If affiliate links aren't converting, then does that mean your Adsense clickers aren't either?!

markowe · 08-26-2011, 09:23 AM

Adsense freaks: I have a site that does nicely out of Adsense in a home improvement niche. The Adsense ads that get displayed are somewhat generic to the main keyword phrase. Like, if it was "stained glass windows" then most of the ads are just for "windows" in general.

So they are not perfectly targeted by any means, yet still get a lot of clicks (near double-figure CTR). I am a bit concerned about this since I can't imagine those visitors are converting very well for the advertisers.

My additional evidence for this is that I have tried to use affiliate offers instead of Adsense, for much more targetted products (i.e. stained-glass windows) and had a very poor conversion rate.

Can't be good, surely? Thoughts?

P.S. Please read my post carefully and only respond if you have something constructive and relevant to say (this is mainly addressed at the one-liner sig-spammers whom I am getting heartily sick of).

tonyalves · 08-26-2011, 10:08 AM

If you are not tricking Google into displaying ads that are not relevant to the content of your pages and you are not clicking on them (or having someone doing it) I don't think that you have anything to worry about.

As for visitors clicking your ads but not converting, I also don't think that you have anything to worry about. The only thing that it does, it lowers your earnings because Google will apply "Smart Pricing".

I have read quite a few complaints from people being banned from eBay Partner Network for having poor conversion rates, but never read about anyone complaining that their AdSense account was closed for this reason.

Your experience with AdSense vs. Affiliate offers is no different than that of most AdSense publishers.

markowe · 08-26-2011, 10:15 AM

Thanks Tony, yeah, I guess that makes sense. Also, yes, I do wonder if smart pricing might hit me at some point. Or who knows, maybe it has, maybe I would be getting a much higher CPC for that niche. Well, I won't sweat it too much, but it does seem odd...

paulgl · 08-26-2011, 10:29 AM

You're PS is priceless. I gotta give you a thumbs up for that one.

Aren't generic windows and option for those looking at stained glass
windows? Just saying. I also assume major glass companies offer some
sort of stained glass windows. As a lark, I did a search for stained glass
windows and got 50% major windows and 50% stained or leaded glass.
Leaded glass seems to be some type of subset of this as far as search
goes. Without the color.

It seems to be a niche with a plethora of ads.

I would leave it alone. Don't worry about CTR. People who do
normal things with their adsense sites see them evolve over time.

You could use the competitive ad filter. But that may lower CTR.

I have one site that gets about 10 visitors a day, but a CTR of over 90%.

Instead of the competitive ad filter, you could tweak the keywords down
to just stained glass, but then that's probably not what the visitor wants.
Seems like they wanted windows first, stained glass second.

Paul

08-26-2011, 09:23 AM	#1
markowe The Wordbay Guy War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 1,534 Thanks: 186 Thanked 315 Times in 191 Posts Social Networking	If affiliate links aren't converting, then does that mean your Adsense clickers aren't either?! Adsense freaks: I have a site that does nicely out of Adsense in a home improvement niche. The Adsense ads that get displayed are somewhat generic to the main keyword phrase. Like, if it was "stained glass windows" then most of the ads are just for "windows" in general. So they are not perfectly targeted by any means, yet still get a lot of clicks (near double-figure CTR). I am a bit concerned about this since I can't imagine those visitors are converting very well for the advertisers. My additional evidence for this is that I have tried to use affiliate offers instead of Adsense, for much more targetted products (i.e. stained-glass windows) and had a very poor conversion rate. Can't be good, surely? Thoughts? P.S. Please read my post carefully and only respond if you have something constructive and relevant to say (this is mainly addressed at the one-liner sig-spammers whom I am getting heartily sick of).
	eBay is full of HOT PRODUCT NICHES with low competition, just going begging! * Isn't it time you were making $$$ with eBay niche sites (like in the good old days)?! * Well now you can, and you don't even need to join the eBay Partner Network! CLICK FOR DETAILS!

08-26-2011, 10:08 AM	#2
tonyalves HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 173 Thanks: 14 Thanked 23 Times in 20 Posts	Re: If affiliate links aren't converting, then does that mean your Adsense clickers aren't either?! If you are not tricking Google into displaying ads that are not relevant to the content of your pages and you are not clicking on them (or having someone doing it) I don't think that you have anything to worry about. As for visitors clicking your ads but not converting, I also don't think that you have anything to worry about. The only thing that it does, it lowers your earnings because Google will apply "Smart Pricing". I have read quite a few complaints from people being banned from eBay Partner Network for having poor conversion rates, but never read about anyone complaining that their AdSense account was closed for this reason. Your experience with AdSense vs. Affiliate offers is no different than that of most AdSense publishers.
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08-26-2011, 10:15 AM	#3
markowe The Wordbay Guy War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 1,534 Thanks: 186 Thanked 315 Times in 191 Posts Social Networking	Re: If affiliate links aren't converting, then does that mean your Adsense clickers aren't either?! Thanks Tony, yeah, I guess that makes sense. Also, yes, I do wonder if smart pricing might hit me at some point. Or who knows, maybe it has, maybe I would be getting a much higher CPC for that niche. Well, I won't sweat it too much, but it does seem odd...
	eBay is full of HOT PRODUCT NICHES with low competition, just going begging! * Isn't it time you were making $$$ with eBay niche sites (like in the good old days)?! * Well now you can, and you don't even need to join the eBay Partner Network! CLICK FOR DETAILS!

08-26-2011, 10:29 AM	#4
paulgl Plundering the Web War Room Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: , , . Posts: 4,851 Thanks: 804 Thanked 1,200 Times in 887 Posts	Re: If affiliate links aren't converting, then does that mean your Adsense clickers aren't either?! You're PS is priceless. I gotta give you a thumbs up for that one. Aren't generic windows and option for those looking at stained glass windows? Just saying. I also assume major glass companies offer some sort of stained glass windows. As a lark, I did a search for stained glass windows and got 50% major windows and 50% stained or leaded glass. Leaded glass seems to be some type of subset of this as far as search goes. Without the color. It seems to be a niche with a plethora of ads. I would leave it alone. Don't worry about CTR. People who do normal things with their adsense sites see them evolve over time. You could use the competitive ad filter. But that may lower CTR. I have one site that gets about 10 visitors a day, but a CTR of over 90%. Instead of the competitive ad filter, you could tweak the keywords down to just stained glass, but then that's probably not what the visitor wants. Seems like they wanted windows first, stained glass second. Paul
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