For advertiser and publisher, Click Through Rate (CTR) is essential for making their product or website development promotion campaign successful. High Percentage Return on investment (ROI) will make advertiser happy and continue to put money into publisher’s pocket.
But not many internet users will click banners or advertisement links even if the site have 1 million unique visitors per-day. In today web technology, the website and internet are becoming more prettier and easy to the eye. Do you still remember how website design looks like in the early 80s and 90s. Check this out:
see also: Ugly website make millions
What might causing the lesser CTR in modern website?
Let’s dig deep into why advertisement banner are getting lower Click Through Rate in today internet experience.
1. Banner and Link Blindness
According to mediapost, 60% Can’t Remember The Last Display Ad They Saw. The evolution of website design largely contribute to this effect, almost 70% of websites nowadays prefer to blend their website design with a matching banner or link colour. Take for example, which one below makes you have the urge to click it:
[boxes type=”light” title=”Testing Link CTR”]Click me I’m a link Click me I’m a link[/boxes]
2. White Space
According to Google, their new Adsense Ads Design changes has boosted Click Through Rate for several publishers. Google has increased the padding between each ad. A minor change for a staggering result. A little bit of white space makes each ad stand out that much more and results in more clicks from visitors.
But some said otherwise – Google Adjusts Click Spots on Adsense – Lowered CTR
3. Your Writings are TOO Good!
You should be happy! your site visitors actually reading your content. Hence most readers will ignore the advertisement or banner surround your site. The ‘content is king’ is still an important part of developing a successful website but is it worth decreasing your site Click Through Rate (CTR)? Alternatively you could adapt a new advertiser which pay you by page impression.
Revenue per thousand impressions (RPM)
Formula:
RPM = (Estimated earnings / Number of page views) * 1000
For example:
If you earned an estimated $0.15 from 25 page views, then your page RPM would equal ($0.15 / 25) * 1000, or $6.00.
If you earned an estimated $180 from 45,000 ad impressions, your ad RPM would equal ($180 / 45,000) * 1000, or $4.00.
4. Re-visit Readers
Again you should be happy people re-visit your site. They might put your site into their favourite bookmark or feeds. However it is known facts that traffic from re-visit users will have low percentage of clicks.
5. Not Mobile Optimize
With the growing technology today, your site visitors might be using portable device such as iPhone, iPad or any android phone to browse your site. You will lost some percentage of your revenue if your site is not mobile friendly.
You could use CSS3 media query or re-direct your visitors to your site mobile version. if you’re using WordPress as content management system, you can try this mobile plugin for WordPress.
Final Conclusion
Personally i do not believe that ‘Ugly Site Sell’. Its all depends on how or where your advertisement place. The Click Through Rate (CTR) in modern website are getting low because people can now easily find what they need to know through social media such as Facebook and Twitter which they found much trust worthy information than advertisement information.
useful read – why organic traffic is not as valuable as it used to
photo credit – epsos.de
