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Performance Tips
1. EPC doesn’t matter! That is because you have absolutely no control over your EPC. Your EPC is influenced by many variables including your webpage content, advertiser’s budget, seasonal fluctuations and more. Thus,
productive thing to do is concentrate on
factors that you have control over such as CTR and page impressions.
2. How am I doing? Many of us probably wonder how we are doing compared to other AdSense users, including myself. However, we really can’t get a good sense of
average if Google doesn't disclose their figures, which they don’t. Since people doing well with AdSense generally don’t like to reveal their earnings due to
fear that they may be terminated by
program, any discussion about an average EPC/CTR/CPM is a waste of time.
3. From various experiments by myself and other webmasters, we can conclude (at least for now) that using image/text ads instead of just text ads will dramatically decrease you CTR because of various reasons. (i.e. fewer advertisers, banner blindness etc.) However,
EPC is usually slightly higher.
4. Blend in or stand out? This is completely site dependent. Sometimes, people will never click on your ads unless you “trick” them into doing so, although this is not so good for long term. Other sites will require your ad to scream in your visitor’s face to get good clicks. Do some extensive testing to find out what’s good for your site.
5. Make good use of
URL filter feature. Blocking repetitive (eBay ads) or boring ads (free smilies) will definitely increase your CTR.
6. Large rectangles placed above
fold will often generate most revenue. However, this may not be a good long term solution since such and ad is usually obstrusive and have little aesthetic value.
7. If you run a forum site, you may notice that your earnings are very low. Here is a solution: use a simple cookie-based php script that only displays AdSense ads once every 10 page views -- essentially a counter counts down from 10 to 0 and on 0 displays an AdSense block. Between
AdSense ads, display regular banner ads. Although your AdSense page impressions may be down, you will notice your CTR skyrocketing, and a large increase in overall earnings.
In conclusion: Play around with your ad to maximize your performance, and look at
big picture in your stats!
