The Relationship Between AdSense Revenue and User Experience
The importance of user experience in relation to advertising revenue, and specifically AdSense revenue, can sometimes be underestimated. We know that the way to increase your advertising revenue is not to simply pack your site full of ads, as these can dilute each other. Not only that, but a site chock full of ads may put off users from spending a lot of time on your site, or revisiting it at another time.
Google’s number one point in their list of truths is ‘focus on the user and all else will follow’. So what affects user experience (and consequently your ad revenue)?
1) Is your site mobile friendly?
A large proportion of your users will be viewing your site from their phone, so a mobile friendly site that is easy to navigate is vital. If your site is not mobile friendly, users are likely to leave the site quickly. This results in increased bounce rates and users that are not engaged with your ads. If your mobile site is easy to use, your users are much more likely to share your content via social media networks too!
2) Is your content relevant and regularly updated?
Having high quality and regularly updated content is the key to getting repeat users who will spend a long time on your site and visit many pages. Quality and relevant content will establish your site as an authority voice in your subject area. It will also help foster your site as a credible resource in the eyes of your visitors and search engines. If the content you provide is relevant and useful to the reader, you will be rewarded with higher search rankings, longer times spent on your site, decreased bounce rate and generally more engagement with ads!
3) How fast is your site speed?
The loading time of your site can be the difference between users engaging with your content (and ads) and them bouncing off and finding the information they are looking for elsewhere. We are firmly in an age where we expect information instantly, so having a slow loading time on your site is bad news for your AdSense revenue. Using a Content Delivery Network is a great solution for most websites, as the alternative server nodes are spread throughout the world. This means that they are geographically closer to your users, ensuring a faster download time due to reduced latency.
4) Where are your ads?
The position of your ads on the page can either positively or negatively affect user experience. If ads are intrusive and make the content hard to access, they will negatively affect the user’s experience on your site. Finding a balance between increasing ad revenue while still avoiding spamming your readers with ads can be difficult, so testing is a great answer. By testing many combinations of ad locations, you are able to improve your AdSense revenue, whilst recording your users’ responses to these changes! More about this here.
The most important thing to remember is that user experience and ad revenue are directly linked. Put simply, if your site is full of engaging content that is easy to navigate and access, users will stick around and engage with your ads- everyone is a winner!
