Lots of Repeat Traffic: How to Keep Them Clicking?

[3stars]

I have a smallish niche site that at the present time gets a large portion of its traffic from return vistors (i.e. visitors who type in the URL directly, or get to the site using their bookmark), as opposed to search engine traffic and link-referred traffic.

I'm just beginning to add various types of advertising to the site, and my question is this: what are some strategies I should employ to encourage these return visitors to click on ads? Maybe move the ads around on the pages frequently? Change the colors every so often? Rotate the types of ads shown?

I'm adding new content frequently, and people who find the site seem to like to visit it again and again, but I'm afraid they're just going to ignore the ads unless I come up with a way to keep them "fresh" in the eyes of repeat visitors.... Maybe I'm worrying over something that won't turn out to be a big issue - I'd appreciate comments from others who have lots of non-forum repeat traffic.

Thanks,
K

[hunderdown]

Good first post. You'll get a wide variety of answers. Here's my take:

My site is similar to yours--niche, repeat traffic, etc.--and I think ideas you mentioned such as rotating ad colors are worth trying.

However, there's a point where they just won't work any more. I've been in AdSense for nearly two year, and the ads appearing on my site are pretty much the same month after month. Yes, there's some new stuff, but for the most part, my regulars have seen the ads, repeatedly.

I actually don't put AdSense on pages where the regulars are the dominant traffic. I get a lousy CTR and that seems to drag down the cost per click I get elsewhere in the site. At this point, my home page and certain other pages/areas that get the bulk of my "new" traffic are where AdSense does best. I try to get the regulars interested in other things, like the affiliate programs I belong to.

When I add new content, I don't immediately put ads on it. I wait till the regulars have seen it, and then I test it, using channels. If it does OK, the AdSense code stays on.

So, don't worry about the regulars. Worry about getting a constant flow of new visitors, and concentrate on links, good search engine standing, a site organization that will get the new folk moving through the site to the pages they want (and which of course have ads on them). That last point is something I know I need to work on myself.

Good luck!

[ronburk]

my question is this: what are some strategies I should employ to encourage these return visitors to click on ads?

I think this, in a nutshell, is the biggest problem with AdSense. It's great that Google manages the tedious details of selling and targetting ads for you, but they are so successful at insulating webmasters from the business of advertising that webmasters start to think about "clicks" and completely lose touch with the reality that it is actual sales of products and services that makes this whole thing work. Periodically, I have to remind myself: my advertisers do not want clicks, they want sales -- clicks are not sales

I'll propose that a better question you might ask is:

what products and services would these return visitors likely buy, and how I can I route them to content I have constructed (or will construct) that is both useful to the visitor and relevant to those products and services?

Example: my niche is "Narwhale Hunting". I'm sure getting lots of ads for "hunting expeditions" and "narwhale guns". Now, instead of wondering how I can get those return visitors to do more clicking (what advertiser really wants the same people coming back to click on the same ad again?), maybe I can look at this from the advertiser's point of view.

Differentiate
I'm seeing ads for hunting expeditions, but some research indicates that there are people out there who are placing more specific ads -- such as expeditions from Africa, and expeditions from Peru. If I likewise differentiate my existing content, perhaps I can provide a venue for those more highly targetted ads. Accordingly, I build some content devoted specifically to narwhale hunting off the coast of Africa, and some other content focussed on narwhale hunting off the coast of Peru.

Expansion
Another route to take is to see where my niche intersects the more general world. Hmmm, narwhales are generally found in cold waters, and narwhale hunters are constantly fighting the cold. Hey, how about some articles just on the problems of staying warm? A look at the best wetsuits for frigid waters. An article on electric gloves -- do they really work in -20F temperatures? Suddenly, I've got some content that's relevant to my niche, but also provides a place where AdSense can place ads for more generic products.

In the best possible situation, I can help connect my readers with useful products they didn't know existed, and help connect my advertisers with qualified buyers they didn't know existed.

It's what the best magazines have done for decades, and it's something that websites should be able to do even better. Alas, all too often, our primary focus instead is on watching click counts and tweaking ad positions and colors.

[3stars]

Hunderdown and ronburk: thank so much for your thoughtful responses.

Hunderdown, I especially like your idea of putting the ads on later, after the "regulars" have probably already visited the page. My search engine-referred traffic is increasing by the day, so this is probably a good strategy for aiming the ads more toward new visitors.

ronburk, great idea to branch out and write some content on topics that are related, but which may tap in to a whole different set of ads. I will definitely keep this in mind. I'd much rather go with sound strategies such as these, than waste time tweaking and shifting things around.

Thanks again! :-)