Forum Moderators: martinibuster
The bad news is that Click-through-rate dropped by 40-50%. I understand the economy has had some effect, but I'm not convinced that's the main reason.
I've changed ad placement and size, color, hired a consultant, paid someone to implement the changes (I can't do them myself) and nothing has changed...except the increased traffic.
I can't afford another redesign of my site and can't go back to my old one.
Has anyone experienced this and, if so, what did you do to improve things?
Thank you.
1. The underlying assumption in your post seems to be that you are expecting more income from AdSense via your site. That may or may not be a reasonable assumption.
For example, the topic of your site may be the problem. That's not something you can change unless you change topics.
Your old layout and your new layout may both be inadequate to accomplish what you want to accomplish. Somethimes ugly layouts perform better than "good" layouts.
2. You say you want to improve things - can you be more specific? Do you want to earn more with this site even if it's not via AdSense or do you want to earn more via Adsense with this site?
3. Are you regularly adding new content or is your site basically static? Are there elements on your site that turn away visitors soon after arriving? Are the ads that appear on your site well targeted? Do you have a good ranking for the most common terms someone would search for if looking for the information your site provides?
FarmBoy
Click-through-rate dropped by 40-50%.
Quite a few publishers have reported big drops in CTR, so this might not be any different than others are experiencing. But increases in traffic often seem to lead to drops in CTR.
Has your income dropped by the same percentage?
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My expectation is that there should be more clicks based on increased traffic. Mathematically, anyway, that makes sense.
I ask in all sincerity: is an unreasonable assumption. My CTR has consistently been down 40-50%, starting the exact day the new site was launched. If I showed a chart, it would look like someone was walking along and suddenly fell off a cliff.
>> 2. You say you want to improve things - can you be more specific?
I want to improve the CTR which would improve income. I am very pleased with the increase in traffic. I've owned the site for more than six years and have never seen the type of increase I've seen the last few months.
>> 3. Are you regularly adding new content or is your site basically static?
I regularly add one or two articles each week.
>>Are there elements on your site that turn away visitors soon after arriving?
This remains the unanswered question. I've lightened and changed the colors (the original design looked drab and dreary, at least on the monitors I check), tried to simplify it by not making it look too cluttered.
From the get go, I've had a concern about the navigation, which I think leaves something to be desired. I've discussed this with the web developer, who disagreed and provided plausible reasons. I'm no expert so yield to the expertise of others in the field.
>Are the ads that appear on your site well targeted?
When viewing my site, the ads have always been well-targeted.
>> Do you have a good ranking for the most common terms someone would search for if looking for the information your site provides?
I think so but, again, due to my lack of expertise, do not know if there is a specific method of checking. The home page of my site has a Google Ranking of 4, with most inner pages ranked at 5.
Since my site was redesigned an launched almost a year ago, traffic has increased by 20% and continues to grow.
The bad news is that Click-through-rate dropped by 40-50%.
This appears to be very common. Is there anyone who has redesigned their site and actually made more money? It seems that every "redesigned" post is following by, "my earnings crashed". It's puzzling since the redesign is often done to increase earnings through better placements, larger ad blocks, etc...
In both designs, the header took up the same amount of pixels, in both cases the change was within a javascript include (that is how we display our header), so the source code did not change beyond a javascript include.
The placement of our ads did not change. Just the header. So this small test goes to show you that even something as subtle as a header change can throw a wrench into your CTR and earnings.
I've realized my current design, while it is a bit dated, performs pretty well so I don't touch it any more. I just add new sections to the site, new content, etc.
My advice, try the old design for a week again. See if your CTR returns.
Is there anyone who has redesigned their site and actually made more money? It seems that every "redesigned" post is following by, "my earnings crashed". It's puzzling since the redesign is often done to increase earnings through better placements, larger ad blocks, etc...
Although I've read a few posts from people who changed this or that and saw an increase, I think it's just human nature to come here and post after a downturn - to try and get some help, some empathy, or whatever.
People who make changes and get poor results are probably more likely to post than those who make changes and get good results. If you aren't careful, that could cause you to conclude that changes are something to avoid.
Another factor to consider is whether most of your traffic is repeat traffic or new visitors. A change can cause repeat visitors to look around and notice things they haven't seen before.
FarmBoy
My expectation is that there should be more clicks based on increased traffic. Mathematically, anyway, that makes sense.
That's a theory we all wish were true, but it doesn't seem to be, at least not on a consistent basis and not to a corresponding scale. A 20% increase in traffic should result in some additional clicks, but you can't bank on a 20% increase.
I know people in brick & mortar retail business who say they may have 100 people visit their store this Saturday and 500 visit next Saturday and yet they might not experience even a doubling of sales, let alone a five-fold increase.
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How's that prayer go? "God grant me the ability to change the things I can, the patience to accept the things I can't change and the wisdom to know the difference between the two"
This might be a good time to work on the things you can - keep adding good content that will remain relevant for example.
Use AdSense channels, AdSense search queries results and your site stats to see what you can learn about what your visitors want and give them more of that.
FarmBoy
presumabely you've already got the best ads showing your site. and those ads are being clicked, reducing those advertisers budgets. other advertisers will then get a look in, but their ads aren't as good. so if you increase your traffic by 20% all you are doing is letting in these other advertisers, which people don't want to click so much, therefore reducing your CTR.
if there are a lot of advertisers in your niche then you might be alright, and increasing your traffic will show the benefit that you expect.
My expectation is that there should be more clicks based on increased traffic. Mathematically, anyway, that makes sense.Actually, it does NOT follow mathematically.
Your (and many others') first wrong assumption is that the same ratio of people who click should remain the same when you add more visitors. Different visitors will have different viewing/clicking patterns. And since this new group of people apparently never found your site before, it's probably a good assumption that they are NOT identical to previous viewers. It's very important to look at where your traffic is coming from. If your new sources of traffic are people that don't click on ads, well, they're simply not going to click on ads.
The second wrong assumption is that the ads remain the same for all the visitors. This is simply not always the case. If you happen to have a great ad that most of your visitors click on, your success may become your undoing. At some point, the advertiser may run out of money and that ad will no longer show. The remaining ads may not pay very much, nor may they interest your visitors the same way.
An increase in traffic *may* increase your revenue, but you should not expect the same CTR or eCPM ratio. In most cases, it will tend to go down.
Return visitors:
My site does not have a lot of return visitors, never has in all the years I've been running it. It's an educational and informational site. Like similar ones I visit, I usually get my info and move on.
Level of income:
For the first several months, income dropped dramatically; it was pitiful. However it increased during the holiday season (Oct - Dec.). It's much better, but still less than the same time period last year.
Seems I've be paid more for clicks on some ads than I did before, so it has helped. Whether this continues now that we're moving away from the holiday season remains to be seen.
You're right farmboy, I'm going to have to accept the things I can't change. Lord knows I've put time and money into trying to improve the situation, but it hasn't worked. I will continue to ad articles and write about the subject I love.
*I think it's just human nature to come here and post after a downturn."
Yes, it's human nature but I've been posting at WebmasterWorld for a couple of years, though certainly not very active. I am not a webmaster or developer, just a site owner.
I've certainly learned a lesson and won't hold out hope for CTR to get back to double the levels it was for the previous two or so years. As I wrote to someone recently, there is no progress without change but change isn't necessarily progress.
Thanks again.
In both designs, the header took up the same amount of pixels, in both cases the change was within a javascript include (that is how we display our header), so the source code did not change beyond a javascript include.The placement of our ads did not change. Just the header. So this small test goes to show you that even something as subtle as a header change can throw a wrench into your CTR and earnings.
A change in javascript *could* cause a browser compatibility issue, since javascript is interpreted at the browser. For example, since migrating from IE6 to IE8, I noticed that a small but noticeable number of sites hang when I right-click the page. Some hang before they are ever displayed. I have no idea what causes this because it has never happened on a site that really matters. It's usually just some random search result, so I just go back and find another. That sort of browsing pattern could make it seem like the number of visitors is steady, but CTR plummets because nothing on the page is clickable. I'm not saying this happened to your site, but it's a possibility.
1. Content-data => crawling, SE optimization
2. Then the effect reaches the "look stage" => Humans.
Humans might recommend your site because is awesome or because the navigation allows them to find what they want or both. Anyway it will bring your site more visitors. The thing is the content is still the same.
[quote]Is there anyone who has redesigned their site and actually made more money? It seems that every "redesigned" post is following by, "my earnings crashed". It's puzzling since the redesign is often done to increase earnings through better placements, larger ad blocks, etc... [quote]
Yes-No. Ive done redesigns, always with traffic increase (except from one time). The traffic went up but not the earnings in all my cases. Only one site had a little increase.
Right after a successful redesign I see a great amount of page impressions (more people staying and reading) and also traffic growth more than earnings up. I'm still confused about ugly sites performing better
I'm still confused about ugly sites performing better
Visitors click ads to get out ASAP :)
A change in javascript *could* cause a browser compatibility issue, since javascript is interpreted at the browser.
Not to get too far off topic, but I should have been more clear. We use "document.write" commands in a javascript include for our header. No rocket science. It essentially allowed us (in the past) to keep the clutter of the header from the crawlers. Today's world is of course another story. But we have no reason to change it at this point. =)
If you did, this would be a huge factor. I know I had some adsense channels once and did a re-design, then re-named some of my channels and created new channels and it was a huge mistake. If you allow advertisers to target specific channels, and you then remove (or rename) those channels, those ads from those advertisers may go away.
So its not only the visuals that effect earnings but also your code. I tried removing massive chunks of code but never managed to undo the damage.
It's a #*$!ing joke to be honest. Especially when my own adsense rep couldn't even begin to explain the reasons behind it.
my own adsense rep couldn't even begin to explain the reasons behind it.
I think of speed as a key factor and also how the site was displayed on all the browsers. I made tests but I bet there were some older technologies with problems. My site can be viewed even with no css and it is still useful that way.
WordPress may be a fine for blogging but, in my experience, it sucks for my AdSense website.
Thanks, you summed up the situation nicely. I'll keep playing with ad placement since I can't afford another redesign, which now I know could possibly make matters even worse. Wish I had a clue that a site redesign could so negatively influence CTR. It would have helped me make a more informed decision.
My recommendation is that you work VERY slowly on any website changes. They never fare well with the search engines, and adsense income.
That said - you could go look at your Analytics to see what browser sizes are typical in the people using your site, and then find a tool to view your site in those sizes - make sure the ads are in the best place for the people who actually visit. I've mentioned before - I have a 22" monitor, so if I place the ads where they best suit MY view, they're below the fold for most people coming in on a laptop or smaller screen.
maybe the adsense bot is confused by some code generated by your cms and started serving less relevant ads.
Even slightly less revelant ads might cause just 1 unrelated ad to show which might lead users to skip adsense blocks alltogether.
Have you tried section targeting to identify your content?
How do I do this? I don't know how.
I somehow missed your reply but found your comments very interesting. I assume that you meant going forward, I should make any further changes slowly.
I have someone working with me to make minor design, layout and, eventually, navigation, changes to the site. He is also optimizing the CSS, etc. to speed up the site. I would eventually like to make some color changes.
Are these the types of things you had in mind when you suggested going slow? How slow is slow? Make minor changes every couple of months?
netmeg,
Interestingly enough, I find one of my consistently best performing ads are those at the end of articles, below the fold.
In-content ads do best but because of the differing length of articles, I place them manually using short-code.
