trealm
02-05-2007, 04:29 PM
I've mentioned before in another thread how it helps to take a look at your site from the viewpoint
of a visitor rather than just a search engine. I'm going to list a few ways how doing that can help
you improve the quality of your site and possibly improve your earnings.
The first thing to do is try to forget that you are the owner of the site, try to pretend that it
belongs to someone else. This is not easy but is necessary once in a while. By doing so, you see
the site more how a visitor would. Pay particular attention to the ads, are they obtrusive, are
they placed in such a way that they cheapen the site? Do they complement the layout and content
of your site.
You built the site because you are interested in the topic it is about, right? Are the ads that
are displayed ones that you would be interested in? If so, then many of your visitors probably
will be, as well. If you can see no reason why you'd ever click on a particular ad, write down
the URL for possible exclusion from your site.
Many people will use their back button to exit a site if the ads scream at them too loudly. Ads
can be in plain sight and still be appealing, though, if their content is truly relevant to the
site. Even though Google's ads are contextual, I'm sure most of you have been to sites that have
ads that have nothing to do with what the site is really about. Those ads harm the image of the
site because they stand out as not belonging. They distract the visitor and their presence on your
site should be avoided if possible.
Getting rid of those ads will help the look and feel of your site and will probably also increase
the CTR that you get. Why? Well, obviously if a person comes to your site looking for X and sees
a bunch of ads related to Y, he's not going to be interested in them and will not click them.
Ebay ads are a good example of this. Sometimes you may want those on your site, especially a tech
site since a person may be interested in purchasing a particular piece of hardware and Ebay may be
the place he could do that.
But, what if your site deals with history, maybe of Egypt. The following ad will look very out of
place:
Pyramids Ebay
Whatever you're looking for
you can get it on eBay.
www.eBay.com
Hmmm, I'll have to check into that and see if the Reserve was met on the Great Pyramid of Khufu!
Google, fortunately, provides a Competitive Ad Filter (Look under the tab Adsense Setup on your
Adsense Page) "But I don't have any competitors", you say. No, well I don't, either, but I've got
a LOT of sites in my filter list! So, take a look at your site, determine what ads are out of
place and then put those sites in your filter list. Important: Do NOT click on the ad to see
what the URL is, manually enter the URL that is displayed in the ad, or use Google's preview
tool. If you click on the ads to see where they are or to get the URL, this is all moot since
you won't have an account to worry about the CTR of!
If you use the preview tool to see what the page is that the ad takes you to, you may see that
the site is set up just to get visitors in hopes that they will get clicks on their OWN ads. In
other words, MFA. These sites probably have very low-paying clicks, and should be filtered, too.
Doing this will get rid of ads that are least likely to be clicked and hopefully better quality,
more relevant ads will take their place, thus improving your CTR. If the ads are more relevant
people are also more likely to take positive action at the target site which may help you
evade things like smart-pricing.
Like all other changes that I make to my site, I note the date and URL of ads that I filter. The
filter takes up to two days to take effect, but if you notice an improvement, check to see if it
coincides with removing a particular ad-URL from your site.
This article for display only on www.adsensechat.com
of a visitor rather than just a search engine. I'm going to list a few ways how doing that can help
you improve the quality of your site and possibly improve your earnings.
The first thing to do is try to forget that you are the owner of the site, try to pretend that it
belongs to someone else. This is not easy but is necessary once in a while. By doing so, you see
the site more how a visitor would. Pay particular attention to the ads, are they obtrusive, are
they placed in such a way that they cheapen the site? Do they complement the layout and content
of your site.
You built the site because you are interested in the topic it is about, right? Are the ads that
are displayed ones that you would be interested in? If so, then many of your visitors probably
will be, as well. If you can see no reason why you'd ever click on a particular ad, write down
the URL for possible exclusion from your site.
Many people will use their back button to exit a site if the ads scream at them too loudly. Ads
can be in plain sight and still be appealing, though, if their content is truly relevant to the
site. Even though Google's ads are contextual, I'm sure most of you have been to sites that have
ads that have nothing to do with what the site is really about. Those ads harm the image of the
site because they stand out as not belonging. They distract the visitor and their presence on your
site should be avoided if possible.
Getting rid of those ads will help the look and feel of your site and will probably also increase
the CTR that you get. Why? Well, obviously if a person comes to your site looking for X and sees
a bunch of ads related to Y, he's not going to be interested in them and will not click them.
Ebay ads are a good example of this. Sometimes you may want those on your site, especially a tech
site since a person may be interested in purchasing a particular piece of hardware and Ebay may be
the place he could do that.
But, what if your site deals with history, maybe of Egypt. The following ad will look very out of
place:
Pyramids Ebay
Whatever you're looking for
you can get it on eBay.
www.eBay.com
Hmmm, I'll have to check into that and see if the Reserve was met on the Great Pyramid of Khufu!
Google, fortunately, provides a Competitive Ad Filter (Look under the tab Adsense Setup on your
Adsense Page) "But I don't have any competitors", you say. No, well I don't, either, but I've got
a LOT of sites in my filter list! So, take a look at your site, determine what ads are out of
place and then put those sites in your filter list. Important: Do NOT click on the ad to see
what the URL is, manually enter the URL that is displayed in the ad, or use Google's preview
tool. If you click on the ads to see where they are or to get the URL, this is all moot since
you won't have an account to worry about the CTR of!
If you use the preview tool to see what the page is that the ad takes you to, you may see that
the site is set up just to get visitors in hopes that they will get clicks on their OWN ads. In
other words, MFA. These sites probably have very low-paying clicks, and should be filtered, too.
Doing this will get rid of ads that are least likely to be clicked and hopefully better quality,
more relevant ads will take their place, thus improving your CTR. If the ads are more relevant
people are also more likely to take positive action at the target site which may help you
evade things like smart-pricing.
Like all other changes that I make to my site, I note the date and URL of ads that I filter. The
filter takes up to two days to take effect, but if you notice an improvement, check to see if it
coincides with removing a particular ad-URL from your site.
This article for display only on www.adsensechat.com