Greetings
I rarely post on this forum but I do read it from time to time and I think its great people share intel. Its pretty much the only info we have when certain situations arise. I will try to keep a long story short, as maybe it helps people.
I have a website that I started in May 2012. Since then I have been working on it every day improving and working on user experience non stop. Small details, css edges, no clutter, no keyword spamming, just straight to the point content witha search box that allows people to find what they need. My website shows unique content that people need once in a while and which allows them to compare prices. For the record, this is not a blog site or one that is overloaded with articles, no. I do have a small news section where I post a few news related items using a wordpress plugin, but very little revenue comes from that part.
I personally feel the web is already overspammed with blog and content sites that serves little purpose to readers other then for the advertising revenue that they want to make from it. Adsense in my case is a nice addition for revenue even though it was never my main focus when I started the site and I make a bigger income through other means.
Last month the site achieved a record revenue between 7 and 8K. All this time my visits have been stable ranging between 8 to 9K per day. June was a good month, July was a bit less, august was a bit up vs july but still under June. September was even better then June.
However starting October and with the coming of the new Panda update, I see that some keywords are ranking less now. I used to be on page 5 to 6, now I am with some keywords on page 9 - 10. This has resulted in a big drop in revenue of course of around 30%. October seems it will end less then June...
After analyzing the ranking and stats I have concluded the following:
* Big drop in mobile revenue (70%)
* Big drop in CPC from mobile revenue (1/3 of previous month)
* I noticed a gradual drop in CPC from 468x60 ads but this has been going on since 1st of july but this is compensated with more clicks every month.
* Desktop and Tablet views appear stable, but also a small decrease in CPC which has led to a small decrease in revenue also.
* Visits have decreased but around 1K per month. I guess im getting allot of direct traffic rather then organic as my site is a good tool and gets its visits from word to mouth.
I might just make between 4 - 5K this month.
I am atm still puzzled why the big drop in mobile. Since I started creating a mobile version 2 months ago, my revenue was going slightly up, logically as I was showing pages now that nicely fitted on the mobile screen where as before the pages were not even loading fully inside the mobile window. (its all about making your site user friendly right?). So things were going smooth until the 1st of this month then a drastic drop. I guess this has to do with a combination of things but correct me if my analysis is wrong.
* I read about advertising budgets being put on hold, companies not spending and reviewing there adwords strategy. I am guess this might explain a drop in CPC showing the lower less paid ads.
* Google Panda update which has effected the ranking a bit.
* I have noticed over the last year that google experiments allot with adsense design and layout. sometimes you see an arrow; sometimes its a new font. I can imagine this is frustrating sometimes.
* On my mobile pages, I use text links. I think these are actually a great addition, but can somebody confirm whether a click only counts if pressed 2 times? This is new form me and i don't think it makes a difference unless that is a recent policy change. In that case I might just replace them with responsive ads.
Conclusion
I know many of you are pulling your hair. Its frustrating that Google does not communicate. In addition its forbidden to share your values. I guess this means something.
Lets say you are google and you change your ad layout every month. This will be a positive or negative experience for X sites. Imagine the negative is more, im guessing google pulls in a few million... if you see what I mean. Its a commercial company in the end right? Yes, it does allot of charity... but we never know what goes on in the basement...
What have I learned?
* Expect to get punched hard once in a while. I have experienced also months of up and down without being able to give a logical explanation. Usually its a combination of factors that makes your revenue go up or down.
* Don't get attached to Adsense. A year ago, I was happy with adsense converting some of the content into some cash, but at a certain moment you just click that refresh button every day to see what it has earned. If you are in this phase, you must learn to let go or it will cause you to be miserable from time to time
* Keep focussing on improving your site. I have to agree with google that you need to focus on user experience. Make your pages clean, remove nonsense, dont write silly articles like "when was the last time you brushed your teeth..." that stuff is what makes the web today and it causes google to react by adjusting there algo. Stop that. Think. What do people need. Why would they come to your site? Is it something they can only see on your site? Basics and simplicity. I did allot of user experience changes on my site the last 6 months and revenue has been going up slightly. It makes no sense why july earned less then june as the site was better in july... not to mention this month its 3 times better then june... so this means that even if you improve your site as google recommends, your earnings might go down as a consequence.
* Focus on visits. Some people focus on squeezing every penny of an ad and brag about high good there CTR and CPC is. I think that focus is not good. You need to focus on your visitors and turn customers into loyalty and make them come back. I never rotate my ads so people even know by know what the ads are and what not.
I am sure I am forgetting stuff, but I just wanted to share some intel with you guys as it may help you to compare with your situation. Either way, I am not going to panic even though some people would.
anyways, post me in case I can be of assistance.
