Hello friends, I was wondering if you could help me with my abysmal CTR

eniram · 11-19-2011, 10:47 PM

I started a website about strategy for a game called starcraft 2. The site is sc2cheatsheet . com. The traffic is highly targeted. I've only promoted through related sites so far and according to my analytics the vast majority of traffic is from starcraft 2 players. The average time a user spends on the site is 4:11 with a bounce rate of 44.2%. Out of ~13k pageviews it only got 20 clicks, a CTR of 0.16%.

I'm at a loss here, I don't know why I'm failing. Any help you can give me would really mean a lot. Also, if I left out any important information please let me know.

RayW · 11-20-2011, 01:06 AM

Are you talking about adsense CTR? If so, it's probably because the site is in the gaming niche, which is known for having very low CTR and ad-blindness.

lovboa · 11-20-2011, 02:33 AM

I agree with Ray Wynn....I suggest you move to cpa offers.

JoshuaG · 11-20-2011, 03:47 AM

I agree with above.

There are SC2 products and membership/coaching sites out there.

I would try promoting those instead...

If you really want to make adsense work, do all you can to get the most relevant ads possible. Also make sure image and flash ads are turned on. I think they will perform best based on your niche.

eniram · 11-21-2011, 07:44 PM

So it's possible my niche just won't work with adsense? Well that was unexpected. What can I do then to make CPA work? I have never used them before and I don't know how to make it profitable. What is the difference between displaying PPC ads and CPA offers? What kind of offers should I display?

paulgl · 11-21-2011, 08:51 PM

Normally I don't say this, but with starcraft, you get like zero
ads in that niche. Normally I say you can get money with any niche.

If you stick with starcraft as the main thing, you will be stuck with
almost nil targeted ads.

I may actually stick 3 adblocks, and make them all image only.

You may be able to tweak the ads to gamer ads by changing the
title and h1 headings more inline with games, not just starcraft.

Your articles are not content stuffed either. You need a real,
text based articles that get the genre in their. You can't just
list a bunch of gamer cheat jibberish and expect the adsense
bot to do anything with that.

And what do you think google is going to think of unrelated
comments, jokes, etc.? Deep six that crap.

I would disagree with trying to do something other than adsense.
Adsense is easy.

Anything with "cheats" is not adsense-friendly. But if you downplay
that, you nix your niche. So, you may have to really do some major
surgery on the site. I still say stick with adsense.

Paul

11-19-2011, 10:47 PM	#1
eniram Warrior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 16 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Hello friends, I was wondering if you could help me with my abysmal CTR I started a website about strategy for a game called starcraft 2. The site is sc2cheatsheet . com. The traffic is highly targeted. I've only promoted through related sites so far and according to my analytics the vast majority of traffic is from starcraft 2 players. The average time a user spends on the site is 4:11 with a bounce rate of 44.2%. Out of ~13k pageviews it only got 20 clicks, a CTR of 0.16%. I'm at a loss here, I don't know why I'm failing. Any help you can give me would really mean a lot. Also, if I left out any important information please let me know.

11-20-2011, 01:06 AM	#2
RayW Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 558 Thanks: 102 Thanked 92 Times in 49 Posts	Re: Hello friends, I was wondering if you could help me with my abysmal CTR Are you talking about adsense CTR? If so, it's probably because the site is in the gaming niche, which is known for having very low CTR and ad-blindness.

11-20-2011, 02:33 AM	#3
lovboa Advanced Warrior Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 741 Thanks: 119 Thanked 80 Times in 71 Posts	Re: Hello friends, I was wondering if you could help me with my abysmal CTR I agree with Ray Wynn....I suggest you move to cpa offers.

11-20-2011, 03:47 AM	#4
JoshuaG AdSense Realist War Room Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Canada Posts: 751 Thanks: 93 Thanked 99 Times in 76 Posts	Re: Hello friends, I was wondering if you could help me with my abysmal CTR I agree with above. There are SC2 products and membership/coaching sites out there. I would try promoting those instead... If you really want to make adsense work, do all you can to get the most relevant ads possible. Also make sure image and flash ads are turned on. I think they will perform best based on your niche.
	"It's Basically Viagra for Your AdSense Account." -Satisfied Customer

11-21-2011, 07:44 PM	#5
eniram Warrior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 16 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Hello friends, I was wondering if you could help me with my abysmal CTR So it's possible my niche just won't work with adsense? Well that was unexpected. What can I do then to make CPA work? I have never used them before and I don't know how to make it profitable. What is the difference between displaying PPC ads and CPA offers? What kind of offers should I display?

11-21-2011, 08:51 PM	#6
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: Hello friends, I was wondering if you could help me with my abysmal CTR Normally I don't say this, but with starcraft, you get like zero ads in that niche. Normally I say you can get money with any niche. If you stick with starcraft as the main thing, you will be stuck with almost nil targeted ads. I may actually stick 3 adblocks, and make them all image only. You may be able to tweak the ads to gamer ads by changing the title and h1 headings more inline with games, not just starcraft. Your articles are not content stuffed either. You need a real, text based articles that get the genre in their. You can't just list a bunch of gamer cheat jibberish and expect the adsense bot to do anything with that. And what do you think google is going to think of unrelated comments, jokes, etc.? Deep six that crap. I would disagree with trying to do something other than adsense. Adsense is easy. Anything with "cheats" is not adsense-friendly. But if you downplay that, you nix your niche. So, you may have to really do some major surgery on the site. I still say stick with adsense. Paul
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