LOW eCPM With Google Adsense
Written By: Posted On: May 8, 2007 Tags:
Last month I started a website with the purpose of solely generating revenue from Google Adsense ad clicks. (Origami Diagrams) The website was more of an experiment than anything, to be honest. It isn’t exactly a typical MFA(made for adsense) website, it actually does contain some kind of (albeit admittedly spammy) content.
Anyway, the point is that I set out to write some content, do a little bit of SEO; and see what kind of organic visitors I might be able to capture. One night Brian and I did a little bit of research on keywords, made a list of some that weren’t too competitive(but had a large volume of queries), and off to the races we went. This project was more a learning experience than anything, and I feel confident it has taught me most of what I need to know to become successful using adsense. I was honestly shocked to see the response the site got, I didn’t think it was going to do very well at all to begin with.
Origami design is only a month old and has already been pulling in about 200 visitors a day solely from search engine referrals(Yahoo! and Google), and the site has an extremely high CTR%. Google is doing an incredible job of targeting my readers, and my setup is doing a great job of converting; unfortunately I failed to do much research on what advertisers were paying for origami type keywords.
I can’t say exactly how much I’ve been making from this experiment, but I’m willing to chalk it up as a learning experience and go with it from there. Stay tuned to learn how this month I plan to make a bit more with Adsense. Subscribe to my RSS feed for easier updates!
Interesting… I’m in the process of debating the Adsense vs traditional banner argument with a client of mine, in an attempt to come up with a good revenue stream for a new British social networking site (www.britster.com) – so I look forward to your feedback on the Google option!
I think Google AdSense makes you look unprofessional, but for a website set up to utilise it’s power it can be well worthwhile. Ask Dave Taylor. He’ll tell you.
I look forward to your tips Scot.
Sorry for the broken hyperlink. I’ve linked to Dave’s site through my name on this comment.
Paul,
I think the key to making decent money with Adsense is all about your content. If what your site is about isn’t worth much to advertisers, you’re not going to fair too well, then you have the whole issue of aesthetics, etc.
If you want a case of Adsense being the sole income of a large social site, check out plentyoffish. The guy is one of Google’s biggest publishers, if not the biggest.
David,
Lots of big sites are using adsense for revenue, but you’re right. It’s all about implementation. I think Digg does a good job of this.
never admit anywhere at anytime that your content is spammy! lol
i agree that it’s all about having valuable content. sometimes the content can be somewhat dry and text-bookish, but that doesn’t mean it’s spammy. some people might actually find it useful! and i don’t think putting adsense ads will make it look unprofessional, otherwise all of our blogs would look like spam. and i don’t think my blog looks spammy at all