"Accidentally" discovered Adsense idea / layout ??

[internetmarketer99]

In the last few months, I've been branching out with my Adsense sites, experimenting a little bit with layouts, colors, etc., and I think I stumbled onto something.

(FWIW, I've not been able to get anywhere near the CTR's using Adsense on Wordpress than I have with static sites, and I think that's because of doing 'extreme' static layouts, vs. Adsense themes.)

The layout that had been most successful for me was: header graphic, left nav menu, main panel showing page/article title, then adsense rectangle on top left, next to the article beginning, and a second rectangle mid-way through, right-justified with text flowing around it.

I had been setting up sites by creating this basic layout (using Xsitepro). Once I had my domain name, I would write or outsource an initial 10 or 20 articles, take my layout "template", paste in the articles, and upload it along with a sitemap.

The idea was, get the site up and being indexed sooner rather than later, while I had a header graphic and more articles outsourced.

Here's the thing - One of these sites was 'forgotten', and stayed as-is, meaning I never got to having a header created, and I never 'placed' the Adsense blocks. What the 'default template' consisted of was simply a solid rectangle for the header, with the niche or domain name in large block letters on the rectangle. Also, the two Adsense blocks were at the top of the page (right under the header & page title), with the article text pasted below it.

So somebody going to the site saw a page with just a solid block header showing the site name in large plain text. Below that was the page title as H1 text. Then, just Adsense blocks above the fold. You didn't even see the article unless you scrolled.

Amazingly, my CTR hovered around 40%, sometimes as high as 75%!

Here's my 'theory', and why I think I 'stumbled' onto something.

First, of course, you would only get to the site by either searching on a keyword phrase or clicking an article. In other words, you would have to have been looking for specific information.

Then, when you got to the site, you saw the keyword phrase you were interested in, followed by Adsense links.

I think the lack of a 'real' header, along with the ads being the only thing you saw - except a very plain nav menu on the left, significantly increased the liklihood of a click. There was no distraction at all from a header graphic, and no text unless you scrolled. In effect, you followed your query and were presented with these ad links showing exactly what you were looking for. And there was no other obvious action to take, except click once more to get to your info.

It may not sound like a big deal, but I think the combination of an ultra-plain "utilitarian" header, plus ads directly under the keyword phrase with nothing else, boosted my CTR by almost 50%.

I'd be very interested in hearing what you all think, especially anyone who has experimented with 'minimal distraction' layouts.

Mark

[XFactor]

Yes Mark, some of the highest CTR's that I ever experienced were with
using a program called viral Instigator.

The program's early template for blogger blogs were just the keyword at
the top, then all the user would see were 2 large rectangles right next to
each other, and below that the content.

Works wonderfully for clicks.

- John

[XFactor]

Originally Posted by internetmarketer99

Then, when you got to the site, you saw the keyword phrase you were interested in, followed by Adsense links.

Quick question - what size adsense blocks were these and were they above
each other or side by side? Just curious.

- John

[YoYoPro]

I think what you are saying makes PERFECT sense as I've experienced this myself recently.

My first sites that I built were just a very simple layout with nothing extravagant and they would normally get those unusually high CTR's. Just recently I built some wordpress blogs with pretty much the same layout except it was a more advanced design with a ton more distractions like extra side menu's and more of the article in view when you first come onto the page, the result was down to a 3 to 4 % CTR which is absolutely horrendous.

It's a shame too because I love how easy it is to make a new page and have it set up in wordpress but I guess I'll have to go back to the basics when it comes to adsense layouts.

Great post!

[Solidsnake]

My own experiemnt gives me a good average of 5% to 6%... square on theleft beginning of article and square on the right end of article...

2 reasons... if a visitor don't like to read, he can click the ads at the beginning. When a visitor finished reading, he can click the ad at the end...

[YoYoPro]

Originally Posted by Solidsnake

My own experiemnt gives me a good average of 5% to 6%... square on theleft beginning of article and square on the right end of article...

2 reasons... if a visitor don't like to read, he can click the ads at the beginning. When a visitor finished reading, he can click the ad at the end...

That's good thinking.. once the article is over have the readers eyes go directly to a well written ad and they should click!

[internetmarketer99]

Thanks all for your replies.

John, two large rectangles (336x289), one on top of the other.

The site is 700px wide total, so as to accomodate 800x600 res. Plain header, w/ block text & unadorned stock photo, Nav menu on left, 4 ad link bar right under header, then article name / page title, then the two adblocks, and finally the ad under the ads.

(image attached).

BTW, some of this was modified from your very generous 100+ page post, John!

The basic idea is, someone searching or clicking on a link, brings them to a page with that title, nothing to distract, just the keyword phrase they clicked or searched, plus links & ads relevant to that keyword phrase.

Mark

[XFactor]

That is an excellent template, thanks for sharing.

- John

[Shane Hale]

Very nice template!

[harleydavidsons]

Beautyfull & Nice
Thank for your share!

[Bazbo]

That doesn't violate Adsense TOS?

[hommi_16]

Yes, the template is very nice... Hey even if it wasn't you are saying you are getting a 40% CTR

For me, I'm starting to worry about Adsense directly under the title!

[scorpio9]

I may be wrong but I think it I read somewhere not having content "above the fold" is a violation of Adsense rules.

I once had Adsense ads on one of my sites and was getting 40-50% CTR, the layout was not as extreme as the layout mentioned here. After about 12 months earning average $10/day, sometimes as high as $30/day, Adsense team were on to me and stopped serving ads to the site, fortunately they did not shut down my Adsense account, but $4-5K/year is a big loss!

But if its working for you good luck, long may it last!

[captivereef]

Above the fold is fine, they are more concerned with deceptive titles with ads under them. For example if your page title is "Widget Information" and you have ads under it they may not lie that to much. Its a real grey area

[saybrah]

hmmm i might try that template out

[ahefner33]

Originally Posted by captivereef

Above the fold is fine, they are more concerned with deceptive titles with ads under them. For example if your page title is "Widget Information" and you have ads under it they may not lie that to much. Its a real grey area

Hi Captive,

So are you saying that the header you use shouldn't sound like you are making a header for the links/Google ads below it?

Say you had a page on used cars. Would the view of just typing "Used Cars" as the header and then the ads look as a deceptive attempt? Or should you rename your title to something like "Used Cars - The Cheapest Way to Ride in Style"? Thanks

Internetmarketer99 - Thanks for the idea. Going to test it out on several sites.

Adam

[saybrah]

no he's saying that what's near the adsense links shouldn't make the google adsense links sound like site links. his example was saying ...information. so most people will think the links lead to the information on your site. also there's a difference between header and headline

[captivereef]

Google put a post on their adsense post about this awhile ago and it is really a grey area, they gave no real guidelines to follow so to avoid it i put the title unde the ads.

Here is a link to the post make of it what you will

Inside AdSense: Another look at optimizations

[captivereef]

i am talking about headline, not graphic header.