Linking to other pages with better ads

[Romac34]

Hello everybody, i'm a bit frustrated about the sort of ads I get on my site. I have websites about entertainment and about news. These have a ctr of about 1 percent. Which youl agree is lousy. Last week I had 50.000 visitors in 3 days and I made about 100 dollars. Problem is that even though I spend time on title, description tags and keywords I get general ads which just arent appealing to my visitors. So I got a plan. I want to remove Adsense ads from my site and replace them with my own text links to other pages which have interesting subjects and a better ctr. Why am I telling you? Does anyone know the Google TOS well enough to tell me if that is allowd? Does anyone have experience in doing this? I just feel i'm missing out on a crap load of cash seeing visitors come in by the thousands and having a ctr of 1 percent.

[MyNewPC]

Are you asking if you can remove AdSense from some of your pages but not all of them? It doesn't matter to Google what you replace AdSense with if Adsense is no longer on that page.

This just seems so obvious to me. That's why I'm asking for clarification.

[Romac34]

What I mean is I take Adsense ads of the entire site and replace them text links to my other websites. So say a site is about news items and I get ads about widgets (just as example) I replace all ads with textlinks to my camera review site, advertising the article I wrote on that blog. The idea is then that people read my news item, click a link to camera reviews and read the article there and see the ads that match that article better. It sounds a bit desperate I guess but I'm at a loss at the moment. I have had some really good traffic, but made almost no money (1% ctr).

[MyNewPC]

Linking to one website from another website, regardless of the fact that you own both websites, is no different than linking to your site from any other site (or search results) on the Internet. The AdSense rules govern what appears on pages with AdSense period.

[Romac34]

Thanks for the input MyNewPC. My concern was that Google might concider it to be setting people up to click on ads.

[Scurramunga]

From an adsense point of view I can't see a problem. However from an SEO point of view, I wonder if this form of cross linking would incurr any penalties (as presumably you are the owner of the domains that are being linked to)

[jomaxx]

By "interesting" subjects, I have to believe you're talking about ones that have a higher EPC. Personally, my rule of thumb is that the harder you try to drive untargeted traffic to a targeted site, the lower that site's earnings will go.

In other words, it's worth experimenting with in a contextual way, but trying too hard to get entertainment traffic to click on camera review ads is futile. There's just a very low probability of any given individual picking that moment to buy a camera.

[jimbeetle]

The idea is then that people read my news item, click a link to camera reviews and read the article there and see the ads that match that article better.

Yeah, but now you're hoping that people will click through two times instead of once. I'd hazard the guess that if you think your AdSense CTR is low now it will be less than half of what it is now if you implement this change.

Problem is that even though I spend time on title, description tags and keywords I get general ads which just arent appealing to my visitors.

Hmmm, you didn't mention spending any time on content here. Why? That's the most important element.

[farmboy]

I have websites about entertainment and about news.

Where does your content come from? If you're writing your own content, you might try to focus on one subject per page so AdSense can give good targeted ads. Pages that cover a variety of topics - the home page of a newspaper site for example - often have very poor targeting.

On the other hand, if you're taking content from other sites without permission, using RSS feeds for commercial purposes in violation of the TOS, etc., well...sooner or later you're going to be earning much less than $100 in 3 days.

FarmBoy

[Romac34]

Hi, My content is original and I do write it myself. These are blog articles in which I react to news items. So the content should not be the problem. Although I have noticed something. I tried to apply section targeting to my texts last night and I myself couldnt even deside where to put the tags around something "ad wourthy". So my problems is not so much trafic or seo, but I'm waking up to the fact that eventhough my subjects are interesting reading to my visitors, the subjects appearently are to general to receiev interesting ads. Bummer.

[Johan007]

The Maths will not work out. For example you have a CTR of 1% then of the 1% only 1% will click on a real ad. That reduces your Real CTR dramatically would not agree?

I am having similar issues on another thread. Most of my internal pages are on new topics that are unlikely to be targeted compared to the general movie sector. This is a big presumption by me and may not represent fact.

[edited by: Johan007 at 12:46 pm (utc) on Mar. 3, 2008]

[Romac34]

Thanks for your input Johan. I personally think that people dont click on ads because they are not interesting. Thats why I'm gonna test placing links instead of ads to other articles that people might also be interested in the hope I will get a better ctr there. Doing this might (i havent tried it yet) get more people to click those links and end up on my other sites then if those links were ads. Also, i'm looking into affiliate programs now, because i seriously want to monitize that stream of visitors.

[ecmedia]

I am not sure it will work. I mean if people came to your page it is because that page was most likely a good place to find info on their query. Unless the other page that you will link to is also directly related this page it might work but otherwise when I am looking for Britney Spears gossip I really don't want to know anything about cameras. Just remember that entertainment news is just a lousy topic from earning standpoint but great for attracting traffic. What I have found useful is that if you talk about a celebrity losing weight and then link to a weight loss article you might have better luck.

[Romac34]

Good point ecmedia, something to keep in mind, thanx

[farmboy]

...the subjects appearently are to general to receiev interesting ads. Bummer...

What's the purpose of your blog? When you started it, did you have a plan to monetize it or do you blog as a hobby?

All sites are not a good fit for AdSense. A blog that is reacting to general news items may not be a good fit but a blog about specific news items may be a good fit.

FarmBoy

[Romac34]

Hello Farmboy. As you go you find out what works and what not. I started blogging because it was an easy way for me to make some cash. Having said that, I do blog because I like it and also I blog about things that interest me. I am now a fulltime blogger, so I am doing some things right, just not everything. This blog, although succesful when you look at the number of visitors regretably doesnt work when it comes to making money. Perhaps affiliate programs might be a solution.

[tim222]

Why not do both? You could keep your AdSense ads on the current events blog, *and* include links to your camera reviews.

[Johan007]

I tend to run affiliate banners in the header section. It is tough and I tend to find "branded" products tend do quite well but the lead payout has to be decent and most are not.

[incrediBILL]

These are blog articles in which I react to news items.

That explains your low CTR and the low payout all in one sentence.

People aren't coming to your site looking for goods or services, they're reading editorial content.

If you want a good CTR try changing your site, or incorporating content, to a topic or niche that involves goods and services that people commonly look to purchase and make sure your ads are on target and the money will flow.

[Romac34]

Thanks tim222 I'm on it now, just to try and see if it will work. Your right incredibill, i'm waking up to that fact right now. I have a lot of faitfhull readers at the moment and a domainname that screams news articles. So changing is not going to be easy.

[incrediBILL]

Maybe you don't change, start another site.

Some sites can be reputation builders but don't make much money, but I'm not sure I'd abandon it or change it if the traffic was good.

[incrediBILL]

Another thought, maybe AdSense isn't the right thing for your site.

If you're doing editorials maybe you should ad some affiliate programs on your site for similar content, such as online news sites, magazines, etc., things that your readers obviously like reading.

On pages with political content put on political magazines, if it's a page about new cars or something maybe promote car buyer mags, kelly's blue book, be imaginative and you can make money.