Improving Pay-per-Click Click-Through Rates
In the last article we took an in-depth look at many of the important criteria to evaluate when joining a pay-per-click program. Like affiliate programs, all pay-per-click programs are not created equal, and the first step to success is to join the right program.
In this article we will focus on ways you can improve the results you see from the pay-per-click programs you have decided to promote on your web site. All of these strategies should work generically, no matter what program(s) you currently use, however, do be aware of each program's individual terms and conditions to make sure you are not breaking them.
I will highlight 5 specific ways almost any web site can use to improve their income through pay-per-click programs:
1. Improve Ad Visibility
2. Decrease Competition
3. Use a Call to Action
4. Highlight the Ad
5. Target Your Web Site
Let's take a more detailed look at each:
1. Improve Ad Visibility
One of the most basic means to improve click-through rates is to improve the visibility of a given banner ad on your web site. Generally, this means positioning the ad in a place where more of your visitors will either see the ad, or in some way be inclined to click on it. Although this seems obvious, there are several trade offs, depending on the focus and style of your web site.
Looking through a wide variety of studies on web advertising effectiveness from sources such as AdResource and Four Corners Effective Banners, it has been shown that standard-sized banner ads at the top of the page, or about 1/3 of the way down the page show the highest overall click-throughs.
This makes logical sense since the banners are more obvious, and since a greater proportion of your visitors will see the banners, compared to banners at the bottom of a page, which they often would need to scroll down to see.
Of course, in one of the studies, ads placed next to the scroll-bar on the right, at the bottom of the page, but above the fold (the visible part of a page before a person needs to scroll down), showed the highest click-throughs. However, this study used smaller 125 x 125 ads, compared to the standard banners (468 x 60) that most banner networks and programs allow (or provide).
The main thing to consider here is what effect placing banners at the top of your site will have on each page's aesthetic appeal. For some sites, this will not be a problem at all. For other sites, having a banner at the top may ruin the site's graphic appeal or potentially even it's usability. You will need to be the final judge of this as you design, or re-design your web site.
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