As some of you may already know, SEOmoz launched a landing page competition two months ago. The purpose of this competition was to create a new landing page for the SEOmoz Premium Membership. Although the original landing page converted well for regular readers of SEOmoz, the conversion rate for visitors that were not familiar with the SEOmoz brand was only 0.05%.



After two months of testing out the entries, SEOmoz finally announced the winner yesterday. Although they had been planning to end the contest after a month of collecting data, due to the close competition between the first and second placed entries, they extended the competition for an additional month.

So, what landing page converted the best? To my surprise (and the surprise of many others), it was the traditional, endless scrolling sales pitch (which converted at 2.55%).


(The full page can be viewed here)

The landing page that gave the winner the closest run was much different (which converted at 2.41%), as shown below:



Although you can learn a lot from these results, I think there is still more testing that should be done. Why do I say this? Although it can't be said without data to back it up, I strongly believe that the second place entry will convert better for "warm" prospects than the winner. Additionally, as the post mentions:

As many bloggers have discussed, monetizing a blog with Google AdSense can be a challenge. However, this does not mean that it is impossible to use AdSense to generate a solid revenue stream from a blog. If you are using a WordPress powered blog, there is a new plug-in that can help you maximize your AdSense revenue.

At first glance, the Shylock AdSense plugin may look like the dozen or so other AdSense plugins that are available for WordPress. However, this plugin has some great features that set it apart from the others. As Shylock explains:


I think this is a great way to strike a balance between taking advantage of search engine traffic without turning off your loyal readers.



If you haven't tried out this plugin yet, I highly recommend giving it a try on your blog (and feel free to share your results in the comment section).

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SmartPricing is an algorithm (part man, part machine) used by the major search engines, to determine how much your site is "worth" in the content-network as far as per-click-compensation.

In a nutshell, if your site converts well for advertisers, you will earn the maximum per-click compensation. If on the other hand, AdSense clicks from your site don't convert into paying customers, you will be penalized (a.k.a "SmartPriced"), advertisers will receive a discount on your clicks and your contextual ad revenues will drop significantly.

On my recent visit to the GooglePlex, as part of Google Dance 2007, I had the opportunity to sit down with Google Engineers and ask some very specific questions about how SmartPricing really works.



While I cannot reveal all the specifics I've learned as part of these discussions, I'm happy to summarize our talks into 5 concise tips on how to maximize contextual ad revenues and avoid ever being "SmartPriced":

#1. Your Content should pre-sell for advertisers

Probably the most powerful tip and most often ignored. Slapping AdSense code on content that talks negatively about a certain product or simply doesn't properly pre-sell, is a sure recipe for low conversion rates.

Imagine you have a page that talks about how the iPhone sucks, its battery life is short and overall its a lowsy product. Google's AdSense will pick-up the iPhone from your text and display iPhone related product ads. Even if visitors click on those ads, how likely are they to convert after reading your page?

Always think pre-selling for advertisers.

#2. Keyword Density and Semantically related keywords are your friends

Google's AdSense picks up keywords from your text and attempts to automatically display the most relevant ads based on your content.

It typically does a great job at that. But if you're looking at your page and Google AdSense displays irrelevant ads that have very little to do with your page, consider revising your content by injecting more semantically related keywords to the particular product / service / niche you are writing about.

#3. The more Channels the better

If your site contains several sections, implement different channels per each one of those sections.

This helps Google to monitor CTR, eCPM and Conversions on a per-channel level, so that if one channel doesn't perform well, it will not impact your entire account.

On that same note, if certain pages of your site perform poorly with AdSense, consider switching those individual pages to Yahoo Content Network, so that their poor performance doesn't affect your AdSense publisher rating.

#4. Not every drop in earnings is due to SmartPricing

In many cases, advertisers change their PPC bids due to seasons, product availablity, market conditions etc. directly affecting your contextual-ad revenues.

Consult other AdSense publishers in your niche, prior to jumping into the conclusion that you've been "SmartPriced"

#5. Reduce the number of ad units per page

This one is a bit counter intuitive. Logic tells us the more ad units displayed on the page, the more likely users are to click on one of those ads right?

Problem is - the way Google's algorithm works is - they will try to display the top paying ads first. Then, as you add more ad-units to your site, Google will eventually have to display "cheaper" units. Your eCPM will decrease as your users click on those ads that aren't paying as much.

Use CrazyEgg to identify the areas of your site where users are most likely to click, then experiment with different ad unit styles. Never be tempted to fill your page with a gazillion ad units. A maximum of 2 ad-units per page is ideal.

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For those of you who don't know the "rules" behind the Make Money with SoftwareProjects series, here they are:

Every Friday, SoftwareProjects will post a new "make money by doing X" post. It can be an invitation to perform a service, a tried-and-tested technique to immediately boost sales, free traffic etc. The only requirement is that whatever we post as part of our "Make Money by doing X" series - must be stuff you can immediately take to the bank, and not just vague ideas.

Hopefully this series will encourage & inspire new entrepreneurs, provide value to business owners and demonstrate the depth and breadth of SoftwareProjects services. Feel free to link to this series and blog about it.

New York September 3, 2007 -- SoftwareProjects Inc, the industry's leading full-service Internet Marketing & Web Development firm, announced today that they have partnered with HACKER SAFE® to promote the benefits of HACKER SAFE certification to customers and partners of SoftwareProjects.

Announcing a partnership that will transform how people do business online, support each other - and help keep each other safe. SoftwareProjects and HACKER SAFE® team up for success.

SoftwareProjects, established in 1998, helps more than 2,000 businesses sell more online, by utilizing Pay Per Click, Email Marketing, Search Engine Marketing and Conversion Optimization. Because SoftwareProjects provides its clients with best practices for increasing conversions, a relationship with the world’s most widely used trustmark was inevitable.

"HACKER SAFE certification is the most effective way for businesses of all sizes to convert more security conscious consumers," said Richard Anderson, CEO of SoftwareProjects. "We've seen a double-digit increase in conversion rates for customers in various industries, within 30 days from implementing the HACKER SAFE certification."

The world’s ecommerce security standard, HACKER SAFE is used by over half of the Internet Retailer Top 500 to certify their security to consumers. Shoppers relax when they see the image on an online store because the only way the mark appears is if the site has met the HACKER SAFE security standard. Not once, but every single day.

HACKER SAFE keeps merchants safe from hackers and increases online revenue through an easy three step process – audit, certify, profit. In scientific testing by hundreds of retailers, including FTD, GNC, Ritz Camera, PetSmart and Warner Brothers, HACKER SAFE certification increased their sales conversion an average of 14%.

To celebrate this partnership, SoftwareProjects is offering a FREE PCI HACKER SAFE scan to all clients and partners. To signup to the FREE PCI Scan and learn more about how HACKER SAFE can increase your conversions, visit the FREE PCI Scan page.

About ScanAlert

Headquartered in Napa, CA, ScanAlert is the world’s largest web site security certification authority, protecting over 100,000 web sites in 40 countries through the HACKER SAFE certification program. The certification mark indicates that these sites protect the personal data of millions of shoppers every day by meeting the highest federal and industry web site security standards. Brands that use HACKER SAFE to build the trust that builds their business include A&E Network, Cabela’s, Frederick’s of Hollywood, PETCO, The Sports Authority, Warner Brothers, and Yankee Candle. For more information, please visit www.scanalert.com

About SoftwareProjects

Headquartered in New York, with Sales and R&D offices around the globe, SoftwareProjects is a full service Internet Marketing & Web Development trusted leader. Established in 1998, SoftwareProjects is a privately held, profitable, global organization with 200 professionals on staff.

The company's focus is helping businesses sell more online, providing a wide spectrum of services including: Email Marketing, PPC Management, Landing pages, Lead Generation, Search Engine Marketing, Affiliate systems and Web development.

For more information about how SoftwareProjects can help your business grow - visit www.SoftwareProjects.com

eCPM is calculated by dividing total earnings by total number of impressions in thousands. It is a great performance measure for your various ad units, so when experimenting, you can use eCPM to compare your results.



eCPM is very powerful, yet it is often ignored by newbie publishers.

If you're monetizing your site using contextual-ads or in-text ads, one of the best ways to avoid SmartPricing and continually increase your bottom line, is to test different landing pages, different ad units and different content, by testing the eCPM for several channels.

For example, let's say you have two custom channels named 'Blue Skyscrapers' and 'Red Rectangles', which reflect the types of ad formats you're testing on.

During your test, the 'Blue Skyscrapers' channel receives 370 page impressions and $1.48 in total earnings. The 'Red Rectangles' channel receives 187 page impressions and $0.97 in earnings over the same period.

eCPM for blue skyscrapers is $4.00 while the eCPM for red rectangles is $5.18.

This means if we received 1,000 impressions of blue skyscrapers, we would earn roughly $4.00. But for 1,000 impressions of red rectangles, we would earn about $5.18. Therefore, assuming that our sample size is large enough, it is to our advantage to switch to red rectangles throughout our site because they generate more revenue per impression.

Use eCPM is your earning's performance indicator and keep testing ads,content,placement to increase your eCPM thereby increasing your bottom line.

Monetizing your website with contextual advertising? It is important that you understand the underlying technology determining how much you are paid, per every single click on your content ads. This technology, is known as 'Smart Pricing'.

Before we jump into the definition of what is SmartPricing and how you can maximize your ecpm (earnings / traffic), let's step back for a moment and review your typical search-engine's business model.

Search Engine's Business Model

Search-engines provide a free service to end-users, allowing users to quickly search through billions of documents, finding the ones that are most relevant to the search query.

Search engines invest heavily in algorithmic research, human review, server farms and smart storage, to provide the absolute most relevant results as quickly as possible, in an ongoing battle to increase the number of users using the engine.

All search engines make money by selling sponsored-results to advertisers. Advertisers can purchase certain keywords, so that whenever a user is searching for "shoes" for example, a business selling discount shoes will show-up as one of the sponsored listings.

Search engines also allow any website owner, to signup as a content-network publisher, place a simple JavaScript code on their website and start displaying relevant sponsored-results on the site. Search-engines collect the advertising fees from advertisers and pay the website owner a portion of the fee.

In Summary:
* Search-engines make money by selling sponsored-results slots to advertisers
* Search-engines are in the business of keeping advertisers happy
* Advertisers are happy when the sponsored-results they purchase, convert well, generating a positive return on total advertising spent.

Ok so,

What is SmartPricing and how does it tie into the SE business model?

SmartPricing is an algorithm that provides a discount to advertisers, based on the perceived value of the traffic generated by a content-network site.

Content-network sites that generate better conversions for advertisers, are paid more. Sites that generate poor conversions, are discounted and eventually pushed down to the bottom of a search-engine content-network inventory.

Without SmartPricing, advertisers would blow big budgets, not seeing any positive return on their investment and eventually stop buying advertising from the search-engine.

Search engines will always do everything possible to protect their advertiser's ROIs.

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The Quality Score Algorithm rates how relevant a target URL is to the keyword purchased and ad creative, to protect advertisers from overspending because of competing MadeForAdSense sites, while the SmartPricing Algorithm rates how well a content-network site converts, to protect advertisers from overspending on content-network sites that would yield a negative return on advertising spent (ROAS).