How Can You Get High eCPMs?

[sutips]

For those whose eCPMs are over $20, how did you get to have high eCPMs?

I'm not interested in sites that get only 10,000 or so pageviews a month, that's just so new or with only a handful of pages. I am not interested in eCPM for channels, only the whole site. I want to hear from established sites with decent traffic.

I just noticed that a $1 change in eCPM for my site can result in a significant increase in revenues.

[Jane_Doe]

Now - What does that tell us? Hmmmm?

Maybe I'm just dense, but it really doesn't tell me anything. Sutips hasn't made a single mean spirited post and he hasn't made any any earning claims that are out of line with what many people here make.

I don't know why you are continuing to pick on him.

[BillyS]

For those whose eCPMs are over $20, how did you get to have high eCPMs?

If anyone has ever read my posts on this topic, they know I don't talk eCPM. So I'd never reveal if my eCPM was higher or lower than $20.

I have to admit this one's been fun to read - the reactions are pretty interesting. I was surprised at the question since it did come from someone that has made a lot of money on Adsense.

I suspect there are a lot of very successful people on this forum. As someone mentioned, this topic has been asked and answered many time. The formula is really very simple.

[ken_b]

I use channels a lot.

The channels on my site with the normally higher eCPM are the channels with content I added as a direct result of reader questions, etc.

So for me, getting more traffic to those channels would be one way to potentially increase the overall eCPM for the site.
.

[Elsmarc]

@BillyS

I was surprised at the question since it did come from someone that has made a lot of money on Adsense.

How do you know what he is saying is true and honest? He hasn't even filled out his Profile page here.

@Jane_Doe sez:

Maybe I'm just dense, but it really doesn't tell me anything. Sutips hasn't made a single mean spirited post and he hasn't made any any earning claims that are out of line with what many people here make.

I don't know why you are continuing to pick on him.

This has nothing to do with being mean spirited. This has to do with a person asking a basic question. I answered him in detail in my post. Does that not make you happy? Just because I find some of what he has posted hard to believe doesn't make me mean spirited. Some might call it realistic.

Now - let's wait for sutips to speak up. I'd *really* like to see the website (or web aites) that affords him a house in DC, fancy paid for cars, private schools for the kids, etc. Let's hear sutips's 'secrets' to success.

sutips doesn't even understand eCPM so I can't wait for his/her response.

[BillyS]

I was surprised at the question since it did come from someone that has made a lot of money on Adsense.

BTW - I do believe sutips is successful, but the question does surprise me. Maybe it's because I started in Adwords and I know how that half of the equations works.

I'm going to check out on this one and lurk for a little bit. (I don't think people really care what I have to say anyway...)

Good luck guys, you'll figure it out.

[sutips]

I have to admit this one's been fun to read - the reactions are pretty interesting

I was looking forward to an interesting discussion, but not THIS interesting :o)

I also don't want this interesting discussion to spill over to my email, so I turned off the stickymail (Yes, I have it turned on when I registered and posted). And I also like to be part of the majority here with no website in their profile.

Maybe I should have rephrased the question. As I said, a $1 change in cpm results in an increase in revenues.

I have always been frustrated by the ups and downs of my cpms. One day I'll have X and the next I'll have X+15%, or on those rare lucky days I can have X+50% even with the same level of traffic. On weekends where I can get a good cpm, the income feels like one of the weekdays. The difference in income between X and X+50% is a few hundred dollars. That few hundred dollars will make my wife happy.

What I really wanted to know was how can I keep it at X+50%. How can I keep that high cpm. My highest earning days are those when the cpm is at its highest

With CTR, I feel that I have better control. My CTR is within a tight range. I can change the color and see some positive spike. Or change the placement. But not really with cpm. I feel that I am at the mercy of the Google gods.

I look at where the traffic that generates the most of my Adsense income is coming from. But still I cannot make heads or tails of it with regards to controlling my cpm. There will be days when traffic shoots up because this site linked to mine, but cpm will fall that makes me wish that site would not give me traffic LOL. I just end up hoping that the cpm will be good for that day

Well, I survived not being totally able to control this variable for the last few years. It just drives me nuts. But I have taken the suggestions given here and integrate them into my strategies.

Thank you for the tips

[Elsmarc]

@sutips

You have no control with CTR. A high CTR means nothing if conversion is low. Conversion rate is the essential factor and you control conversion rate through your website content. eCPM will not go up and stay there if your conversion rate isn't high. If I was an advertiser I wouldn't care how many click throughs I got it few or none converted to sales. I'd drop you because the ROI isn't there.

You asked: "What I really wanted to know was how can I keep it at X+50%. How can I keep that high cpm." By "cpm" I assume you mean eCPM. What good is a high CTR if your conversion rate isn't high? In plain speak - There is nothing you can to to guarantee an X+50% eCPM rate over time.

[Scurramunga]

Wow Elsmarc, that has got to be the longest reply I have ever seen on WebmasterWorld. Probably the longest reply post I have ever seen anywhere. Nice reading.

[maximillianos]

Adwords is an auction based system that has natural fluctuations in bid prices causing variations in your eCPM.

To improve your eCMP, the one and only thing you can control is clicks. To get more clicks to the highest paying ads.

So where are the highest paying ads? Google claims they are listed from top to bottom in order of how the ads are loaded on a page. So make sure you ad units that are loaded first are in your most prominent ad slots. The ad unit loaded last should be in your least prominent ad slot.

As for clicks. You seem to already understand the importance of experimenting with placement, colors, sizes, etc.

Just last week I made a change based on one of Google's optimization videos to replace an ad unit with a better performing size and moved it to a new location.

The result: My earnings shot up about 20%. I've been tweaking my site for 7 years now. Just goes to show there is always room for improvement, even when you think you have the optimal layout.

[DaStarBuG]

You can have control over your CPM just not with Adsense.

If you have lots of traffic, which I assume if you make hundrets of dollars a day, then you should start selling Advertising directly.
Or you can get yourself a direct advertising marketer that does the selling for you.

I did that and 3 of my Ad Spots are now sold by my advertising marketer.
They get CPM prices around 3-50 EURO depending on the advertising campaign.

The Adsense eCPM is an estimated value (Earnings:(Impressions:1000)) that makes your CPC earnings comparable to the advertising market.
So the eCPM only depends on what advertisers are willing to pay per click on your site and the CTR of your site.

[Jane_Doe]

then you should start selling Advertising directly.
Or you can get yourself a direct advertising marketer that does the selling for you.

That is probably great advice. Do you mean you have a person who finds direct advertisers for you? Do you pay him/her commission?

[DaStarBuG]

I have a contract with a vertical advertising network, the biggest for health channels in Germany.
They get 50% of the advertising money they acquire.
If they can't serve ads then my adsense is set as fall back.
No loss for me.
However due to the success of adsense on my site I put minimum CPM prices into my contract with them so that they can't cannibalize my inventory.
That was a good idea by the way cause even in their premium rotation they sometimes struggle to reach my Adsense eCPM.

[Elsmarc]

Jane, If you know your niche you can contact companies directly that you think will be interested in your niche. Or, if you're not a sales type of person there are companies/people who will try to sell ads for you as the person you quoted suggested. Yes - If they sell an ad they are going to charge a percentage or some type of commission. It is a service they provide and it is not free.

Whether or not you will be successful in getting ads direct from companies will depend upon the 'desirability' of your site(s).

As I mentioned in one of my posts in this thread I run technical sites - forums. I have been lucky - Companies contact me.

I don't have "Advertise Here" links because I have a waiting list as it is, but that is another way to get interested companies to come to you. I see them a lot on web sites.

[DaStarBuG]

Having an appealing mediakit also helps selling advertising directly.
The more insides you give potential advertisers about your website the more likely they will buy advertising from you.

I however don't have the time as full time pediatrician to sell advertising directly so I contracted a marketer.

One more thing on directly selling advertising.
Big companies that have big advertising budgets don't usually bother buying advertising on single sites unless you are the top dog in your niche.
They usually spend there money on the three biggest advertising networks in their market and let them distribute their ads in their network.

So if you contact advertisers directly your chances are smaller then going with big advertising companies.
Selling an Ad Spot for a CPM of 30USD directly is much harder for a single site then for a big advertising company.

[Elsmarc]

@DaStarBuG - Good, valid points.

I do have a page on each site which gives all the details of advertising on the site, but it's not linked to anywhere on the site. When a company emails me wanting to advertise I give them the URL. Those that are interested follow up and I put them on my waiting list.

I also post monthly site stats publicly. I know many people advise against that, but we all have our own way of looking at our web sites.

Off Topic: My oldest brother (he's 65) is a pediatrician in the Cincinnati area and my father (deceased) was a neurologist.

[sutips]

The site sells ads directly. Been doing it the moment it was out of the gate. I was fortunate enough to find an advertiser that supported the site for a year even if it was just out of the gate

But now I don't pursue the big advertisers and media buyers. I only work with a very few of them and only those whom Ive had built relationships with. I find them too high maintenance and the time needed to service them as well as all the processes such as RFPs and Auditing are just too much to be worth it.

[Jane_Doe]

Jane, If you know your niche you can contact companies directly that you think will be interested in your niche.

My main problems are that: 1) I actually have lots of different niches; and 2) I'm basically lazy. So I don't think that would work for me. I really need stuff that just runs on autopilot.

People actually email me at least weekly to advertise on my various sites but I rarely reply. The problem is most of them really just want to buy links. If I mention "nofollow" no one has ever replied back, or if they do it is just to try to talk me out of the nofollow.

[DaStarBuG]

Create a Mediakit for your website which tells them about your site and your advertising opportunities as well as placements, prices and conditions.

That is what I do

[Jane_Doe]

Create a Mediakit for your website which tells them about your site and your advertising opportunities as well as placements, prices and conditions.

That is what I do

That is probably a good idea. My problem is that it isn't just one site. I just don't have much time to work on each site and then deal with multiple potential advertisers per site.

So for me it might be easier to just slap on Adsense and affiliate links and keep making and buying more sites. But I will definitely give it some thought and maybe try out the media kit idea on one or two of the sites.

[DaStarBuG]

Or find yourself an advertising marketer.

Mine gave me their adserver tags and thats it.
As simple as adsense and they handle the rest ;)

[dibbern2]

I just noticed that a $1 change in eCPM for my site can result in a significant increase in revenues.

Surprised, with your experience level, that you just noticed.

It can, and then it might not be that big a factor. Depends on your traffic and previous eCPM value.

[sutips]

Umm ... I did not notice it just now. But I am just new to posting here :o)

Not big of a deal ... Well it is if one day your income is only $500 and the next it is $1000 because of a change in ecpm (hypothetical numbers) even if traffic is the same