Traffic Increases but Earnings Never Do?

1. 92

   prairieprincessposted 12 years ago

   I am puzzled because even when my traffic gets a bit better (low for some, but still good for me right now), my CTR rate for Google is almost always nothing. I get something from Google about once a month, if that, with 58 hubs written. Does anyone else find the CTR quite poor for hubpages, or is it just me?
   
   Thank you!

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   1. 89

      Rochelle Frankposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'm not even sure what CTR (click through rate?)really means-- my traffic has surged and my adsense is about 3X average, though still modest.  HP is delayed--- so not sure on this.
      
      We are all seeing snapshots of whatever is happening. Like the market-- you need a longer range of time to analyze real results. Patience.

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   2. 61

      Lisa HWposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It's tricky to make too many guesses about that kind of thing right now (after the whole Panda thing that went on in March); but before Panda, a lot of Hubbers found that they didn't really start to see much in terms of earnings for, maybe, six/eight months or so.   I can/could be different if someone has a high-demand type of title in their Hub; but in general, a lot of Hubs aren't of that kind and take awhile to start picking up when it comes to traffic and earnings.  Sometimes, too, if the particular kind of Hub tends to be a tortoise, rather than a hare, having a high number of that kind of Hub (and having their modest earnings combine to amount to something worthwhile) is how people earn.
      
      Fifty hubs isn't really a whole lot of Hubs.    It was once mentioned that people who have over fifty Hubs have been found to do better (I don't recall if that was traffic-wise, earnings-wise, or both).  The point is that fifty was used as the cut-off point with some observations about number of Hubs versus "doing well".
      
      That aside, though, six of your nine months on here has involved post-Panda months.  With this traffic increase that's just happened since yesterday (and with being told that it's not a glitch and that it looks as if Google has removed some penalties), it would seem to me that maybe now you'll (we'll all) see some changes.  I don't know.  I do know, though, that you didn't have much time to be on here and get "established" better before Panda hit and set everyone back.
      
      These are just guesses on my part, though.

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2. 92

   prairieprincessposted 12 years ago

   Lisa, thanks for your response. I understand that I don't have that many hubs but I've had almost no earnings from Google, even with viewings. I know we can't talk specifics but I just wonder why earnings are so low, no matter how many viewings I get.
   
   I hope you are right and this latest development helps. My traffic has gone up by almost 100% in the last day or so, but earnings have not changed at all. It's almost always at nothing.
   
   Rochelle, yeah, CTR is click through rate. I know what it means but how to get a better one? No idea!

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   1. 89

      Rochelle Frankposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      You are ahead of me, because I'm not really sure what it means.  I didn't come in looking for big earnings and didn't get paid for 18 months. The dollars have picked up some since then, but it is all frosting on the cake.

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3. 58

   breete01posted 12 years ago

   From my research it seems like people don't see a huge increase in income for a couple of months.  Be patient and hang in there. Keep posting some hubs.

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   1. 88

      IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      41 hubs in 3 days? This is not indicative of someone who has put any effort into their hub-making.

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      1. 89

         Rochelle Frankposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         This may be true-- but I also started out with a lot of hubs  at once, which had been previously published in print, in newsletters and a small newspaper, but not online.
         The effort had already been put in, for my earliest ones.
         He seems to have a specialty, and perhaps a file of articles that were already written-- which is perfectly fine.  Now he needs to fill in with photos, graphics and such.

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         1. 57

            zanaworldposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            does adding photos and graphics add to quality of the hubs and thus increase in adsense ctr?
            
            I am just 15 hub old.  I need help on this.
            
            thanks in advance...

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      2. 73

         relacheposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Having taken a look, it appears he's producing a plethora of personal journal content and purposely backlinking to his own site where he's promoting his new book.

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         1. 89

            Will Apseposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            A lot of it is worthwhile stuff. Leave the guy alone!

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            1. 85

               rebekahELLEposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               +
               His writings are helpful, interesting and educational for others.
               
               As far as thread topic, I saw a very decent AdSense click on Wednesday. I hadn't seen a substantial click for a while.  It was more than I usually make in a week with adsense. I hope to see more.

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4. 87

   Len Cannonposted 12 years ago

   I'll be honest with you, with the addition of HP Ads and the new adsense unit placement, I don't count on Google to get many clicks from HubPages visitors.  My earnings are going to come from HP ads, Amazon, and eBay at this point.  Pay attention to those over the next few days to see how things are shaping up.

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   1. 61

      Lisa HWposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It can be different from person to person. My earnings have always come from pretty much only Ad Sense.  I've never been able to put in the time/effort on Amazon that I "should"/could have been; so I only get the occasional little bit of earnings from that.  Until recently, there were no HP ads.  I used them for a little while but discovered my earnings from AS were substantially higher by turning them off.  With the traffic increase I may try using HP ads again, but I'll be reluctant to risk AS again.
      
      I tend to think the type of Hubs (and anything else I have under AS but away from HubPages) I have does better with AS because (at least compared with what I first experienced with HP ads) AS ads relate more to my Hubs than HP ads did.  I have a big mix of inconsistent earners, although some are more consistent than others.
      
      Things have changed since Panda, so I don't know how much that old benefit of the first six/eight/etc. months would still matter; but if it still makes much of a difference (at least for some types/mixes of Hubs) I can see how HP ads would be better because I think they're generally a lot more consistent than AS often is.  With the post-Panda/post-subdomain time I had them on, they were still only a fraction of even lower AS averages for me at the time (pre-recent increase).  I'll probably try HP ads again when I'm "in the mood" to risk AS averages/high's over the last few weeks; but it would take quite an increase in HP ads for me (and/or a substantially less dramatic in decrease in AS earnings range) to make using both work out equally, or the better than, things do with AS alone.
      
      Even if earlier HP ads averages (pre-recent traffic increase) doubled for me earnings would be as much as AS averages get.  What I don't know is whether (post-traffic-increase) the drop in AS with HP ads turned on would be as dramatic as it had been previously. Just recently I saw of at least one person who seemed to say their AS was good even with HP turned on. 
      
      I'll probably finish out August without HP ads on, see how high AS seems to average, and maybe do a test run of HP and AS together in September.  There's kind of a part of me, though, that tends to lean towards wanting to preserve/improve my own longer-term "relationship" with AS and that wonders if the universal aspect of it may make it a good (although maybe riskier) "basket" into which to put whatever "eggs" I'm willing to risk (which are separate from "eggs" I wouldn't be willing to risk with AS, or with the AS/HP combination at all).

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      1. 81

         David 470posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Personally, I never really messed with Amazon either. However, since my significant traffic gains, do you think it would be a good idea to add amazon products or would it hurt me?
         
         Or perhaps it would be useless because my hubs are not product hubs?

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5. 63

   kmackey32posted 12 years ago

   My earnings are up right along with the traffic. Not alot but still up.

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6. 81

   David 470posted 12 years ago

   My earnings are WAY up because of traffic gain, however, my adsense account is doing horrible. I mean, the eCPM is terrible, the ctr is terrible, and the PPC is only mediocre.
   
   Right now, the adsense account is just going to be extra cash, while the HP ad program is the main one.
   
   I still don't understand why someone would not want to use the HP ad program, but I guess it varies from hubber to hubber.

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   1. 63

      kmackey32posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I dont use HP adds.

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      1. 81

         David 470posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Have you ever tried them? For me, they seem to be way more consistent than adsense by itself.

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   2. 93

      viryaboposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I don't use HP ads anymore. i experimented with them off for one month, and on for one month.
      
      When i had them on, i MISSED ADSENSE PAYOUT. for the first time in over a year. After the month ran out, i couldn't wait to turn it off.
      
      When i did, my adsense improved considerably, and it's back to payout every month since then.
      
      Thanks, but no thanks . They don't work for me, and i'm through with experimenting.

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7. 65

   PaulPd0posted 12 years ago

   The money that you earn through Adsense and other ad programs is based on people actually clicking the advertisements that are displayed. Factors like the amount of time they spend on the page, the amount of pages they visit after clicking through the ad, and whether or not they sign up or purchase the advertised item are all calculated to determine how much money you will make for a "click"
   
   Stop worrying about Panda because it really only changed a small amount of the algorithm that determines what pages come up first on search results. What you need to understand is that your goal is to write articles that will attract attention from search results - the amount of money you earn per a click will be based on the cost of purchasing ad space for one of the particular keywords that exist on your hub.
   
   You should be happy with any increase in traffic, even if it doesn't bring you any more money. You just have to understand that some topics will lead to many clicks, while others will hardly receive any at all, and the award you receive for that click can be anywhere from 2 cents to 20 dollars or more.
   
   As far as your CTR rate goes, that really shouldn't come into play at all until you are performing site analytics on articles or websites that have been in existence for a LONG time or have already received many clicks. The CPM rating tells you about how much money you will make per 1000 ad impressions, so that might be a better way for you to gauge your earnings for now.
   
   Look for a hub in my profile entitled "Google Panda and Understanding How Your Hubs Make Money" It will really help the large majority of you in this forum understand what your trying to do.

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