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Why would you do THIS to your readers?

UserPost

10:24 am
September 26, 2010


MissThrifty

UK

Member

posts 46

Right now I'm editing the latest edition of the Carnival of Money Stories (due to go live tomorrow). I can't get over how many bloggers – including, it must be said, many Yakezie bloggers – have a big ol' ugly block of AdSense ads directly below the title and above the content of every. single. post.

Since there are Yakezie blogs with this setup I expect that some of you out there would disagree with my conclusions, but… I understand why these ads are where they are – $$$ – yet they make the blogs
look so crude and naff, and create such a horrible reader
experience!

Is this setup really worth the trade-off?

12:17 pm
September 26, 2010


Mike – Saving Money Today

Member

posts 520

Hey Miss Thrifty!  I'm one blogger who set up AdSense exactly as you are speaking of.  I do prefer the way it looks without that ad unit, but the consenus is that is one of the most effective places to put it.  And for what it's worth most of my AdSense clicks come from that placement.

1:25 pm
September 26, 2010


Glen Craig

Member

posts 1087

Honestly, I can't say I've ever gotten a complaint from a reader about the placement but I have gotten many clicks.  If SE visitors waited 'til the end of the article to click I'd gladly put the block at the end.

6:05 pm
September 26, 2010


justheather

Member

posts 160

You may get a lot of clicks, but I wonder if you're losing readers. I can honestly say, I don't usually scroll past the ad to read the content in a setup like this. It bothers me that much. I also don't stick around sites that have the big pop-up begging for my email address. And, I'm not as likely to return. It takes a really, really inticing headline to get me to read in these cases.

Heather Sokol, niche blogger

Founder of Inexpensively

6:58 pm
September 26, 2010


Glen Craig

Member

posts 1087

What works best for you Heather?  I'm all for changing if it works overall.  I guess I could look into my Who Sees Ads setting to see about not showing for return readers.  But I also think in this day and age, ad placements are almost not even seen by many; we've become blind to them (which can be good and bad).

 

And I agree the pop-up boxes can be annoying but I've heard they really help conversions too.

7:20 pm
September 26, 2010


justheather

Member

posts 160

Oh, I get why people do it. Maybe I'm not the type of reader you want to stick around, either. I don't know that I'm all that valuable in terms of monetization.

As for placement, I am not a major fan of CPM ads in the first place. I use more affiliate marketing and direct ads to monetize my sites. I do have Google ads on a few of them, but only as a temporary filler while I build traffic & contacts.

Heather Sokol, niche blogger

Founder of Inexpensively

12:57 am
September 27, 2010


Forest Parks

Cairo, Egypt

Admin

posts 1337

Sadly I practically make a full time income of that ugly block under the title…. Without that block I would not be able to spend every day writing for my readers…. Sadly it's just the way it is.

 

I have looked into ways to hide the ad blocks for regular readers so they don't have to deal with it but the cache plugins don't seem to work properly with it sadly.

Vist me at Frugal Zeitgeist…. Frugal and Sustainable Living for the now…

5:48 am
September 27, 2010


justheather

Member

posts 160

Have you tried using the WWSGD plugin to include the adcode only for new readers? I don't know if that would work or not, but it allows you to setup something different for new & returning users.

Heather Sokol, niche blogger

Founder of Inexpensively

7:04 am
September 27, 2010


Invest It Wisely

Member

posts 2019

justheather said:

Have you tried using the WWSGD plugin to include the adcode only for new readers? I don't know if that would work or not, but it allows you to setup something different for new & returning users.


I had the same issues with caching. The problem is that plugins won't work with the "fully on" mode of caching plugins which never load PHP in the first place, unless the plugin works around that by using client-side javascript to display the ad instead.

 

I personally have my ad block code setup so that it shows a large ad only if the post is older than 15 days. My regular readers won't have to encounter that large block.

7:14 am
September 27, 2010


Budgeting in the Fun Stuff

Member

posts 3048

I have it set up with the Adsense Now plugin to show up only when someone clicks on a specific post.  If you go to my homepage you can read the day's post with no ads, but if you click on it or past posts, you'll see the big add below the title.  I figure my regular readers don't usually click around much but search engine visitors are usually sent to specific posts, so they may click on the ads.  But, that does mean that all of my blog carnival submissions would have a visible ad.

I just added this last week or two and already have seen an uptick in Adsense returns ($2-$3 days a few times a week now and I was only making $0.10-$0.30 a day all the time before).

Since I am actively trying to become a full time blogger in the next few years (I need to make at least $35,000 a year and have "only" made about $3200 in the last 7 months), that sort of increase in income will be necessary.  I will happily sacrifice a little of the pretty factor to be able to blog full time – especially since it hasn't decreased my daily visitors stats at all.  Honestly, even though it looks tackier, I don't understand the strong feelings about it.  I barely even see the ads at the blogs I read – I'm just that used to ignoring them.  Of course, I do read 50-300 posts a week, so maybe I'm just really used to it…

I really hope people wouldn't stop reading my posts just because I monetize my site effectively…I only do it so I can eventually dedicate myself to my readers full time.

Crystal@BFS

Crystal

Yakezie Member Site: 

Budgeting in the Fun Stuff

Ebook:  How I Make Money Blogging:
The Beginner's Guide to Building a Money-Making Site

Email:  budgetingfunstuff *at* gmail *dot* com

You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook

7:26 am
September 27, 2010


Invest It Wisely

Member

posts 2019

Good point, BFS. In addition to only showing the big ad on posts > 15 days, I only show them on single posts. You won't see them inside the posts if you go to my homepage. You'll still see the sidebar but so what. ;)

7:46 am
September 27, 2010


MissThrifty

UK

Member

posts 46

I'm Team Heather here. I appreciate that several of us here depend on our blogs for our crusts, but as a blog reader that specific positioning of an AdSense block really puts me off. It struck home yesterday when I was compiling the Carnival of Money Stories, and blog after blog featured this setup. I would be interested to see how it affects bounce rates.

8:40 am
September 27, 2010


Mike – Saving Money Today

Member

posts 520

MissThrifty said:

I'm Team Heather here. I appreciate that several of us here depend on our blogs for our crusts, but as a blog reader that specific positioning of an AdSense block really puts me off. It struck home yesterday when I was compiling the Carnival of Money Stories, and blog after blog featured this setup. I would be interested to see how it affects bounce rates.


I think it's common enough that the effect on bounce rates is minimal, but there is no way to know for sure without actually split testing it.  

For what it's worth I don't really see any complaints in forums or social media sites regarding those ad placements.  Kontera-style ads on the other hand really turn a lot of people off.  

When designing your site it's important to remember not to place too much emphasis on your own personal preferences.  For example, you may love resource-hogging flash intros that show off your graphic skills but they'll do nothing for your SEO and they'll likely send your bounce rates through the ceiling.

My stats show that particular ad placement to be very profitable and other bloggers I've spoken to support that, so for the time being I'm sticking with it.

9:00 am
September 27, 2010


Khaleef @ KNS Financial

Fat Guy, Skinny Wallet

Member

posts 3149

I just started doing this a few weeks ago, and I have seen an improvement in my AdSense revenue, and I haven't received any complaints about it. I do understand the need to have a balance so you don't turn away readers – that's why it took me so long to start doing this.

Khaleef "Fat Guy" Crumbley

My Battle to Lose 100lbs and Pay off $100k in Debt:

http://fatguyskinnywallet.com

http://twitter.com/FGSW

http://www.facebook.com/fatguy…..innywallet

Personal Finance From A Biblical Perspective:

http://knsfinancial.com

http://www.facebook.com/knsfinancial

http://twitter.com/knsfinancial

9:06 am
September 27, 2010


Budgeting in the Fun Stuff

Member

posts 3048

Invest It Wisely said:

Good point, BFS. In addition to only showing the big ad on posts > 15 days, I only show them on single posts. You won't see them inside the posts if you go to my homepage. You'll still see the sidebar but so what. ;)


Ivest It Wisely, I think you had a good point in only showing them on posts after so many days.  Right now, my blog is young enough that I rather not do that yet (my older posts aren't my money-makers), but as I build some major content, that is my plan as well.  Thanks for the idea!

Oh, and yes, everyone will always be subjected to the huge banner ad on the left, but I really would hope that all of my readers are smart enough to overlook that unless they are interested in whatever is being advertised that moment – like Groupon or donuts or whatever…

Here's my view on blog advertising – yes, it looks tacky most of the time.  But, I doubt I'd be able to read so much content from awesome bloggers if no one was making any money.  Monetization leads to motivation and more posts for me to read, lol.  I'll gladly overlook ads if it means that my favorite blogs keep the content coming (yes, sorry, I do not click on many ads…I suck.  But I do always buy through other blogger's Amazon links, lol).

Crystal@BFS

Crystal

Yakezie Member Site: 

Budgeting in the Fun Stuff

Ebook:  How I Make Money Blogging:
The Beginner's Guide to Building a Money-Making Site

Email:  budgetingfunstuff *at* gmail *dot* com

You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook

10:25 am
September 27, 2010


justheather

Member

posts 160

Maybe the fact that most of my revenue comes from other sources skews my viewpoint. I only make a few hundred per year on Google. Affilalite marketing, however, can be very profitable – especially if done with relevance and with products that provide value to the reader.

Heather Sokol, niche blogger

Founder of Inexpensively

11:15 am
September 27, 2010


Paul Williams – Provident Planning

Nottingham, PA

Member

posts 43

Post edited 11:22 am – September 27, 2010 by Paul Williams – Provident Planning


I use this setup, though I combine it with Who Sees Ads.  I use a cache plugin as well (W3Cache), but I'm not sure there's been a problem with it.  It seems to work correctly for me.  This is how I have it set up:

 

I always display a tall skyscraper on the left side.  Everyone sees this unless they have AdBlock going.

 

The big ugly block under the title only displays if:

1.  You come from a search engine (regardless of whether you're a regular reader, which means you've read 10 pages over the past 30 days).  (***EDIT:  That's how it used to be…I think I'm going to change it.  Doesn't make sense to hide it for regular readers only on old posts and not when they come from a search engine.)

2.  Or on pages older than 14 days, unless you're a regular reader.

 

So, visitors from carnivals (or other referral sites, including feed readers) won't see this block on my recent posts.  This setup works well for me and I've never had a complaint.

 

I agree it's not pretty but it's the best earning strategy I have so far.  I should note that ugly block gets twice as many clicks as the tall skyscraper (as a % of impressions) AND I get higher CPCs from it as well.

 

Affiliate marketing hasn't done extremely well for me, but maybe that's because I'm picky about which products I recommend.  I also don't have high traffic yet, which helps with affiliate & direct ads I think (correct me if I'm wrong).  Of course, high traffic helps with all monetization strategies…  :)

 

If there's a better way, I'm all for it.  I didn't use the ugly block strategy until January of this year because I don't like it either.  But I've become ad-blind so it doesn't bother me on other people's sites.  I also use AdBlocker+ in Firefox so I don't see ads much either.  (I do turn it off for sites I'd want to support though).

 

BTW, I absolutely agree on the pop-ups asking you to subscribe.  I hate them!  But I do realize they can vastly increase subscription rates based on what I've heard from people.  But you'd never get me to subscribe that way.  I also don't like them when I'm already subscribed in my feed reader.  I don't think I'll ever use those pop-ups, but I'm not going to refuse to go to someone's site because of them.

Provident Planning – Personal Finance from a Christian Perspective

http://www.providentplan.com

3:12 pm
September 27, 2010


Glen Craig

Member

posts 1087

Affilalite marketing, however, can be very profitable – especially if
done with relevance and with products that provide value to the reader.

 

On affiliate articles I'll disable Adsense completely.  I don't want my clicks going to other products for those articles.  Just an FYI.

5:47 pm
September 27, 2010


justheather

Member

posts 160

That make sense, but most of my articles include affiliate marketing links so it would be an awful lot of extra work, in that case.

Heather Sokol, niche blogger

Founder of Inexpensively

7:59 pm
September 27, 2010


Realm of Prosperity

Brooklyn, NY

Member

posts 11

With Paul on this. Who Sees Ads plugin targeting posts from a long while ago and search engine traffic. The block appears only on single posts and regular readers never see it. And like everyone else, it is the top earner.


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