Low CTR Pisses Me off

[Blackthorne]

I managed to get a site to rank high and get >50 uniques per day.

Hardly anybody clicks on the Adsense. Now I've put up some Amazon pictures but there is almost no click through.

I have other sites that have nice traffic but abysmal CTR.

I won't be able to feel complete in my IM achievements until I get more sites that do decently.

How do you people deal with it?

Do you ever find ways to turn low-CTR sites into high-CTR sites, by switching a theme or monetization method for example?

[YellowHammer]

I'm in the same boat brother. I was asking questions here last week about a blogspot that dropped from the serps and I can't figure out why. I spent several days obsessing about it and finally said enough.

I think this is the second stage of IM. First you learn how to get some traffic then you learn how to monetize it. I think we both have to get over the fact that some sites will not convert no matter what we do.

I always hear Griz's voice in the back of my head saying, "I get a site to #1 and then put Adsense on it. If it doesn't convert I slap on affiliate links and move on." That sounds easy to do, and when I read that last year I agreed and just glossed over it because I had no real world experience. Now that I am building sites it is very hard for me to just let them go.

Here's some stats for you. 60% of my sites are paying something. 20% of those are making most of the money. 40% have made very little at all. The exact same theme (not percentages) can be found on Griz's and Ben's website.

Don't beat yourself up too much trying to figure each website out. If you get it to # 1 and neither Adsense nor affiliate links are converting I could be time to move on, or at least take a break for a while. Keep building sites and you're going to find some that pay well.

Good Luck!

[aaronk]

I think CTR is dependent on the niche more than anything else. One niche of mine seems to easily pull 20 or 30% ctr, but the traffic and payout per click just isn't there for me.

On my high traffic blog, I have tried just about everything and I cant budge it over 5%. Different themes, adsense layouts, nothing really improves it much. I dropped adsense on it for a while and made my own affiliate links that look like adsense, but affiliate sales have their own issues that I tire of dealing with.

[dencha]

I got the same problem...CTR is crap right now but it due to irrelevant ads showing...I use to get anywhere from 6-10% CTR but nowadays I'm lucky to get 2%. Worst part is I'm actually moving up on the 1st page for my keyword and finally getting that traffic.

Theme is the same, ad placement is the same, ad format is the same....don't know WTF is going on.

Too bad you can't select which ads you like to show up on your site because I know which Advertiser ads pulled in the clicks.

[Phillip]

Try to think about what the searcher is looking for and then offer them a solution for that - Adsense isn't always the answer, but you can do a lot better with an affiliate product.

[Dave1]

Try to think about what the searcher is looking for and then offer them a solution for that - Adsense isn't always the answer, but you can do a lot better with an affiliate product.

I agree with Philip. Broaden out the keywords and go for some buying ones rather than CPC keywords. I would say this is worth a go for anyone who can't get their adsense to convert. Trying to always write a title that draws the high paying ads is tough and does not mean people will click.

But if they typed in

Best price for.....

and came to your site.....

it would also work for information sites if you simply recommend products.

I think this is the second stage of IM. First you learn how to get some traffic then you learn how to monetize it. I think we both have to get over the fact that some sites will not convert no matter what we do.

This is too true that some sites simply never get good conversions. But I would say it is not just getting the traffic but getting it for the right keywords. Give me less traffic but for the right buying terms any day.

[Blackthorne]

Hot diggity dang!!!!!!!

Forget what I said about low CTR.

I slapped Amazon on an Adsense site doing a couple of dozen uniques per day.

The result?

10 clicks, 3 orders. In only 2 days.

The orders haven't been shipped yet so I don't see any money yet. But this looks promising.

The products I promote are only $20 or so. I won't make much off this. But it sure is encouraging!