redesigned my website 70% drop in CTR

13 years ago

The content "Above the fold" is valuable real estate, with your unusually tall header on a moderate screen with lots of tool bars viewers see almost nothing but the header, after scrolling down to see content, navigating to a new page once again shows them almost all header. Sorry I don't know where to put the pretty art, it would be suitable for it to appear only on an old fashioned welcome page, but they are not good for ctr either.

Rather than working on the cosmetics of the site, I would be improving the content, my brief look around gave me the impression it's an autoblog scraper site, adding a suitable illustration matched to the topic of each page would be a more productive use of graphics.

There are themes that present a slide show of preview of recent posts in the header, that may be a more productive header treatment.

Thanks

Signature

â€œAn expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow fieldâ€ Niels Bohr

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4452047].message }}

GuerrillaIM

13 years ago

what should we google to see the old design?

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4452054].message }}

adionline

13 years ago

The most obvious problem is your header image which although nice takes up 500 pixels of screen real estate. Try not to go past 150px in height and you should see an improvement in CTR instantly.

Edit: Also black text on grey background is bad.

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Giving up is not an option.

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4452308].message }}

SpikeS 13 years ago

you dont need such a large header. and your ads take half of your page space...its quite obvious you want people to click them...so they probably wont. lol

Look at the large companies who get millions of dollars worth of revenue in adsense etc they have ads that look like content, so people click them. sneaky but...it works.

Take a look at an example here:

Popular Diet Myths | LIVESTRONG.COM

On this page even though they have a massive ad at the top, it still doesnt take up as much space..and most the ads are within the content.
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4452373].message }}

taniharjo

13 years ago

your header is just too big.
it grabs too much attention.
you need to put more above the fold

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4454883].message }}

Aaron Siegel 13 years ago

I found your scenario to be common when I change designs and layouts too. Google just notices these changes and takes you out of the light a bit, you'll get your rankings back. From my experience, changing meta data or design always gets you a drop at first. Sit it out.
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4454913].message }}

GMD

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by vehix411

Hi guys I'm new hear have bit of a problem
I redesigned my website and my CTR drop overnight by 70%

my old website was ugly and got me more CTR

please see the old in the pic of my site
im new hear cant place the url sorry you can google it

and hear is my new designed website
vehix411 com

anyone with expertise please let me know
whats the problem is it
Ad location
color
etc thanks alot

There's a lot of great advice given here, but there's one thing that nobody has brought up:

There's actually data to support the theory that "ugly" websites actually have higher click through rates than "pretty" websites.

Everybody who has Adsense on their websites, and have reached the point where they're making some steady, predictable income from it ALWAYS progress to this point: "Hmmmm, I'm gonna change my website or layout so that I can INCREASE my clicks!"

So they make changes and for some, the CTR goes up, for most, the CTR actually goes down. That leaves the webmaster wondering what the heck happened? It's like using a Rubik's Cube, almost getting all the colors to match, and then with one more swipe it's all messed up and you don't know how to backtrack and find the one variable that caused the lower CTR.

If your website is mostly information based with the goal of earning income only through Adsense, why not keep it ugly? As long as the money's pretty...

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4454980].message }}

DeborahDera

13 years ago

The site is WAY too busy for me. I see this huge banner at the top and when I scroll down my eyes can't figure out where to start - left or right.

Honestly, if the old design was working, go back to it. That is what trial and error and testing are about.

Originally Posted by vehix411

Hi guys I'm new hear have bit of a problem
I redesigned my website and my CTR drop overnight by 70%

my old website was ugly and got me more CTR

please see the old in the pic of my site
im new hear cant place the url sorry you can google it

and hear is my new designed website
vehix411 com

anyone with expertise please let me know
whats the problem is it
Ad location
color
etc thanks alot

Thanks

Signature

[B]Web Articles & Content * Blog Content * High Quality PLR

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4455046].message }}

blillard

13 years ago

They always said an ugly site is a pretty good converting one.

Thanks

Signature

[WSO] This Has To Be The EASIEST List Building Out Right Now?

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4455080].message }}

Aaron Siegel

13 years ago

Okay, I thought you meant CTR for organic traffic not AdSense. I Will tell you I instantly could not even find an Adsense ad at first, I had to look. People are not looking for Adsense ads when they click on a page, they usually see them. Change the colors to your Adsense ads to where they compliment the page but don't blend in so well. Make them pop out. Maybe a nice Aqua color for the Adsense headlines?

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4455216].message }}

sbucciarel

Banned 13 years ago

Go back to the old if you got a higher clickthrough rate.
I'm not going to bother to try to Google your old site, but it makes sense to me to revert back to whatever was working.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4455399].message }}

cashcow

13 years ago

Are you more interested in making money or looking at your new site?

If it's money then go back to the old, if it's the new site then keep as is. Ugly sites usually do have a higher CTR probably because there is less distraction (or maybe the people are just trying to get the hell out).

Lee

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Gone Fishing

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4455470].message }}

GMD

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by cashcow

Are you more interested in making money or looking at your new site?

If it's money then go back to the old, if it's the new site then keep as is. Ugly sites usually do have a higher CTR probably because there is less distraction (or maybe the people are just trying to get the hell out).

Lee

Lee, your "maybe" thought is actually one of the reasons why "ugly" sites get a higher Adsense CTR: "people are just trying to get the hell out."

Another important thing, too: Websites made for Adsense are sites that, by definition, can't give the visitor everything they're looking for. The sad truth about these sites are if you give them too much information then there's no reason to get the answers by "clicking through" an ad!

Always remember that you want to get your visitor "wet" and wanting more. Seeking more and not finding it, they're more likely to click through an ad to find further answers!

Everybody who posted here is correct: go back to the old site layout for now. If anything, it'll be a fun test for you. Go back to the old site layout and see if your CTR comes back up. It would be a good way for you to test all these theories first hand for yourself!

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4456240].message }}

3bagsfull

13 years ago

holy crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that is one big header. GET RID OF IT ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

don't make anyone scroll.
make your side bar smaller. it is half the page
and two google ad blogs right next to each could be a big problem
find out how google likes to see its ad placement. they could shut you down if they think you are trying to get clicks

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4456326].message }}

ruth shapland

13 years ago

often if you are working with a high screen resolution you can get a distorted impression of what the homepage will look like to most users.

hope this helps.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4580560].message }}

onegoodman

13 years ago

okay, your main problem is your shouldn't make a major change on the design as both google and visitors are being affected.

I had the same issue. I wouldn't make a major change on the design, changing a banner or a logo is acceptable but major changes are a website killer. I would suggest not to go back to the old design simply because it is too late , more change will affect your visitor more negatively.

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

5 figure passive income

Hire Quality Virtual Assistants at affordable rate

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4580601].message }}

vehix411 13 years ago

Hi guys listen to what you have to say and did exactly ,

1 I waited a month for my web design guy to change the logo
In that month period my CTR came back to normal .
2 When he changed the logo and put the ads on the right.
Got 70% drop in CTR .

so i guess i will wait it out. againe
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4614617].message }}

Chri5123

13 years ago

Remember it is not what you think as well - take personal views out of the equation. If you site gets more CTR as the "ugly" site then I would put that site back up.

Chris Jones

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4614660].message }}

g36

13 years ago

If you got more CTR from the old design, stick to it. Who cares if it's ugly?

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

:)

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4614880].message }}

vehix411 13 years ago

well i checked my stats i got back up to my average CTR last month with my new site
so that wasn't the issue but we redesigned the logo and i put up my ads to the right that changed my CTR

By the way what is the average CTR for a website
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4616095].message }}

redesigned my website 70% drop in CTR

Trending Topics

How did you turn it all around?

A healthy fascination for Hollywood...

Any thoughts on golf's latest phenom...Scottie Scheffler??

What's the Best IM-Related Skill to Learn Today That Can Help in the Future?

best high quality crypto traffic.