Forum Moderators: martinibuster
I thought I'd share a real world example of how a seemingly pretty minor change in an ads location can have a pretty big change in CTR, etc.
Below is the old layout. The lines represent the actual number of text lines in the column. The column is just over 200 pix wide and the adlinks is the 4-line 160x90 size, with a background color that stands out a bit from the white page background.
The change was to trade places of the ads (4 line adlinks) and the Navigation links (2 lines). The adlinks block didn't change format or colors (background) etc with the move. Nothing changed but the switch in ad and nav location. Both the nav links and adlinks are still above the fold.
N = navigation
H = headline
C = content
A = ads
Old layout
HHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHH
CCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCC
AAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAA
CCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCC
NNNNNNNNN
NNNNNNNNN
CCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCC
moreCCCCC
The result, moving the adlinks down 4 - 6 lines resulted in a drop of 50% in CTR.
It's been my hunch that it's those visitors, the ones apt to leave swiftly, that are the ones likeliest to find what they're seeking within the content of the advertising. Moving ads down deprives those visitors of the exit. Obviously, the visitors who stay longer will see the ads regardless whether the ad units are located higher or lower on the page. That the CTR was affected when the ads were lower on the page might indicate it's the low time on site visitors who were not seeing the ads and thus not clicking, resulting in a lower CTR.
The above is speculation and not meant to be taken for actual fact.
Another fun fact is that ads on the left side of the page frequently perform better than ads on the right. Of course, YMMV.
ASA
As I said above, same adlinks block, just 4 to 6 lines further down the same column, still above the fold.
I didn't mention my browser window size in the OP, it's 1280x800. Above the fold in my case means in approximately the top 660 pixels on these pages when viewed on my monitor.
That the CTR was affected when the ads were lower on the page might indicate it's the low time on site visitors who were not seeing the ads and thus not clicking, resulting in a lower CTR.
That could be I guess. But boy, if a move of 4 to 6 lines on an ad that is still above the fold can have this much impact it seems to indicate a great deal of caution is needed when planning a redesign on a well performing site.
I was expecting a change, but not this much. Luckily for me, I can live with it nicely anyhow if I decide to let the change live on.
But that decision more than likely won't come for a month anyhow.
By the way, I made this change on alternating pages of a 1,500 page section of the site. The pages where the ad location was not changed has seen no change in CTR etc. (channels, gotta love em!)
As I said above, same adlinks block, just 4 to 6 lines further down the same column, still above the fold.
Vertical viewport size on some computers out there is quite small (small screen is one reason, tons of toolbars is another), 600px down the page might not be above the fold anymore for quite a few of them out there, push it from just above to just below and you hit this I guess.
600px down the page might not be above the fold anymore for quite a few of them out there, push it from just above to just below and you hit this I guess.
600px down the page is off the screen on most netbooks, for example.
most site visitors hit the page and leave faster than we might like to think
According to surveys I've conducted over the years the time spent on my pages is broken up:
a) Ah! This is what I wanted.
b) Ah! Print page button? CLICK!
