33 replies
My CTR on Ezine is 19.1%. I have 535 artricles published and 292 are live.

I have about 20 articles that have 0 click thrus. Should I delete those areticles? It looks like hardly anyone read them and no one is visiting my site. Sure I'll lose a few backlinks but if the articles suck that bad maybe I should dump them.

It would increase my CTR but is there any advantage to a higher CTR?
#ctr #ezine #question
  • Profile picture of the author Suzanne Morrison
    I think you should keep them there, even if just for the backlinks and the potential that someone may publish them elsewhere.

    A lack of click throughs doesn't necessarily mean your article is bad, it just means that the copy in the resource box isn't enticing enough for people to click. If anything perhaps you should change the resource box rather than remove the article altogether.

    Cheers,
    Suzanne
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    • Profile picture of the author Emailrevealer
      thanks Suzanne I thought about going back and editing the article or resourse box. But it's just so much easier to delete and see a higher CTR and get instant gratification...

      I don't think the resouese box is a problem. I use the same one for all my articles aand some had a 40% -60% CTR. But I have noticed that if I prime the last paragraph just the right way it sends more people to the links in my resource box.
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      • Profile picture of the author TimG
        Originally Posted by Emailrevealer View Post

        thanks Suzanne I thought about going back and editing the article or resourse box. But it's just so much easier to delete and see a higher CTR and get instant gratification...

        I don't think the resouese box is a problem. I use the same one for all my articles aand some had a 40% -60% CTR. But I have noticed that if I prime the last paragraph just the right way it sends more people to the links in my resource box.
        Suzanne has the right idea and you yourself also just identified a possible solution. The content of your article may not have kept the reader's interest long enough to lead them to the actual resource box.

        Respectfully,
        Tim
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  • Profile picture of the author TimG
    Deleting articles for the sake of increasing your CTR does nothing for you at the end of the day other then allowing you the opportunity to say I have "such and such" as my CTR.

    I have almost 2000 articles submitted (under various pen names) and my CTR is 9.9% which many people will tell you is horrible but like yourself I have plenty of articles that get plenty of page views but little to no clicks. On the other hand I have many articles that get over a 50% CTR.

    There is no reason to try and make that stat impressive for other people but, you can look at the articles that are getting a high CTR and then incorporate thier resource box into your other articles to see if it will help increase its CTR.

    Kep in mind that if you are always submitting articles and testing different resource boxes you will have some that have a low CTR because that is part of testing to see what does and doesn't work.

    Respectfully,
    Tim
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    • Profile picture of the author Allen Graves
      Originally Posted by TimG View Post

      Deleting articles for the sake of increasing your CTR does nothing for you at the end of the day other then allowing you the opportunity to say I have "such and such" as my CTR.

      I have almost 2000 articles submitted (under various pen names) and my CTR is 9.9% which many people will tell you is horrible but like yourself I have plenty of articles that get plenty of page views but little to no clicks. On the other hand I have many articles that get over a 50% CTR.

      There is no reason to try and make that stat impressive for other people but, you can look at the articles that are getting a high CTR and then incorporate thier resource box into your other articles to see if it will help increase its CTR.

      Kep in mind that if you are always submitting articles and testing different resource boxes you will have some that have a low CTR because that is part of testing to see what does and doesn't work.

      Respectfully,
      Tim
      Hi Tim - how the heck are ya?!

      Looks like we both posted something at the same time that I have been wanting to say for a while.

      I have watched people here and elsewhere online boast a 50%-75% CTR and tell others that if they don't touch 40-50% on all their articles that they are doing something wrong.

      Bullcrap!

      OK - said it. Maybe I should start another thread. Sorry to the OP!

      Allen
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      • Profile picture of the author TimG
        Originally Posted by Allen Graves View Post

        Hi Tim - how the heck are ya?!

        Looks like we both posted something at the same time that I have been wanting to say for a while.

        I have watched people here and elsewhere online boast a 50%-75% CTR and tell others that if they don't touch 40-50% on all their articles that they are doing something wrong.

        Bullcrap!

        OK - said it. Maybe I should start another thread. Sorry to the OP!

        Allen
        Allen,
        Doing good brother, thanks for asking.

        Yea, the whole CTR saga is very funny. I just shake my head :rolleyes:. At the end of the day it all means nothing if no income is generated. Someone could have a CTR of 99.9% but if they don't make a single sale it's worthless .

        I hate to see new article marketers get concerned about that single stat because there are so many other variables that make up a complete article marketing submission (campaign) that also need to be properly addressed for true success with articles.

        Respectfully,
        Tim
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        • Profile picture of the author Tina Golden
          You mention that these articles seem to have been read fewer times. If you aren't getting the views, you naturally won't get the clicks. I'd try coming up with a better title and see if that increases the views.

          Tina
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          • Profile picture of the author Wechito
            Originally Posted by TMG Enterprises View Post

            You mention that these articles seem to have been read fewer times. If you aren't getting the views, you naturally won't get the clicks. I'd try coming up with a better title and see if that increases the views.

            Tina
            Right. The problem is not the lack of clicks but the lack of readers. tweak them a little to make them a little more catchy.
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            • Profile picture of the author Emailrevealer
              Originally Posted by Wechito View Post

              Right. The problem is not the lack of clicks but the lack of readers. tweak them a little to make them a little more catchy.
              No a few of the articles have high views but 0 clicks.
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        • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
          Banned
          [DELETED]
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          • Profile picture of the author Emailrevealer
            Ok, I went back and found 5 articles with high views and 0 click thrus and I edited the last few paragraphs and the resourse box.

            One article in particular was obvious why no one would visit my site and I made the obvious changes.

            I'll keep on eye on these 5 articles aand revisit this thread and let you all know how it went.
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            • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
              What I could tell you about CTR...but like Allen said, best to leave that for
              another thread.

              Let me say this. My CTR, according to some so called "article marketing
              experts" is crap. Overall for my MMO niche, it's like 6%.

              Guess what?

              That 6% accounts for about 80% of a 6 figure a year income.

              Sure, I had to write a sh*t load of articles to get there, but in the end,
              CTR means beans if you're not making money.

              I got one niche where my CTR is through the roof, but because I use
              Adsense as an income model, my income for that niche is like $100 a
              month.

              So I'll take income over CTR any day of the week.
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              • Profile picture of the author TimG
                Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

                What I could tell you about CTR...but like Allen said, best to leave that for
                another thread.

                Let me say this. My CTR, according to some so called "article marketing
                experts" is crap. Overall for my MMO niche, it's like 6%.

                Guess what?

                That 6% accounts for about 80% of a 6 figure a year income.

                Sure, I had to write a sh*t load of articles to get there, but in the end,
                CTR means beans if you're not making money.

                I got one niche where my CTR is through the roof, but because I use
                Adsense as an income model, my income for that niche is like $100 a
                month.

                So I'll take income over CTR any day of the week.
                Steven,
                Thanks for confirming what I've always suspected and what Allen has clearly been pondering also - The CTR debate.

                Respectfully,
                Tim
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        • Profile picture of the author Emailrevealer
          Originally Posted by TimG View Post

          Allen,
          Doing good brother, thanks for asking.

          Yea, the whole CTR saga is very funny. I just shake my head :rolleyes:. At the end of the day it all means nothing if no income is generated. Someone could have a CTR of 99.9% but if they don't make a single sale it's worthless .

          I hate to see new article marketers get concerned about that single stat because there are so many other variables that make up a complete article marketing submission (campaign) that also need to be properly addressed for true success with articles.

          Respectfully,
          Tim
          Thanks Tim. This is also a concern of mine because some of my articles have click thrus of 3000 plus! If I could get a decent conversion I'd make a fortune becuse the service is $400.
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  • Profile picture of the author Allen Graves
    Leave them there. If anything, go and edit them to see if you can make the article flow better toward the resource section.

    Don't delete them. There is a chance - even if it is miniscule - that a potential client will see one of them, like what you said, click through and buy. If you delete the artice, you delete any chance of making a sale from it.

    Like I said, go and try to edit the article and draw the reader toward the resource. Plus, sometimes when the SEs see a page that has been edited, it will get a little boost (sometimes even a first page boost) for a while.

    Regardless of what other people may say, a 20% click through rate kicks ass! Especially with so many article published...great job. You should be proud of that.

    Good luck!
    Allen
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  • Profile picture of the author Emailrevealer
    Ok guys big thanks to all. I'll go back and tweek the articles. Like I said I think my RB is fine. I've found it's the last paragraph that gets them to click on my RB links.

    BTW I have also noticed that editing an old article gives it a little boost.
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  • Profile picture of the author Emailrevealer
    Yes TMG it seems that the ones with the lowest views also have 0 CTR.
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  • Profile picture of the author neno
    I think maintaining a consistent CTR of around 40% to 50% is difficult. I am not a very experienced article marketer, but some of my articles have CTR above 50%, while there are some with 2% to 5%.

    @Emailrevealer: As Alexa said there is no advantage of increasing the CTR value in Ezine reports by deleting articles with low CTR.
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  • Profile picture of the author Gravc
    It's crucial to remember that you really have to sell the benefits of clicking on the link.

    1. You need a great headline to get the article opened
    2. Good content to lead reader to rescource content box
    3. Compelling reason why the reader will benefit from clicking the link!!!

    e.g.

    CLICK HERE TO discover the 3 simple steps to losing 7lbs in the next 7 Days

    CLICK To Get instant access to Your FREE Fat Burn BootCamp RIGHT NOW.

    If your articles are all on the same subject the reader might check out more of your articles. So you might get them again.

    Maybe the one rescource box just doesnt work well being replicated across all the articles.
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  • Profile picture of the author Allen Graves
    So we don't completely hijack this thread - LOL

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-internet-marketing-discussion-forum/210456-great-article-marketing-clickthrough-rate-debate-how-get-50-ctr-all-your-articles.html

    Good luck, emailrevealer! Let us know how it goes, and let me know if you need anything! I'm always out to help those who apparently are willing to do what it takes to succeed.

    Allen
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    Every day I check the obituaries. If I don't see my name there, then I know it's going to be a good day!
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  • Profile picture of the author Marhelper
    I would leave them there even if only for the backlinks. I would also try and find out why the CTRs are so low for these articles, perhaps it is as simple as a few minor adjustments to make those articles producers as well. The one thing I would not do is get rid of them as there is no point in this.
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  • Profile picture of the author Emailrevealer
    Thanks Guys,
    Is there even a way to edit Ezine headlines? It doesn't look like there is.
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  • Profile picture of the author Emailrevealer
    Thanks marhelper
    I did just that. I went back and one article in particular gave the reader absolutely no reason to click on my link for a solution. I made a simple change with a few lines to at least motivate them a little.
    I'm sure at leaast that one article will gets some click thrus.
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  • Profile picture of the author Emailrevealer
    Don't worry about hijacking the thread Allen. I wasn't aware there was a big CTR debate.

    Over the past couple of months I've stepped up my article marketing significantly. I'm shooting for 60 articles a month.

    But what I've been doing is focusing the articles on one keyword phrase to drive that up. Should I spread out my keywords and focus on several or just one by one and move on to the next phrase the next month?

    I sell many different services on my site so I have different keywords for different pages.

    This is my full time job. I came here to WF in 2007 in the lowest point of my divorce. I was practically penniless and homeless. I focused on adwords and pay per click, Perry Marshal.

    I began article marketing and did very well but got lazy and slacked off around Sept 2009 and I really felt it in the early months of 2010.

    I have a great full time writer now.
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    • Profile picture of the author Allen Graves
      Originally Posted by Emailrevealer View Post

      Should I spread out my keywords and focus on several or just one by one and move on to the next phrase the next month?
      If you are asking me, I would have to know your niche, see your website and some of your articles. Sometimes it is good to focus on a single term or group of related terms, while sometimes it is good to just keep them spread out. Depends on your unique situation.

      Shoot me a PM if you wanna.

      Allen
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      Every day I check the obituaries. If I don't see my name there, then I know it's going to be a good day!
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  • Profile picture of the author Emailrevealer
    Thanks Allen, my site is the one in my sig. I'm not an affiliate marketer or IMer or adsenser. It's my site, my business, I employ a couple of full time investigators as well as myself to do the work.
    You can see my articles by googling my name "Ed Opperman".

    Over the years I haad to teach myself SEO. My keyword research sucks tho. That's what I'm starting to work on more right now.
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  • Profile picture of the author Allen Graves
    Your site looks nice - very organized!

    If it were my site, with so many different sub-niches, I would concentrate on one page at a time (not one keyword phrase, but a group of keyword phrases for one page at a time).

    Doing it this way, you will be able to easier see the results of your efforts. Soon you will be able to see which pages are doing well from your articles and which ones don't seem to be getting anything from them.

    Then, build on the good and tweak the bad.

    I don't think the search engines would get confused if you spread out the keyword phrases for all of your pages at once, but I do believe that YOU could possibly get confused and not quite see the true results you are getting.

    Better to focus on one thing at a time I think. Like I said, it will be mich easier to analyze your results if you concentrate on one specific sub-niche at a time...maybe like a week per sub-niche.

    Good luck!
    Allen

    Allen
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  • Profile picture of the author TimG
    I also visited your site and found it to be a good looking site that could become extremely profitable with some intense article marketing campaigns conducted on its behalf.

    Much like Allen said, I would focus on each segment (product line) one at a time. Previously I used to run what I called an "Article Blitz" for my website but that was years ago when the competition was not as high and it was easy to get ranked well and generate traffic.

    Now, I am more focused on conducting an "Article Blitz" for each individual page of my websites. You might try the same approach for each of your products. To conduct a blitz you find all the keywords for your product (page) and then start writing and submitting articles covering each keyword phrase - Mind you, that's the simplified version.

    Respectfully,
    Tim
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  • Profile picture of the author manishrawat
    Deleting your articles just for the sake of increasing your CTR . This way you can bring 100% CTR for your articles. Delete all the articles which haven't attracted any click and this way you will have high CTR, but just think would it benefit you in an y way. Try to find out the way why your articles are not gaining any click? Then work out on those points. May be your title is not enticing enough or your author is not that powerful to gain any click.

    There can be many other reasons as well. So better than deleting your article, I would suggest you that review them and amend the needed corrections.
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  • Profile picture of the author seoindiaforu
    I think you should not delete the posts...just leave them as it is for the sake of your back links.
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  • Profile picture of the author David Raybould
    Originally Posted by Emailrevealer View Post

    My CTR on Ezine is 19.1%. I have 535 artricles published and 292 are live.

    I have about 20 articles that have 0 click thrus. Should I delete those areticles? It looks like hardly anyone read them and no one is visiting my site. Sure I'll lose a few backlinks but if the articles suck that bad maybe I should dump them.

    It would increase my CTR but is there any advantage to a higher CTR?
    Hey there-

    Interesting thread.

    If you do decide to alter your resource
    boxes, I've got a free report in the war
    room that will show you how to get a
    higher CTR.

    It's free, with no opt in.

    Hope that helps.

    -David
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    Whatever you need, my high converting copy puts more money in your pocket. PM for details. 10 years experience and 9 figure revenues.
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