Eric’s written an interesting post today on The Single-Page AdSense site which might be of interest to bloggers.
It’s a different strategy to how most bloggers use AdSense (blogs tend to be very much about a linked site with loads of outbound links and options for readers to click on other than just ads) but I’ve seen some blogs that use the principles he suggests by having individual post pages that have few links to the rest of their blog or other blogs.
For instance Scrivs wrote last year about how giving readers less options for clicks means more CTR on your ads (Of course since that time he’s changed his very minimalist design on WorkBoxers to one that now has outbound links to other blogs in his network as well as other bloggers).
I guess it all comes back to your goals and strategies for blogging. While a page with few (or no) outbound links has some advantages in terms of CTR of ads it has disadvantages in terms of the interaction you might have with other bloggers.
You could have a CTR of 100% but if your traffic is minimal that’s useless. Eric acknowledges optimizing the single page – but only in terms of keyword placement and domain name. SEO does also include link strategies, both internal and external. Might be difficult to become any kind of authority site with just a single page with (by definition) not quite all the information..
If you don’t optimize from every angle – on page and off – you’ll get less traffic. CTR is useful but focused on in isolation it ignores the fact that it’s the final figure of total moolah you’re ultimately interested in increasing.
Liam– You can always send inbound links.
If you build a good site with quality information, then the people would more likely to click on your ads.
[…] I’m running an experiment based on an article by Eric Giguere linked to by Darren. It was one of those ideas that simply smacked me in the face and demanded why I never thought of it. […]
It’s interesting that even in this he really returns to that most basic theme – good content.
I do wonder how that improved CTR may affect per click payouts under Smart Pricing.
MFA (made for adsense) sites are very common in the webmaster world.
If this tactic works with blog is something that I can’t say for sure. I have seen only one blog that has done it and is successful, this blog has only one, yes only one outbound link, all the other links are affiliate links. I don’t know how that is going to affect it in the long run but for the time being is doing very well.
I guess in order to do that with a blog and succeed you have to already have a network of blogs or sites in order to support it with links and traffic or to provide some really unique content.
I feel that this crosses the line from ‘making money from blogging’ to ‘blogging to make money’.
Effectively trapping your visitor into one of three options :
1. Click an Ad
2. Close the Browser Window (or tab)
3. Press the Back button (if page has opened within itself).
I would question if any of these three options would lead to a satisfied visitor who would come back to read your content, or if the options would lead to dissatisfaction.
If you have a high enough throughput of visitors that retaining any loyalty to your blog is not a requirement, the technique might work and you may make money, but as a sustainable long term proposition I think the theory is flawed.
The Single-Page AdSense Site
I just read an post on The Single-Page AdSense Site that I found through Darren and is actually being put to the test by Aaron Brazell on his one page blog that is soley about tagging.
The idea basically is to create a single page of very niche con…
Part of my mission is to document money-making strategies and techniques for AdSense publishers. I knew my little article would be controversial, but it is a technique that some publishers use to great effect. It’s not blog-oriented at all, of course, and I’ve never claimed that blogs should follow this model.
You don’t need a lot of incoming links for this strategy to work. What you need is a focused site targeting a very specific keyword niche that isn’t full of high-PR sites so that you can get into the top ten spots in the major search engines.
I didn’t go over every detail of the strategy, I want people to buy my new book :-) It definitely works, but it’s not for everyone. In some ways it’s almost the polar opposite of a blog-based strategy.
Eric
it is a good way to get more traffic from search engine!
ohhh, look at me! I made $100,000 by being a marketing devil!
You my friend are a waste of human life. Marketing serves NO useful purpose in human existance other than to turn people into mindless consumers and conformists which will distract them from making any progress on this planet becuase they are too concerned about saving that extra $ or getting the next gen Ipod.
Please cease and desist with your marketing selfishness and do something which is of benefit to the world
I thanks you
‘thought police’ – thanks for stopping by and expressing your opinion. All I’d ask in future is that you consider not leaving the same comment on multiple posts. While you might feel your comment is relevant on them all my comment spam detector does not and you’ll get yourself banned automatically by doing it.
I’m not sure how to respond to you allegations of me being a ‘waste of human life’ as I have no idea who you are or how you’ve come to that conclusion. I tend to take criticism pretty well from people who try to get to know me and who stand behind their criticisms in person so I guess I’ll just let your comment sit there unanswered.
Feel free to email me any time with your concerns – more than open to dialogue – but if you’re after a flaming comment brawl then you’re in the wrong place.