Could somone look at my ad placement

Hello!

I am having trouble with this page: http://www.allaboutdolphins.net

Traffic is growing to it decently well, but my CTR is horribly low. I don't want to disclose it, in order to not violate TOS, but it is below the most conservative estimates. And this is just in the last week or two.

Is there any better way to place my ads to possibly increase CTR?

Thank you for your time.

 

looks good, i would also add one on the right below the content (in grey bit at bottom)

 

Well, I am trying to avoid having too many ads on each page. 3 blocks (2 Adsense, 1 Azoogle) is about as many as I want to risk.

 

Try removing the half banner at the top left corner and put a 336 box at the bottom of your article single pages. Match the color to your link, and that should increase your CTR.

Btw I only see ads for wireless ethernet/internet stuff in the ad at the top left corner.

 

Interesting facts on your site


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If I were you, I'd change the text color on the ads to the same color as the other links on your website, so they don't look as much like ads.

When people look and they see that they are looking at ads, they start looking at something else. If the link looks just like your navigation links or something like that, visitors might think the ads are actually part of your website and click them.

 

the 468x60 is in a killer location, try changing the headline text color to red, so that it'll stand out from the rest of the page.

ctr is also dependant on getting interesting ads, and there may not be too much of that in your sector.

 

Jack: Something like I have done?

N8: is the color that much off? I thought I had it matched fairly closely! Unless you mean the grey. But that is only on the main page;

danimal: if this doesn't work, I think I am going to try the bright colored ads. Since most of my visitors are kids, I think the bright colors may catch their eyes more, and compel them to click.

 

Ok, I implemented Jack's sugestions, as well as replaced some of the Adsense ads on the more ad-laden pages with Azoogle Ads. I figure this will leave the better paying ads for the remaining boxes. And, Azoogle pays better sometimes for me anyways.

 

I would get rid of the 468 at the top of the single pages and leave the box at the bottom. In my experience readers who come to sites with the intention of reading for informational purposes will generally read first before they click on a link. Once they reach the end of the article, they'll search for something to continue reading, and your box ads will be the perfect links for them to click.

 

Jack, I have to question the wisdom of that; it seems that if I do that, I have removed all my ads form the heatmap hotspots. Are you sure that would be a good idea?

Todays CTR is still extremely sad

 

Well there you go. CTR is low. Why not go ahead and switch it up a bit? Remember that the "heatmap" is generic. I have a site that's like yours -- a sort of news blog, and without question, the box at the bottom of the single pages always converts better than everything I've tried. You can give it a go for a week, and if it doesn't improve your CTR/earnings, you can always come back. Remember, you're not making all that much with the current placements, correct? So what's the harm in a little experimentation? Give it a whirl.

 

Informative site.

I think your ctr issue is due to the topic of your site, vs the relevancy of the ads being displayed. I don’t think a format change will help very much.

Your content would be helpful for someone researching dolphins for a report and you are likely getting traffic based on queries for very specific facts about dolphins.

Think about it: how likely would someone coming to the site based on the page “the brain of a dolphin” be interested in an ad about “dolphin sculptures, 3d brain anatomy on cd, or 3-d brain gym”?

If I were you, I’d assess my keywords and topics and add some new content based on either cruises with dolphins, gift, art, etc. You can validate this yourself by looking at the url channel with the best ctr and see what the page topic vs ads look like. I’d guess it is swim with dolphins or dolphin pictures.

Build more pages that have relevent ads, or modify the ones you have and your ctr should go up.

 

Jack, you raise a good point, and I bow to your wisdom. Thanks for the help - I will try your suggestion.

corinaw: Yes - the brain one isn't that well targeted, but I think the rest are. There is a dolphin gifts page going up today or tomorrow, and I think I will put up a posters affiliate page.

Thank you for the tips, everyone!

 

Guys, thanks for your help. One day so far with new layout, and my CTR has tripled, at least. Now this is only 1 day, so not a definite statistical sample, but early signs show success!

 

Why don't you put similar 336 boxes at the bottom of your article single pages? I notice you only put them on your sticky pages, but not the new articles. You're missing out on some good potential revenue there I think.

 

I attempted it at one point, but the problem lay in that for some strange reason, if I were to place a box at the bottom of a drupal story, it would no longer display the 'trimmed' version on the front page; rather, it displays the full length article. This clogs up my front page even more, by displaying the whole article page including Adsense ads, leaves me with 6+ adsense ads on the same page.

 

2 days, and again, CTR had tripled compared to original.

Jack, you are the king!

 

Ok that upped it for a day or two, but now it has taken a dive back to about the same level it was before. Unthinkably abysmal.

Anyone else have any suggestions?

 

I'm new to all this, and I'm wondering, after you make the proposed changes, how much revenue you're getting from that site?
Thanks,
JP

 

It would be nice if you could put a big leader up top in the middle, but i'm not sure if it would fit. And i'm not on my computer so I can't photoshop it to see.