Arbi URL Experiment

[Atomm]

I've been playing around with URL structure to see if it had any impact on the google ads I was serving up. I was amazed at the difference it made by showing more relevant ads just by changing a few items. I'll give you an example.

Let's say I was doing a page on blue, round, wickedfire widgets. My URL would look like this:

wickedfire.arbidomain.com/blue_round_wickedfire_widgets/

I made the page index.html in the blue_round_wickedfire_widgets/ directory.

Under this method, I was seeing a lot of ads that were close to my keyword, but not correct. Even if I loaded up the page with keywords, I might still see an ad for Red, Square Wickedfire Widgets. I also saw a lot of blank ads using this method.

I would like to note that I was using a php script to generate the index.html page and Mod_Rewrite to create the pages on the fly based on the keywords of the directory part of the URL. I don't know if this matters, but it might be worth mentioning.

I decided to experiment and see if I could better target the ads. Using the exact same webpage, I changed the URL structure, then viewed the page to see if the ads were any better. Not only were they better, but I stopped seeing those dreaded PSA's.

Using the same example as above, here is how I changed my URL:

www.arbidomain.com/wickedfire-widgets/blue_round_wickedfire_widgets.html

Now, I use www instead of a subdomain based on the keyword. I also started using dashes in the directory and underscores in the page name. Last, these pages are static HTML and Mod_Rewrite is no longer being used.

It has made a huge difference in the ad relevance shown on the page. I went from seeing 2 ads to seeing 4 ads in the large rectangle. I also have not seen a single PSA during my tests, where as I was seeing them a lot before.

I don't know if this will help anyone, but it has improved my CTR tremendously. On one particular keyword, I went from a 20% CTR to a 40-50% CTR just by making these changes.

As always, test this for yourself. I hope it helps you as much as it has helped me.

Atomm

 

[peach]

yeah it's ridiculous how much weight adsense bot gives to url parts.
I was having financial articles on my clearwind.nl domain and I got parasailing ads and winsurfing crap.

I didn't use any mod_rewrite to balance out my urls, I found out I could simple add ?param=debt consolidation online to my url.

 

[ConceptualMind]

Great tip. I was wondering about this as well.

 

[emp]

Do I need to say I wrote about this?

Your Google Ads and filenames - WickedFire - Internet Marketing Affiliate Webmaster Forum

and for additional info

Easy SEO - Your document URL - WickedFire - Internet Marketing Affiliate Webmaster Forum
:xomunch:
::emp::

 

[Atomm]

Thanks for the links.

However, nowhere did you discuss the use of keywords as subdomains. That was a big part of my point.

The rest is great info and a must read for anyone who views this thread.

 

[emp]

I might have misunderstood you. I took this

Now, I use www instead of a subdomain based on the keyword.

as a sign you are NOT using a kw subdomain.

Anyway, nice to see someone else come to similar conclusions. Good info.

::emp::

 

[Atomm]

You mentioned using dashes in the filename. I've always used dashes in the directories and underscores in the actual filename. I find it easier to read the url with underscores. Have you seen any differences?

Also, I did not do a good job of making it clear on what I am doing with the directory and filename. I am using the short tail keyword for the directory and the long tail keyword for the filename. That seems to work the best for me.

Thanks!

 

[emp]

Don't use underscores. Read the articles again.
Underscores are treated by google either as

a) underscores
Typing jane_doe will return jane_doe

b) omitted
Jane_doe is interpreted as janedoe

Someone else found that, actually, it's there in the threads.
::emp::

 

[JamesPro]

Can you test:

wickedfire-widgets.arbidomain.com/blue_round_wickedfire_widgets.html


This would better clarify how the subdomain vs directory change affects the ads. Doing that test keeps the filename constant.

 

[Atomm]

I tested it and I only saw PSA's using the keyword as the sub and the long keyword as the .html file.

I turned it back around to www and directory and relevant ads were coming up.

 

[Atomm]

FYI, I am dropping all Underscores for Hyphens.

 

[cadmium]

I still have trouble targetting some niches. I have the directory and page name loaded with the keyphrase and it still shows adsense ad that are in the same industry, but a different product.

Any suggestions?

 

[Jdog]

I still have trouble targetting some niches. I have the directory and page name loaded with the keyphrase and it still shows adsense ad that are in the same industry, but a different product.

Any suggestions?

Do you think that the other product might be targetting your keywords? Like trying to steal the competition's traffic.

 

[cadmium]

Yeah, that may be. The niche is a do it yourself option of the more expensive product/service.
I finally got half (2 of 4) the ads targeted with some trial and error.

 

[Atomm]

What did you do? Tweak keywords? URLs?

 

[cadmium]

The directory name and page name. I'm finding out words on the page have little to no effect when you first create a site.

The order and use of the words I had to use to get the proper ads was pretty daft. Thankfully not every niche is like that.

 

[vai_lee]

i have done a similar experiment.
for www.domain.com/widget.html, relevant ads does not show immediately. I refresh it and after 10 minutes it comes.
for www.domain.com/widget/index.html, same as above
for www.domain.com/widget/widget.html, relevant ads shows immediately.

However, after 24 hours. all the three pages are showing the same ads
but i am wondering maybe earning per click will be different among these pages. can some one test it out?