I hate it when it happens. I\’m sure you do too. You\’ve set up your site, you\’ve optimized your ads, you\’ve watched your income rise and at last you\’re getting your rewards. Each month you receive a nice fat check from the generous people at Google.
And then all of a sudden, the numbers start to shrink.
You haven\’t changed a thing. Your ad units are still in the same places. You\’re still discussing the same topics. And yet, for no apparent reason, your clickthrough rate has dropped to a fraction of what it used to be.
When that happens to your site, there are a number of possible reasons.
The first is that your traffic might have changed. Even if you\’re bringing in users from the same sources as always, it\’s possible that the sites you\’re linking from have changed their traffic sources. Or they might have changed their content. Or they could have recommended you in a different way so that they\’re now sending you untargeted users.
Whatever the site might have done, the result is that instead of getting the sort of users who are interested in your content — and in the content of your ads — you\’re getting people who take one look at your site then run away.
If you\’re using more than search engines to pick up traffic, you should make a point of regularly checking the context of your links. You want to make sure that you\’re still getting the users you want.
It\’s also possible though that the problem could be on your pages. You might still be writing about the same topic as always but some sub-topics are likely to be more popular than others. So if you had a site about cars, for example, your CTR might be higher on pages about accessories than on pages about brake fluid.
And when you do alter your content, even slightly, it\’s possible that your ads no longer match your site. When you\’re checking your link partners, don\’t forget to check your ad units too… and to play around with your keywords if necessary.
When your CTR does drop suddenly though, it\’s not always possible to track down the cause. The Web has its own rhythms, and it\’s always worth waiting at least a week before taking any action based on a change in your stats.
And it\’s certainly worth keeping a close eye on your bottom line too. If your CTR is falling but your income is rising, you\’re still on the right track. You won\’t have to do a thing except cash the checks.