Looking across stats to the beginning of December, I was quite surprised to see that for nearly two months now, the Content network is proving, in some respects, and purely statistically speaking, a more cost effective option than the Google network.
In December our conversion rate for content ads was 62% better than via Google. The cost per conversion via Content works out at 39% cheaper than via the Google network.
So far in January the conversion rate for Content is 15% better than Google and the cost is 12.5% cheaper. Content is statistcally proving to be a good thing...
The only flaw in all of this is, of course, CTR. December sat at 3.4% for Google vs 0.4% for Content. January is presently at 2.7% vs 0.4%.
Regardless, the figures show to me that those clicking through via ads on the Content network are actually more discerning than those on the Google network. Less people are clicking through, but those that do have a greater inclination to convert.
Unfortunately the volume of conversions, though even at a better rate, is just nowhere near sufficient. Perhaps there is somewthing I should be doing in order to further maximise these clicks from unknown sources?
Is anyone else having similar experiences via Content, or am I in a unique world of my own..?
As an aside, I'm also seeing some interesting traffic growth this side of the year. Since the beginning of last week traffic has steadily risen daily and has doubled during the course of this week. Short term peak or trend?
Syzygy
Regardless, the figures show to me that those clicking through via ads on the Content network are actually more discerning than those on the Google network. Less people are clicking through, but those that do have a greater inclination to convert.
That wouldn't surprise me if, for some sectors, the content sites act as a filter and get rid of click-happy surfers.
It raises the question however, is it more cost effective to just build your own content site as a traffic catcher, than to utilise adwords?
TJ
That wouldn't surprise me if, for some sectors, the content sites act as a filter and get rid of click-happy surfers.
Yes, I believe that is exactly what happens a great deal of the time, particularly as we operate in very specialist sectors.
Some months ago I posted in a thread here that for one ad content CTR was hitting 5%! I could only surmise that my ads were showing on some exceptionally well-targeted sites.
Syzygy
I can toss up a couple examples of why for these clients.
Authority Sites
Account A happens to show on two large authority sites that have amazing conversions. Interestingly enough, one of these sites contacted me directly about advertising with them - their CPM buys would have been 4 times higher than we pay for AdSense. Using Google as the middleman on this one if very favorable.
Broad Match
Account B was set up by the client. When looking at the numbers, AdSense was outperforming search 2 to 1. The reason why was quickly apparent. They did a good job of setting up relevant keywords per AdGroup, so their AdSense was very targeted. However, every keyword was broadmatched and there were no negatives. When the account was reworkeded to include phrase, exact, and negative keywords, the conversion % for AdSense stayed the same, but the search then surpassed AdSense.
Niche Industry
Account C has a small search volume, a very small industry. Yet, there are several quality informational sites (none true authorities, just passionate hobbyists) that show the majority of the AdSense ads, and these convert very well. This is where AdSense can shine. When the sites that you do show on aren't "made for AdSense" sites, but good information - especially in small industries where many people have already booked marked their favorite sites/blogs on the issue and no longer search for the products, they go straight to the review/info sites.
Low Margin Keyword Subsets
Account D does not sell the high margin product where they keywords are very expensive. They sell books/CDs/how tos about the product, so have a much smaller profit margin to work with. For the majority of their keywords, it's not profitable to show on the first page of search results. AdSense has given them a way to be shown on a large variety of sites at a reasonable cost. In this instance, search converts better than AdSense, but AdSense provides the vast majority of their conversions and provides a much more profitable bottom line than search.
CTR from content is, of course, not counted for the ranking of your ads (as I understand it). Though the CTR is low from content there is the bonus of "branding" for some advertisers (for whom it matters).
Over time, I think most advertisers will realize the benefits of the content network and figure out how to profit from it. I know many who tried it for a few days or a couple of weeks, didn't see conversions and then turned it off for good saying "the content network doesn't work".
What a shame because that sounds like those dotcom bust companies in the late 90's who threw up a web site, lost money, and said "advertising and selling on the internet doesn't work".
It's all in mastering the method.
