i have an entertainment site, but my ctr is attrociously low, around 0.33% ... what is the best strategy to increase ctr
netmeg
1:34 pm on Mar 8, 2012 (gmt 0)
YOU can't increase CTR. You can do what you can to try to keep your ads relevant, but pretty much anything you might try to increase CTR would be outside of AdSense TOS.
I don't know what kind of entertainment site you have, but think about user intent - are they coming to your site while they're in a buying cycle of some kind? If not, then you're probably never going to have a really good CTR. The best performing AdSense sites are going to be the ones that match up closely with people who are in the market for something.
The ones that just have clicks as a kind of "by the way" next to informational content (and most of my sites are like this too) are never going to perform as well.
levo
2:19 pm on Mar 8, 2012 (gmt 0)
Testing colors & placements, switching your ad units to image only or text only depending their placements etc.
ThatsBoBo
2:59 pm on Mar 8, 2012 (gmt 0)
Use larger ads and place them in prominent locations. Check our Google's "heatmap". Think how your visitors view your page.
netmeg
3:19 pm on Mar 8, 2012 (gmt 0)
But you have to be careful, because that can get in the way of your organic search positions now.
IanCP
10:28 pm on Mar 8, 2012 (gmt 0)
My view of CTR comes down to the "relevance" of the Ads offered.
Rubbish Ads = Rubbish CTR and vice versa.
On a day to day basis, I can instantly tell a rubbish ad day. I can only assume quality, relevant ads have been exhausted for my genre that day.
Your mileage might vary.
IanCP
10:32 pm on Mar 8, 2012 (gmt 0)
Another point I've noted about relevant ads for my genre.
Relevant ads = higher CTR = much higher EPC as well.
Krap ads, krap CTR, krap EPC go hand in hand.
[ADDED] I've been in AdSense since June, 2003 so I don't think AdSense is going to continually serve up quality ads on my sites if the advertisers aren't receiving value for money.
