Adsense and traffic

[reapwhatyousow]

Hey guys,

What kind of traffic should your blog be getting to start earning from Adsense?

Also - does anyone have any links to stats on which type of ad is best - i read that the big square ones have the best conversion... but what about ones that appera above or below your comments or post title?

Do you think adsense ads would put people off your blog?

[Mist]

Any kind of target traffic. It depends on your promotion method, do you normally get traffic from serach engine or some social network sites ? Both works well.

And yes, the big square one works well. Put it between your post.

Do you think adsense ads would put people off your blog?

No, Adsense won't put your vistor off. Anyway why do you shy away when you want to make money ?

[reapwhatyousow]

Ok - i've added a 250 x 250 (the 300 one is too wide for my sidebar), so let's see what happens!

How long before it starts displaying relevant content? Right now the ads appear to be a bit random!

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by reapwhatyousow

Hey guys,

What kind of traffic should your blog be getting to start earning from Adsense?

Also - does anyone have any links to stats on which type of ad is best - i read that the big square ones have the best conversion... but what about ones that appera above or below your comments or post title?

Do you think adsense ads would put people off your blog?

The SBI education says that 50 visitors per day is the minimum you should have before adding Adsense.

Personally, I say 100 visitors per day is the minimum you should have. I say this because in my own experience, two things happen when you add Adsense:

1. You get excited over your first few cents or dollars of earnings.
2. You keep waiting and watching and see a few more dollars trickle in.
3. After a few days or weeks of waiting, you start to get very frustrated that the earnings are still very small and "not worth your time" etc.
4. Eventually you get so frustrated that any amount of work feels like a waste, since you do not see immediate results.

If you add Adsense too soon, you will get frustrated and de-motivated. If you wait until you have a large number of visitors though (at least 100 per day), your Adsense earnings will start out strong at probably a few dollars per day and keep you motivated to keep working.

(note: Some topics pay out much more for clicks than others. Also some people get a 0.55% click-through rate whereas other fortunate website owners get up to 10% CTR's and beyond. So obviously some people will earn more than others)

[reapwhatyousow]

Originally Posted by Curtis2011

The SBI education says that 50 visitors per day is the minimum you should have before adding Adsense.

Personally, I say 100 visitors per day is the minimum you should have. I say this because in my own experience, two things happen when you add Adsense:

1. You get excited over your first few cents or dollars of earnings.
2. You keep waiting and watching and see a few more dollars trickle in.
3. After a few days or weeks of waiting, you start to get very frustrated that the earnings are still very small and "not worth your time" etc.
4. Eventually you get so frustrated that any amount of work feels like a waste, since you do not see immediate results.

If you add Adsense too soon, you will get frustrated and de-motivated. If you wait until you have a large number of visitors though (at least 100 per day), your Adsense earnings will start out strong at probably a few dollars per day and keep you motivated to keep working.

(note: Some topics pay out much more for clicks than others. Also some people get a 0.55% click-through rate whereas other fortunate website owners get up to 10% CTR's and beyond. So obviously some people will earn more than others)

Thanks Curtis, my blog is getting on average 200 visitors a day at the moment. Two traffic spikes yesterday and last Tuesday up to over 350, which were when i posted new articles.

Would you mind if i PM'd you a question relating to the ads?

[aiyori]

Facebook ad CTR is 0.04% on average. Adsense is better but still way below 1%.

If most of your visitors are repeated visitors, i.e. your fans, then the CTR will be close to zero.

If you want hight CTR, you need to have extremely good SEO that can bring you new blood every day.

Suppose your average page view is 4, the CTR is 1% and you earn 20 cents from each click. You will earn 200x4x1%x50cent=4 dollars / day.

But please be reminded that CTR 1% and 20 cents / click is very optimistic.

[reapwhatyousow]

Originally Posted by aiyori

Facebook ad CTR is 0.04% on average. Adsense is better but still way below 1%.

If most of your visitors are repeated visitors, i.e. your fans, then the CTR will be close to zero.

If you want hight CTR, you need to have extremely good SEO that can bring you new blood every day.

Suppose your average page view is 4, the CTR is 1% and you earn 20 cents from each click. You will earn 200x4x1%x50cent=4 dollars / day.

But please be reminded that CTR 1% and 20 cents / click is very optimistic.

Thanks Aiyori!
My traffic is averaging around 40% returning and 60% new.

Iv'e added an ad inbetween my content and comments and also one at the bottom of my sidebar. So far 450 impressions and 0 clicks.

[sirkinm]

I know that people passionately defend Adsense, and I agree that there is opportunity there if you have content related to high-paying keywords.

However, I woudn't personally use Adsense to monetize my site. Others may have more expertise in squeezing Adsense for everything they can, but based on my personal experimentation, I know that my sites can be much more profitable with other methods of monetization.

I also don't like directing visitors away from my content. I like my pages to have a single focus (besides providing good content, when appropriate), which may be a purchase, filling out an affiliate offer, entering an email for emailing marketing purposes, etc.

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by reapwhatyousow

Would you mind if i PM'd you a question relating to the ads?

Sure thing.

Originally Posted by sirkinm

I know that people passionately defend Adsense, and I agree that there is opportunity there if you have content related to high-paying keywords.

However, I woudn't personally use Adsense to monetize my site. Others may have more expertise in squeezing Adsense for everything they can, but based on my personal experimentation, I know that my sites can be much more profitable with other methods of monetization.

I also don't like directing visitors away from my content. I like my pages to have a single focus (besides providing good content, when appropriate), which may be a purchase, filling out an affiliate offer, entering an email for emailing marketing purposes, etc.

Totally agree. Adsense is just sort of the "easy way" of making a few bucks if you already have traffic to a website, but no products to sell.

If you want to really maximize profits, you should probably focus all of your website's content on attracting visitors that will purchase a certain product, instead of splashing up Adsense as an after-thought.

[ericabiz]

http://shippedquick.com/x-factor/Mic...e%20Course.pdf

Read this--if you just want to build little niche sites using AdSense.

It's the most comprehensive guide I've seen.

I am experimenting with these little sites right now.

-Erica

[mypcandi]

I get more than 500 visitors a day and still I don't earn as much money as I hope (about 2$/day) I guess it's because of ad placements or low paying keywords...I don't know...

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by mypcandi

I get more than 500 visitors a day and still I don't earn as much money as I hope (about 2$/day) I guess it's because of ad placements or low paying keywords...I don't know...

I assume the link in your signature on here goes to your website.

Your web pages are kind of "scattered" and hard to follow. When I click on a new page I'm unsure of where I'm supposed to look first, since there is content all over the page.

If you change your template a bit so that the content is focused into a smaller area, you could more easily tell where visitors are actually looking (usually they look at the page title, then the content below it, etc). Then, you just put the ads right where they are looking and you'll get more clicks.

I hope that made sense.

[cacheborn]

I tried adsense and they discontinued my account due to suspicious activity. And no, I did not click on the page 100 times a day

Also I was wondering what is the alternative for non-english languages?

[cacheborn]

Originally Posted by ericabiz

http://shippedquick.com/x-factor/Mic...e%20Course.pdf

Read this--if you just want to build little niche sites using AdSense.

It's the most comprehensive guide I've seen.

I am experimenting with these little sites right now.

-Erica

Erica, the link is not working.

[mypcandi]

Originally Posted by Curtis2011

I assume the link in your signature on here goes to your website.

Your web pages are kind of "scattered" and hard to follow. When I click on a new page I'm unsure of where I'm supposed to look first, since there is content all over the page.

If you change your template a bit so that the content is focused into a smaller area, you could more easily tell where visitors are actually looking (usually they look at the page title, then the content below it, etc). Then, you just put the ads right where they are looking and you'll get more clicks.

I hope that made sense.

Thanks Curtis for the piece of advice.
In fact my signature includes two links one to my blog the other one to my website. Your sggestions apply to both or just to one of them?

[aiyori]

Originally Posted by Curtis2011

I assume the link in your signature on here goes to your website.

Your web pages are kind of "scattered" and hard to follow. When I click on a new page I'm unsure of where I'm supposed to look first, since there is content all over the page.

If you change your template a bit so that the content is focused into a smaller area, you could more easily tell where visitors are actually looking (usually they look at the page title, then the content below it, etc). Then, you just put the ads right where they are looking and you'll get more clicks.

I hope that made sense.

I think scattered and messy pages get more clicks than the tidy ones. The ads that I have clicked in my life were on pages where I was totally lost and confused. I tried to find my way out and accidentally clicked on one of those ads. Sometimes I went back from the ad page and tried my luck on another link. Bingo. It was ad again. The webmaster made me click twice by confusing me.

Yes. I won't go back to that site again. But who cares? A loyal fan who visits every day but never clicks VS a one night stand who gives you two clicks at first sight. Which one will you choose?

But of course, the first thing you need to do is to "pretend" to provide some useful information so that visitors will try to find their way through your mess instead of just going back to Google search result page.

Guess what? If the webmaster presents the information I am looking for in a clear and easy to read layout, all I will do is read the information and close the brower/tab later. Will I click ads? No. What has the webmaster got from me? A bounce in the eyes of Google Analytics, even though I may have spent half an hour digesting that page.

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by mypcandi

Thanks Curtis for the piece of advice.
In fact my signature includes two links one to my blog the other one to my website. Your sggestions apply to both or just to one of them?

I was talking about the first link to the website, not the blog.

Originally Posted by aiyori

I think scattered and messy pages get more clicks than the tidy ones. The ads that I have clicked in my life were on pages where I was totally lost and confused. I tried to find my way out and accidentally clicked on one of those ads. Sometimes I went back from the ad page and tried my luck on another link. Bingo. It was ad again. The webmaster made me click twice by confusing me.

Yes. I won't go back to that site again. But who cares? A loyal fan who visits every day but never clicks VS a one night stand who gives you two clicks at first sight. Which one will you choose?

But of course, the first thing you need to do is to "pretend" to provide some useful information so that visitors will try to find their way through your mess instead of just going back to Google search result page.

Guess what? If the webmaster presents the information I am looking for in a clear and easy to read layout, all I will do is read the information and close the brower/tab later. Will I click ads? No. What has the webmaster got from me? A bounce in the eyes of Google Analytics, even though I may have spent half an hour digesting that page.

Yes.. this can be true sometimes. However, in this case the website owner already said he is getting a poor CTR. I think he could improve the current CTR by streamlining the content and putting it all in one condensed section of a viewer's screen, rather than having it scattered everywhere.

Plus, if you are looking for long term success, generally anybody can create a "crap in a box" website that pretends to add value. But if you look at how successful Steve is with his website, he took the total opposite approach and solely focused on helping people.