Online communities versus how-to articles or guides.

Which is better for an adsense revenue stream?

[Slow_Eddie]

I hear that forums have very low CTR's and require lots of maintanence. But on the plus side they have lots of repeat visitors.

Now a guide or a how to may have less regular traffic, but requires less time to manage.

What are the true pros and cons of each?

Thanks,

Eddie

[martinibuster]

But on the plus side they have lots of repeat visitors.

Repeat visitors don't click on ads. That's a negative, not a plus. ;)

[annej]

It kinds of depends on your topic.

Unless you love that kind of stuff forums are a real pain. You have to have the right personality to do it. They do pay less per visitor but if you get enough visitors you can still earn money.

Informational articles could be better. But they need to be worth linking to so you will get links. You need a lot of visitors and it helps if people can find your articles through search engines.

You could try a site with both and see what works best for you.

[airhart360]

What about blogs? They are essentially a modified forum. You get the sense of community, but they don't take as much work.

I guess you could put your informative articles on a blog, so you get traffic, but not too many repeat visitors?

How are the CTR on blogs?