I wonder how much influence pages have on one another

[mobilemaverick]

I'm wondering how much of an influence my home page has on other internal pages for example.

I don't believe pages are completely independent. Have any of you played about with altering the home page and noted influence on ads placed on internal pages?

Cheers

[poodwaddle]

To my understanding, the home page, the directory in which the file is located, and even the file name are all calculated by adsense. The only thing that, I am told, isn't figured in is the meta keywords.
I am told the best practice is to create header tags just following the ad spaces.
My own page is largely Flash related so I have some difficulty getting related ads.

[jomaxx]

Most of us have real websites and aren't in a position to monkey around with the text on our homepage for the purposes of trying to game AdSense. Seriously, for non-MFA sites at least, changing around the homepage in order to optimize AdSense would be a case of the tail wagging the dog.

(This is also partly in response to your other recent comments about wanting to find the highest-paying keywords for your site.)

[mobilemaverick]

Real websites eh. Good on you. My pretend website probably has more trafic and success than yours though ;)

I like to understand things and so I ask questions.

[poodwaddle]

I wonder if my site is "pretend" too. It's content is Flash - not games or annoying content. Just made a Christmas countdown program I am proud of. Looks great but its in Flash so it can't possibly be real content. I have world population stats counters, but again it's in Flash so its "pretend".
I find your comment offensive. My site is very real, but I have to do a lot more than text based sites to optimize and describe the content. I think any real webmaster is concerned with ad targeting.

[jomaxx]

Poodwaddle, the OP isn't interested in "accurate" targeting; he's interested in identifying expensive keywords and changing around his site to convince Google that's what his site is about.

It's likely to be a futile exercise for many reasons, including (1) Smart Pricing, (2) a rule of thumb is that the more lucrative the niche is perceived to be, the more competition there is, and (3) he might just cause his existing position in the SERPs to plummet if he changes the focus of his site.

[poodwaddle]

Sorry.
If that is the case then certainly he will be chasing after the wind. My own experience (and my advice) is follow ones brainstorms and let the niche find you. I now have Google's second to top listing for the term <Blue Widgets> (and several others), not because I shopped for keywords I could exploit, but because I created a damn fine program and was discovered. My technique is to think first what content SHOULD exist, then consider if I have the skills to make it and if it's popularity would outweigh its time investment. Of course I consider if it fits with my site. Only when I am finished do I actually search for the best keywords to define the program.
I do understand the impulse to search for keywords first. It is either desperation or greed. But ultimately it will lead to a poor website, the kind we all groan at when we visit. I think the best webmasters think like web surfers first. We want quality content. We are proud when we receive emails complimenting our sites. Here is a good general rule: if you are proud to put your email address on your home page then it's a legitimate site. Otherwise, you're just trying to exploit your users. I wonder if anyone else here agrees.

[edited by: martinibuster at 9:08 pm (utc) on Oct. 10, 2007]
[edit reason] Removed specifics. [/edit]

[greatstart]

poodwaddle:

Before martinibuster removed specifics on your second position search terms, I got a chance to visit your site and I must commend you for your excellent work on your flash programs and tools. One way you can effectively improve your earnings is to reduce the numbers of ad blocks and just place one large rectangle above the fold in the center on each page. You will achieve a better CTR and better eCPM, thus larger earnings.

It was difficult for me to make that change at first, but it paid off. I see many new AdSense users making that same mistake thinking that more ads are better. Not so in the AdSense world, with smart pricing and other gimmicks they use to keep us from earning too much.

[mobilemaverick]

I think you assume too much. We're not trying to exploit our users. We're trying to understand what works and what doesn't.

Writing good content isn't optimal, writing good content and following the rules of SEO is better. I'm sure you do it, I'm sure you researched it, you wanted more users to essentially earn you more money.