Good, converting, adsense theme, & why are the basic themes so popular?

[thedog]

Hi Guys.

I've found a few good niche domains and want to put some adsense sites together.

I'm looking online at blog posts on what works, and I'm seeing people using very basic looking themes, one blog says this site is making $5,000 a month, School Grants, College Scholarships, Student Financial Aid And Scholarship Information

So, why use a bare minimum theme over a prettier theme, such as, WordPress › iNove « Free WordPress Themes

The norm seems to be the former... is this really the way to go?

Cheers.

[GeorgR.]

"Why use a bare minimum theme?"

This should be self-explaining, NO DISTRACTIONS...people shall click on ads.

( You will actually notice that the highest CTR sites/earners use extremely minimalistic sites/templates. The site you listed is a very nice prime example of what is "borderline allowed" and i don't think it can get better in terms of high CTR ads layout. Its a classic ads layout. Although that link unit would scare me, but somehow he got away with it..respective the reviewer from Google was in a good mood to let it go through)

[mooble]

This has been covered a billion times. The fact of the matter is simply that crappy looking sites (often times with crappy content as well) have greater click through rates because people quickly realize they aren't finding what they want to so they look for something to click "through" or "away" from the site.

[s62731]

Yeh, you don't want a really good looking, great content sight when using adsense, why would anyone click to go elsewhere if they got what they were looking for?

[yukon]

The same reason Google Search is very basic looking, higher CTR.

[jacked]

Keep a simple theme and just customize it with some good ad placement. Fancy looking sites can be distracting, and you want to focus on your monetization.

[GeorgR.]

It's really a trade-off between high CTR and keeping people on the site. As for that grants site...that site doesnt really need to be "fancy" so i think its perfect for that audience...but i wouldnt use such a layout on any kind of site.

[John Williamson]

Originally Posted by thedog

Hi Guys.

I've found a few good niche domains and want to put some adsense sites together.

I'm looking online at blog posts on what works, and I'm seeing people using very basic looking themes, one blog says this site is making $5,000 a month, School Grants, College Scholarships, Student Financial Aid And Scholarship Information

So, why use a bare minimum theme over a prettier theme, such as, WordPress › iNove « Free WordPress Themes

The norm seems to be the former... is this really the way to go?

Cheers.

Like GeorgR and everyone else said, the basic, plain, 'ugly' themes produce astounding CTR's. I'd recommend investing in Scott Blanchard's Clickbump Engine theme, which is a 12-templates-in-1 theme that includes some of those plain and simple layouts for great CTR's. I know from personal experience

[GeorgR.]

I disagree with you, John.

Why? Because there is no reason to "invest" in a so called "high CTR theme" since you can do the SAME THING with as good as any other theme.

There are enough free wordpress plugins out there which allow placement of ads in all the usual ways...and putting a 336 into content and a vertical to the left (like the above sample with the grants site)....a 10 year old with basic wordpress skills can do that.

What the "commercial" high CTR themes often allow is further customization and possible to choose between several pre-made layouts, might save you from needing to tweak here and there..but nothing (IMO!) which legitimates spending $70 on a so called "adsense optimized" theme.

Sorry...just my $0.02

[John Williamson]

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

I disagree with you, John.

Why? Because there is no reason to "invest" in a so called "high CTR theme" since you can do the SAME THING with as good as any other theme.

There are enough free wordpress plugins out there which allow placement of ads in all the usual ways...and putting a 336 into content and a vertical to the left (like the above sample with the grants site)....a 10 year old with basic wordpress skills can do that.

What the "commercial" high CTR themes often allow is further customization and possible to choose between several pre-made layouts, might save you from needing to tweak here and there..but nothing (IMO!) which legitimates spending $70 on a so called "adsense optimized" theme.

Sorry...just my $0.02

True, however I should have stressed that my extraordinary ROI from my Clickbump investment stems from the time, effort, and money I save when setting up niche sites - I can have a site completely finished within 8-10 minutes, articles, pictures, and all... It creates pages, posts, content, ad blocks, header and footer, and other elements, all with 1 single click, according to pre-defined variables and values that I specify. The Clickbump Engine combined with the Jumpstart plugin creates a streamlined system for me that saves me more time than I can imagine, well worth the tiny price tag many times over. I didn't buy the theme because it was 'adsense-optimized' - I bought it because I recognized what it could do for my business in terms of long-term value. Time is my most valuable asset. In that sense, the Clickbump Engine theme and Jumpstart plugin have literally created thousands of dollars for me. Scott's tools' contributions to my business and the systems and processes thereof are invaluable.

[John Williamson]

Also, the Clickbump theme also contains other templates and has optional premium templates that look magnificent.

[Heavenstorm]

i was looking at the school grant site but the homepage has 4 adsense blocks? I thought we are suppose to display max 3? The school grant has 1 at the widget, 1 link unit below the header and 2 ad box for the 2 posts.

[thedog]

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

I disagree with you, John.

Why? Because there is no reason to "invest" in a so called "high CTR theme" since you can do the SAME THING with as good as any other theme.

There are enough free wordpress plugins out there which allow placement of ads in all the usual ways...and putting a 336 into content and a vertical to the left (like the above sample with the grants site)....a 10 year old with basic wordpress skills can do that.

What the "commercial" high CTR themes often allow is further customization and possible to choose between several pre-made layouts, might save you from needing to tweak here and there..but nothing (IMO!) which legitimates spending $70 on a so called "adsense optimized" theme.

Sorry...just my $0.02

I'm with you GeorgR. I'm a pretty competent with WP, and can recreate any of these streamlined ad sense themes quickly enough using the weaver theme.

Cheers for the heads up John, I've no doubt that these themes can save you an extra bit of time, and for the inexperienced, lots of time. But I think my next investment will be in an amazon plugin, money better spent me thinks.

Well... I've bought a load of domains, time to see if this ad sense thing can make me some money

I'm also thinking, once I have some of them ranked, I could approach a business or company related to the niche and offer them exclusivity, customize the site for them, and rent it to them.

This was suggested in another thread, something I never considered.... would be great to hear your feedback.

[katied772]

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

"Why use a bare minimum theme?"

This should be self-explaining, NO DISTRACTIONS...people shall click on ads.

( You will actually notice that the highest CTR sites/earners use extremely minimalistic sites/templates. The site you listed is a very nice prime example of what is "borderline allowed" and i don't think it can get better in terms of high CTR ads layout. Its a classic ads layout. Although that link unit would scare me, but somehow he got away with it..respective the reviewer from Google was in a good mood to let it go through)

Which link unit are you referring to and what is wrong with it?

[christopher jon]

I'm looking online at blog posts on what works, and I'm seeing people using very basic looking themes, one blog says this site is making $5,000 a month, School Grants, College Scholarships, Student Financial Aid And Scholarship Information

That is a textbook MFA site.

My only issue is the link colors. I would have gone with blue adsense links to get them sticking out more, they blend in with the content too much but split testing may have shown different results.

Why? Because there is no reason to "invest" in a so called "high CTR theme" since you can do the SAME THING with as good as any other theme.

In defense of myself and other theme developers, I don't think there is anything wrong with purchasing tools to make your job easier.

Let's say I created a simple theme that was similar to the OP's example. As a user you could add in your adsense ID, upload your header image, pick a color scheme and your done. The theme takes care of everything else for you. It's dummy proof and easy to use. No having to worry about code, pasting in adsense code or any other nonsense.

It's a priceless solution that has made your job quicker and easier. Isn't that worth $20?

*it's a hypothetical question, I'm not pitching a product

It's the same reason why people buy WSO's.

90% of the information you get in a WSO can be found online for free but purchasing a WSO is a lot easier than searching google for an hour for the same information.

*yes, I made that 90% statistic up

[GeorgR.]

I can make you a site on thesis or ANY OTHER theme with "pretty good" adsense layout and clone it to 5 million sites using backupbuddy However, i see your argument...and well if the ROI is there then so be it. Such a "ctr theme" is just not something i had the need to get.

As for the LU..i meant the LU which looks like a menu. This (grants site) is an example case where you would utterly depend on the human reviewer at Google...very, very, very borderline and could easily get a 10k/month business canned simply because you thought you can get away with it. And one day you wake up and your acc is disabled because ONE person thought the menu is too much mimicking a site menu, thus against TOS.

[Nanville]

I know that Google Adsense max is 3 ads, but I see a lot of sites with 4 or more. I'd like to put 4 on my site - how do I do that, please? When I add it manually with Adsense code, max is 3, same with Google Adsense with YPN plugin.

[thedog]

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

As for the LU..i meant the LU which looks like a menu. This (grants site) is an example case where you would utterly depend on the human reviewer at Google...very, very, very borderline and could easily get a 10k/month business canned simply because you thought you can get away with it. And one day you wake up and your acc is disabled because ONE person thought the menu is too much mimicking a site menu, thus against TOS.

Can you explain this please. What is LU.

Are you refering to the way the google ad looks like the top nav? Are you saying this is not ok?

[JohnJD]

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

And one day you wake up and your acc is disabled because ONE person thought the menu is too much mimicking a site menu, thus against TOS.

I'm also confused with your statement... Exactly what's wrong with that grants site menu? You mean the one on the left hand side with the grants categories?

[Jonas B]

Originally Posted by JohnJD

I'm also confused with your statement... Exactly what's wrong with that grants site menu? You mean the one on the left hand side with the grants categories?

i think he is reffering to the top ad, the 1 line 5 ads, it can look as a menu to some google reviewer while it isn't for another

[misterkailo]

Ugly, simple themes always convert better without the distractions. I had sites that had AdSense conversion above 30% average because they were ugly and simple.

[jacked]

Originally Posted by misterkailo

Ugly, simple themes always convert better without the distractions. I had sites that had AdSense conversion above 30% average because they were ugly and simple.

Yes exactly, the main goal should to not overwhelm the viewer. The theme doesn't have to necessarily be ugly, but it should be very plain and simple.