Increasing vs. Decreasing eCPM

depending on where you put the new stuff

[spaceylacie]

It took me a long time to figure out why this was happening... The reason seems simple and logical now. Of course, advertisers would pay more to be on a page that has been around for many years verses a brand new page.

I have 2 different websites, not the only 2 but the only 2 involved in this study, both get at least 1/2 million page views a month, both are updated monthly with new stuff, both have opt-in email newsletters for visitors who want to be notified of updates, both have about the same number of subscribers for the updates, both sites show a significant increase in visitors when new stuff gets added. I picked these 2 sites for comparison because their numbers are so similar.

So why, since both sites experience about the same traffic increase after updates, on one site does the eCPM go up nearly 100%(doubles!) when new stuff is posted but on the other, the eCPM drops by 10-25% when new stuff is posted? The difference is that one site is set up more like a blog, all the new stuff goes onto the same page(one long page) then later is categorized and the past updates are put onto their own new pages. On the other site, new pages are created to store the new stuff then updates are announced as links to the new information and new pages.

The difference is huge, like the elephant in the room that people talk about. Make a page on your site just to announce updates, and put all updates directly on that page. Later, make new pages for that info. Don't just throw up brand new pages and think you are going to make extra money from them just because they bring in extra visitors. You can actually make less from the extra visitors if all your regular visitors are also flocking to that page with no G ranking.

Advertisers don't like brand new pages with no Google ranking, no matter how great the info is. My advice is to keep about 3 or 4 of your lastest updates on one long page, then make new pages and categorize later.

[MikeNoLastName]

Hmm, when I started reading I thought the bottom line was going to be exactly the opposite. In my experience, adding new related topic area pages to a long-existing site, start out low (as ads adjusted to the general site topic show - or perhaps until it gets a PR?), and then shoot up in less than a week as they are spidered and adjusted to that particular pages content (try doing an Adsense ad-preview on new pages, this seems to speed up spidering). Perhaps it is GOOGLE and their smart-pricing scheme which does not like unranked pagess, as I've suggested before. Likewise, pages which have had Adsense removed from them for a few months for other type ads, and then returned generally perform better than ever. Perhaps new content on old pages simply allows G to try new, more profitable topic areas. You didn't mention how DIFFERENT (i.e. off prior topics) the new material is in your case.

[purplecape]

My site's not as well-trafficked as yours is, but I have to say that's not been my experience. I'm not sure you can state that what you've observed is a general rule that will apply across all site structures and subject areas.

What you are experiencing IS interesting--but I'll be curious to hear what happens if you restructure the site that drops after new material is added to be like the other site.

[spaceylacie]

You are right, purple, I should not have made it sound like a general rule. Just something people should look at and experiment with.

Mike, all my sites are on the same topic, but some more specific than others. The site that shows the dramatic increase in eCPM after updates is more focused on one topic than the other. I've already started experimenting on a third site but it will take years before I have definitive results.