, if your experience is anything like mine.

I've only got a couple of AdWord ads running, but I do watch the logs for one set of keywords.

The only times I see affiliate sites in there repeatedly is when the other guy has made a mash out of his site. For instance, the way one of my biggest AdWords referrers is set up, actually clicking a buy-link is not intuitive at all! The real buy links are hard to find, while his AdSense is right out there. At first I thought it was a content site that just offered product comparisons in order to fill up pages (to be able to have more places to put AdSense--instead of actually trying to sell the stuff)! But when I really looked closely, there were aff. links after all.

Of course, results vary by category. I've noticed on my own sites, that certain categories will draw more AdSense clicks (cannibalizing from regular sales links) than others.

Why would you put them on the page and then hope no one clicks?~Chet
I wouldn't hope "no one" clicked. But the point is to give the NONbuyers some other way (besides buying) to leave their money on my site, not to lose too many who would have bought. If too many click, though, chances are higher that actual customers are escaping... The goal is to maximize the income potential rather than to simply shift it to a different source.